Rachael Arsenault's Blog, page 3

April Wrap-up

Normally, I try to write some opening thoughts at the start of these. But I'm posting this while my baby is squirming and whining, so I gotta make it quick.

What I’ve Enjoyed
Books
Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk
I can’t handle how adorable this book is. If you have a little one and are looking for new story time books, I highly recommend this one.

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology by Dhonielle Clayton et al.
Incredible collection of short stories – some are heartbreaking, some are hopeful, and some are a mix of both. I’ve really been enjoying reading more short story collections, and this one in particular is absolutely top tier.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
This was a wonderful book. I loved how magic and the supernatural were presented as a part of every day life, the inclusions of stories from Six-Great’s time were fantastic, and the plot was expertly paced and unfolded. I wish I could’ve stayed in this world with Ellie and Kirby a little longer, but the ending was perfect.

Articles
Adopting a Dinosaur
This is honestly a really interesting, funny little article, complete with photos of the author’s wonderful tortoise through the years.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks and her (unknowing) contributions to medical science have long been uncredited. It demonstrates how racism, sexism, and health inequality intersect and the long-term ramifications that can have over generations, and how the privileged stand to benefit and profit directly from this inequality. Always glad to see someone shedding light on issues like this.

Because You Like Him
I’m always happy when I can find some good quality ace rep, and this little story ticks that bill.


What I’ve Created
Articles
How to Write a Book Series as a Pantser
Writing a book series is hard enough already, but not being one to plan or outline in advance only makes it more complicated. If that’s something you’re struggling with, this article has some strategies you can try out.

How to Make Meal Planning and Meal Prepping Work For You
Definitely a lot different from what I usually write, but sometimes it’s nice to switch things up. Especially if it can potentially help other people!

Sugar Bush and King’s Head Inn
Sugar Bush is one of those local traditions that people from away probably think is absurd, and King’s Landing is a wonderful place to experience it for the first time. Maybe this will entice you to visit there once the world is a little more normal?

March Wrap-up

This month brought the first signs of spring and weather warm enough for me to open all the windows in my house (though who knows how long that’ll last here in Canada). It also brought a ton of amazing reads, a little progress on writing, and tons of inspiration for more.

What I’ve Enjoyed
Books
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez
I looooved this book! I’ve been trying to get back into reading non-fiction – I definitely fell out of academic reading after I completed my BA – and this was the perfect book to settle back in with. It’s deeply informative and incredibly well-researched, but the language used and the way the information is presented is super accessible, so I never felt lost or drowned in facts and figures. The book also really stuck with me. I would finish reading a section and step away to go about my day, and phrases or data would linger in my mind.

I will say, as a fair warning, that one of the early sections involves a lot of discussion of sexual assault and rape, including descriptions of a couple incidents, which I know will be hard to stomach for some readers.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
If you follow me on Instagram (@rachaellawrites), then you know I've gushed over several quotes from this book. It's amazingly well-written, the plot is well-crafted and executed, and the characters are complex and grey. I was rooting for both Malik and Karina, even when their plans were counter to each other, which just made the whole experience super intense and engaging. Highly recommend you give this one a shot.

Articles
Want to Make Objects Float in Your Photos? Here’s What You Need to Do!
This one might be a bit niche or uninteresting to anyone who doesn’t dabble in photo manipulation or graphic design, but it showed me a few tricks that I’m hoping I might be able to apply to future books covers. So… This is kind of here for me to reference back to in the future. Sorry, not sorry.

What Do Booze and Washing Machines Have in Common?
A great examination of how overlapping developments and historical movements influenced/drove forward the fight for women’s suffrage. It’s also a pretty quick and simple read, so it’s very accessible to anyone who doesn’t typically read history or academic stuff.

Love and War: The Gay Army Who Destroyed the Spartans
I'm not a stranger to queer erasure in history and media, nor am I oblivious to the relative acceptance of homosexuality in Ancient Greece. But this piece still managed to surprise me. If you like Greek history, queer history, and the intersection between, definitely give this a read.

