Good afternoon all! I’m posting with the aim of giving you a quick update, some sort of seasonal round up teasing what I might review in the near future, and an exciting sneak peek of some possible future work.
I received, as ever, a wonderful amount of books for the Winter Festival of Doom. Some of them might be reviewed, some of them might not be. A running theme in the pandemic has been that I’ve been struggling to read: whether this is the general stress or the fatigue/brainfog that is common with the Covid longhaul symptoms is hard to tell, but it means I’ve barely read any of the Winter Doom books this year. Still, for your delight and delectation, a list of what I got with some comments.
- Wanted: A Gentleman KJ Charles. ROMMAAANNNCEEEEEEEEEEEEE and QUEEERRRSSS in the regency era!
- Band Sinister KJ Charles. As above, but more.
- On Connection Kae Tempest. I’m excited about this, but unlikely to review.
- Clouds Cannot Cover Us Jay Hulme. Poetry. Also excited, also unlikely to review (but who knows?).
- The Factory Witches of Lowell by CS Malerich. I’ve never heard of this author before, but it sounds interesting.
- Glitter + Ashes: queer tales of a world that wouldn’t die ed Dave Ring. Well, this sounds right up my street!
- A Kind of Spark Elle McNicoll. This looks good, but also like it might make me cry a lot.
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells. OOOOO I’ve been meaning to read this! I think it’s about a rogue AI?
- Sentient Lesbian Food Gets Me Off Chuck Tingle. Look. LOOK. We all need a laugh now and again. Especially this year. And however wild Chuck Tingle’s premise is, I know that everyone is going to have a good time and live happily ever after and right now that’s comforting.l
- Camouflage: The hidden lives of Autistic Women Dr Sarah Bargiela, illustrated by Sophie Standing. I think this will be interesting reading.
- Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown Anaïs Mitchell. Oh, you thought my Hadestown obsession was on the wane did you? I’m afraid that was incorrect.
- Daemon Voices: On stories and storytelling Philip Pullman. I’ve no idea what this will be like.
- How To Randall Munroe. I love Randall Munroe.
- Underland Robert Macfarlane. This looks like I’ll enjoy it once I have time.
- Folk Magic and Healing: An Unusual History of Everyday Plants Fez Inkwright. This looks fascinating and magical.
- Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self Portrait Introduced by Carlos Fuentes.
- Climbing the Date Palm by Shira Glassman. I may already have a copy of this but MORE QUEER JEWISH FANTASY YES!
- I think I’ve missed some things off this list, but I can’t find the rest of my seasonal books so this is it for now.
Additionally, I already have a large TBR pile that’s mostly novels, so you may well get nothing on this list for quite a while, and instead get the Kiran Millwood-Hargrave or the Kacen Callender that I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
Currently, I’m reading The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. It is an incredible read, and even though I’m not finished reading it yet, I’d still strongly recommend it. It’s wonderful to have a piece like this from the perspective of an academic who is also an active participant in fandom – previously when I’ve read academics trying to understand fandom I’ve just had to go and laugh and laugh and laugh because it’s so clear that, in that instance, they don’t understand what they’re talking about. This is not a problem with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. I’d say this book is vital to anyone writing fantasy, and I’m finding that it’s introducing me to a whole canon of work that I’m unfamiliar with (exciting!).
In terms of a seasonal round up, which is not something I usually do, I suppose I just want to look at the past year and yell a lot. It’s been a hard year in the arts, and I’ve spent a lot of it ill, and so although I have ideas for things I want to do going forward they are all extremely tentative.
So, the tentative going forwards:
- I’d love to be able to bring you more book reviews.
- There’s a sequel to Tales From Tantamount in the plotting, but I am going to have to sort out more writing time. I’ll put a sneak peek of what I’ve got so far at the foot of this post.
- I want to think about where I’m selling things (la la la amazon la la la) and if there’s anywhere better for my ebooks to go, and how I then handle print copies.
- Collect Queer Galaxy Storm together into something that you could buy, if you so desire, and have a think about what extra content I’d write for you all if I did that (TELL ME IF THERE’S THINGS YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IN ANY POTENTIAL EXTRA CONTENT).
That’s about it. I’ve no idea if I’ll be able to make these things happen, but hopefully some of it will be possible. In all this, I have to bear in mind that there is still a pandemic, that I’m in month ten of recovering from Covid, and that I also have a bunch of other work and studying commitments. So it might be a bit ambitious!
