Hello!

You might be wondering why this newsletter is called Vanburen's Fitness Tips! It's named after my Fitness Coach, Vanburen.

A couple years ago, literally a few months before the world locked down because of Covid, I got a dog. Mostly to keep me moving--it was so easy for me to intend to walk every day and then, when morning came, to say "Oh the weather is bad, or I'm tired, or I have something else to do, I'll walk tomorrow." But Vanburen? He wants to walk every day.

Vanburen is an excellent fitness coach. He recommends doing at least one Fitness a day, more if you can. A Fitness can be eating delicious treats, napping (especially while snuggling), taking walks, playing with stuffies, or barking at squirrels. So many things are A Fitness. I have learned a lot from him.

Van is a rescue, he came from an organization called Gateway Pet Guardians. They work in East St Louis, and their primary mission is to help folks there stay with their pets. They run a pet food pantry, provide basic vet services on a sliding scale, and often run free vaccination clinics. They also end up with a fair few strays and surrendered pets. I'm really impressed with their work.

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I've been trying to make time to read more lately. There's so much that has come out that's amazing, and I don't always have the time to read it! But lately I've read:

The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum

So, you might be familiar with some of Ben's short fiction, which is fabulous. He published a collection, The Ant King and Other Stories, and a few of those stories ran on Podcastle back in the day. The Unraveling is his first novel and it's wonderful. I highly recommend it.

St Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney

I've always liked Cooney's short fiction--I bought some when I was editing GigaNotoSaurus--and this novel is lovely.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

You want to read this. You really do. Sapphic sort-of Holmes and Watson on a Jovian Moon. I mean. And there will be a sequel, which I am looking forward to.

And here's one that isn't out yet:

The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

I got an advance copy of this, and it was so much fun!

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Anyway, that's all for now. See you soon!

--Ann Leckie