This year, Can-Con moved to a new venue, the Brookstreet Hotel. It was a beautiful event space and the hotel had all the amenities and then some.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I booked both Friday the 17th and Monday the 20th off work. In hindsight, I should have booked the Thursday as well and given myself some extra time to drive out, settle in, relax, and prepare. I’ll have to remember to do that, next year. And yes, I’ve already registered for next year’s convention.
Friday morning, my intention was to take off at 10 am, arrive around 4 pm, check in, and then attend the opening session at 5.
Unfortunately, my body decided to delay my departure until 11 am. I also had to top up the gas tank and grab a caramel toffee cold brew from Tim Horton’s before I could zoom.
One thing I finally figured out on my September trip to London was how to properly use Google Maps (!) Fun fact: I am weirdly selective about learning how to use technology.
The journey was uneventful. And beautiful!
There’s this point on Highway 17 between Mattawa and Deux Rivières where the road crests a hill and you get your first site of the Laurentians. It was particularly breathtaking on the 17th. Most of the surface was covered in pine and spruce, but there were vibrant patches of gold (birch and poplar) edged in orange and red (oak and maple). The cloud was low and scudded over the worn tops of the mountains.
I couldn’t stop to take a photo, but I wrote a poem about it afterward.
Because of my delayed start, I didn’t arrive until after 5 pm. I checked into the Brookstreet, parked, resolved an issue with my key card, dropped everything off at my room, and headed down to catch one of the panels before mine.
The Art of Rest panel was a lot of fun. I discovered that one of the other panelists is also from Sudbury (!) Many thanks to moderator Kaitlin (KT) Caul for organizing a great panel experience and to Nina Nesseth for being a great co-panelist. It was among the last panels on Friday night.
After, the lot of us migrated to Options, the hotel’s jazz lounge, and I enjoyed a late supper and their signature cocktail, the paper plane. Lovely. Again, much fun was had.
After a morning swim and breakfast, I attended panels all day on Saturday, as well as an unsuccessful pitch session (the publisher and I were hopelessly mismatched), and the launch of Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction, Volume 3, in which my poem “Vasilisa” was reprinted.
While I was moving between panels, I met several SF Canada members and other friends, including Andy Taylor, who shared some fabulous news. The anthology my next piece of short fiction will be published in, Super Canucks, had a cover! It won’t be published until March 2026, but it’s up on the Latitude 46 site! Pre-orders are open!
After a long day of panels, I treated myself to a solitary supper at the Perspectives restaurant. Compressed melon salad, summer vegetable and truffle risotto, and a limoncello tartufo. Heaven!
On Sunday, I treated myself to another morning swim before breakfast. I attended even more panels, and the launch of Cait Gordon’s Speculative Shorts: Stories That Fell Out of My Brain.
My second panel, “The Taste of Sadness: Writing Emotional Dysregulation” was in the last time slot of the convention and was another great experience. I may have babbled a bit, but everyone else on the panel stepped in and we all made each other look good. Gratitude to moderator Gregory A. Wilson and panelists Deanna Valdez and Sienna Tristen for making my second panel a memorable one.
Highlights from Sunday:
After, I walked the convention space as the panelists and exhibitors packed up and departed.
Then, in a different mood from the night before, I opted for a burger and fries with a caramel apple crisp for dessert at Perspectives. The apple crisp is to die for, folks.
I opted to stay over Sunday night and drive back in the morning after one final swim and a full breakfast.
I’ve attended several Can-Cons over the years, but this was my first as a panellist. It was a fabulous experience and, as I said off the top, I’ve already registered for next year. I hope to get on another panel (or two) and maybe organize an SF Canada meet and greet/networking event/membership drive.
My brain, she does not brain. Oh! And … May the fourth be with you. See what I mean? My priorities are all messed up.
Life in general
With the political pandemonium and continuing chaos at work, it was all I could do to manage my spoons day-to-day.
April started with a dysregulating week at work. My project co-lead (really, the project lead—I was more of an assistant) went on holidays and I and another instructional designer attached to the project tried to divide up her duties between us.
I could not deal, people, especially when I discovered something that would make the lot of us look incompetent in courses that had already been uploaded to the learning management system. Add to that two incomplete translations (we risk-managed due to time constraints) coming back at the same time as client content reviews with additional changes (that were also not included in the translation), and I had a shutdown.
My brain refused to process any of it, but I did what I’ve done for the 20 years of my career prior to diagnosis and kept working on other parts of the project. You can imagine how well all that went.
