Shenanigans II: Space Moms Launch
Greetings, friends!
September is upon us, which in theory means autumn will be driving out summer in certain parts of the world, turning leaves to red and gold and cooling the air and so on. In practice, seasons are unruly creatures whose forms vary widely, and they cannot be counted upon to behave as one expects. But as Octavia Butler said, “The only lasting truth is Change,” and so we must accept its inevitability and prepare for its effects as best we can.
Events!
One big change for me: my book, Prime Deceptions, is finally coming next week! You may remember from the last newsletter that my friend Karen Osborne also has a book coming out, Architects of Memory, and as we are both moms writing about space, we’re hosting Space Moms Launch! It’s a literary house party, and you’re all invited. Join us on September 8th from 4pm-10pm EDT for fun times and special guests. More information and the registration form are available on Karen’s website, and you can pre-order her book while you’re there.
Photo above: Space Moms Launch: A Literary House Party!
I’m also going to be appearing at RoberCon, an online sci-fi convention that takes place on September 26th and 27th. The details for that are still being finalized, but I’ll definitely be on a panel talking about video gaming in these Covid times. You can see the schedule and buy a badge on the RoberCon website, and stay tuned for information about their writing track, coming soon.
News!
Did I mention my book is coming out? That’s pretty much the biggest news I have right now, so I hope you’ll forgive me for repeating myself. I finished writing Prime Deceptions over a year ago and have been impatiently waiting for it to be released, and soon it will be! My author copies arrived a few days ago, and holding them and flipping through the pages and smelling that new book smell is as delightful as it was the first time around. You can still pre-order it now if you haven’t already.
Photo above: A stuffed calico cat flanked by my two books.
I’m also working on book three, currently called Fault Tolerance, which I hope will be a sufficiently wild and satisfying conclusion to the events I set in motion in Chilling Effect. While there may be further adventures in store for the crew of La Sirena Negra, this is it for the moment, and by “for the moment” I mean “expected to be published sometime in 2022 if all goes according to plan.” But who knows what the future will hold?
Cool stuff!
In case you missed it, I interviewed R. A. Salvatore for ReedPop Metaverse about his newest book, Relentless, which concludes his most recent Drizzt trilogy. We talked about writing, D&D, family, and of course, fights scenes.
I’ve been doing more baking, as many of us have these days, and recently I found a lovely recipe for vegan banana bread that uses only three bananas and no eggs or butter. Even if you’re not vegan, I think you might enjoy this one, especially if you’re missing those staple ingredients and don’t have as many bananas as most recipes call for. It comes out with a nice sweet crust on top, courtesy of a generous layer of brown sugar. Don’t forget to sift the flour, like I always do!
Cats!
I tried to take a picture of my book with my cats, but they were uncooperative and kept rubbing against my legs and asking to be petted. Sinvergüenzas.
Photo above: My tabby cat Inara and my black-and-white cat Wash lounging on the couch with me.
That's all for now! If you have any questions you'd like me to answer in a blog post or here in the newsletter, you can leave a comment on the Substack page, email me, or find me on Twitter or Facebook. Stay safe, and thanks for joining in the shenanigans!