January 2025 Newsletter
Hello, everyone! It… sure is 2025, huh? In Virginia, we opened the year with two snowstorms, a water crisis, and an earthquake. A small earthquake! But still an earthquake, which I felt because it was less than three miles from my house.
If this is setting the tone for the year… well, good luck to us all! 😅
And that’s not even touching on the political state of things, because honestly, thinking about that depresses me so unutterably. I’m determined to do what good I can, where I can. I’m determined to throw money at the organizations trying to protect what needs protecting. And I’m determined to keep creating spots of brightness through the power of story.
Fortunately, I have a lot of opportunities for that!
News
I’m continuing to make great progress on the novel I’ve been working on since the end of the summer. Well, I am in the sense that I am continually working on it and feel like I’ve really got my wheels under me, I’m not losing interest in the project, I’m not hitting any roadblocks that are insurmountable. However, I have twice now hit about the 80k mark and ended up bouncing myself back down to about 60k because I realized some scenes were no longer working with the direction the story is moving.
This is where my chaos muppetry is, alas, an inefficient way to build a story. I’m a much faster editor than I am a drafter, because by then, I know what the story is, I just have to clarify its shape and smooth everything out. When I’m still finding the story, it… can take a bit of trial and error. 😅 But I’m excited about everything I’m uncovering, even as it’s wheeling me astray of where I thought I’d be.
It’s also still Quest development season at work, and it’s great to have the stories coming together to the point where I can really see how they’ll play out at camp. We’re starting to move from the writing phase into visual design, and I’m hoping to participate in that more closely than I have in prior years, as I’m trying to get a better sense of that component of narrative design as a whole.
And — I am very, very excited about some things that are in motion for Halcy-Con 2025. More on those after they go public, but for now I’ll just say that I am getting some wonderful opportunities to play.
Upcoming Events
This time next month, I will be getting ready to head to ConVivial, February 28 to March 2 in Williamsburg, Virginia! This is a relatively new con that I haven’t been to before, but I’ve heard lovely things about its first couple of years, so I’m excited to attend. No schedule yet, but hopefully soon!
In April, I’ll return to my hometown con, RavenCon, April 25-27 in Richmond, Virginia.
And of course, as above, there will be Halcy-Con in October!
What I’ve Been Reading
I did a lot of re-reads in December, mostly whipping through the Lady Darby historical mysteries that I enjoy so much, as well as some of Marshall Ryan Maresca’s Maradaine Saga. I did so many, in fact, that I am not going to list them all, just the ones that start the series.
Since the new year started, though, I’ve been determined to make more of a dent in my massive TBR pile, especially those I get from NetGalley. Mother of Rome was absolutely incredible. Obviously I have a lot of feelings about Rome, but even beyond that attachment, this book is beautiful. It’s been a while since a book had me weeping through its final act, but this one did it.
The Thorn of Dentonhill, Marshall Ryan Maresca
The Anatomist’s Wife, Anna Lee Huber
A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan
Mother of Rome, Lauren J. A. Bear
North is the Night, Emily Rath
Wrapping It Up
As a final note, if you would like to be able to nominate, say, your favorite podcast for a 2025 Hugo Award, and you didn’t attend WorldCon in Glasgow last year, time is running out! You’ll need a WSFS Membership by January 31st. The membership is $50, gets you both nominating and voting rights, and will also get you the Finalists packet — way, way more than $50 worth of novels, graphic novels, novellas, poetry, short stories, audio, and more.
What fresh nonsense will February bring us? Gods only know, but I’m hoping my 2025 bingo card will stop filling up quite so quickly.
Stay well, and all the best to you and yours,
