Introducing something new...
"Write what you love" also applies to emails, apparently.
Hello, friends! Long time, no see. I’m popping into your inbox briefly today to say that this newsletter’s going to be changing.
In a surprising turn of events, a key part of writing regular essays is being interested in the subject you’re writing about. As much as I enjoy reading about other people’s writing processes, I find writing about my own exceedingly boring (unless someone’s asking me specific questions about it, in which case it’s a conversation, which is lovely.) Most of my writing life can be summed up as “write when you can & try not to get discouraged.” That’s it. Everything else would be variations on a theme.
But there are two things I’d like to do with this newsletter:
to write more nonfiction about one of my favorite subjects
to have a way of communicating with friends & strangers on the Internet which doesn’t require me to expose my eyeballs to the most horrifying news the social media algorithm throws in front of me
With that in mind, I’d like to introduce to you…
The newsletter about history, fantasy, and the stories we tell about ourselves.
FAQs:
Why this subject? Why now?
As I’ve been finishing up one writing project and planning the next (and the next, and the next,) I realized that the combination of history and fantasy - in one form or another - has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My undergraduate thesis was the opening to a noir fantasy set in 1920s Shanghai; my PhD thesis (the book I’m editing for submission) is set in the contemporary South, but the history of Georgia post-Civil War is baked in through ghosts, ghouls, and a Gone With the Wind-themed drag queen that I’m hoping nobody will make me cut. When I first met with my agent & pitched her a few of my ideas for future books, she pointed out that all of them had a historical angle - which I’d never realized, but made a lot of sense. I nearly majored in history in college, my first job was in the college archives, and I’ve loved learning about history through fantasy for as long as I can remember.
I love genres that show us a world like ours, but slightly altered - a photograph where we look taller, or shorter, or a slightly different shade. Does my face really look like that? With fantasy, we have the chance to focus the lens on different subjects. We can - to use the extremely formal academic term I never managed to fit into my PhD thesis - “just kinda Trojan Horse it” and think about our own world by thinking about ghosts, or faeries, or magical kings.Why is it called Roll for History?
I really like Dungeons & Dragons. Originally I was going to include a segment about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) in each email, but then I realized that - with how much I ramble about history and TTRPGs - including both subjects in one email may be dangerous. (I’ll still talk about ‘em both though, because you can’t stop me.)How often will new essays come out?
No more than once a month. I’d rather give you an infrequent surprise (& potentially a meatier read) than churn out something you & I don’t care about to stay on an arbitrary schedule.
(If I have exciting news to share, though, I may pop into your inbox more often.)Is this just an excuse to talk about whatever book/show/music you’re obsessed with?
Yes.If I want to leave a comment, how do I do that?
You can reply to the email! I’d love to hear it.Will I need a PhD to understand what you’re talking about?
No. (At least, not if I do my job correctly.)I don’t care about this. Will you be mad at me if I unsubscribe?
Nope! You do you.What’s the first essay about?
1930’s folk music, the musical Hadestown, and making hope. Look forward to it next week.
Have any recommendations for historical, fantastical things I should check out? Let me know!
Yours in nerdery,
Siobhan