Hi from Chicago! It’s my first time here, and also my first time attending the Nebula conference in person. I’m spending a few extra days with friends, and loving all the little neighborhoods, the lake, the Field Museum, the cardinals, the summer rain, the street bunnies hopping around after dark, and the fireflies (!!!!) that came out just on one block last night at twilight. It’s been a much-needed break from my very busy book launch schedule, before the next wave of events in July.

I’m still processing the fact that The Wildcraft Drones finally exists in the real world as an actual book, and people are reading it. Charlie Jane Anders loved it. It’s all so much. Luckily/overwhelmingly, there’s plenty of distractions, like…

Announcing my second book: The Cursed Blade of Wek

It’s official! I have a second book on the way! The Cursed Blade of Wek is a queer sword & sorcery novella scheduled for publication in 2027 with Neon Hemlock. I’ve been a fan of this indie press for years and the moment Wek was ready for submission, I thought of them. They loved it, and it’s been fantastic working with them so far! I’m so excited to share more details with you in the coming months! For now, follow their kickstarter for announcements.

Upcoming events

I don’t have anything else scheduled for June, but I have five events lined up in July:

July 2
Stir: Foggy Season (hosting)
5pm coffee hour at Cafe Suspiro
6pm readings at Arc Gallery
1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco

July 9
Kitchen Table
7pm at Medicine for Nightmares
3036 24th St, San Francisco

July 19
Solarpunk Farms (details TBD)
Guerneville

July 21
Clarion Masterclass
UC San Diego

July 30
Literary Speakeasy
6:30pm at Martuni’s
4 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Recommended Read: Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez

I’m about halfway into Cynthia Gómez’s second book and I don’t usually read horror but like, dammit, her prose just goes down so easy and every single thing she writes has this irresistable internal dynamo of working-class social-justice Bay-Area fury/joy/meat to it that hits just right. Muñeca is a short, sapphic, delightfully-paced dance between a cleaning lady’s witchy daughter and a gothic sleeping beauty — except the sleeping beauty isn’t as asleep as everybody thinks she is, and she is very out for revenge about it. There is dread, it’s horror, but somehow Cynthia’s brand of dread always feels to me like sweet anticipation. Muñeca is most likely available at your local bookstore, but if you need to order it online, here’s the link I recommend. (It’s my bookshop.org affiliate link, because I’m still broke, thank you for the 1/7th of a coffee <3)

That’s all for now! Til next time,

T. K. Rex