Through the Portal

The next chapter: February 2025 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Tolerating ambiguity. It’s harder than it looks.

A picture of spuce against a cloudy sky.

Life in general

I’m doing what I can to manage dysregulation and my health in light of the political shenanigans taking place here in Canada as well as south of the border.

We got a reprieve on the tariff situation, then tariffs were imposed on steel and aluminum. On top of the general tariff on all Canadian imports to take effect next month. Our government continues to try to mount a defense.

From The Skimm Daily (week of Feb 17):

“Of Trump’s 75 (and counting) [executive orders], 17 overhaul foreign policy, shifting US stances on Russia, Ukraine, and Gaza. [14] target immigration, fueling his mass deportation blitz. He’s also trying to end birthright citizenship, gut federal agencies, and is going after gender-affirming care and DEI . . . All while the new DOGE office slashes budgets (saying “you’re fired” to everyone from park rangers to nuclear weapons workers). Oh, and Trump’s been actively trolling Canada . . . . The courts seem to be the only guardrail checking his power, with more than 70 lawsuits already in motion — some making their way to the Supreme Court. But the (somehow very real) question remains: Will Trump’s team simply ignore the rulings?”

The orange menace is taking all the pages from the dictator’s playbook. And doing everything he can to serve up the Ukraine to Putin while taking Gaza for his latest high-end development. It’s all kinds of batshit.

Getting back to the phrase at the top of the post. Some of you may recognize it from various job descriptions. Tolerating ambiguity is a catch-all phrase meaning you gotta shut up and put up with ALL. THE. BULLSHIT. From everyone. All the time.

So, we’re all tolerating ambiguity these days.

It’s hard to know how to fight against a madman but fight we must.

And with a record low voter turnout (about 20% in Sudbury—WTF?), Ontario handed Ford another majority. Yeah, he’s hot to fight Trump (whom he formerly adored), but he’s tanked our health care system and our education system and done a whole bunch of other despicable things. The future isn’t looking so bright.

I’m (trying) to tolerate a lot of ambiguity at work right now, too, and feeling dysregulated every other day it seems. I try to listen to my body and my brain, but I can’t take a day to regulate and level out as often as I seem to need to.

And I just read an article that says to recover an hour of sleep debt, you have to get a full night’s sleep (!). That means that I’m running on a deficit of three night’s sleep for every full work week. Gah! The weekend never feels like it’s enough time off. Now I know why!

The month in writing

I was still trying to finish Reality Bomb. So close!

Will take a break after I finish next month to write the query and synopsis and then embark on a listening pass to see how many words I can trim.

At the same time, I started research on the period between the two world wars, the temporal setting for Alice in Thunderland. Most of the books were available through either the Greater Sudbury Public Library (GSPL) or the J.N. Desmarais Library at Laurentian University. I found a couple of YouTube channels to watch/listen to as well.

I sent in the first 10 pages of RB along with a semi-query and comps to Cece Lyra for her upcoming Start It Right webinar. She may critique my pages live in her webinar. I’m sure I’ll get some solid feedback, one way or the other.

Suzy got back to me. Turns out she was just insanely busy. Our first meeting of 2025 was on the 20th. And it was great. It’s not like there weren’t issues, but I’m improving. One more session to go!

Aaannnd . . . I may be on a certain book coach’s podcast in the future! Stay tuned 🙂

On the 22nd, I was informed that “The Beekeeper,” my story in Through the Portal, has been nominated for ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction. I already submitted to the Aurora Awards and The Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction last month. We’ll see if anything comes of it.

On the 23rd, I saw this lovely review of Through the Portal by Lorina Stephens for On Spec.

I received notification of my Public Lending Right payment. Woohoo! And not in a facetious way. People took The Art of Floating out of the library last year! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But I also received notification that I was not awarded two of the three grants I applied for. I hope that means I’m still in the running for the third. Everything crossed! And yeah, that’s as painful as you might imagine.

Filling the well

The month started with Imbolc, and I put together a poetry reading covering the winter months for the still somewhat bleak midwinter.

I also lit my altar and did a guided meditation. I’ve discovered that I can only do a guided meditation, or something similar, in which I have something to focus on besides my thoughts. As an autistic prone to rumination, if I give my thoughts any opportunity, they take control and the meditation is over. The thoughts I tend to ruminate on are inevitably dark.

The full bear moon in Leo was on the 12th. The night was overcast. I did another guided meditation.

Moon pictures have been disappointing lately, all smudgy and out of focus. But I did take a couple of decent pictures of the creek. The ducks were visiting in the second one.

I tried to get some decent photos, but it’s been cold out and I haven’t been able to focus my phone camera properly.

The new rowan moon in Pisces was on the 27th. I did another guided meditation.

On the 4th, I attended a Clarion/Grist webinar on climate fiction with Annalee Newitz and Omar El Akkad. Interesting insights into climate fiction. And I always love Annalee’s presentations.

On the 5th, I attended a virtual talk, “We can’t teach a book with that word in it,” with Lawrence Hill and Debra Thompson. A discussion of banned books and the responsibility of teachers and professors to their students. Excellent.

And I signed up for another Tiffany Yates Martin webinar offered by Jane Friedman on January 29th. Because spoons, I watched the replay on the 7th. Excellent webinar with great resources.

In terms of physical/mental health and self-care, I took the first week of the month off to rest and recover. And get some tasks done. Tax prep, filing, unearthing all my journals, and cleaning my office. I got everything done but the cleaning.

I had a massage appointment on the 12th. I love my massage therapist!

My (currently) bi-annual mammogram was on the 13th.

Also on the 13th, I attended another RBC Patients and Family Learning Space webinar about insomnia. Interesting, but I am doing (or try to do) most of what they suggest.

