The Cat Days of Summer
Yes, I know the actual idiom is “Dog Days.” But lately I’ve been feeling more like my 19-year old cat: a bit lazy, a bit cranky, and comfort-seeking. And honestly, his daily habits — napping in a sunbeam, sitting on the windowsill to watch the birds at the feeder, howling at people until someone cuddles him — are seeming more and more like the best way to spend the summer.
Which isn’t to say I haven’t been at all productive! I’m currently hard at work on a novel which takes place, in part, in the 1980s in Massachusetts. Last month I did some archival research with the help of reference librarians at the Framingham Public Library, who assisted me in looking at old copies of the Middlesex News on microfilm, and the Boston Public Library, who sent me relevant articles from the Boston Globe. One of the librarians at the Framingham Public Library turned out to be someone I went to high school with and hadn’t seen since the late 1980s. When I saw her working at the reference desk, my immediate thought was, “I’m glad she turned out to be a good person.” Libraries are amazing. Librarians are even more amazing! Support your local library in any way you can.
In the world of short fiction, I have some incredibly exciting news: my story “The Witch Trap,” which was a finalist for the Nebula Award, was selected by John Joseph Adams and Nnedi Okorafor for inclusion in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025! This is a huge career milestone for me, and I am both honored and humbled to appear in a book alongside such incredible stories. The anthology will be released in October; you can preorder it anywhere you buy books (including your local independent bookstore, or bookshop.org.)
I’ve had a few new stories come out since I last wrote — and one poem!
“How To Cook With the Negative Space in Your Grandmother’s Recipes” was published in Worlds of Possibility, and received a “recommended story” designation from Locus Magazine critic Charles Payseur. It’s about love, and loss, and family, and was inspired by my grandmother’s pickle recipe, which she never gave us in full.
“The Last Time Gladys Howled At the Moon” is my debut publication in Strange Horizons, and appeared in their special issue on Aging in SFF. Charles Payseur also recommended this story in Locus Magazine, and I really love what he had to say about it: “The piece examines the ways we often frame childhood as a time outside of obligations and responsibility, full of play and community, and then have to watch that erode in the face of fiscal responsibilities, social mores, and the capitalist obsession with individuality. And Hudak shows that aging can allow for a break from those things, a return to the freedom not possible since childhood, and a reconnecting with the power and wildness that many assume long lost.” Strange Horizons is a fantastic magazine, and I’m so happy they gave a home to my aging lady werewolf!
“Holding Patterns” came out in both print and podcast form in Escape Pod. This one is about knitting, art as both self-expression and resistance, and hope — in spaaaaaaace.
And lastly, “Air/born” — my very first published poem, came out in Orion’s Belt. I hadn’t written any poetry at all since I was in college (a very long time ago!) but this year I participated in a very gentle, friendly poetry contest through the Codex Writers Group. The contest made me think a lot about language, and the shape of sentences and stories. “Air/born” is one of the stories I wrote for the contest, and I’m delighted that it was published!
Something that connects all of these pieces is the idea that it’s never too late to learn something new — to take chances, to play, and to expand your sense of what’s possible. Consider this an invitation.
Until next time!
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