Dickless and Alone, They Die After Spreading Their Seed
Absurd and hilarious and surprisingly educational. Great if you like crass humour alongside your weird trivia.

The Gardens of Bomarzo
I 100% have a new place I want to visit on my bucket list now. So much potential for photography and writing inspiration!

What I’ve Created
Articles
Books I’ve Loved by Authors of Colour
In the past few years, I’ve been trying to make a more concerted effort to read books by authors of colour and, in turn, support a more diverse reading and writing community. I still have a long way to go, but I thought it might be helpful to others looking to similarly expand their reading habits if I offered some recommendations. If you have any of your own recommendations (especially ones based on the books I’ve listed here), then please share them in the comments below!

Everyday Oddities on Prince Edward Island
Everyone thinks their hometown is the weirdest, but PEI definitely has some really odd quirks. I thought that would be fun to write about, and I think it will make for an interesting read – especially if you’re from away!

How to Write Your Way Out of a Difficult Scene
I’m honestly really proud of how this one came out. I’m intimately familiar with the struggle of getting stuck on a scene when writing, and being able to (hopefully) help people get themselves unstuck using advice built from my own experience feels pretty great.


All in all, a pretty great month for reading and writing! And it doesn’t even include the stuff I’ve been working on in the background…

What have you been reading lately?

February 2021 Wrap-Up

I know February is the shortest month of the year, but this February felt especially short. Even still, I managed a decent amount of reading! It helps that I've been reading library copies of ebooks on my phone so I can snuggle the baby while I read. Also, I've learned that I can read anything - not just kids books - to help lull him to sleep.

What I’ve Enjoyed

Books
A Phoenix First Must Burn
I really, really enjoyed this anthology – I loved the variety it offered, and new spin some of the stories put on familiar tropes or subgenres. Definitely something for everyone in here. I highly recommend you check it out if you’re ever in the mood for some SFF short stories.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
AMAZING! Not only was the plot of this story really intriguing and well-executed, but the characters were all extremely well-developed and I LOVED the magic system and world-building. Give me more giant rideable crows, please! Plus, Serapio and Xiala’s relationship was wonderful and heartbreaking. The inclusion of multiple queer characters doesn't hurt, either.

Articles
A 3000-Year-Old Painter’s Palette from Ancient Egypt, with Traces of the Original Colors Still In It
A super fascinating peek into Ancient Egyptian history and culture, as told through the symbolism of paint colours in art.

The Lost World of Socotra – One of the Most Alien-Looking Places on Earth
Super interesting look at the history and ecology of one very strange island. I loved the photos included in this article – makes me wish I could visit Socotra and witness its bizarre beauty for myself!

What I’ve Created

Articles
4 Tips For Titling Your Book
I’ve always struggled to come up with titles, and I know I’m not alone. So I decided to put together a quick little list of tricks that have helped me over the years!

5 Strategies for Overcoming a Reading Slump
I’ve struggled with various reading slumps throughout my life, including recently during quarantine. So I put together a little list of some strategies I’ve found helpful. Hopefully they’ll help you, too!


And that was February. I really enjoyed the work I read this month, and I'm glad I managed to find time to write a little, too. Now to see what next month and the anniversary of the pandemic have in store.

January Wrap-Up

2021 started off pretty hectic, both in my personal life and the world at large. As I predicted in my 2020 Reflections / 2021 Resolutions post, I didn’t get a whole lot of reading and writing done this month. But hey: I was busy doing a bunch of adulting and paperwork, I was struggling through my last few weeks of pregnancy, I was recovering from a C-section, and – oh yeah – I was taking care of my newborn baby. So I think it’s fair to give myself a bit of leeway.

So, without further ado, here’s the small but wonderful selection of things I’ve enjoyed and created this month!

What I’ve Enjoyed

Books
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Aaaah, this was so good! I’d been seeing this book all over Twitter for a while, so I was stoked to finally actually get my hands on it. And it didn’t disappoint! Yadriel, Julian, and Maritza are a delight, and Yadriel and Julian had amazing chemistry together. Also, a trans protagonist, queer romance, and Latinx culture all made for a fresh read amongst the standard fare of contemporary fantasy and paranormal romance.