And my support group meeting was on the 26th. This month’s topic was self-advocacy and accommodation.

What I’m watching and reading

Another series dropped off my watch list. I decided to try Psych (Netflix) after watching Talis Adler’s (Talis the Introvert) impassioned video essay in which she made the case that Psych was the best Sherlock Holmes adaptation ever made. I gave it a whole season, but I never got into it. A solid meh. Sorry Talis.

The first series I finished watching in February was the second season of Shrinking (Apple TV +). Honestly, it was better than the first. I won’t say much about it because I want y’all to check it out if you can.

I was watching the rest of Outlander season 7 (Amazon/Stack TV) but Stack’s licensing for the series lapsed before I could get there. Again. Season 8 is supposed to be the last, even though they haven’t caught up with the novels yet (strictly speaking). They’re compressing events and inserting them where is makes sense, but because I rely on the books for the actual story (love you, Diana!), the series can feel both action-packed and hurtling toward its conclusion.

I loved what I saw but decided that another streaming service was not in the budget. We’ll be deactivating Stack TV soonish as they’ve raised their subscription fee. Just one more series to finish first.

Then, I finished watching the first season of High Potential (CTV). Morgan is a high potential intellectual and mother of three who works as a nighttime cleaner for the LAPD. One night, she changes a murder board, and her life, forever. When called to the carpet for her vandalism, Morgan explains her reasoning and helps detective Karadec solve the murder. Selena, head of the major crimes division, offers Morgan a job as a consultant. Morgan initially refuses but then accepts on the condition that Selena help find her first husband who disappeared 15 years ago. Think of Morgan as the Erin Brockovich of the LAPD. Fun.

Next, I watched the first season of Interview with the Vampire. CTV SciFi aired it, and I’m glad I caught it. I really enjoyed the second season, and now I have the context to appreciate it even more. A most excellent re-envisioning of the novel and previous adaptations.

I finished watching the second and last season of Arcane: League of Legends (Netflix). The animation was even more striking, the pace just a little less hectic, and the story stronger than in season 1. I think they could have done even better if they squeezed in a tenth episode, but I’m happy with what we got. Everyone’s messed up after season one. A foreign warlord (Embessa) tries to take over Piltover. Victor becomes (or at least awakens) the Arcane. Vander returns in a surprising form. I can’t say much more without spoiling everything. You’ll just have to watch it.

Then, I finished watching the whole run of The Owl House (Disney +). Luz has always been a weirdo, and she’s supposed to go to summer camp but ends up opening a door to another world, which slams shut behind her. In the Burning Lands, she meets Eda, the owl lady, and King, who looks like a puppy wearing a bone mask. She convinces Eda to teach her magic (even though she’s a human) and soon learns the reason Eda is known as the owl lady. When she discovers that there is a magic school, she makes friends of the other students and eventually convinces the principle to allow her to enroll. Ultimately, Luz wants to find a way back home, which is why she wants to learn magic.

From the first, Luz is a chaotic transformation engine. Unfailingly kind, she changes everyone she meets. Eventually she does find a way home but realizes that the Burning Lands—and the people she’s come to love there—is where she belongs. There is so much more to this series—curses, conspiracies, queer love, the collector—and the final season was squished into three 1-hour episodes, which didn’t do it any favours, but I loved it overall. 

My first February listen was The Complete Guide to Tarot and Astrology by Louise Edington. An interesting book linking two of my new age-y interests. Most of the book was taken up with descriptions of the major and minor arcana and their astrological associations, but there was a good introduction about how to bring the two practices together, spreads, and application.

Then, I listened to Valor’s Trial, the fourth in Tanya Huff’s Valor’s Confederation series. Gunnery Seargeant Torin Kerr is thought to be killed in a battle against the Others, but her lover Craig refuses to believe it. Torin’s survived . . . a LOT over the past three novels. It can’t end like this. Meanwhile, Torin wakes in a subterranean POW camp where fascist elements have taken over, and everyone else seems to have lost the will to fight back, let alone escape. Loved! Torin’s as kick-ass as ever.

Next, I read I am AI by Ai Jiang. This novelette was shortlisted for the Astounding, BSFA, Hugo, and Nebula Awards. In the city of Emit, Ai is a cyborg content writer competing with actual AI content writers. She supports her community with her upgrades between shifts and barters her organic body parts for upgrades. In an effort to work harder and faster and make even more of the money she needs to keep herself and her small group of friends alive, Ai sells her heart. A fabulous cyber-fable.

I finished my reread of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Amazing how this gentle fantasy story stands up. Modern children might want more action or suspense or whatever, but I still love this childhood favourite.

I’m going to give the reread a bit of a break and dive into research for Alice in Thunderland. I’ll probably alternate between reread and research, just to keep my brain from going too far down the rabbit hole.

Then, I finished reading Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Very different from the series. And I know Quentin’s journey is all about dealing (or not) with his trauma, but I did not like him as much as a character. A good read with lots of insights about the adaptation from book to series and the possible reasons for the choices made.

Next, I listened to Blackthorn’s Botanical Magic: The Green Witch’s Guide to Essential Oils for Spellcraft, Ritual & Healing by Amy Blackthorn. Again, as per many of the paganish books I listen to (because they’re part of Audible’s free catalogue), most of the book was a listing of the essential oils and their correspondences with select recipes. I’ve recently purchased a bunch of essential and perfume oils and an eager to get at some synergy experimentation, but it will have to wait until I have the time to devote to it.

Then, I read a short story by Premee Mohamed, “At Every Door a Ghost.” In a world where a scientific AI makes a deadly mistake in the name of experimentation, and all science becomes closely monitored and restricted as a result, two scientists try to buck their new big brother and fail. Or maybe it’s a qualified success?

