Newsletter: March
Sure has been a while, hasn't it? Maybe not for all you newsletter folks, but I kind of dropped off on the weekly updates for a bit there. Part of what happened was going to ICFA in March, but part of it was also just not doing well.
The thing is, I've had some great things come up in my life. I got a story acceptance last month, and did the conference, like I said, but I also am equipped with a terrible brain and it makes things harder than they really ought to be.
I'm doing better off though, so there is that. Right now my plans are to work on my novella project and do some more edits on short things I have lying around. I have plans for this month regarding putting in new submissions and an idea of a few shorts I want to try to finish so I can submit them later on down the line.
February and March were weirdly hard months for me compared to January. I'm still not sure why, but I'm hoping April will be a bit different. I have travel plans toward the end of the month and that will bring me so much joy. Hopefully, it won't jar me too much to not be in my normal environment, but I'm going to be gone for over a month, so I'll have time to establish a routine.
Oh, but there might be planner pictures at some point. I picked one up to keep track of writing progress, so we'll see how that goes. If nothing else, it's an excuse for me to use stickers.
(Not actually) story recs:
Strange Horizons - Writing While Disabled
This isn't a story, but rather the first in a series of interviews. I loved going through them all and wanted to shout them out because it was just really good to hear about a bunch of folks with various kinds of disabilities and how they do what they do. Sometimes I need the reminder that I can actually achieve the things I want to do, and that maybe I have to get crafty, or creative, or whatever, but that I can get them done because other disabled people have been there before me
Why Writing Second Person POV Appeals To Marginalized Writers - SFWA - Valerie Valdez
One of the things I'm trying to do more in my writing is engaging with intent. A lot of what I do is off instinct alone, and that works well to a certain point, but these days I want to be able to understand my own choices and figure out why it is I like what I like and do what I do. Reading this essay tuned me into some of that. I'm a multiply marginalized person and second person is pretty much my favorite POV. I love both writing and reading it, and I think this essay gets to a big part of why. It puts into words some of the things I feel and experience, and it helped me understand myself and the things my brain does a little better, and I thank Valerie for that.
But wait, here's an actual story for you:
Choose Your Own Apocalypse - Elis Montgomery
This was so good in such a small amount of words. It was intimate and sad right up until it wasn't. Until things changed and you had to smile just a little bit by the time you were done with it. This is one of those stories that I found extremely comforting and am excited I get to try and share it with people.
Microfictioon:
(The prompt was 'Involution'.)
It turns in your thoughts, whispers and touches urging you down a path you can't see.
You try to forget it, ignore it, resist the pull, but you find yourself walking in spirals, through labyrinths of your own making, searching for a center that doesn't exist.