The World of Critical Role by Liz Marsham and Critical Role
Yet more nerdy indulgence – you didn’t think I’d completely leave it behind in December, did you? ;D This was a Christmas gift from my husband, and I’ve loved reading through it and getting more insight into the history of this amazing show and its incredible cast.

Articles
Portraits of Matriarchy: Where Grandmothers Are Still in Charge
An interesting look into a very different society from the one I grew up in, as well as the ways in which colonization and Westernization have impacted the traditions and values of the Mosuo. It’s also an easy read, full of gorgeous photos and insightful captions.

How Modern Mathematics Emerged from a Lost Islamic Library
I’m not much of a mathematician, but this article is still full of things I love: libraries, history, and dismantling Eurocentric ideas about history.

What I’ve Created

Articles
How Many Times Can You Defy Death in D&D?
Working on this was pure, nerdy self-indulgence, and it’s given me some ideas for fun character builds (though certainly nothing as extreme as the end result I came up with here). I definitely want to tackle more pieces like this!

Other
Is it too cheesy to say my favourite thing I created this month is my son? Too bad: It's true 😋


So that was January. Quite the way to start out the year – here’s hoping the rest of 2021 is less intense, but has just as much awesome reading material to offer. :D

How did you kick off the year?

December Wrap-Up

Somehow, we managed to make it to the end of 2020. I don’t think I’m alone in saying it felt like this year would never end.

December was a quieter month than usual this year, but it still managed to be hectic nonetheless – getting stuff ready for the arrival of my baby, signing paperwork to officially tie the knot with my husband, navigating Christmas when I can’t travel to visit any of my family, etc. But it all turned out for the best! That being said, I’m more than ready to move on to a new (and hopefully better) year.

What I’ve Enjoyed
Books
Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II #2 by Matthew Mercer, Jody Houser, Olivia Samson, MSASSYK
One of my current favourite shows is Critical Role, so I am more than happy to consume these narratives in new mediums. The comics thus far do such an awesome job at capturing the characters of Vox Machina and their dynamics with each other, and I loved finally getting to meet Pike and Percy. Makes me wanna rewatch Campaign One!

Critical Role: The Chronicles of Exandria The Mighty Nein by Critical Role and Dark Horse Books
I guess I’ve been on a bit of a Critical Role kick this month. Well, no, let’s be honest: I’m always on a Critical Role kick. In any case, this book is GORGEOUS. Not only is all the art featured incredible, but I loved looking back on the Mighty Nein’s journey through this lens – the idea of framing the narrative through collected notes of Beauregard and other archivists is really fun and interesting. Hoping to see another edition of this capturing later events of the campaign sometime.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 7 and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 8 by CLAMP
While certainly not as nostalgic as going through the omnibus collection of the original manga, I’m enjoying this series nonetheless. It’s a quick read, and I’m intrigued by the new magic and how the plot is unfolding. Plus, even when things are serious, I always find CCS has a delightfully lighthearted, optimistic slant to it.

Articles
Researchers “Translate” Bat Talk. Turns Out, They Argue – A Lot
I don’t care what anyone says, bats are super cute. Also apparently much smarter than we previously thought, since their communication turns out to be super nuanced and individualized rather than broadly group based. Neat!

Why Detroit Residents Pushed Back Against Tree-Planting
A super insightful piece about the importance of community outreach and involvement in decision-making, no matter how beneficial a planned initiative might be. This quote puts it best: “However, environmental justice is not just about the distribution of bad stuff, like pollution, or good stuff, like forestry projects across disadvantaged communities. It’s also about the distribution of power among communities that have historically only been the subjects and experiments of power structures.”

What I’ve Created
Articles
How to Slow Down and Write the Quiet Moments in Your Novel
Just a quick bit of writing advice for anyone struggling to slow down their novel – or for underwriters! I really like putting these pieces together. It helps me think critically about my own writing and the techniques and strategies I use, while also helping other writers improve on their work.

