What's in a Week - Vol. 48
Art and writing group sessions, what I'm working on, what I watched, read, and upcoming events...
Farewell to June! July perches at the ready...
Art and Writing Session Announcement!
Inspired by some of my favorite artists, as well as a recent live art session I performed, I'm starting up an Art and Writing Session that I hope will become a monthly thing. In this, you will join me and other artists and writers for an online Zoom session, in which we start with a few minutes dedicated to talking about art or writing or both, and then for the rest of the session, we work quietly together on our projects, chiming in with support or questions as needed. This is a very chill setup, and having attended such sessions myself, I tend to get more work done surrounded by peers. Think of it as a Bob Ross cafe style, laid back, with other creatives. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, a snack, and let's get to work!
If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, here are the details:
The cost is minimum $15 for inaugural subscribers, and the first session will be Sunday, July 7, at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, 6 PM UK time. We will aim for an hour and a half. I will cap the session at 20 people, so first come, first served. Payment goes to my PayPal account, linked here:
If these prove to be popular, I can begin to add more sessions.
Short Story in Seaside Gothic Available!
My short story, "Upon the Gloaming Hour," is in Seaside Gothic's July issue! My story is a magical realism, light ghost story, and really an homage to my parents and seaside memories on the southeastern Atlantic coast. Buy the:
Seaside Gothic
Anthology Update!
In case you missed the news, my husband Gareth L. Powell and I are building our own publishing imprint! Our first book is a cross-genre anthology. Announced authors : Adrian Tchaikovsky, Cynthia Pelayo, Ai Jiang, T.L. Huchu, Paul Cornell, Bonnie Burton, David Quantick, Eugen Bacon, Peter McLean, Ren Hutchings, Renan Bernardo, Greg van Eekhout, Pedro Iniguez, KC Grifant, Jonathan Maberry, Dennis K. Crosby, D.K. Stone, Sarah L. Miles, J.L. Worrad, Antony Johnston, Mya Duong, Helen Glynn Jones, Alice James, Khan Wong, Kali Wallace, Stark Holborn, Laurel Hightower, Gemma Amor, and Lizbeth Myles!
....and we have another to announce soon! We are nearing completion of the roster.
As of June 30, the book cover is complete, the website imagery and most of its content are in place, and we will debut all of this in mid July. We have also made our first MSWL (manuscript wish list) for literary agents, for standalone works.
We are crowdfunding this endeavor for our cross-genre anthology (tentatively publishing February 11, 2025). Currently, we are 43% funded! You can help us reach our fundraising goal. Read more at this link below. Rewards for your donations start from $5 on up, higher tiers offer books, and still higher tiers include classes from both me and Gareth and other perks!
Money donated goes directly to paying our authors and for expenses in the making of the book.
Do follow me at Ko-fi above to receive updates on our publishing imprint and the anthology! And thank you for spreading the word.
A Few Signed Books Left!
I have a very few remaining copies of my own of my Nebula & BSFA Award finalist book, The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern, that you can order signed, personalized, and shipped by me to you, if you live in the U.S. Cost is $20 and that includes shipping! Head to my Ko-Fi shop to buy:
I'm Going to San Diego Comic-Con!
I'll be on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest fandom convention in the U.S., in late July this year! I can share that the panel is called "It All Starts with a Word". From the moderator: "This panel will be about how to start writing the novel that's in your head, what challenges you can expect, the best advice on how to push through them, and dispelling some of the myths and misconceptions about publishers and agents, peppered with some stories and anecdotes from the trenches."
More details as I can share them. The programming schedule should be up around July 8.
On the Screen
This week, I've been watching A Gentleman in Moscow, a fictional story set in a real and quite fascinating hotel in Russia. It is based on the 2016 book by Amor Towles. Taking place over a span of time in which volatile changes swept the country and eastern Europe, it follows the account of a count! Forgive my pun. It's me, after all. A gentleman without a true title anymore, Count Rostov (played wonderfully by Ewan McGregor) is imprisoned in the luxe Hotel Metropol. He meets many interesting people, and watches his old world fall away while he grapples with the headwinds of the new. It's been a very charming show so far, one that I've looked forward to each evening.
On the Page
Given that it's very hot, I'm reading some chilling "mountain horror" at the moment, starting with Dan Simmons' The Terror. I'll report back after I finish this immense book. I'll probably be reading some shorter books as well in the meantime.
Writing Update
After a quite interesting and timely discussion with a seasoned publishing industry pro, I'm rethinking my writing projects with an idea toward what will most likely 1) get me a new agent and 2) actually sell in the volatile market right now. Remember, publishing is a business. And I need the cash.
This has led to a shuffling of the deck. I've repositioned the more marketable ideas to the fore and will write like the wind to get a couple of these books out the door in the next few months. Then I can pivot back to any projects that align with longer term goals, writing short stories and submitting them in between.
One of the novel pitches I came up with is a direct rebuke to a film I watched a few weeks ago (not a new release) that made me so angry that I thought I could come up with something better. Or at least with more agency. It's very high-concept and I confess that it's the best pitch I've ever made. So I'm rolling with it, and excited to do some of the research involved with the subject matter and setting.
Atacama update: My publisher has sent early review copies of my 2025 thriller/horror/sci-fi book Atacama (out May 13, 2025 from Sley House Publishing) to select authors to get blurb quotes for the book. I heard personally from one of them (and I got it on the 42nd anniversary of John Carpenter's The Thing, which has inspired me many times, and especially in Atacama):
This author went on to say they'd love to see this as a movie. And frankly, so would I!
I also heard from the cover artist, whose work is gorgeous, and that art is now in progress. I truly can't wait to see the finished cover and to share it with all of you!
I believe the cover art for Doomflower (out April 8, 2025 from Encyclopocalypse Publications) is starting soon as well.
The Week Ahead
We're entering July, which means we are now fully in the latter half of 2024, and there is much to do. I am looking forward to interviewing fellow author and anthology contributor KC Grifant this coming week. I'll probably do a proper grill spread for the July 4th, and listen to the unbelievable volume of fireworks LA will launch that night. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced anywhere else! LA knows how to throw a party.
I'm also diving into a project I meant to take up earlier this year, which is to start exploring more LA neighborhoods and their bakeries and bookstores. There's such a wealth of wonder in SoCal and it's time I got out there to embrace it, heat or not!
Wishing you all a lovely week ahead and if you're in the U.S., a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday.
Write on!
Jendia