This resulted in my usual case of Sunday scaries transforming into full-on weekend scaries. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, I woke up at 2 or 3 or 4 am and ruminated in overdrive. Friday night, my heart was bounding out of my chest. It felt like a panic attack. I did work out part of a solution, though.
Saturday, part 2 of the solution came through. And Sunday, I rehearsed the plan, ‘cause it involved a discussion with my team leader, and I had to feel confident in what I had to say.
But all 3 nights, I was sleeping with my weighted blanket and my weighted sleeping mask and my ear plugs. Sensory input minimized (to the max)! I shouldn’t have had an internal meltdown like this if my shutdown was due to sensory overwhelm.
That leaves the disruption to my routine and sudden demands. Autistic inertia and demand avoidance for the win!
I was exhausted. And vibrating. I hadn’t had a shutdown/meltdown this bad since August of 2021.
Fortunately, my plan resulted in a validating meeting with my TL and actionable steps to delegate some work, defer other work, and make space for my brain to process. Also reassuring: there will be a full content review conducted by our client’s Executive Head. Any changes identified/required by this review will mean amendment to the e-learning and reuploading to the LMS anyway. So, the problem I identified would not really be a problem.
I slept through the night on Monday and felt more level on Tuesday. Still a little dopey, but also calmer. I delegated work and accomplished a satisfying amount of work myself.
In the health arena, I’ve survived the change of seasons without an outbreak or blepharitis. As soon as the weather rose above freezing, I added the Ryaltris nasal spray to my regime of twice-daily neti-pots, Emergen-C, and ColdFX. So far, so good (she says, knocking on every available wooden surface).
I forgot to mention it last month, but I got Torvi in for her annual checkup. This year, she was due for her vaccines, which expired at the end of January, but post-pandemic, my vet has experienced some challenges. Last year, Torvi’s annual exam was pushed into March and though I booked this year’s at that time, they didn’t have an opening until May 1st. Torvi was unprotected, in the middle of her mid-winter shed, and groomers require a vaccination certificate.
So, I called, and the receptionist suggested a virtual exam. I jumped at the opportunity. The technicians conducted the physical exam and vaccinations with a vet supervising over zoom. A friend was offered a virtual exam for her dog but felt that paying full price for half an appointment was a bit of a cheat. I’d rather have my grrl protected.
Voted in the federal election on April 18, 2025, in the advance voting period with Phil and Mom. There were lineups! And initial numbers indicated that people voted early in record numbers. As of the end of the month, the Liberals have a minority government, but there are several outstanding polling stations where validation is still in progress.
And I haven’t even mentioned the shit show that was RFK Jr.’s autism registry. Mutant registry, anyone? Even though it was in the US, when the initiative was announced, the Canadian federal election hadn’t yet been decided, and the possibility of a maple MAGA government was real. Fortunately, the NIH walked things back thanks to the focus efforts of the autistic community, but the fight isn’t over.
Strength to your sword arms, my American ND friends!
The month in writing
Reader, it was not good. At least at first. The above-mentioned difficulties at work meant that I had few, if any spoons in the evenings to devote to my creative work.
But I persevered. Writing is, if nothing else, one of my special interests. I created a rough query last month and finished the synopsis early in April and, as I’d hoped, creating these two documents allowed me to see in a bird’s eye sense where I could focus my trimming efforts.
Then, I moved onto fixing my final chapter. I struggled initially, not having the brain power to sort out the way forward ‘cause no spoons = no brain power.
But with the respite of the Easter long weekend, I rallied and made some headway.
On the 12th, as I publicized last month, I joined the lovely Vera Constantineau for a spring/National Poetry Month reading at the South End branch of the Sudbury Public Library. It was an intimate event, with 3 friends from the Sudbury Writers’ Guild and two of my former high school teachers. Vera and I read and went a little overtime with the Q&A.
We’re going to do it all over again on May 10th, at the Copper Cliff branch of the GSPL, just in time for Mothers’ Day.
Then, on the 21st, I recorded an episode of Show Don’t Tell Writing with Suzy Vadori! We had a fabulous time.
And in a super quick turnaround, it was released on the 22nd! It turned out great! Have a listen here and consider subscribing to Suzy’s podcast.
In a lovely surprise, periodicity journal’s virtual reading series #33 featuring me, Kate Cayley, Mahaila Smith, Susan Gevirtz, and Noah Berlatsky was posted on the 28th. So grateful to rob mclennan for all he does for Canadian poetry and poets.
Filling the well
The full sugaring moon in Libra was on the 12th. The night before, the almost-full moon was a delightful pink. I honoured the night with a guided meditation.
