Hi friends,

This newsletter is mostly fiction, but a couple times a year I’ll write to you as me, generally when I’ve got some news to share.

So: I’ve got some news!

A few weeks ago, Spotify announced a brand-new audiobook publishing imprint called Spotify Audiobook Selects, and my sci-fi novelette “A Short Future History of Whales” is part of their big launch. The book is voiced by two jaw-droppingly talented humans, Eunice Wong and Avi Roque, who have worked genuine magic in bringing the story to life. “Whales” is a mystery about the end of the oceans, but it’s also about motherhood and AI and loving things despite the sorrow they bring you. I’m so proud of this story, and if you’ve been enjoying my microfictions, I think you’ll like it. Listen here.

In other writing news, the wonderful folks at Flash Fiction Magazine nominated my very short story “A Taste of Lime and Honey” for the Best of the Net 2025. Hooray for mini-fiction!

As some of you know, I started this newsletter the day my family and I moved from the United States to Aotearoa New Zealand. Our seasons have switched: as friends and family say goodbye to fall and embrace the growing darkness, we’ve been catching the last blossoms of spring and watching summer unfurl its long, lazy days.

I’ve been reading lots: Sarah Menkedick’s exquisite essays on creativity and motherhood, Danielle McClune’s whip-smart perspectives on AI, Mick Herron’s Slough House series, R.F. Kuang’s Babel, and Ann Leckie’s Translation State (so good!). Based on Sarah’s recommendation, my partner and I have been working through Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals on a daily-ish basis, and I’m being reminded over and over again of the inescapable finitude of human control. Also, it’s quite funny. Highly recommend.

Friends in the States keep asking: How is life in New Zealand? The best answer I can give is that being here feels like an exhalation. Our lives are slower. We’re unimportant to the churning machinations of the world. We matter to each other, and that’s enough.

Also, for those who have been asking — yes, you can reply to these emails and they come directly to me! I love getting your messages, hearing which stories strike a chord and which fall flat. Send me your notes; I’m listening.

Hugs,
Jenny