In the Aftermath...
The Cat and the Comma Issue #20
The increasing chill in the air and the yellowing of the leaves have made one thing abundantly clear: November is here once again. One month ago, I released my debut novel. Between that and some other writing updates, there’s been a lot going on. Let’s talk about it.
Misc. Professional Update
A Sharper, More Lasting Pain is here and available for reading! As of October 10th, it is available on most major retailers in both paperback and ebook. It has been… harrowing, knowing that it is out and available in the world at last, but I’m happy to have done it. I also did a lot of book signings and, as of this being posted, have my last one for a while tomorrow. I’m so appreciative of all the love and support I’ve been shown by friends and strangers alike.
By the way, if you would like to read a sapphic fantasy dark academia novel about three Casters at a magic college and the monstrous tragedy that unfolds around them, you can buy copies here!
Additionally, I have another anthology compilation coming up! REVERENT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF DIVINITY is a collection of poems, essays, and short stories from various authors discussing the Divine across a variety of cultures. I’m a contributor with my short story The Comforts of Home, which is about a woman who, after being dumped for her autistic quirks, rediscovers herself and rekindles her relationship with the Hellenic gods she used to worship. I’ve been told it reads like a warm hug.
On a less-fun note: I have acquired a job, but I am still suffering with the effects of the Boeing strike. For those who are new, I am a Boeing factory worker from Washington state and fall under the International Association of Machinists and Aersospace Workers (IAM) union, district 751. Our district, as well as IAM district W24, are currrently on strike against Boeing. I am being paid by the union, and from my new job as well, but it’s still not quite enough to get by on. If you have the means to do so and like the work I produce, I highly encourage you to check out my Ko-Fi or my Patreon, where I post behind-the-scenes looks at projects, bonus art (like the bookmarks I commissioned!), ebook copies of my works, and more. The $1 tier acts mostly like a tip jar, but there’s still some additional things available there regardless.
Writing Update
Having finished up my anthology piece for the Reverent anthology (at least, until edits…), I have shifted gears to other projects once again. Across This Hollow Distance is still on hold while I think it over some more. Early readers are sad at the loss, but I think the distance (lol) is necessary for me to feel better about it. I certainly have no plans to abandon it entirety… it just needs more time.
In the meantime, I’ve been working on Those Who Emerge from Ashes, my dark fantasy novel about a wanna-be historian, a woman in a cult, a goddess, and an eight-hundred-year-old Not!Jesus figure and how their lives all intersect in a harebrained quest to resurrect the gods of their world. It’s been slow-going, though, because…
I have a new book WIP again! My nesting partner, for better or for worse, decided it would be a brilliant idea to give me a new story idea. I initially tried to ignore it to work on other projects, but it soon became impossible to put off. I have spent the last couple of weeks doing a ton of research and building and am currently on a “zero draft” of The Distance Between Stars and Salt, a tragic, Maltese-inspired seafaring fantasy novel about two women in a failing marriage who go on a journey across their drowned world to attempt to repair their relationship. It is inspired by the likes of Maltese mythology and folklore, Final Fantasy 10, I Am Setsuna, The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arseunault Rivera, and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Here’s the current summary:
There was and there was not, in the oldness of time, a star-born woman and her hapless wife who ventured on an arduous quest...
Everywhere she goes, Edera is known only as the woman who married a star. Her life outside of this has lost all meaning to anyone but herself and Seren, her wife. When Seren becomes increasingly withdrawn, Edera starts to worry her wife is tiring of their union and seeks to leave, as well as where that leaves Edera and her purpose. Then, as the threads between them are close to fraying, Seren proposes they embark on a journey across their drowned world. Perhaps along the way, Edera can find the spark that her and Seren have lost, and maybe even a purpose of her own.
That is, if the darkness looming on the fringes of their world doesn’t consume them first.
What started off as a post-apocalyptic fantasy idea has slowly become a lot different than that, but I’m excited to see how this goes. As mentioned, this is a Maltese-inspired fantasy and that is for one important reason: my mother’s family is from the country of Malta, and this is my attempt to learn more about and become closer to that culture. As mentioned, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks doing research on everything from pre-historic Malta to dolmens to luzzu boats to Maltese Catholicism and so much more. I have also found a handful of Maltese fantasy writers… though I will need to learn the language in order to read their books.