7 Ways to Feel The Christmas Spirit When You Can’t Be With Family
I know I’m not the only person whose Christmas looked a lot different this year. It was the first time I spent the holidays away from my parents, and I definitely missed seeing my family – but I did my best to find ways to bring some Christmas traditions and Christmas joy into these much quieter, smaller celebrations with my husband. With that in mind, I wrote this piece to share some suggestions on how you can do the same.

What to Know Before You Publish Your First Short Story
All publishing can be daunting, and short stories are no exception. So I put together some advice to help guide people trying this out for the first time.

Other
2020 Reflections / 2021 Resolutions
I uploaded this blog post earlier in the month, but I thought it was worth sharing here, too. 2020 was a hard year, and I think it’s easy to get disheartened looking back on all the goals and plans we made that never came to fruition. However, I’m trying not to be down on myself – it was a wild year, and not one we could easily predict or prepare for – so I count any accomplishment as significant at this point. So if you’re looking for that kind of reflective positivity, please give this a read!

And that's that. It was a busy month, a weird year, and I'm ready to see what 2021 brings.

2020 Reflections / 2021 Resolutions

(Photo by Galina N on Unsplash)

It’s kind of beating a dead horse to say that 2020 was a year full of unexpected obstacles and setbacks, or that plans were consistently thrown by the wayside, or that it was just straight up a difficult year. But those things are all true. When I shared my reflections and resolutions to round out 2019, those goals seemed reasonable and very accomplishable – but many of them didn’t happen, or didn’t happen the way I had hoped.

That being said, I’m going to be gentle with myself about how much I actually accomplished this year. That I fulfilled any of my goals is worth celebrating. Still, I want to be realistic and honest about how my year went, and I want to share my resolutions for next year to help hold myself accountable to what will (hopefully?) be a slightly better year.

What Were My Goals for 2020?
(For the post where I originally shared these goals, look here.)

1) Read more. I definitely didn’t read more books compared to 2019, which is kind of strange since you’d think I would have way more time for reading with all the lockdown and quarantine situations. Sadly, there are a few reasons that wasn’t the case. For one, I work from home, so I was used to reading in an empty house as a break from work – something that was hard to come by this year, especially early into the pandemic when everyone was at home. Moreover, all the stress and uncertainty took a toll on my mental health, which in turn impacted my ability to focus, read for long stretches of time, or even feel interested in the books on my shelf. So I’d say reading 21 books this year is still pretty great. And there weren’t as many comics as last year!
2) Finish and publish Book 2 of ANAoM. Done and dusted! A bit later than originally intended, but Those Who Fall is out in the world and waiting to be read.
3) Get to late editing stages on Book 3. Doing pretty well on this one. I have some sections to rewrite and extensive continuity edits to do, and then I should be ready to get some extra eyes on it for feedback.
4) Finish draft of Book 1 in new series. Also done! Still loving this book, its world, and the characters I’ve crafted.
5) Submit to more contests and publications. This was a bit more of a struggle. The frequency with which I could find magazines or journals to submit seemed to decrease quite a lot this year, and the types of stories that those publications were looking for didn’t include the genres I write in. For comparison, I made 24 submissions in 2019, while in 2020 I only did 18 submissions. Still, I’m proud of myself for sticking it out and continuing to make an effort. Plus, I still got a new short story published: Living With No Reflection
6) Write and promote more articles. It’s hard to make an exact comparison on this one, since I didn’t start writing for Vocal until late into 2019, but I think I kept up a nice, steady pace with publishing articles, averaging about three articles per month.
7) Study German. Didn’t complete my language tree (though I didn’t honestly expect to), but I did consistently do my German lessons every day for the entire year! That’s a pretty major accomplishment in my opinion.
8) Write a poem a day, v.2. I ended up bailing on this one halfway through the year. Between pandemic stress and pregnancy fatigue, I just wasn’t able to stick to it for the entire 366 days of 2020. But I still wrote a lot of new poems, and that’s nothing to scoff at.