The new alder moon in Taurus was on the 27th. A truly lovely day. Sunny, warm, and low-key. Did another guided meditation.
In writerly events, the last session of Starting it Right with Cece Lyra was on the 3rd. This session, she critiqued submissions. Useful analysis. And food for thought.
I attended the launch of A Thousand Tiny Awakenings at Laurentian University’s Indigenous Learning Centre on the 5th. It was lovely to hear Connor Lafortune, Lindsay Mayhew, and Blaine Thornton read in person and enjoy several audio or video recordings from other anthology authors. And there was cake (!)
The 12th, when my poetry reading with Vera at the GSPL was scheduled, was also the day of Can-Con Virtual—oops! But I caught the sessions I wanted to, before and after the reading and a couple days later, I was able to catch the sessions I missed with replay links.
Finally, The FOLD started on April 27th. I watched most of it in replay, because working.
Finnish classes continued throughout the month on Monday nights.
I had a lovely massage on the 9th. Have I mentioned how much I love my RMT?
My semi-annual dentist appointment was on the 23rd.
My support group also met on the evening of the 23rd. The topic this month was meltdowns and shutdowns.
And I enjoyed the long Easter weekend rest.
What I’m watching and reading
I finished watching the whole run of the original X-Men (Disney +). I remember seeing a few episodes, here and there, but I was mostly past my cartoon-watching phase by the time the show ran. And yes, I’m that old. Enjoyable, but the animation does not age well. I wanted to watch the series mostly as a background for X-Men ’97, which is what I’m watching now.
Then, I finished watching the second season of Severance (Apple TV +). Just, OMG, so good! I can’t really say anything about this series without spoiling it. Several major reveals. Mark S and Mark Scout have a conversation. How many severed personalities does Gemma have? And is she safe now? What do Mark S and Helly R intend to do? And yeah, it’s all vague-booking. But it is one of the, if not the, best series on streaming today.
Next, Phil and I watched the third season of Wheel of Time (Prime). Everyone (almost) levels up. Perrin becomes Lord Perrin Goldeneyes after his defense of Two Rivers from the Trolloc hoards, but Loial sacrifices himself to close the Waygate and Perrin hands himself over to the Whitecloaks. Rand travels to the Aiel Waste and enters Rhuidean where he undergoes a trial. He finally sheds Lanfear’s influence and becomes the Ca’ra’carn while Morgaine defeats Lanfear. Nyneave finally overcomes her block when Leandrin tries to kill her. Mat reunites with Min and encounters an Eelfinn who grants him three wishes. Though he gets rid of the memories haunting him since he blew the Horn of Valere, the Eelfinn hangs him as part of the “price.” A lot (and I mean a LOT) more happens, but that’s all I’ll say here. It’s worth watching.
Then I watched Flow (Crave). A-MA-zing! I can see why this movie won a Golden Globe and Academy Award. This is a movie that will stick with me for a while, and it may take some time and potentially additional viewings to tease out all the implications. No humans, no dialogue, and no narrative or voiceover. Just animals, the sounds of nature, and story. First impressions though . . . a fable about climate change; a non-human version of the flood myth; a post-human (post-apocalyptic?) world; an affirmation of animal intelligence and emotion; a bittersweet tale of found family and unavoidable loss; a secretary bird as Christ figure. Like I said, I’m going to be thinking about Flow for a while. Loved this movie SO HARD.
I also watched The Electric State (Netflix). This movie was a little different from the other robot-related media I’ve been taking in recently (The Wild Robot, A Psalm for the Wild-Built). Definitely not as cozy. In this world, Robots and humans went to war in the 90s. Protagonist Michelle is the only survivor of a car crash that happened as her family tried to escape the conflict. Shortly thereafter, Sentre CEO Ethan Skate invents neurocaster technology, allowing humans to remotely control drone robots and win the war. Neurocaster technology becomes universal after that. Everyone works, learns, and plays using their neurocasters. Everyone, that is, except Michelle, who is traumatized by losing her family and years of trying to survive foster care. Until a robot shows up that she figures out is her brother and she sets off to rescue his body from Sentre.
This movie was adapted from the graphic novel of the same name and has been largely panned, despite being written by the McFeelys, produced by the Russos, and having a star-studded cast. It’s also one of the most expensive movies ever produced, which may have something to do with the critical response. I didn’t think it was that bad. Yes, there were a lot of missed opportunities, but it was a perfectly enjoyable post-apocalyptic action movie. You can’t really go all in on the action movie vibe and have a deep philosophical conversation about technology, humanity, and whether the kid in Omelas needs to be freed at the expense of the society their suffering made possible. That’s one of the missed opportunities I was talking about.
