Talking Story logo

Talking Story

Subscribe
Archives
August 30, 2024

deals, meals, and cover reveals!

Aloha kākou and E KALA MAI for the absence! Lots and lots happening in life and work and writing! Hoping to be more regular with these emails, but for now let’s start with:

  • What I’m currently reading/watching/listening to

  • What’s up with my writing (news and updates)

  • What I’ve been researching (and all the weird things I learn as an SF writer)

  • What I’ve been cooking (and if I succeeded or failed)

  • What my cats are up to (cat happenings)


HOWZIT? 🤙

I’ve been so burnt out the last few months, that I really needed something light and fun to escape into from the stress. D’Vaughn And Kris Plan A Wedding was PERFECT for this—the platonic ideal of a summer beach read. I love reality TV, and I’m a sucker for a reality TV facilitated meet cute. With fun, loveable characters and a feel-good ending, it was just what I needed for my convalescence.

cover for D'Vaughn and Kris Plan A Wedding. two figures (one in a wedding dress and the other in a suit) stand on a chocolate cake with rainbow stripes and an orange background
My read for August: D’Vaughn & Kris Plan A Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins

One thing about me, I’m a huge D&D nerd. I started playing in college, and I started DMing not long after. It’s been almost a decade of D&D shenanigans! My sister-in-law got me into Dimension 20, and I’ve been watching it almost every day for the last two months while completing A Secret Project. Never Stop Blowing Up is one of my favorites, combining all my favorite action movie tropes with a hilarious system that I can’t wait to get my hands on. Maybe a campaign set in the world of Hammajang Luck?

poster for Never Stop Blowing up. the poster is in the style of 80's action movies, with the cast shown with helicopters, a cityscape, and explosions in the background
My watch for August: Never Stop Blowing Up

Recently I was introduced to Music League, and I am completely obsessed now. I love sharing music with my friends (even if it’s just a different Nine Inch Nails song every week). One song that scored me a lot of points was Bad Friend by Rina Sawayama, a queer Japanese artist. It reminds me of Edie, and their early days with Angel. Good stuff!

image of Rina Sawayama, a Japanese-British singer wearing sparkling jewelry, sparkling nail polish, sparkling makeup, and their hair drawn up
My listen for August: Bad Friend by Rina Sawayama

WRITER KINE STUFF ✍️

Oh my god where do I start. Chronologically? Let’s go chronologically.

The first piece of news is that Hammajang Luck is coming to North America!!!

In the original auction in December of 2022, it ended up being a showdown between Gollancz and Harper Voyager. Now, they’re teaming up to bring the heist lesbians to both the UK and North America! I’m so excited to be working with David Pomerico, and so excited to bring the heist lesbians back home to the US!

image of the Publisher's Marketplace deal for the North American sale of Hammajang Luck. the text reads
The North American deal!!!

And of course! The cover reveals!!! They’re both so different, but they both truly capture the spirit of Hammajang Luck. The UK cover was illustrated by Jordan Wolfe and designed by Rachael Lancaster, and features Hawaiian tattoo designs (kākau) with slick sci-fi aesthetics. It was super important to me to have an artist trained in Hawaiian tattooing to be involved, and I think Jordan did an incredible job translating traditional tattoo motifs to tell the story. And Rachael’s amazing design brought it all together into a truly breathtaking cover. I am SO pleased with it!!!

the UK cover of Hammajang Luck. The cover features Hawaiian tattoo motifs in gold forming an X in the center of a teal background. there is a space ship taking off in the middle. The text on the cover reads "Eight Misfits. Two Exes. One Last Heist"
The UK Cover for Hammajang Luck!

The North American cover was illustrated by Janelle Barone, designed by Owen Corrigan, and features a tattoo design by my own uncle, Carl Ciriako Jr.! I was immediately drawn to Janelle’s beautiful line work and vibrant colors in her illustrations, and when I saw the first sketches I immediately thought, “That’s Kepler!!! That’s Edie!!!” In the midst of cover design, my uncle sent a tattoo he specially designed for the cover. It tells the story of our family, and seeing it in my inbox moved me to tears. Owen put together all the elements into such a fun and lively cover, I’m so so so happy with how it turned out!!!

North American cover for Hammajang Luck. it shows Edie, a nonbinary person with dark brown hair and light brown skin, wearing a red hoodie and dark pants, sitting on an overturned drum looking out over Kepler space station at sunset. There are futuristic buildings and a monorail track overhead, as well as golden clouds filling the background. a badge on the right side shows a traditional Hawaiian tattoo with a koi fish emblazoned at the top
The North American cover of Hammajang Luck!

Those are the big updates that have been announced, but we’ve still got exciting things cooking! Stay tuned for more news as the release date approaches (AHHHHH)!


RESEARCH FIND 🔍

a man is working on a car's engine
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

I’ve been busy drafting my next book, currently dubbed 2 heist 2 lesbians. Internally I’ve been comping it to NEUROMANCER meets FAST & THE FURIOUS, so I’ve been doing a lot of research on cars and racing, and how that might look far in the future.

Turns out, most electric vehicles use automatic clutches to shift gears, omitting the cool clutches you see in racing movies. They don’t afford the same fine control, though, which in a racing scenario is of utmost importance. So I’m bending the rules a little in my book, where the flyers used in races are hacked and modded, allowing for customization and optimization. Racers access the electric engines of their flyers directly, so I get to keep the cool sequences of shifting gears and throwing e-brakes and drifting and other such nonsense.

Cool, yeah?


THIS MONTH’S GRINDZ 🍽️

This month I made pork adobo! It’s a staple in Hawaiʻi, though I admit I didn’t eat much of it growing up. I’m trying to get more in touch with my Filipino side, and I’m starting small with some Filipino recipes. The adobo turned out really good, despite me accidentally quadrupling the amount of shoyu while attempting to double the recipe, haha!

picture of a bowl of Filipino pork adobo
Image by Lalaine Manalo

Find the recipe here: https://www.kawalingpinoy.com/pork-adobo/


POPOKI PICS 🐈

Everybody say aloha to Steve and Olive! Steve and Olive are eleven-year-old and eight-year-old brown tabbies, respectively. I met Steve when I met my wife, and Olive we adopted to be Steve’s emotional support animal (he gets anxious when he’s alone). Steve loves to snuggle and eat trash, and Olive loves sitting in laps and committing acts of violence.

It’s been hot lately, and so there’s been a lot of melting on the floor. Soon it’ll cool off though, and it’ll be back to cuddling in the blankies.

picture of Steve, a brown tabby cat, sprawled on a carpet. he is looking at the camera with his teeth sticking out
Steve melting on the floor with his teef out
image of Olive, a brown tabby cat, sprawled on a carpet with all her leggies stretched out
Olive melting on the floor with her leggies stretched out

SHOOTS! 🤙

That’s all for now! Thank you again for your patience in waiting for this newsletter! And thank you all for your support in this publishing journey—I’m so excited for everything to come!!!

Until next time! A hui hou!

Subscribe now

 

Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to Talking Story:
Bluesky Threads X Facebook Linktree Instagram
Powered by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.