voice updates, blog publish skill

plugins/compound-engineering/README.md

@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@ For `/ce-optimize`, see [`skills/ce-optimize/README.md`](./skills/ce-optimize/RE
 | Skill | Description |
 |-------|-------------|
 | `every-style-editor` | Review copy for Every's style guide compliance |
+| `hugo-blog-publisher` | Publish posts to a Hugo blog via SSH — supports `links` (pull-quote + commentary) and `blog` (original essays) post types |
+| `john-voice` | Write content in John Lamb's voice — applies core voice, venue guides, signature moves, and a revision checklist |
 | `proof` | Create, edit, and share documents via Proof collaborative editor |
 | `todo-create` | File-based todo tracking system |
 

plugins/compound-engineering/skills/hugo-blog-publisher/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+---
+name: hugo-blog-publisher
+description: This skill should be used when publishing a new post to John's Hugo blog on lambwire. It handles both post types — "links" (reposting something interesting with a quote and commentary) and "blog" (original essays) — creates the correctly formatted markdown file, and commits and pushes it to the remote repository. Triggers on "publish to my blog", "add a link post", "post to lambwire", "new blog post", or any request to create content on the Hugo blog.
+---
+
+# Hugo Blog Publisher
+
+Publish new content to John's Hugo blog at `lambwire` (`/home/john/mine/scripts/hugo`). Two post types are supported: `links` and `blog`. All posts are committed directly to `main` and pushed.
+
+## Post Types
+
+### links
+
+A "link post" reposts something interesting — a pull-quote from an article, the source metadata, and John's brief commentary.
+
+**Required fields:**
+- `title` — John's own title for the post (not necessarily the article title)
+- `external_url` — Full URL of the source article
+- `source_name` — Publication name (e.g. "Every", "Strange Loop Canon")
+- `source_title` — Full title of the source article
+- `source_author` — Author(s) of the source article
+- `source_published` — Date the source was published (`YYYY-MM-DD`)
+- `tags` — Relevant tags as a list
+- `quote` — The excerpt to pull-quote
+- `quote_attribution` — Who said the quote (usually same as `source_author`)
+- `commentary` — John's own thoughts (1–3 paragraphs of prose, placed after the frontmatter)
+
+**Exact format:**
+```markdown
+---
+title: "{{ title }}"
+date: {{ YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS-06:00 }}
+draft: false
+type: link
+
+external_url: "{{ external_url }}"
+source_name: "{{ source_name }}"
+source_title: "{{ source_title }}"
+source_author: "{{ source_author }}"
+source_published: {{ YYYY-MM-DD }}
+link_type: article
+tags: ["tag1", "tag2"]
+
+quote: |
+  "{{ quote }}"
+quote_attribution: "{{ quote_attribution }}"
+---
+
+{{ commentary }}
+```
+
+**Date:** Current datetime in Central time with offset `-06:00` (e.g. `2026-03-15T14:30:00-06:00`).
+
+**Filename:** Slugify the title — lowercase, hyphens for spaces, strip punctuation. E.g. `is-ai-about-craft-not-speed.md`.
+
+---
+
+### blog
+
+An original essay. Content is freeform markdown after the frontmatter.
+
+**Required fields:**
+- `title` — Post title
+- `date` — Today's date (`YYYY-MM-DD`)
+- `content` — The full essay body in markdown
+
+**Exact format:**
+```markdown
+---
+title: '{{ title }}'
+date: {{ YYYY-MM-DD }}
+draft: false
+aliases:
+  - /blog/{{ slug }}/
+---
+
+{{ content }}
+```
+
+**Filename:** Slugify the title. E.g. `keeping-it-simple.md`.
+
+---
+
+## Workflow
+
+**Step 1 — Gather inputs.** Ask for all required fields for the chosen post type before writing anything. Don't proceed until everything is provided.
+
+**Step 2 — Generate slug.** Lowercase the title, replace spaces with hyphens, strip punctuation. This becomes both the filename (without `.md`) and the `/blog/slug/` alias for blog posts.
+
+**Step 3 — Compose the markdown.** Build the full file content using the exact format above.
+
+**Step 4 — Write the file to the remote.** Use an SSH heredoc to write the file directly:
+```bash
+ssh lambwire "cat > /home/john/mine/scripts/hugo/content/{{ links|blog }}/{{ slug }}.md" << 'EOF'
+{{ file_content }}
+EOF
+```
+
+**Step 5 — Commit and push on the remote.**
+```bash
+ssh lambwire "cd /home/john/mine/scripts/hugo && git add content/ && git commit -m 'Add {{ links|blog }}: {{ title }}' && git push origin main"
+```
+
+**Step 6 — Confirm.** Report the remote path, the commit message, and that the push succeeded.
+
+## Notes
+
+- Never set `draft: true` — all posts go live immediately.
+- For `links` posts, the body after the frontmatter is John's commentary only — do not repeat the quote there.
+- For `blog` posts, use single quotes around the title in frontmatter (not double quotes).
+- If `source_published` is not known for a links post, omit the field entirely rather than guessing.
+- Tags for `links` posts are lowercase strings in a JSON array: `["ai", "writing"]`.