My first read of April (April!) 2025 was Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune, the second of the Cerulean Chronicles. This novel continues the tale begun in The House on the Cerulean Sea, in which Linus Baker, a hapless drone in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DiCoMY), finds his life upended in the most pleasant way when he is assigned to assess the conditions in one of DiCoMY’s orphanages for magical children.
This novel is told from Arthur Parnassus’s perspective. He’s worked hard to make a good life on the ashes of his old one. Literally. Abused as a child in the same orphanage he returned to run, Arthur still hasn’t overcome the trauma of his past. Though he now has a loving partner in Linus and six wonderful magical children, the Department in Charge of Magical Adults (DiCoMA) and DiCoMY have it out for him, calling him to testify in a thinly veiled attempt to discredit him and take the children he has applied to adopt.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea is a story of resistance, lovingly told, about the daunting experience of fighting for the life you want to live and doing the work to keep it. Loved!
Then, I read A Thousand Tiny Awakenings, an anthology edited by Connor Lafortune and Lindsay Mayhew. This elegant, slim anthology features the poetry and prose of 15 dynamic young voices. Every piece in the anthology is a wakeup call.
I listened to English Fairly Tales by Flora Annie Steel. A lot of familiar material in this collection of tales, and a lot of surprising intersections with the Norwegian Folktales I read last month.
Next, I read Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao, the second in her Iron Widow series. At the end of the first novel, Zetien had just revived Emperor Qin Zheng and lost Shimin when the gods took the wreckage of the Vermilion Bird to the Heavenly Court. Now she and Qin Zheng are reluctantly thrust together as Emperess and Emperor and Zetien must play the part perfectly. The gods are watching. Qin Zheng sets off a Communist revolution and Zetien uses her influence to improve the lives of women. Secretly, Qin Zheng trains Zetien so they’ll be ready to attack the Heavenly Court and kill the gods. Excellent!
And I caught the place where Zhao wanted to include “The Peggy Hill Amendment.” IYKYK. LMAO.
Then, I read Indian Fairy Tales, collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs. The more folk and fairy tales I read from different cultures, the more similarities I find. It’s interesting to get this taste of another culture’s tales. Very good.
I finished reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. Gave me the same vibes as The Wild Robot. It’s set in a post-industrial world in which robots decided they would no longer work in factories for humans. Centuries after the robots wandered into the wilderness, society has settled into a kind of ecological utopia. Small, self-sustaining communities, green energy, but there is still technology. In this world, the best tea monk (read therapist) in Panga finds themselves dissatisfied with their life. They set out to find an ancient hermitage. And then, a robot walks out of the wilderness. Truly lovely.
Next, I listened to Zen Cho’s short fiction collection Spirits Abroad. These ten speculative stories weave together Malaysian myth and folklore with everyday life. A Datin recalls her romance with an orang bunian; a teenage pontianak struggles to balance homework, bossy aunties, first love, and eating people; an earth spirit gets entangled in protracted negotiations with an annoying landlord; we watch Chang E evolve over the course of four generations; an imugi is foiled in its ascent to dragonhood, but when it seeks revenge on the human responsible, it falls in love with her instead (such a lovely story!); and a timid second wife tries to escape her life in hell. When these stories are brought to life by a narrator who knows the language and idiomatic speech of the characters, it’s even better. Loved!
Then, I finished reading Linghun by Ai Jiang. This Nebula-Award-winning novella is a modern gothic. Set in the mysterious town of Home, a place where people who can’t release their beloved dead move to reunite with them, Linghun tells the story of Wenqi, Liam, and Mrs. Wenqi’s family has moved from Toronto into one of Home’s haunted houses to summon the ghost of her brother, who died when he was a child. Wenqi barely remembers him and wants to go back to Toronto and live an actual life. Liam and his family are “lingerers,” people who can’t afford a haunted house and engage in blood-sport auctions when one becomes available. Liam has been assigned the task of making Wenqi and her family give up their house, but Liam has other ideas. Mrs. lives and dies in the house where her deceased husband refuses to apparate, but she has a strange connection to both Wenqi and Liam. Great, creepy read!
And that was the month in this writer’s life.
Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!
I acknowledge with respect that I am in Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, that the land from which I write is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and home of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation.
Tariffs in March! And now April! 25%! Make that 50%! No! 250%! I’m trying not to get drawn into the black hole-like news cycle, but it’s hard. It’s everywhere on every social media feed, on the radio, on the television. I’m trying to engage selectively and still respect my need not to be completely dysregulated by trashfire 2025. It’s a challenging balance to strike.