This project has been healing, in a way. Perhaps that sounds strange, but that’s how it is sometimes.
I’m excited about this project, if you couldn’t tell, so I’ll share the first two paragraphs as well:
On the day of my birth, it is said that a star fell from the heavens in the shape of a girl. The spectacle shook our quiet coastal town, busy as it was with its yearly re-enactment of an archaic wedding tradition. My mother had originally been one of the actors selected. For obvious reasons, though, she was now preoccupied. As such, all tales surrounding the star-shaped girl were later delivered to me via second-hand accounts.
The first thing I remember our Keepers telling me is just how beautiful you were. How three perfect eyes blinked opalescent and took in the world around you. How your three-fingered hands reached and thought only of curiosity. I must admit I didn’t care for these tales at first; to everyone but my own mother, the circumstances of my birth became sea foam in comparison to yours. Everyone on our island grew to knew of the star-born girl, regardless, and this fascination continued until we at last crossed paths.
This, as you can see, is being wrote in first-person directive, where a narrator is talking to a “you”. This detail is important to the conceit and plot of the book itself. I am so excited to get to share more about it.
Media Update
There was a bit more going on media-wise this month! Let’s talk about it.
I’ve been watching a lot of Greenleaf, of all things, which is a TV drama series about a Black pastor family and their various intrafamilial dramas. I watched it once a long time ago, but I never finished so I’m watching it again. Been enjoying it so far!
As for reading, still reading through the ARCs I have left, as well as reading through Starling House by Alik E. Harrow, and I recently picked up Gideon the Ninth and I’ve been enjoying it a lot more than the first time I read it. I think part of the problem was trying to read it on ebook. Food for thought.
I recently got my hands on the Madoka Magica movies and now I’m just looking for a good opportunity to watch it all.
I’m also starting a new Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker playthrough. I’ll let you form your own conclusions as to why.
Blog and Video Update
I barely had the energy to do livestreams this last month tbh. I want to go back to doing them, though, especially so I can talk about my rewriting process and infodump more about TWEfA. That said, I have been thinking up a video about the current Boeing strike and what’s going on there, if only to try to bring more awareness to the situation/present information from a union worker’s perspective.
Otherwise, I’m planning a video going through all the research I’ve been doing for TDBSaS… Cause there’s a lot.
The Cat Recommends
I like to use this space to shout out other indie writers, cause I think we could all use a boost from time to time. This time, I’m using this space to shout out Quinton Li and their summertime holiday romance novella, All You Want for the Holidays!
Perrin Pavlou is finally accepted into the Sunlit Creative Space residency program after applying for every round to date. With promises of a luxury villa in a sunny beach town, artistic strangers to find companionship in, and a week to work on her photo collection dedicated to the residency's experience, she is ready to embrace her long-desired dream.
Until she finds out that her ex-best friend is the only resident she'll be spending the rest of the week and Christmas with.
Inari Kan wants to start doing things for themself. Their people-pleasing tendencies and high-masking high-functioning lifestyle means they're longing for a holiday to just relax, write, and be themself.
But how are they supposed to do that when they're spending almost every moment of their days with their high-school crush?
All You Want for the Holidays is a second-chance sapphic romance published as part of Home for the Holidays, a collection of standalone novellas connected by a singular theme: spreading queer joy during the holiday season. The collection features novellas by Jay Leigh, Quinton Li, Valerie Gomez, Anna Sparrows, Kerry Kilpatrick, Micah Carver, Arden Coutts, C.S. Autumn, E.L. Ough, Emily Axon, and Dallas Smith.
Love sapphic romance? Love holiday books set in the southern hemisphere for once? Read more about All You Want for the Holidays .
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Special thanks to Ceph, Hannah, and Larkspur. If you want to have your name here with theirs, subscribe to my Patreon!
And that’s a wrap. I wish you well on all of your endeavors and hope you stay safe.
Kindest regards,
Alex