July updates

Housekeeping first.

• I was on the cover of Library Journal’s July issue. Never in my life did I think I’d be on the cover of a magazine and it absolutely fucking delights me that this weird one-off experience involved a beautifully nerdy publication.

• I got interviewed by Library Journal and it was a joy to do. Thank you, Becky, for your questions and your continued love.

• I interviewed Emma Candon as part of their tour for The Archive Undying and surprising no one, they were an utterly brilliant conversationalist and so wonderfully sweet. (I love this interview that they did with Lithub.)

• Breakable Things was a Shirley Jackson Awards finalist for Best Collection. (Paula Ashe’s We Are Here to Hurt Each Other won instead, and I’m so happy about that. It’s a brilliant collection. Hell, half the reason I was so shocked to have a Stoker was because I was convinced it’d have won in our category instead.)

• I was a guest author at Alpha Workshop for Young Writers. I’ve never taught teenagers before, but I was truly blown away by how driven the kids there were. They were whip-smart and ready for any challenges. I’m not sure I’ve met very many adults who are as brave and as imaginative as them. It was a pleasure and a privilege, and also I cannot wait to see them all get giant book deals and become legends of the field.

Some book-related babbling

I finished Emma Mieko Candon’s The Archive Undying (it is very good, very big brain sci-fantasy with a phenomenal take on what AIs should be like, incredible horror and even better interpersonal dynamics) and am working through my umpteenth reread of Vajra Chandrasekera’s absolutely phenomenal The Saint of Bright Doors, which I keep starting and having to restart because the book is so intricate, I cannot hold it in my head any more than I can clutch a dream of a sumptuous city, a city of forgotten Chosen ones and aborted destinies, a metropolis of almost-gods and mysterious doors, and surviving your own apostasy. (if these two don’t end up lounging prettily on every ballot next year, that’s my proof that this world is cold and meaningless)

I reread Kathleen Jennings’ beautiful Travelogues: Vignettes from Trains in Motion recently too (I cited the book aggressively during my lectures at Alpha Workshop for Young Writers), and I’m struck again by the beauty of Jennings’ prose and how elegantly she draws her descriptions from a variety of sources. There is so much use of color (“lemonade light, “a yellowing tree in a blue-glazed pot,” “berries, amber and hematite, topaz and jasper and coral”), so many clever applications of unexpected nouns "(“here is a toybox yard”, “a fall forest waits like a fable,” “bridge-stapled”). It’s a dizzy joy.

I’ve also just started Simon Jimenez’ The Spear Cuts Through Water, and I’m quite upset it isn’t dominating award season. It’s beautifully written. I bought its predecessor The Vanished Birds by the time I was on page 10. I recommend you getting it as well.

Personal updates

It’s been a difficult few weeks. Due to extenuating circumstances, I’ve had to do essentially the work of three full-time jobs at the same time, while juggling interpersonal relationships, while writing, while worrying about The Tortie. (She’s fine, but she spent the first six months of her life with me trying aggressively to die, so any time there’s anything wrong with her, I panic a bit.)

I’m a bit burnt out.

But I’m proud of the fact I’ve mostly been practicing good habits re: my health and my fitness. If you’re struggling to do the same, the best thing I can suggest is to work on reprogramming yourself so you see it as something of equal importance as your job: you show up even if you have to half-ass that day; you do the work even if it’s sloppy and minimal. I don’t know how we arrived at this but it feels like we’re conditioned to think of fitness/health as That Thing Vain People and People With Too Much Time on Their Hands Do, when really it’s a very non-optional part of the future.

(I think as well that fitness influencers and commercial gyms have created a culture of shame. If you’re not already doing everything you can, you’re bad and you should feel bad. But honestly, no. You can just pick it up from wherever you are and go for it.)

I’m also working on telling people that I need space to recover and I’m saying no to opportunities even when I really, really want to stay yes.

Paid subscriber-only content?

I’ve taught a few classes over the years: mostly, I’ve taught about food, voice-writing, and gore. I think I’m going to offer such to paid subscribers here, with some free workshops along the way.

What do you think?

Anyway, as always, a cat photo. See you next month, I guess?