Interestingly Premiere Ford got Trump to back down after imposing counter tariffs on energy supply. I can’t keep up. Then again, I really don’t want to.
But Phil keeps me informed.
There are signs things might be imploding, thanks to brave journalists and grass-roots resistance, and interesting statements coming from behind party lines saying the Orange Menace is “off book.”
The Canadian armed forces are running exercises and one of Trudeau’s last acts as Prime Minister was to commission new warships to be built, providing a domestic market for our steel. Will it be enough to replace what will be lost to the tariff war? Probably not, but it will be enough to keep people working.
Mark Carney became our new Prime Minister on the 14th and immediately repealed the carbon tax, essentially removing Pollievre’s main campaign platform. He’s also strengthening ties with the EU.
And now a federal election is being called. Things are moving so fast.
Daylight saving time arrived and, as per usual, my body’s still living on standard time. I’m messed up for at least 2 weeks. EVERY. GD. TIME.
My favourite DST/Princess Bride meme.
But shit at work is getting done. I’m just trying to get one thing done at a time, move onto the next thing, and not freak out. This too, is hard.
The month in writing
I finished this draft of Reality Bomb on March 2nd! Cue the Snoopy happy dance/flailing Kermit arms/what have you. But the draft now stands at 122,616 words. It’s a step up (or down, depending on your perspective) from the 124,527 words the last draft was, but it’s still too big. So, there’s more work in my future. There always is.
My final meeting with Suzy was on the 6th. I’d had a dysregulating day at work and was open about it. Still the meeting got me focusing on my work-in-progress and not the umpteen-million things waiting to be done at work. So, it was good.
Now to take a break from RB proper, I’m turning to my query and synopsis. I’ll use those to guide my next passes. I want to cut back to 110k, if not 100k, though I doubt I’ll be able to manage the latter. We’ll see.
I’m writing poetry here and there as well.
Definitely emerging from my winter cave.
Got a poetry reading together with another local poet, Vera Constantineau at the South End branch of the Greater Sudbury Public Library on April 12th at 2 pm.
Reached out to another local author about informal mentoring. Will connect with her sometime in April as well.
Finally, I’m starting to write reviews. My first one, on Lisa Timpf’s Cats and Dogs in Space, went up on Amazing Stories online on March 24th.
In writerly business, the first SF Canada quarterly board meeting of 2025 was on the 31st.
Filling the well
The full suckerfish moon in Virgo and blood moon eclipse was on the 14th. I didn’t stay up late enough to see the eclipse but did a guided meditation.
Spring arrived on the 20th. Lit up my altar and thought about the snow melting.
And the new ash moon and partial solar eclipse in Aries was on the 29th. Did another short, guided meditation.
I’ve been playing hide and seek with the moon, lately. If it hasn’t been completely overcast, what clouds there are make the lady hard to find. Often, I can’t get a good view until after dark and I still can’t take a decent nighttime photo with my phone to save my life. I hope things will improve now that the season is changing.
In writerly events, I attended Navigating Publishing Today with Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Suzy Vadori on the 7th. It was a fabulous session that became a fabulous Show, Don’t Tell podcast episode!
Later that same day, I attended a Canada Council for the Arts information session about updates to their programming and submissions system. The changes won’t be taking place until the summer, but things look promising.
The Canada Council annual public meeting was on the 19th.
The first three of four webinars in Cece Lyra’s Starting it Right series were on the 20th, the 27th, and the 30th. If you’ve ever signed up for a Cece Lyra webinar, you know it’s going long. She’s so passionate about writing.
Spring Finnish classes started up on the 17th and will continue for 8 weeks, as per usual. Again, I’m showing improvement.
On the 21st, I attended an Authors Publish webinar on how to get your manuscript submission-ready with Alexandra Leggat.
I attended an information session of the Canada Council’s new Artistic Creation grants on the 26th.
My support group met on the 26th to discuss work-specific accommodations.
I had another blissful week off work from the 17th to the 21st.
What I’m watching and reading
I watched the first season of Cross (Prime). A compelling arc in which Alex Cross deals with the trauma of his wife’s death, tries to protect his family from a stalker, and hunts down a serial killer who modifies his victims to look like famous serial killers of the past. It’s all kinds of creepy, but very good.
Then, I finished watching before (Apple TV +). This psychological horror wasn’t really my cuppa. Billy Crystal plays a child psychologist about to retire after his wife commits suicide (before cancer can do the job). A young boy inexplicably wanders into his house, and he feels an immediate connection. When he later meets the boy at the hospital, he decides to take on one last case. It could be a complex case of transference and countertransference, or there could be something supernatural happening. The ending is ambiguous.