Next, I finished Piers Anthony’s On a Pale Horse, the first of his Incarnations of Immortality series. Yes, this is another series I’ve read out of order, but it really doesn’t matter. The books all stand alone and intertwine in different ways. The unique bit with this unabridged audiobook was the author’s afterword in which Anthony talks about the genesis for the book (and series). He bemoans being typecast in his genre and wants to write literary fiction. Unable to break the mold, he incorporates more serious topics into OaPH, namely his mother’s death and his own brush with mortality.

Zane is a hapless aura photographer, who, out of money, about to be evicted, and desperate, resorts to using the last of his money to buy a magical gem that should guarantee fortune. Unfortunately, the gem can only locate lose change and, after foiling an assault and coming into possession of a gun, he contemplates suicide. Until Death enters his room, and he instinctively shoots the incarnation, thereby becoming the new Death. The story includes some pieces of puzzles from other books in the series, like how Luna, Orb’s sister, came to be Death’s beloved. Again, I found Zane and Luna a bit on the oblivious side, and the blatant sexism (yes, Anthony was a product of his time) irked. But it was a decent book and, if nothing else, shows me what I want to avoid in my own fiction.

I read Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Charlie was a journalist until he was fired and now struggles to make ends meet by substitute teaching. His dream is to buy a local pub, but he barely makes enough to keep himself and his two cats, Hera and Persephone, fed. Add to that the fact that he’s living in the house his father left to him, which his step-siblings are continually pressuring him to move out of so they can sell it and split the proceeds, and Charlie’s pretty desperate. Then the uncle he hasn’t seen since he was a kid dies, and Charlie is propelled into a high-stakes world of secret cabals and enhanced animal operatives (Hera and Persephone are two of those), in which he is nothing more than a start villain. Super fun read.

Then, I read Cats and Dogs in Space, a speculative poetry collection by Lisa Timpf. I loved this collection, but I must confess to having a serious soft spot for furry family members. The collection is divided into four sections: From the Headlines, in which the poems explore real life examples of speculative themes; Legendary, in which the mythological dogs and cats take the stage; The Great Hereafter, a heartbreaking exploration of loss and grief; and Cats and Dogs of the Future, which chronicles the adventures of robot dogs in colonial space and more. “Musings of a Shelter Dog” brought me right back to the thoughts and feelings inspired when I read Andre Alexis’ Fifteen Dogs, and “Laika” and every poem in The Great Hereafter made me weepy, to be honest. Highly recommend to lovers of poetry, cats, dogs, space, or any combination thereof.

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!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life. https://melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: December 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

Settling into recovery mode … (cue olde-timey modem squealing)

Picture of the quarter moon above a tree.

Life in general

The illen settled in, but I hadn’t yet gotten headaches, facial pain, or any of that ilk, so I continued on with the neti-pot, Emergen-C, and Advil Cold & Sinus. If things got worse, I figured I’d go to the clinic as I’d done in the past and see what came of it.

If I made it through to my January doctor’s appointment (not my preference—I really didn’t want to be sick over the holidays) I’d see what he’d say about it.

In the meantime, I’m trying to take care as best I know how. Staying hydrated, eating well, getting as much sleep as I can, though I rarely get the sleep I need during the work week. And that’s the blessing and curse of working from home. I can still work while I’m sick without exposing anyone else to what I’ve caught, but sinus infections aren’t contagious, per se.

There was work to be done, though, and so work I did.

I sought the advice of a pharmacist who recommended Cold FX. So, I tried that out. I thought the illen was too far advanced for it to help but combined with meds to reduce symptoms and the irrigation of the neti-pot, it seemed to help with sleeping through the night. I also added hot toddies in the evening (tea with honey and rum). I’m pulling out all the old home remedies and supports I can.

And…toward the end of the month, after some narsty nights plagued with coughing—more the result of stubborn snot clinging to my airways and turning my throat into some bizarre mucus air harp (wheeze, whistle, gurgle) than anything else—I finally managed to sleep through the night.

Things seemed to be turning the corner in a positive direction.

I’ve discovered that if I have anything other than work scheduled on a weekday evening, be it a critique group meeting, support group meeting, haircut, taking Torvi to get her nails ground—anything, I’m out of spoons for the day.

I’m trying to respect my energy levels, day to day, and I’m learning that my executive function and support needs also vary daily. What I was once able to do easily, I may now struggle with. It’s a difficult lesson to learn.

Thank…whatever, I have some time off over the holidays.

The month in writing

Getting back into writing mode is an iffy proposition. I worked on some edits for a short story early in the month and that seemed to go well.

I wrote a poem. Not sure of its quality, but it felt good in the writing.

But when it came to Reality Bomb, the going was tough. I got back to it on the 9th but managed maybe half a page. Still, I touched it!

The next day, I had an appointment after work and my Dispatches meeting, so I wasn’t able to get to RB.

I did a little more work on it the next evening, but the following two days were challenging at work, and I had no energy to speak of in the evenings. I also had a sneezing fit (one every 10 to 15 seconds for about a half hour) the first night and that took all the fight out of me. The second night it was coughing fits over the course of an hour, which aggravated my GERD. I’m sure both helped to usher out infection (it’s what they do, after all) but both were exhausting and not conducive to trying to write (or do anything else).

But I finally finished rewriting the troublesome chapter I started working on last month and moved on with my re-read. I finished that in a couple of evenings, with minor touch-ups.

When I got back to the drafting of the final two chapters, though, I stalled again, but just for a couple of days while I was focusing on recovery, finishing up the Christmassing, and doing some associated running around.

The going was slow, but I got back to it.

Along with preparing my application to the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity SFF Program, and some grant applications.

