Welcome to JenniferHudakWrites!
Hello everyone, and thank you for subscribing to my newsletter! I'm excited to share my stories with you all, and I'm so honored that you're willing to come along for the ride.
So far this year I've published three original stories: "Ninety-Five Percent of the Ocean" in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, "The Topography of Memory" in Fusion Fragment (which is free to read online!), and "Opal, Everywhere" in Not One of Us. In addition, my story "The Cat Lady and the Petitioner," which originally appeared in Translunar Travelers Lounge, was reprinted in podcast form in the inaugural issue of CatsCast! Give it a listen; the narrator does an absolutely delightful job with all of the cat voices and it's also free to listen to!
Be on the lookout for my stories in upcoming issues of The Future Fire and Kaleidotrope, as well as in Julia Rios's new project Worlds of Possibility. Just last week I received another exciting short story acceptance...but sadly I'm not allowed to share it publicly yet. Such is the way with publishing! Hopefully soon.
I'm writing this on an auspicious day:
This fine fellow's birthday. He's sixteen!
(Above photo is a Siamese cat with piercing blue eyes, sitting on a brown couch and looking directly at the camera with an expression of contentment.)
So far, Loki celebrated by meowing at us for breakfast, meowing at us to be picked up, meowing at us to be picked up AGAIN, and then falling asleep on the couch. What a great day!
This time of year, when I'm not writing, I'm spending every possible moment tending to our vegetable garden. So far it has produced all kinds of green things: peas (both snap and shell), lettuce, kale, green beans, and ALL THE HERBS (basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, thyme, oregano, chives, sage, lavender, and rosemary.) I've also dug up some baby potatoes (russet, Yukon Gold, and Red Norland) and dozens of garlic bulbs which are currently curing in our garage (the smell in there is absolutely heavenly!) The tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts are still wee babies; I spend most mornings clearing their leaves of aphids and cabbage worms, and encouraging them to grow big and strong.
I've also been preserving the season's fruits and veggies in both jam and pickle form. My grandmother used to make the best pickles--Kosher dills, green beans, and green tomatoes (my favorite!) Though we begged for her recipe, the ingredients and method in the version she gave us were off just enough to render all our attempts inedible. She never admitted to this obvious act of sabotage; she just shrugged and smiled and said we'd simply have to eat her pickles instead. Eventually she succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, taking her pickle recipe with her. But I kept researching lacto-fermentation, and experimenting, and I've come up with my own method. Just this week, I made my first batch of Kosher dills of the season. I can't claim they're as good as my grandmother's were, but they're pretty delicious: garlicky and crisp and sour enough to make your lips pucker when you eat them. I like to think that my grandmother is either super proud of me or really, really pissed off.
Because the world has been so terrifying lately, I want to leave you with permission to care for yourself as best you can. Remember: you are whole, and perfect. You are enough, just as you are.
Be well,
Jen