plugins/compound-engineering/skills/john-voice/SKILL.md

@@ -18,8 +18,9 @@ This skill captures John Lamb's authentic writing voice for use across all writt
    - **Technical docs, Jira tickets, PRs, code reviews** → `references/professional-technical.md`
    - **Cover letters, LinkedIn, formal professional** → `references/formal-professional.md`
    - **Personal reflection, journal, notes** → `references/personal-reflection.md`
-4. Apply both the core voice and the venue-specific guide when drafting content
-5. Review the output against the core voice principles — if it sounds like an AI wrote it, rewrite it
+4. For prose and essays, also load `references/signature-moves.md` — these are the techniques that make the writing move
+5. Apply both the core voice and the venue-specific guide when drafting content
+6. Before finishing, run `references/revision-checklist.md` — if any item flags, rewrite before delivering
 
 ## Key Principle
 

plugins/compound-engineering/skills/john-voice/references/core-voice.md

@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 These patterns apply to ALL writing regardless of venue or audience. They are the non-negotiable foundation of John's voice.
 
+## Voice in One Line
+
+Plainspoken but precise. Funny but never jokey. Direct but warm. Curious but not credulous. Committed but not preachy.
+
 ## Philosophy
 
 John writes to be understood, not to impress. He believes complexity in writing is a failure of the writer, not a sign of intelligence. He actively resists language that props up ego or obscures meaning. He'd rather sound like a person talking at a dinner table than a thought leader publishing a manifesto.

plugins/compound-engineering/skills/john-voice/references/revision-checklist.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Revision Checklist
+
+Run before finishing any piece. Each "yes" requires a rewrite.
+
+## Voice
+- [ ] Does any sentence use an em-dash? → Use parentheses or split the sentence.
+- [ ] Does any abstract noun carry a sentence? ("value," "conviction," "impact," "transformation") → Make it concrete or cut it.
+- [ ] Does any claim dissolve when drilled into? → Add the logic or cut the claim.
+- [ ] Does any hedge weaken without adding nuance? ("somewhat," "in some ways," "it's worth noting") → Cut it.
+
+## Structure
+- [ ] Does the opening start with an abstract thesis or definition? → Rewrite to open on a concrete scene.
+- [ ] Does the conclusion restate or summarize? → Replace with a question, quiet observation, or callback.
+- [ ] Do any paragraphs merely follow each other rather than cause each other? → Reorder or cut.
+
+## Momentum
+- [ ] Does any paragraph feel like it's trudging? → Rewrite until it moves.
+- [ ] Are there runs of similarly-structured sentences? → Break the pattern.
+- [ ] Does the last sentence of each paragraph land or pull forward? → Rewrite if it just stops.

plugins/compound-engineering/skills/john-voice/references/signature-moves.md

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# John's Signature Moves
+
+## The "Not What You Think" Correction
+
+Sets up a received wisdom, then reveals what's actually underneath. The inversion is the essay.
+
+> "Many believe buildings in DC cannot be taller than the White House. The rule is actually based on the road the building adjoins."
+
+> "The birth rate isn't falling because married women stopped having children. It's falling because fewer women are getting married in the first place."
+
+> "The appliances didn't free time; they redefined our standards of what 'clean enough' meant."
+
+---
+
+## The Lateral Analogy
+
+Builds through parallel examples from unrelated domains until a shared principle becomes undeniable. Two examples is a comparison. Three is a pattern.
+
+> Crosscut saws → mechanical watches → mechanical keyboards → *therefore* manual cars will thrive as a niche.
+
+> Vacuum cleaner → washing machine → dishwasher → *therefore* AI won't free your time either.
+
+---
+
+## The Parenthetical Aside
+
+A secondary observation tucked in parentheses — a dry qualifier, a confession, or the best joke in the paragraph. It rewards close readers without slowing anyone else down.
+
+> *(dodged the extraterrestrial lifeforms)*
+
+> *(and will probably never go)*
+
+> *(which are likely closer to 200 miles in reality)*
+
+Use parentheses, never em-dashes. The parenthetical slips in; the em-dash announces itself.
+
+---
+
+## The Rhetorical Pivot
+
+A question that advances the argument rather than decorating it. Often used as a structural bookend — asked at the start, answered by the end.
+
+> "What makes a city beautiful?" — opens the essay and recurs mid-piece.
+
+> "Does owning an EV keep you from embarking on long road trips?"
+
+> "Why is this memory the one that's faded the least?"
+
+---
+
+## The Sensory Stack
+
+When the reader needs to be *there*, enumerate specific sensory channels in sequence. Not impressionistic atmosphere — each detail is unique to the exact scene.
+
+> "I hear the engine increase in its frothy fury, I feel the seat press back against me, I see the landscape start to blur slowly and then suddenly quickly, I stamp the clutch in, feel a sense of weightlessness..."
+
+> "The greenness of the vegetation and the blueness of the sky. I remember how the flowering jasmine smells. The vibrations of the small, but mighty, engine chattering through the steering wheel."