Something I neglected to mention last month was that an old friend of Siobhan Riddell reached out to me and offered to send me one of the sketches she’d done for him. I couldn’t justify accepting one of his remembrances, but I did accept a couple of pictures. They’re lovely.

This has happened periodically over the years, and it gives me all the feels to know that Siobhan’s wondrous work has touched other people as deeply (or deeper, frankly) as it’s touched me.

Then, I received some news about Through the Portal. Apparently, their website was down, but it’s back up and running again.

And they are planning two in-person events for the anthology, both in Toronto. One was on December 28th and the other in February 2025. I can’t participate in either, so I’ve been kept out of the loop on the publicity.

I received an opportunity mid-month to submit my work to the poetry in Canada poetry bookshelf. I’ll let you know when The Art of Floating makes its appearance.

There was an SF Canada board meeting on the 3rd to prepare for the upcoming AGM. It was an efficient meeting, and all the necessary decisions and arrangements were made.

The AGM itself was scheduled for the 28th. There were a few technical issues and delays, but everything worked out in the end.

The year in review

This has been a momentous year for me in terms of writing. My debut poetry collection! All the promo and signings and reviews and events around that! More poetry publications! A cli-fi short story publication! Another acceptance of a poem and a short story for future publication!

Given that I’ve been in burnout since September, that’s not bad!

In terms of words written or revised in the year, I:

  • wrote only 1,553 words of short fiction and revised 187 (that I tracked),
  • wrote 3,232 words of creative non-fiction,
  • wrote 28 new poems, and
  • wrote 39,059 words in this blog/newsletter.

I stopped tracking my revision efforts on Reality Bomb partway through the year. It was getting complicated. But if things progress as they have been, I should finish with a 120k-word draft. I’d wanted to bring it down more than that, but I still have a listening pass to go, and hope to find a few more places to trim then.

In writing-related events, my ongoing, though stalled, work with Suzy Vadori, and the Stillwater Writing Retreat are highlights.

In retrospect, though I took my six-week, self-funded leave as a means to recover from the flurry of activity around the launch of The Art of Floating, I now recognize that I was probably anticipating burnout even then. I could not have anticipated the accidents and illnesses of either my mom or my mom-in-law, but I could probably feel the impending exhaustion.

I’m grateful I took the leave and that my employer offers the work arrangement, but it means that I won’t be able to take another until the latter part of 2025.

At work, I was able to accept an acting position as an instructional designer on a new team, and though the transition has been a bit fraught, things are finally coming together on the one major project.

In terms of reading, I set myself the goal of reading 50 books this year. In fact, I’ve read or listened to 93 books, 186% of my goal. Admittedly, reading several poetry collections, a fair amount of short non-fiction, and listening to audiobooks helped to increase the number of books I read this year, I still outpaced my goal by quite a bit. And I’ve read a bunch of books that I wouldn’t normally.

Filling the well

The new Reed moon in Sagittarius was on December 1st.

The full moon in Gemini was on the 15th.

Winter solstice fell on the 21st. Did my altar thing.

And the new Elder moon in Capricorn was on the 30th. I know the second full moon in a month is referred to as a “blue” moon, but I had no idea that the second new moon in a month is called a “black” moon. It’s not official astronomy terminology, but that’s what’s out there on the interwebz.

I had no writerly events this month, to my great relief. I needed the relax and to focus on getting my words back.

I did meet for a final time this year with my Dispatches critique group on the 10th. It was a relaxed evening.

I had a massage on the 4th. Bliss.

My support group met on the 18th. This month’s topic was shame. And hoo-boy is this a big issue for me.

And I finished the month with some well-earned and desperately needed annual leave. I was off from the 21st through to January 1st, 12 days off for the price of 5.

My bestie and her partner came up for a visit on the 28th. Phil made cookies and apple cake. They went home with the remainders.

What I’m watching and reading

I watched the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois (CTV SciFi). Yeah, they did the death of Superman. Last season, Lex Luthor turned Bizarro into Doomsday by injecting him with a serum that resurrects him and then killing him repeatedly (I know, I know). Doomsday kills Superman in front of his family, ripping out his heart. Jordan gets him to the Fortress and into suspended animation, but he can’t heal without a heart. So, General Lane sacrifices himself after injecting himself with the serum that resurrected Bizarro so that Lois and the boys can use it to heal Clark. But having a human heart is enough to make Clark age and slowly de-power.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Final showdown with Doomsday (again) and Lex in John Henry’s suped-up suit. Superman saves the day. In the aftermath, Lex goes to jail for good, several couples are united, Jon (who developed powers) and Jordan get married and have a passel of kids. Lois’s cancer returns, she dies, and then Clark’s human heart gives out. Clark and Lois are reunited in the afterlife.

Having said that (and rather snarkily), S&L was one of the best series to emerge from the “Arrowverse” (even though it was supposed to be in a separate timeline). All the other series got old after a few seasons of retreading the same ground, although most were entertaining, initially.

Charlie Jane Anders has an interesting take on why the Arrowverse, as a whole, was the best set of superhero series on TV. I don’t know if I agree with her, but she says that superhero stories, having come from the comics, are inherently episodic and focused not on superheroic antics, but on the emotional entanglements and journeys of the characters. They’re soap operas. I see her point, but I was never fond of soap operas. Maybe that’s why the various Arrowverse series got old for me, real fast, and why S&L, at only four seasons, comes out ahead of the pack.

Then, I watched the first season of Time Bandits (Apple TV +). I watched the original Terry Gilliam movie so long ago that I don’t really remember it, but I enjoyed this new adaptation. History nerd Kevin is bullied, and his family doesn’t understand him. When the self-proclaimed Time Bandits enter his room through a portal in his closet, pursued by the Supreme Being (who wants his map back, thankyouverymuch), Kevin is swept away into time travelling adventure, while the bandits try to steal treasures from everywhen they visit. Fun.

