Season One of We Contain Multitudes is now complete! I ended with a flourish, too, with the inimitable Deanna Raybourn—and a mistake that nearly cost me a perfect finish. Please have a listen to get the skinny, plus some extras to mark the finale. 🧡

The good news is I’ve started revisions on a book! The less-good news is that between said revisions and continued noodling on the scifi horror and my part-time work in corporate comms, my brain is at capacity.

Well, maybe that’s not entirely the full picture.

In addition to those two writing-related things, I’m also navigating a parenting challenge long-distance, coming down from all the behind-the-scenes work of my very own podcast show (squee! still can’t believe that one!!), running the household, tending to friendships and family, navigating career things, managing my complicated health…

Oh, and witnessing the world fall, metaphorically, on its ass. Will it pick itself up? Who knows. I very much hope so!

I didn’t have much left in the tank for this newsletter, is what I’m saying.

But instead of faking my way through with something—I was tempted!—I figured I could just let you know where I’m at. Maybe I’m not the only one at the same or similar place. And if that’s the case, maybe it could be useful to hear/read someone telling you:

It’s okay. You’re okay. Doing the best you can in good faith, even when it feels like not enough, still counts. Don’t beat yourself up—metaphorically or literally—for being stretched thin. Don't borrow trouble by disempowering comparisons with others you think are better or healthier or more productive, &c. &c. ad nauseum.

I feel like I’ve hit my wall. Do you feel like you’ve hit yours? Here’s a thought: what if instead of scouring our heads for ways to scale it, to defeat it, to overcome adversity…

What if we took a rest instead? What if we take a long, hard look at that wall and figure out what it’s made of, what we’ve made it out of? Chances are, it’s not quite as impenetrable or formidable as we initially thought. We may even discover that we can just…go around.

I dunno. Right now, I’m taking it one thing at a time, one day at a time. Wanna join me?

Joyful Things

• Revisions! I always have the hardest time writing a first draft; sometimes the only thing that gets me through is remembering there will be revisions afterward. On deck now is the suspense novel. I’ve promised a new draft to my agent by the end of April. Wish me luck!

• I’ve discovered BSG ie., the Battlestar Galactica reboot (2004-09). I think I’m on S1E6 and really enjoying it. I LOVED the 1978 series as a kid.
  I also started a rewatch of the original and uh…I’m tempted to write an essay/blog post on all the ways its writers simply replicated biases of the time in the imagined world of The Twelve Colonies… Anyway, it’s a slow rewatch because those prejudices are hard to stomach sometimes.

• Why didn’t someone tell me Fringe (2008-13) was such fun? I mean, it’s kind of gross, too—I learned the hard way not to snack while watching lol—but yes, unequivocal fun. John Noble is a weirdo delight.

Oh, there’s just one more thing...

In the Edmonton area?
Come find me at the MacEwan University campus on Friday March 27th!
I’m part of the Live Action Slush panel at 3pm, and will likely be wandering around earlier that afternoon, too.
This is a student-led festival for emerging writers of speculative fiction to meet and learn from established local authors, publishers, and editors. It’s free and open to the public. I’m excited to see my friends Premee Mohamed and Margaret Curelas, of publisher Tyche Books, among the professional panelists.