Phil and I finished watching the latest season of Invincible (Prime). Mark deals with having a little brother, but unlike Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Oliver has superpowers too, and they manifest while he’s still a kid. It makes things challenging for Debbie, who’s trying to move on from Nolan. Speaking of whom, Allen finally convinces Nolan to break out of the Viltrumite gulag he’s in, but that’s the last we see of him for the season, though he drops a juicy bomb on Allen before their last scene ends. Mark is also trying to deal with the fallout from Angstrom Leavy, whom he thinks he killed. A whole passel of Invincibles from other worlds invade, and then Conquest arrives from Viltrum and kills . . . lots of people. There’s more, but I’ll just leave you with that taste. It’s as bloody as ever, and the last episode sets up at least four major threats for season four.
Next, I watched The Wild Robot (Prime). I laughed. I cried. I did not pee my pants. I swear. A service robot ends up on an uninhabited (by humans) island and tries to fulfill its mission. Seriously, my heart, y’all. Now I shall have to read the book. Watch it! It’s awesome! And just what you need to defrag your hard drive of all the bullshittery happening in the world.
Then, Phil and I watched the end of Silo, season two (Apple TV +). Phil didn’t watch season one with me, and I found it kind of weird when he decided he liked the series partway through season two. It was so good, though. Juliette survives cleaning thanks to her friends in supply and makes her way through a field of corpses to the next silo, which appears to be abandoned and flooded. Back at the original silo, Bernard prepares for the inevitable crisis that follows a survived cleaning. Juliette solves mysteries at the new silo while Bernard recruits Kyle to solve mysteries in the old, while mechanical foments rebellion. The final flashback scene is cryptic, but I’m looking forward to what the next season brings. I’ve only read the first book in the series, so I have some catching up to do.
I also finished the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Disney +). Love the opening with the updated version of the classic 70s Spiderman theme. Almost every character has comics significance and the potential to become a superhero in their own rights. Dr. Connor’s is a woman of colour! It’s also, clearly, a multiverse story. *Mild Spoilers* Ben is not dead, but in prison. There is no Mary-Jane Watson (yet?). Peter’s origin story is original and circular (the events of the first and last episodes converge). So much fun!
Next, I finished watching Interior Chinatown (Disney +). Based on the novel of the same name by Charles Yu. It’s better if you think of it as INT. CHINATOWN. Like a screenplay because that’s very much the way this series is presented. Very meta. Willis Wu works as a waiter in his family’s restaurant, but years ago, his brother disappeared, and he’s been worrying at the mystery ever since. He inserts himself into the police department by delivering takeout, moves through tech guy and translator roles until he’s a detective and reopens his brother’s cold case.
Phil caught part of a few episodes and asked, “Is it intentional, or is this show badly written?” And I forgave him because he didn’t get the premise. I can’t explain things more here without getting all kinds of spoilery. The concept is that intertwined with the story. But the show is worth the initial confusion and clichéd dialogue. Trust me. There’s a moment when you say to yourself, oh . . . so that’s what he’s doing. I recently listened to an interview with Yu on the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast. That’s worth a listen, too.
Then, I finished watching season 2 of The Irrational (CityTV). It remains an interesting twist on the police procedural, focusing on psychologist Alex Mercer and his team of graduate assistants. Sometimes they help the police. Often, they help the FBI or rely on their resources because Alex has an in through his ex-wife Marissa. This season, they were even called in to help NASA. And Alex’s new girlfriend, Rose, is former MI-6 and a professional “fixer.” It’s an intriguing mix of characters and relationships that keeps the mysteries they solve feeling fresh.
Finally, I watched Wicked (Prime) over two nights for spoons reasons. Not having read the book (though I have it . . . somewhere in my TBR pile) or seen the play, I had nothing to compare it to and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite not being terribly fond of musicals. I loved the animal justice subplot. And I will now have to find the novel and move it up in the pile.
My first read of March 2025 was Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown. This was a delightful alternate historical fantasy. It feels regency, but there are mentions of Napoleon still being in power in France, so Napoleonic? Zacharias Wythe is the new Sorcerer Royal, after his guardian, the previous Sorcerer Royal, dies under mysterious circumstances. Because he’s also an emancipated slave and person of colour, the rest of the Society of Unnatural Philosophers want to find a way to oust him, but Zacharias’ position is dependent upon the acceptance of the previous Sorcerer Royal’s staff and familiar, both of which he has, though no one can claim to have seen the latter . . .