Next, I finished Black Cake (Disney +) based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s novel of the same name. Byron and Benedetta (B&B) are estranged but come together when their mother dies of cancer. In a series of pre-recorded statements, the siblings learn that their mother, who they knew as Eleanor, was actually Coventina. As they slowly learn the truth, they begin to work through their own secrets and trauma. I enjoyed it (especially Nine Night and duppies), and I have the ebook, which I’ll now have to read 🙂

The series ended on a cliffhanger as B&B’s recently revealed half-sister begins to listen to her separately-recorded message from Eleanor/Coventina, but Hulu cancelled it, so the book may be the only place I can find out what happens next (!)

I also finished watching the latest season of Only Murders in the Building (Disney +). The gang is excited because an OMitB movie is being made, but it’s not long before they figure out that Sazz, whose murder was revealed in the last moments of last season, is missing. When they find one of her prosthetics in the apartment’s incinerator, they have their next season of the podcast. Charles’ serial killer ex escapes prison, Oliver and Loretta navigate their long-distance relationship, and poor Mabel ends up squatting in a dead guy’s apartment. And, of course, another murder was revealed in the last minutes of the season. Fun, as always.

Then, I watched The Lost City when it was shown on the CTV Scifi channel. It’s been on my list of fun movies to watch for a while, but I haven’t been able to find it on any of the streaming services. I guess it will be on Crave now, but I was happy to have a relaxing evening of enjoyable and undemanding viewing. Sandra Bullock stars as Loretta Sage, a former archeological researcher and reclusive romance author on a book tour with her cover model Alan played by Channing Tatum. When she’s abducted, Alan ropes in former Navy SEAL and CIA operative Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to help him rescue Loretta.

Phil and I watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy to the World (Disney +). It was a lovely, sentimental story, and I loved the idea of the time hotel, but the story could have used more Joy in it 🙂 The character was a bit sidelined in the story, but I guess you only have so much runtime to fill, and you have to make cuts somewhere. Watch it and see what you think.

Finally, Phil and I finished watching the third season of Bleach: The 1,000-Year Blood War (Disney +). Yhwach tricks Ichigo into killing the Soul King, though one of the soul reapers sacrifices himself to become the Soul King’s right hand. Various factions of the soul reapers fight various members of the Stern Ritter. At the end, Uryu’s plan to infiltrate the Stern Ritters and stop Yhwach is revealed. He stays to fight Haschwalth, who is endowed with Yhwach’s Almighty while Yhwach sleeps, and sends Ichigo to kill the sleeping Yhwach. One more season to complete the story arc!

My first listen of the month was the Audible Original Goblin Hero, the second in Jim C. Hines’ Goblin Trilogy. The reputation of “Jig the Dragonslayer” draws a desperate ogre to the goblin caves. Pixies have taken over the ogres, literally, and they need Jig’s help. The goblin leader is all for it, wanting to rid herself of Jig and all the goblins who want him to be leader instead of her. And Jig’s not too sad to go, either. Vika, obsessed with the hero’s journey, has been bothering Jig to teach her magic, but he doesn’t know how.

Things get interesting when Vika decides to embark on her own hero’s journey and follows Jig into the heart of rainbow-coloured, mind-controlling, pixie madness. Fun!

Then, I read Legacy, the second in Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Sharing Knife series. Dag and Fawn return to his home, uneasy with their anticipated reception. Dag warned her that it would be more difficult than sorting things out with her family, but Fawn doesn’t realize how hostile the Lakewalkers are until Dag’s brother Dar refuses to recognize their marriage and insists that Dag turn around and deliver Fawn back into the uncaring arms of her family. Things get complicated when Dag has to lead a rescue mission to a northern town overrun by a Malice and it’s mudmen and mind slaves, leaving Fawn to face the hostility of the Lakewalkers alone. Very good.

Next, I read The Heart Forger, the second book in Rin Chupeco’s The Bone Witch series. It’s the continuing story of Tea, The Bone Witch. Each chapter continues Tea’s past adventures as she relates them to the bard she initially compelled to tell her tale and jumps into the present as the bard witnesses what she does as a result of all she learned. A complex plot and intertwined characters. I loved it.

Then, I finished my reread of C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. There was a time when I used to read the entire Chronicles of Narnia about once a year, sitting at my desk in the evenings, but it’s been decades since I thought to pick up some of my childhood favourites. As good as I remembered it.

I also read The Shadow Glass by Rin Chupeco, the third book in The Bone Witch series. There seemed to be some issues with bringing the story full circle with the dual timelines and some critical events/information were glossed over toward the end, relying on revelations from the beginning of book one and narrative summaries from earlier in the book to fill in the gaps. It was a bit disorienting, but the author ultimately stuck the landing with a bittersweet ending that was worth it.

I read Kelley Armstrong’s Tales of the Otherworld. This collection so shorter tales focuses more on the Cabal than on the werewolves, but vampires make a couple of appearances, and we get the backstory of how Elena and Clay met and fell in love.

Next, I finished That Hideous Strength, the third in C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy. Having read the full trilogy now, I’d say they’re more in the way of science fantasy than science fiction.

Unlike the first two books, which focus of the adventures of Ransom as he travels first to Mars and then to Venus to fight the evil spirits of the universe, this novel begins with the tale of Mark and Jane Studdock, as Mark, a sociologist and academic, is seduced into the ranks of the NICE. Jane, lonely and rudderless as she tries to orient herself to married life when her husband is so often absent, begins to have visions, which draw her into the community of St. Anne’s.

