Tiny but Mighty Moments
Autumn comes subtly this year, but there's a lot underneath the surface.
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Hihi hey look at those colors
Autumn has been a little underwhelming here due to inconsistent weather and droughts in some areas, but there's some real beauty hidden among the muted colors. We have a couple of really glorious oak trees but they’re small and hidden under the rest of the canopy. I picked some oak leaves the other day and I’m hoping they’ll preserve relatively well. Fingers crossed!
But the weather has also been a bit of a mess. We had hail yesterday! TWICE! Plus my mother-in-law’s Thanksgiving cactus is so confused that it has decided it’s a Halloween cactus now.
I’m not complaining. It’s so freaking pretty, just a tiny bomb of joy whenever I look at it.
Writing news
There hasn't been all that much going on, writing-wise. Still writing and still submitting, but much more slowly than usual. :glares at job hunt:
That said, the online writing community I’m a part of, Codex, is running a revision contest I’ve joined that starts this week. The amazing writer Deborah L. Davitt is also a contest deity, and she started this new contest to push us towards completing revisions. Participants submit a story we’ve been struggling with, we receive feedback, and then we revise in stages! I’m looking forward to contributing to a good productive time for everyone. (I’ll describe it a bit more in the next newsletter.)
This is the thing about community - if you get the right one, you join forces with other like minds to make things better. Both in your world and in your art.
Apex Kickstarter bonus for subscribers
Apex Magazine is running a Kickstarter and I’d really like them to make their goal. They published The First Promise We Break kind of out of nowhere, and it was my first online publication. They always support new writers and I’m hoping they’ll make their stretch goal of an issue of all unpublished writers. However, they haven’t even hit their main goal yet! Therefore, I’m offering a critique of any short story up to 7500 words as a digital add-on to any pledge! If you decide to support the Kickstarter and choose my crit, and you’re a subscriber (as in, your email is on my list), I’ll bump that wordcount up to 10k. So you could pass me one story at 10K or two stories at 5k each, or whatever. As long as it adds up to 10k, you’re golden.
Other stuff
Most of my time is spent job hunting, trying to coordinate moving out of our last storage unit, and trying to unpack here in our house. It's not easy when home is also an office. Add on my excessive physical constraints and, well… :shrug:
I did go to No Kings Day on the 18th, but unfortunately Spouse got ill so we had to leave early. I ended up watching the streams and going to a virtual health-focused webinar, all of which were amazing.
Finally, I’m about to engage in a tiny-yet-mighty adventure! It all started with an urgent post on Bluesky from a writer I admire, and it has become this lovely thing. I will tell you all about it in the next newsletter.
And with that,
As per usual, here’s a puppy.
With love and weirdness,
~Risa