Dear all,

July is almost over, and August looms. Hugo award voting remains open for a little over a week, if you are a member - and do take a look at the poems! I am still delighted to see them gain a category, and it’s not guaranteed they’ll get to keep it unless there’s at least a little interest, so every vote helps with that.

Seattle has entered the portion of the summer where public parks fill their wading pools, and small children reinvent mercantilism over the trade and enforcement of bath toy time shares and inflatable pool toys. It is hard to feel quite so alienated from one’s neighbours when adjudicating such matters between their shy toddler and one’s own 9-month-old, who still has not mastered object permanence. And then the smoke rolls in, and the babies and toddlers are locked away once more. But so it goes.

Book Update: The most forward-looking news may be that I have broken ground on Book Two! Now, keep this between us, but it does indeed tentatively have a title - I will say it quietly so as not to jinx things - and that title is ‘The Everdying King.’ We begin with our thieves in a Predicament, as thieves are wont to be, but to say much more would be Spoilers, so I shan’t. But I will say that Chapter One draws heavily from several out-of-copyright works with which some of you may be quite familiar.

Now, the second piece of news! Even more excitingly - we have cover sketches!!! I am in love with them; our artist is fantastic, and even in early sketches the art is striking. The team took my rambling brief - ‘bone maximalism! Skulls’n’roses! Oh but what if also gothic architecture?’ - and came up with rood screen framing and dripping petals like blood. I can’t wait to share it with you all. Hopefully soon!

Con Report: Readercon was delightful, full of interesting programming and even more interesting side conversations (for example: what exactly does make a work a ‘cozy,’ when one considers all the murders a cozy mystery might contain?). I particularly enjoyed the panel on the fantasy noir, and a presentation on the botanical fae (which will surprise precisely no one who has met me). Although I take exception to the assertion that the English think all trees are out to kill us. We quite like rowans. I returned home with many new internet friends, an exploded TBR, and a determination to propose several panels for next year.

Bookbinding: One personal delight from Readercon was the joy of getting to present a dear friend with a gift I had been working on for a little while. You all should go check out A Dubious Clamor by Marissa Lingen, which will fly free into the world a month and a half from now and is full of such wonders as skeptical swords, sapphic harpies, politely merciless young women whose patience for fascism was Not High To Start With, and novel Gilbert and Sullivan operas. But in the meantime, behold: a tiny custom version thereof!

I shall leave things there, I feel - only do let me know if you would like more bookbinding content, mixed in and amongst the other variety of ‘making a book.’ I have far too many photographs of the innards of my little home bindery for my data plan’s comfort.

Yours in crafting contentment,
Macey