NICE aims, through eugenics and fascism, to control humanity. Weston, Ransom’s antagonist in the last two novels, is mentioned as a martyr to their cause and other of Weston’s co-conspirators from the first novel have been given new names as they seek to corrupt the social and intellectual foundations of Britain. At St. Anne’s, Jane meets the director, who is, in fact, Ransom, and who has an odd affinity for animals. In a final battle for free will and humanity, Ransom’s people find Merlinus Ambrosius, whom NICE operatives are also seeking. Merlin is sent into the NICE stronghold to disrupt their plans, free their prisoners and animals, on whom they experiment, and lead the internal revolt.

Perelandra, or Venus, comes to take Ransom to his heavenly reward, Mark is freed from the machinations of NICE, and Jane welcomes her wayward husband home. The characters are mostly passive, with the exception of Merlin, but even he is counselled not to murder anyone, but to let them be hoist by their own petards. Not for everyone, but enjoyable.

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!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life https://melaniemarttila.ca

The next chapter: November 2024 update

/ Melanie Marttila

This bear wants to hibernate.

Snow-covered trees.

Welcome to winter

Life in general

The end of Daylight Saving Time on November 3rd dysregulated me, as it usually does. Regardless of whether we’re gaining or losing an hour, I’m disrupted for a couple of weeks following. Sleep, cognitive processing, everything.

And now we’re entering the dark months of the year and all I want to do is sleep. Northeastern Ontario skies are generally cloudy through the late fall and winter months, so even during the day, the light is dim, and the mood is dreary.

I’m still very much in burnout.

Family issues continue to arise. If it’s not my mom, it’s Phil’s. We’re definitely moving into the caregiver zone.

And I’m moving this topic into the privacy zone. Sorry, not sorry.

I know I said it last month, but things at work really are starting to sort themselves out. I’ve had to step up and mask/extrovert, which is exhausting, but it’s part of the job. It also means I have fewer spoons remaining at the end of the day.

And I suspect the sinus infection is creeping back. Called my doctor to make an appointment—a phone appointment—and got one…next year (!) Such is the state of health care in northeastern Ontario.

So, I’m on my own and hoping to get some advice from a friendly pharmacist to keep this thing to a seasonal sinus flareup and not the 2-to-3-month ordeal it’s been the last three times I had it. The last time, it took three rounds of antibiotics, two nasal sprays, and antihistamines to kick it to the curb.

I thought that using the refills of the nasal spray and antihistamines as a preventative measure was working, but this thing started before I finished the prescription.

I’ve started to use the neti pot again. If nothing else, it helps get the snot out.

Two spruce trees against a blue sky with fluffy, white clouds.

The month in writing

November kicked off with the Wordstock Sudbury Literary Festival from the 1st to the 3rd. You may have seen my wrap up post last month.

Although it was a fabulous event, I was back to not being able to write creatively, poetry or prose, in the wake of it.

But I did apply for a professional development grant to attend next year’s Banff School of Creativity and the Arts Science Fiction Program with Premee Mohamed, Ai Jiang, and Amal El-Mohtar. Oh, my, but do I ever want to go.

And of course, after I submitted, I realized all the errors I’d made.

The edits from the piece of short fiction accepted last month came in and that started to stimulate the old creative instincts. They’re due on December 13th. If nothing else, the deadline will get me going again.

I resumed the re-read of Reality Bomb but had to stop at a particularly narsty chapter and rewrite.

But I was starting to write again. Cue the Snoopy happy dance. Or the flailing Kermit arms. Whichever visualization brings you the most joy.

Until…I wasn’t. Damn these ups and downs. I start getting into the groove and then, the next time I sit down, the words won’t word.

More poetry rejections trickled in and one acceptance for Polar Starlight in 2025. Got that on the 9th.

Also on the 9th, I received an invitation to a Small Press Books event on the 30th of November. It will already have taken place by the time this is posted, but you’ll prolly have seen my posts on SoMe (social media) about it 🙂

And now it can be told! The story I’ve been vague-booking about since August (well, really, since last spring)? It’s called “The Beekeeper,” and it’s in the Exile Editions anthology Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia. It’s going to be published December 31st! The whole lineup is stellar, and I have several writerly friends to share the table of contents with. I got the news on November 15th.

Pre-order link here. It’s on sale, too!

Filling the well

The new Ivy moon in Scorpio was on the 1st.

Moon pictures will be few for the next four or five months. I’ll be working when it’s light enough to take a picture of the moon during the day and after work, when I walk Torvi, it’s already dark and my camera phone cannot take decent pictures of the moon at night.

The full Beaver or Freezing moon in Taurus was on the 15th. I saw her while taking Torvi out for finals and she was glorious, wreathed in cloud and halo. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Aside from Wordstock, I had minimal writerly events this month. I needed a break.

On the 30thof last month, I’d registered for “Irresistible First Chapters” with Tiffany Yates Martin. I wasn’t able to watch the replay until November, because life is busy, and I’m still burnt out. Finally got to it on the 10th. TYM always brings the good writerly learnings.

Also on the 10th, I attended the virtual launch of C.L. Carey’s Spaced! on YouTube. It was a fun event and now I have another book for my TBR pile.

I registered for Saeed Teebi’s “Writing the Short Story” webinar on the 16th through the FOLD Academy. I was focusing on recovery that weekend, though, and had to wait until the webinar was posted to the FOLD Academy YouTube channel. I finally watched it on the 26th. Teebi’s process is intuitive and interesting.

Finnish classes continued throughout the month, with the last one on the 25th. Feeling competent.

My support group met on the 27th. The topic was stress management. Much needed, though I don’t know how much of the excellent advice shared during the meeting I’ll be able to implement.

What I’m watching and reading

The first series I finished in November was The Artful Dodger (Disney +). Jack Dawkins escaped from prison, was seconded as a surgeon in the navy, and is now a brilliant (though illiterate—dyslexic?) doctor in Australia. He has gambling debts he can’t pay and the man he owes wants to cut off his hand (!) Fagan finds his way to Dawkins and draws him back into criminal life as a means of paying his debts and saving his medical career.

