Well. Camp season is finally over. And I get my brain back.

News

And just in time, too, because I have just handed Shattered Souls over to brilliant editor Cameron Montague Taylor. They’re going to help me figure out if this monstrosity is actually queryable or if I need to do some division and conquest before I can send it out into the world in search of a heart to love it as much as I do.

Things do not really let up for me, though! From August on through autumn, I’ve got a series of events and travel. More on that in a moment, but first, I want to remind all y’all that voting for the Hugo Awards ends on August 8th! If you are a voting-type person, I would really, really love your consideration for Worldbuilding for Masochists for Best Fancast.

This is our sixth year in a row as Finalists. We’ve lost by extremely thin margins three times, and last year, we lost by a single vote. I would love to not lose again. 😅

You should vote in all the other categories, too! The fan categories, in particular, always need love, and the poetry category is one I’d like to see on the ballot again in the future, which means it needs participation.

Upcoming Events

Today! Worldbuilding for Masochists is taking part in TBR Con, an all-virtual, all-streaming sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention. We’ll be chatting about our “choose, don’t presume” ethos and general approach to worldbuilding. Tune in on YouTube at 5pm ET!

This weekend, I am delighted to be appearing at Warriors in Bloom at Agecroft Hall & Gardens in Richmond, VA: presented by Virago Alley, who also did the first Richmond Renaissance Faire this past April. I’ll be portraying “pirate queen” Grace O’Malley of Ireland as part of their interactive quest.

Later in August, I’ll be at LA WorldCon, August 27-31. And y’all, my schedule is packed. If you’re going to be at WorldCon, here’s where you can find me — And if you won’t be at WorldCon, most of these should be available online as well as in-person, either streamed live or recorded and made available post-con — and if you get a Virtual Membership, you get access and you get to vote for the Hugos!

• Friday, August 28

  • 12pm: Worldbuilding for Masochists Table Talk

  • 3pm: The Scoville Scale of Spicy Books

  • 4:30pm: Populating Fantasy: More Than Kings, Knights, and Smallfolk

• Saturday, August 29:

  • 12pm: Many Mics, One Stage: Hugo Fancast Mash‑Up

  • 6pm: Live Podcast: Worldbuilding for Masochists

• Sunday, August 30:

  • 9am: Immersive Experiences

  • 10:30am: Golden Idols: The Evolution of Religion

  • 3pm: Pantheons Around the World

  • 8pm: Hugo Awards Ceremony

Yeah. It’s a lot. (And that’s not even counting the prep time for the Hugos, the pre-reception, or the after party.) But in the spirit of Jupiter currently inhabiting Leo in my 10th house of career and public life, I decided not to decline any of those opportunities! Audaces Fortuna iuvat, after all.

In September, I’ll be on a panel at the James River Writers Conference, run by my local writers’ group, September 25-26. This conference has almost always conflicted with something else in my schedule, so I’ve never been before, but I’m super excited to be on the “Magic & Mechanics: Staying Consistent When (Almost) Anything Goes” panel on Saturday and to attend the rest of the weekend.

After that, I’ll be at Multiverse Con in Atlanta, October 14-16! Schedule there still TBD, but earlier this week I did a short interview with them on YouTube. (My bookcases in my new apartment look so good behind me!)

And in the midst of all that, I’ll be headed back to Orlando for my birthday in September! And you know I’ll be treating myself to some enchanting experiences there.

What I’ve Been Reading

So, since I haven’t sent a newsletter since April (sorry!) but I’ve been mainlining a lot of audiobooks, this is quite a list. (And the Bookshop.org links below are, as usual, affiliate links from which I will earn a small commission if I manage to tempt you into trying one of these books)

• A Beginner's Guide to Rakes, Taming an Impossible Rogue, Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke, and The Handbook to Handling His Lordship by Suzanne Enoch

• The Middle Ages Around the World and 10 Women Who Ruled the Renaissance by Joyce E. Salisbury

• Powerful Women of the Medieval World by Dorsey Armstrong

• A Scar in the Bone by Sophie Jordan

• Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire

• The Early Middle Ages by Philip Daileader

• Platform Decay by Martha Wells

• Children of Fallen Gods and Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent

• The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield by Claudia Gray

• Cinder House by Freya Marske

• House of Dusk by Deva Fagan

• Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

• Secrets of a Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, Devil in Winter, and Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

• Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

• A Little Too Familiar and Rough Around the Hedges by Lish McBride

• Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

• Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

• The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

Okay, so. I’ve been back on another history kick, because, well, those are nice and easy to listen to in chunks. Many of those aren’t really books but rather Great Courses. I’ve also been re-reading a bunch of romance novels because I unpacked them all and actually being able to see them in my gorgeous new spinny bookcase reminded me how much I adore them. I’ve continued to try to like romantasies, meeting with greater success when it comes to the structured-like-a-romance kind.

I think my favorite thing on this whole list is The Unicorn Hunters, which was just gorgeous and also a lovely twist on a bit of fairly obscure medieval history. I also enjoyed Lish McBride’s fantasy-romances for some fluff, and Joyce Salisbury’s histories were intriguing and informative.

Wrapping It Up

Okay. This was a long one, so if you stuck through to the end, thanks! This is what happens when camp season eats me and I don’t send a newsletter for three months.

As always, you can also find me on Bluesky and Instagram for more timely updates, and if you join my Patreon, you’ll get access to all the sneak peeks of works-in-progress, along with other assorted goodies.

I hope summer’s treated you well, that you haven’t been melting too much, and that your August is bright and shiny!