November, Full of Slow, Reluctant Transitions
In which I mention several simultaneous seasons
Hello hey hiiiii
Happy end of November, y’all! In the northeast of the US, it’s a weird late fall season. Philadelphia doesn’t want to admit it’s almost winter. The weather is kicking its feet like a toddler avoiding bedtime. Baltimore acknowledges it’s almost here but there are still a few green trees hanging in there. And in Ithaca, it snowed last Friday. Some areas in central NY got up to a foot and ended up with school closures. But the next day the snow was gone; mostly melted with another boost in temperature.
I miss regular snow. The whisper-crunch of it under my boots; the way it softened everything from sound to sky. Now I only have a few days of it per winter. I miss the days of being able to acclimate slowly to temperature changes, rather than having to shift my layering strategy almost daily. And while of course I don’t miss walking in New York City slush, I definitely miss knowing that the ticks and fleas were being ravaged by the cold.
The world is changing.
It’s also vaccine season, so I am a pincushion. Today I got my flu shot and my hepatitis vaccine. Last week I got my pneumonia vaccine. A few weeks ago I got my Covid booster. I’ll be getting my hepatitis follow up next month.
Fingers crossed my flu shot reaction this year is mild.
So this is supposed to be a newsletter; what’s the news?
I’m still writing, still getting holds for my work, but so far no acceptances this year. However, I’m seeing a lot of awards posts going around, so in the spirit of the writer award promo season, I’d like to share a few short stories/novelettes that I highly recommend to anyone and are free to read:
Amanda Helms’ “Sever and Bind” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies magazine (includes a ghost dog!)
Beth Goder’s “Labyrinth” in The Dark magazine
Premee Mohamed’s “Not Lost (Never Lost)” in Psychopomp
and most recently, Melinda Brasher’s “The Lighthouse Keeper” in Diabolical Plots.
Next newsletter I’ll share a few more amazing stories and some novels as well! I’ll also do another blog post in December with my top twelve favorite stories of the year. I had a good time writing one last year and am looking forward to compiling a new one.
What else is going on?
Well, you know.
There was an election here in the US.
And everything I'm seeing paints a pretty bleak picture for me and people I love.
So I'm spending a big chunk of the time I'd spend writing on figuring out how I might help, given my disabilities.
Wish the US luck, folks from elsewhere. We'll need it.
And?
Of course. Here's a puppy:
With love and weirdness,
~Risa