Enter Lady Belle Fox, the governor’s daughter, who brings a brilliant medical mind of her own, and several innovations, to the hospital where Jack works. She wants Jack to train her to be a surgeon, but she has an ulterior motive which would be a big spoiler to share. And Oliver Twist shows up as a literal plot twist later in the series.

An interesting continuation of a beloved secondary character’s story. It seems like it was only intended to be a limited series, but fans have been asking for more.

Then, I finished all three seasons of Sweet Tooth (Netflix). This is about the get SPOILERY. The first season was about survival. Gus, a hybrid (children who are born with animal attributes, in Gus’s case, antlers), lives with his Pubba in hiding. Hybrid children are being hunted by the Last Men because when the hybrids began to be born, the Sick also appeared, a disease with no cure, killing humans on a massive scale. When Pubba disappears, Gus is left on his own until one of the Last Men comes hunting…then changes his mind. Something about Gus stays his hand. Gus wants to find his mother, Birdie, and won’t leave Big Man alone until he agrees to help. Big Man reluctantly begins to care for Gus. Along the way they meet Becky, AKA Bear, leader of the Animal Army, who defend and protect hybrids. Becky wants to find her sister, a hybrid who was taken from her family when Becky was too young to have done anything to prevent it.

In the second season, the General, leader of the First Men, becomes the main antagonist. He’s rounding up hybrids and has captured a doctor (Singh) who extracts a substance from the hybrids that can prevent the Sick, which his wife has, form progressing. The General wants Singh to make a cure, but Singh eventually realizes that he can’t and is stuck buying time for him and his wife. Gus is captured and with the other hybrids, tries to escape. Meanwhile, Big Man teams up with a zoologist, who has also lost her hybrid kids to the General, and Becky calls in the Animal Army. The General is defeated, and Gus and his compatriots find some important information that might lead them to Birdie.

In the final season, Gus, Big Man, Becky, and her sister, Wendy set off for Alaska, where Birdie is supposed to have gone. Singh, whose wife has left him because he refuses to give up his search for a cure, follows and eventually catches up to them. Gus begins to have visions of a cave. One of the General’s allies, Mrs. Zhang, is determined to wipe out hybrids and save humans, and sets off in pursuit. Becky and Wendy are separated from Gus and Big Man, Singh defects to Zhang’s side, Birdie and then the cave are found, but when Gus finally reaches his destination, Zhang kills Birdie, stabs Big Man, and Singh is about to sacrifice Gus to cure the Sick. There is a final confrontation, but I won’t give everything away 🙂 [Here endeth the spoilery]

Next, I finished all three seasons of Truth Be Told (Apple TV +). In season 1, Oakland journalist Poppy Parnell (Octavia Spenser) restarts the true crime podcast Reconsidered that made her famous and reopens the 1999 murder case of Stanford professor Chuck Buhrman after new evidence suggests Warren Cave, the man she helped put behind bars, was wrongly convicted. Blame shifts through multiple secondary characters, two of whom are the twin daughters of Buhrman, who’ve dealt very differently with their trauma.

In season 2, Poppy investigates the murder of a controversial filmmaker at the request of his wife Micah (Kate Hudson), an equally controversial wellness guru whose friendship with Poppy compromises her judgment. Poppy’s marriage dissolves, and she begins to sort out some of her past trauma in the process of solving the crime.

In season 3, Poppy works with a high school principal (Gabrielle Union) to investigate the disappearances of several young black girls in Oakland whose cases lack mainstream media attention. Poppy’s long-time podcasting partner leaves when Poppy makes a deal with a media sponsor. It’s all tangled up in human trafficking and Poppy changes her last name from Parnell to Scoville when she works through some of her issues with her family.

It was good, twisty storytelling and using a journalist/podcaster as the protagonist made for an interesting perspective and departure from the usual police procedural.

Then, Phil and I watched Deadpool & Wolverine when it started streaming on Disney +. Hilarious and meta and fourth-wall-breaky, it was exactly what we needed after a stressful week.

I finished watching the first season of Supacell (Netflix) and in a rare turn of events, it’s been renewed! It’s the first season of Heroes meets Attack the Block. There’s a sickle cell variant that allows Black people to develop superpowers and a shady organization (unsurprisingly of white people) seeking to train and control them. They’re not just trying to save one person (AKA the cheerleader), but each of the five main characters has a loved one in jeopardy. I enjoyed it and I’m happy I’ll get to see more. I just hope the show doesn’t go the route Heroes did in season 2.

My first listen of the month was another Audible Plus catalogue selection that was due to be removed. In Charles de Lint’s The Wind in His Heart, four lives come together to be changed forever. Thomas Corn Eyes has always seen the spirits, but he wants to see the world beyond the Rez before he takes his place as shaman. Steve Cole faked his death and changed his name to escape his rock star life and live in the desert. Troubled barrio teen Sadie Higgins is abandoned in the desert and is willing to do anything it takes to get revenge and escape the pain of her life. Leah Hardin, Newford blogger, still grieving a friend’s death, heads down to investigate a rumour that Jackson Cole may still be alive.

It’s a lovely tale, entwining myth and mystery, and all four characters find their ways to healing among the Maderas Mountains.

Then, I finished Mike Chen’s A Quantum Love Story. This book is my new comp for Reality Bomb. Mariana Pineda is grieving her best friend and stepsister Shay’s death and ready to quit her job working as a neuroscientist for ReLive, a company that has a process that stabilizes memories. It’s not that the process doesn’t work—she’s had the treatment herself—or that she hates what she does. Shay’s death has uprooted Mariana’s life, and she needs to start over. After she tours the Hawke Accelerator. It would have been Shay’s dream. Shay was a physicist.

