Single braincell summer
So this week, I decided to try watching 9-1-1, an ABC drama about LA firefighters that is popular on Tumblr (the last social media site where I still enjoy wasting time). I just searched directly from my Roku homescreen, and it auto-loaded an episode for me.
Weird flex to start this series with a zero-context monologue about someone’s dead mom, but alright, I remember thinking a couple minutes in. The episode then referenced a ton of stuff that had happened off-screen: the cute black lesbian had cheated on her girlfriend, and Angela Bassett’s husband was also gay, I think? Then some fun body horror with a guy’s consciousness stuck in his (seemingly) dead body. It was 45-ish minutes of people expounding about their poor life choices, with interruptions of some incredibly unlikely medical emergencies (and one SUPER GOREY motorcycle accident that was telegraphed a full two minutes ahead of time).
Such a weird pilot! but I was into it.
Nibs came in and asked me what I was watching, and I paused, and that’s when I realized I was actually watching the first season finale.
I really enjoyed my 45 minutes of zero-context 9-1-1. After years of watching relatively niche and narrative-driven TV, it’s weird to watch a show that is trying to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, including people who are flipping through channels and need as many handholds as possible to understand why two people having a date in a church (??) after watching some guy die from being bisected and his guts get strewn across a street. I might see if there’s a way to only watch this show on shuffle, just to maximize the chaos.
Writing news
TODAY ONLY! If you’re at San Diego Comic Con, my publishers are giving away bound manuscript copies of Dead Girls Don’t Dream. Stop by the First Second/Fierce Reads booth (2800/2802) today (7/26) at 3:30pm to snag one.
I’ve been incredibly busy, writing wise. May and June were spent neck-deep in writing deadlines. I completed an essay, a very short story, and an entire-ass novel draft. The Haunted House/Troubled Teen home is now tentatively titled Every Room a Hunger, and clocked in at about 86k, making it my longest book to date. It needs a LOT of edits, so it’s currently slated for a Spring 2026 release.
I will be doing a pre-order campaign for Dead Girls Don’t Dream through Astoria Bookshop: order through them if you want a signed/personalized copy, a postcard with commissioned art, and a ZINE. I haven’t figured out exactly what will go in the zine. Do you have a suggestion? I would love to hear it, honestly, otherwise I’ll just mess around in Canva forever.
But in the meantime, here is the glorious postcard design by Natalie Kovacs, aka ShapelessFlame.
If you preorder Dead Girls somewhere else, I will still send you a postcard with a fun cryptic message or a drawing of a cryptid on it. All of those details will be finalized in a few weeks.
What I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Playing
We had a partial power outage during NYC’s last heat wave, which meant I could do literally nothing but lie in bed with a fan blowing directly on me and read. So here are 1-2 lines about the books.
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters: Wanted to read it because it sounded like a Southern cousin to Dead Girls, has impeccable Appalachian queer witch vibes. Riveting and moving.
Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado: Queer urban internet-based folk horror that gets into Bronx history. Incredible premise, haunting imagery.
The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir: Had to put this down at one point because I was so unnerved.
This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa: Incredible cosmic/space horror with bonus polycule drama.