But Zacharias has a mystery to solve, that of Britain’s decreased magic levels, and he is inveighed upon by a friend to deliver a tedious lecture to a witch’s school on the way. At the school, Zacharias sees the horrid way in which women with magical ability are treated, and he meets Prunella Gentleman, a young woman of colour and of most startling ability. Together, they embark upon a mission to change magical education in Britain—and the rest of the world—forever. Chef’s kiss!
Then, I read The Complete and Original Norwegian Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe, translated by Tiina Nunnally. Yes, there’s a forward by a certain fantasy author, currently accused of SA, but I glossed over that, disinterested in finding anything useful or clever there. The translator included Asbjørnsen and Moe’s notes, and they were far more entertaining.
These folktales unsurprisingly feature trolls as the main antagonists, often with multiple (5, 10, 15 or 3, 6, 9) heads. Ashlad is frequently the clever young hero, but young girls are also clever heroines. There are talking animals who often beg to be killed (beheaded, these tales are fond of beheading) and assist the protagonist beyond their apparent deaths and sometimes transform into princes after the fact. There are several tales in which the protagonist is forbidden to look into rooms in their guardians’ homes, but that’s where the similarly to Bluebeard ends. Enjoyed this collection quite a bit.
Next, I read Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells, the third Murderbot novella. Murderbot is on its own and gets roped into protecting another band of hapless humans from GrayCris Corp. And they have their own bot, Miki, who is irritating to no end. Murderbot just wants to watch some quality series . . . Excellent!
Then, I read the follow-up to Sorcerer to the Crown, The True Queen by Zen Cho. Muna and Sakti awaken in the surf of Janda Baik, Malaysia with no memory of who they are except that they must be sisters. But they have been cursed and must travel to distant Britain, where Crown Sorceress (minor spoilers for book 1—sorry, not sorry) Prunella Wythe has established a school for young sorceresses. When Sakti is abducted on their way to Britain through the unseen world, though, Muna must try to rescue her sister even though she has no magic. Queer romance abounds. Loved, if possible, even more than book 1!
Then, I listened to the very short audiobook of Cajun Folklore by J.J. Reneaux. Lots of clever characters in these tales. Enjoyed.
I listened to Cat o’ Nine Tales: The Jane Yellowrock Stories by Faith Hunter. It was my first dip into Jane Yellowrock, though these novels have been on my radar for years . . . I’m kind of embarrassed. Jane is a Cherokee woman and skinwalker, bonded to the spirit of Beast, a mountain lion, after an accident involving black magic when she was a child. She’s primarily a vampire hunter but branches out to any supernatural threat. These stories fit in between Hunter’s novels and provide an entertaining and bloody overview of Jane’s adventures and entanglements. Thoroughly enjoyed.
Next, I listened (can you tell most of this was during my week off when listening is the most I can be arsed to do) to the super-short, incredibly hilarious, but still informative Audible Original How to Survive Menopause by Samantha Bee. Basically, a stand-up set, but everything you need to hear if you have ovaries.
Then, I listened to Amal El-Mohtar’s The River Has Roots. This retelling of the Bonny Swans has it all. Grammar as music as magic. A sentient river. Two ancient willows at the edge of the fairy realm. Two sisters whose love defies death. There are several significant departures from the folktale/song it’s based on, but to explain more than I already have will spoil this truly lovely story. It is gentle and kind and everything we need right now. Amazing. LOVED!
My last listen during my week off was The Abolitionists, an Audible Original/The Great Courses collaboration with Professor Kellie Carter Jackson. She covers the origins of the movement, Harper’s Ferry, the civil war, and the underground railroad. Excellent.
Finally, I finished On Writing and Worldbuilding, Volume 1 by Tim Hickson. I’ve been a fan of his YouTube channel, Hello, Future Me for years now, and finally bought all three of his W&W books (to date). They’re based on the craft advice he shares on his channel. I like his philosophy of writing, and I enjoyed the book. It’s now on my craft writing shelf.
And that was the month in this writer’s life.
Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!
I acknowledge with respect that I am in Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, that the land from which I write is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and home of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation.
Ah, Tuesday. Monday has been endured/survived and we’re one day closer to the weekend. Fortify yourself for the rest of the week with some informal writerly learnings!
Raya’s queerbaiting of Southeast Asians – the importance of cultural context to queerness (part 3 of SEA critique of Raya and the Last Dragon). Xiran Jay Zhao
Ah, October. My favourite month, mostly ‘cause my birthday 🙂 Yes. I’m a child.
The month in writing
We’re just going to get right to it.
I made the decision to post only two book reviews this month (though one was of two novellas), and so I was a bit short of my blogging goal. 5,071 words of my 5,600-word goal, or 91%.