At Hawke, Mariana keeps seeing the same man, a technician, everywhere she goes, and when he asks her to go with him, to stand in a particular spot, she’s bemused enough to go along with it. And then a beam of green light strikes her, and she wakes up on Monday morning, four days before. She’s stuck in a time loop.

There’s a lot more to the story, but this novel is so good, I want y’all to read it.

Then, I listened to Great Figures of Latino Heritage by Dr. Khristin Montes. It was another Audible Original and Great Courses collaboration. Though short, Montes covers everything from the Aztec and Inkan empires through to the present day. Excellent.

Another short but 100% fun listen was John Scalzi’s Constituent Service. This is an Audible Original exclusive, that is, the story was written for Audible and will only be available on Audible. Narrated by Amber Benson, Constituent Service tells the tale of Ashley Perrin, who’s starting her first job, post-graduation, as the community liaison for the Third District, where aliens outnumber humans. Immediately, she’s bombarded by noise complaints, transit complaints, a report of alien pets—illegal on Earth for environmental reasons—and a missing chicken. It all comes together in a hilarious conclusion.

Next, I listened to Habits for Happiness at Work, another Tim Sharp Audible Original. Sound advice, but again, not all that neurodivergent friendly.

Then, I finished my reread of Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Darkest Road. As good as I remember it. Heart wrenching. You can really see the seeds of the storyteller Kay becomes in later novels.

I’d pre-ordered Ashley Shuttleworth’s A Wild and Ruined Song earlier in the year and dove in when I received it. I was hooked by the Hollow Star Saga from the first book in the series. The complexity of the worldbuilding is amazing. And the characters even more so. Mostly queer, mostly traumatized, and sufficiently ND-coded that I was stuck to their respective journeys like glue.

I’m not going to say much about the book itself because I think it’s worth reading if you like urban fantasy/masquerade at all. I will note that the final epic battle happens off-page, which might be disappointing to some readers, but the entire series, and this book in particular, includes escalating conflicts, so there are enough physical battles to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty reader. It was a solid conclusion to the series.

Next up was Karen Frazier’s Chakra Crystals. Interesting ideas about using crystals and other stones to heal or balance your chakras. This was more of a curiosity read than a research or personal improvement read, though I’m sure, as an autistic, my chakras are all out of whack.

Then, I listened to Wynonna Earp: Tales from Purgatory by Emily Andras. This collection is a series of short stories that picks up where the series left off. Wynonna and Doc are off on a much-deserved vacation and experience difficulties on their journey, including a head-popping demon. Meanwhile, back in Purgatory, Jeremy, Nicole, Waverley, and the gang deal with demons of their own. A fun listen that reunites the cast for more potty-mouthed sexcapades, supernatural mysteries, and lots of chaos. What else would you expect from Wynonna Earp?

Then, I read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s The Serviceberry. Kimmerer proposes a new economics of giving and reciprocity based on the lessons of the humble berry. Short, but LOVED.

My final listen of the month was Mistletoe Murders 3 by Ken Cuperus. This Audible Original is a slightly guilty pleasure I discovered three years ago when the first in the series came out. It’s actually classified as a podcast, but whatever. I love it. Cobie Smulders voices Emily Lane who runs a year-round Christmas shop in a sleepy little town, is hu-mom to two demanding kittehs, and solves mysteries in her spare time. Cozy, right?

But Emily has a secret past that caught up with her at the end of the last book, when someone from her old life appeared and told her that her high-profile sleuthing had drawn the attention of the shadowy organization she became Emily Lane to escape…just as her relationship with local lawman Sam was starting to heat up. It’s fun. And I love me some Smulders (justice for Maria Hill! IYKYK).

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!

The next chapter: A month in the writerly life. https://melaniemarttila.ca

Cover reveal and pre-order link — New Short Fiction!

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

I’m soo excited to finally be able to announce this!

Last year, my short story “The Beekeeper” was accepted by co-editors Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu for their Exile Editions anthology Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia!

It’s available now through the Exile Editions website (linked in the title above) for pre-order at a 15% discount until the official launch date on December 31st, 2024!

Just look at this lovely cover:

Cover of Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia.
Full cover (front and back) of Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia.

Hopeful dystopias are so much more than an apparent oxymoron: they are in some fundamental way the spearhead of the future – and ironically often a celebration of human spirit by shining a light through the darkness of disaster. In Through the Portal: Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia, award-winning authors of speculative fiction Lynn Hutchinson Lee and Nina Munteanu present a collection that explores strange new terrains and startling social constructs, quiet morphing landscapes, dark and terrifying warnings, lush newly-told folk and fairy tales.

This is a fascinating collection of all-new, modern-day speculative storytelling, with insightful “Tales from a Hopeful Dystopia” featuring Agata Antonow, Sarah Christina Brown, Mary Burns, K.R. Byggdin, Petra Chambers, Katie Conrad, M.L.D. Curelas, Matthew Freeman, R. Haven, Liam Hogan, Cornelia Hoogland, Vanessa Hua, Jerri Jerreat, Zilla Jones, Katherine Koller, Erin MacNair, Melanie Marttila, Bruce Meyer, Isabella Mori, E. Martin Nolan, Avery Parkinson, Ursula Pflug, Marisca Pichette, Shana Ross, Lynne Sargent, Karen Schauber, Holly Schofield, Anneliese Schultz, Gin Sexsmith, Sara C. Walker, Jade Wallace, and Melissa Yuan-Innes.These authors show us that now, more than ever, our world urgently needs stories about hope.

So thrilled for this next publication and to be sharing the table of contents with so many fabulous author friends!