And now, the thing you’ve been waiting for!
SNEAK PEEK OF THE POSSIBLE SEQUEL TO TALES FROM TANTAMOUNT:
THE OCEAN REMEMBERS
Being a Collection of missives, epistolary, and ephemera found between a rogue airballoon and the Town of Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea in the Year of The Translunary Washing Machine.
Dearest Thora,
I miss you. I know this is obvious, but of course it bears saying anyway. I understand why you had to return (temporarily?) but I miss you like blood, like brine, like salt. I miss you like magpies miss treasure. I hope all is well. Come back to us, come back to us safe and happy and whole.
We are currently adrift over an archipelago of lost islands – they have sunk off all ordinary maps and exist only in the memories of those who saw them, and of course the fish and birds. They are gone from maps but remain in the space between migration patterns. We can hear songs sometimes, rising up from them, and music. We aren’t daft enough to try landing, don’t worry.
Time moves differently up here, above the surface. I am still, of course, mostly in a well even on this airballoon, but that has turned out to be unexpectedly advantageous as we have steady supplies of fresh water.
Laura insists we attach a list of recipes for you, though not the actual recipes themselves. Something about “incentive to get back here” I think. The recipes are as follows:
- Ereshkigal’s food cake mix
- Mussel stew
- Pigeon pie recipe, given to us by a pigeon, containing no pigeon
- Mixed mushroom fricassé (eat with caution)
- God remains steak
- Pasta bake with onions
Write us back. Let us know how you are, and if we can help. You’ve only to call, love, and we’ll be there. Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea is much easier to get in and out of than it ever was before.
Love, all
Mila and Laura
Letter sent by exciteable carrier pigeon from an airballoon, given to a seagull, and delivered to Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea mostly intact.
Dear Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea Shadow Council,
I am writing to you in regards to the sale of my property, 31 Pendlewise Lane. I have sent correspondence previously, but was advised that it was eaten by Councillor Dewdrop. This is hardly my fault.
The property in question was left to me some time ago by a now-probably-dead historian known as Syrena, whom I have never met. The Secret Society of Historians have disputed the home ownership, and frankly I am in agreement with them. I have said, multiple times, that I am happy for the Secret Society of Historians to take ownership of 31 Pendlewise Lane, but have been told every time that I must go through a solicitor or estate agent. Seeing as solicitors and estate agents have currently been outlawed in Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea since the Year of the Procrastinating Badger, you will understand that I’m having some difficulty with this. As, technically, a constituent, please advise what I can do about this ridiculous situation.
Attached is the official bribe of T60 and a bag of rhubarb and custard sweets.
Regards
Laura L Lovelace
TO: Laura Lovelace, The Woman In The Well AKA Mila of the Well
FROM: The Tatamount GAzette
RE: Your monthly update of highlights from Tantamount-Newly-On-Sea, February edition
Dear Laura Lovelace and The Woman in the Well AKA Mila of the Well,
We’re DELIGHTED that you’ve decided to continue your subscription with us for another month! The subscription fee of T5 or equivalent barterage will have been deducted from your personal funds by the likely-angry wasps who delivered this message! We hope you choose to keep receiving news form us 🙂
If you wish to pay by a more conventional means, we recommend screaming in the direction of our direct debits team, who we are reasonably certain are still alive somewhere…
ONTO THE MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS FROM TANTAMOUNT-NEWLY-ON-SEA!!!!
Popular idiot politician, Johnson Johnson, suggests that dryads are just naturally less gifted than Humans. Later found partially eaten by willow tree. Dryad spokesperson has no comments, but we think the situation very fair and reasonable. It wouldn’t be good if Johnson Johnson was ACTUALLY in CHARGE of anything, would it?
Saltlick Bookcavern eats unsupervised children during half-term. Many parents suddenly discovering reasons to leave their kids there.
Town suffers influx of feral flamingoes – they appear to be trying to build a volcano, but surely that is impossible?
And finally, a picture of a very tall man. Gosh he is so tall! We only have a section of his legs available in the photograph. Check the attachment!
And that’s it! We hope you enjoyed this message, and we’ll send you more next month.
All the best,
Tantamount Gazette
Attachments: antiviral blessing.20.7.201212.translunary-washing-machine
Tallman.jpg
This message delivered by wasps!
And that’s it! Take care all 🙂
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