I got my latest Speculations written and submitted early because I headed down to Toronto for a day-job learning event. I wrote 1,327 words of my 1,000-word goal, or 133%.
I wrote all of 50 new words on short story number two and revised 41 words on short story number one. Even with a meagre 500-word goal for each, that was 10% and 8% respectively.
I went through the poetry collection again. This one, I decided to track by the number of poems revised. 51 of 51, or 100%. I have one more pass to make before the collection is ready for submission. I hope to get that done this month.
I got my second rejection on my poetry. Will send out more submissions.
In non-tracking projects, the read-through of Ascension continues. I’m almost finished with book three and will move onto book for this month.
I’m also 31 handwritten pages into revision notes for the SF novel that didn’t know what it was. It’s shaping up and I should be ready for my stint as a NaNo rebel next month.
I’ve also critiqued another project for my online critique group and have moved on to another.
One thing I’ve learned in the past few months is that you can still be a working writer, even if you’re not producing a lot of words. Not all writing is writing. Sometimes it’s reading, critiquing, planning, and thinking. You have to make space for all of it.
Filling the well
No writerly events in September, but I did get together with a couple of writer friends for and evening of Thai food and chat. It was just what I needed to refresh and refocus.
No pictures. Sorry.
Here are a few of my random photos from the last month instead 🙂
What I’m watching and reading
This month, Phil and I watched Carnival Row. We enjoyed the gritty, alternate world, the murder mystery wrapped up in a tragic origin story, and cheesy prophecy trope. It was nice how most of the story elements were connected to the main plot and so, as events unfolded, the characters developed and changed accordingly.
The final season of Killjoys came to an end in September as well. I didn’t appreciate all the creative choices that were made in this final season. Several of them felt forced, or worse, contrived. The series has always been more fun than philosophical, though, and things ended well.
I finished watching the first season of The Order. It really didn’t know what it wanted to be. Magical university? Werewolf story? Magical revenge tale? Things were tied together loosely, and the ending was disappointing. The titular order erases the memories of the werewolves and steals all their artefacts and research library. Really, I was left wondering why I should care.
Finally, The OA. The first season kind of ruined me with the second to last episode. When the box of incriminating books was found and everyone basically abandoned Prairie, deciding that she must be crazy/delusional, it completely undermined everything that happened in the final episode. Having broken my credibility, the series could not restore it. I basically went through the motions to finish watching, because I prefer to have a complete picture.
I wasn’t going to watch the second season, but I wanted to see how they could possibly move forward. And, honestly, it wasn’t horrible. The second season suffered from some of the same issues as the first, however. I watched it with a sceptic’s eye, distrusting everything the creators asked me to take on faith. Again, things were building to a climax and then, Pairie/Nina and Hap end up jumping to a universe in which they are Brit Marling and Jason Isaacs on a movie set. Oh, yeah. Though Michelle’s soul was retrieved by detective Karim, there was no real resolution for those left behind in the first universe, or for Homer, who finally remembered who he was but was trapped in the second.
I’m glad there won’t be a season three. At least, that’s the word on the interwebz at the moment.
Reading wise, I finished Mary Robinette Kowal’s Ghost Talkers, in which a corps of mediums help the allies in an alternate WWII. Loved. Kowal has indicated that she would like to revisit the world, but her Lady Astronaut books are demanding her time and creative energy at the moment.
I also finished Matthew Hughes’ What the Wind Brings, which he unabashedly calls his magnum opus. This was historical fiction, and I reviewed it last month.
Sarah Gailey’s A Taste of Marrow was next, and I enjoyed this second novella in her alternate America inspired by a strange-but-true plan to import hippos. This was my second posted book review last month and I looked at both novellas, which have been combined in one volume as American Hippo.
After I finished watching the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale, I finally read the book that inspired the series. I enjoyed the book more than some of Atwood’s others, I have to say, though it does share some of the aspects that I found problematic. June is another unreliable narrator, but why wouldn’t she be? The June of the book is never dependably identified by that name, though there is some speculation in the symposium appended to the end of the novel. She lives in fear, far more fear than Elizabeth Moss portrays in the series. She’s far less empowered. June is, essentially, a slave. It makes for an oddly distanced read.
Finally, I read Sean Carroll’s Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime, which I enjoyed though much of the content was over my head. Frankly, it blew my mind a bit. I read this one for research. It ties into the SF novel I want to revise.
Again, selected reviews will be forthcoming.
And that was September in this writer’s life.
Until next time, be well, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.
Always Looking Up 