So, overall, definitely not quite the year I projected for myself, but I made the best of the situation we were given. And I did more than just these eight things in 2020!


Bonus Achievements and Milestones of 2020
Getting pregnant. This is one of those things that was sort of planned, sort of not. My husband and I had been trying to have kids for a little while, but (due to an assortment of medical concerns) we weren’t sure if we would be able to do so naturally. But we did! And I’m very, very excited to hold my sweet little bear come January. <3
Getting married. Okay, I know I consistently refer to him as my “husband”, but technically we were only, like, half-married – we were common law and I was officially recognized as his spouse on various paperwork, but we hadn’t gotten a marriage licence or jumped through all the legal hoops to be “officially” officially recognized as a married couple. The pandemic threw a lot of wrenches into this plan, especially because the Queen’s Bench in our region completely shut down for officiating marriages. But, eventually, we got it done, and I’m super excited.
Published my first paperback. She Who Rises is available in paperback! I’m not sure if I’ll ever reach a point where saying that doesn’t make me giddy. It’s so surreal. You can hold my book in your hands! You can order it in at bookstores!! You can ask your local library to get a copy!!! IT’S ALL SO COOL!


What Are My Goals for 2021?
Not gonna lie: I’m not gonna set myself a lot of goals for this upcoming year. The pandemic is still going, plus I’m going to have a newborn baby, so I just don’t want to put a lot of pressure on myself.

1. Publish book 3 of ANAoM. This hopefully shouldn’t be too big of an undertaking, since I’m into late editing stages. It might be published later in the year, but I’m confident that I will be able to finish and publish it.
2. Get to late editing drafts of book 4. Basically, hoping to keep pace with my writing and publishing routine from the last couple years.
3. Publish at least one Vocal piece per month. Now, ideally, I would be keeping pace with or improving on 2020’s average, but – as I already stated – I’m gonna have a baby. Hitting a minimum of one article each month seems like a much more reasonable production rate to set for myself.
4. Continue with my monthly wrap-ups. These wrap-ups might be smaller – I might not have a lot of publishing news to share, and I might not read a full book every month – but I’d still like to have a little sum-up of what I read and write each month.


And that’s about it. Some simple, reasonable goals in keeping with the habits and routines I’ve already set for myself. To be fair, there maaaay be some bigger, more exciting things coming down the pipe in 2021 – but that’s all hypothetical and up in the air right now, so I won’t know anything for sure for several months.

How did your 2020 goals turn out? Anything planned for 2021?

November Wrap-Up

A bit of a quiet month, but in the end I’m happy with the work I turned out and the stories I consumed. I know December is likely to be busy with baby prep, and that once baby is born my reading will probably go on a bit of a backburner, so I’m trying to just take my time and enjoy some quiet reading moments when I can.

What I’ve Enjoyed

Books
Girl Squads by Sam Maggs.
I looooved this book. It was a gift from a friend, and a very apt one at that. I knew about almost none of the amazing groups explored in this book, and every single one of them was super awesome – for their bravery, for their friendship, for their unabashed womanhood. Definitely a recommended read if you want to see more women in your history.

Articles
The Long Linguistic Journey of Dagnabbit
Language is so flipping weird and I absolutely love it. Also, knowing about taboo deformations and how words get restructured offers a lot of potential inspiration for world-building.

As If the Platypus Couldn’t Get Any Weirder
Sometimes I think the platypus was deliberately placed on Earth to make us question reality and all our taxonomic classifications.

10 Inventors Who Came to Regret Their Creations
The atomic bomb I expected – it’s a weapon of mass destruction, and I learned enough about it in school to know that at least some of the people involved in its creation were horrified by what they had done. But Comic Sans? Double slash? That’s kind of funny.

8 Facts About the Animals of Chernobyl
Chernobyl is unquestionably a tragic and terrifying story about human innovation gone horribly, horribly wrong. Learning about nature recovering from that devastation, and especially about animals thriving in what was thought to be a forever uninhabitable region, is pretty heartwarming.


What I’ve Created

Books/Short Stories
She Who Rises – Now in Paperback!
That’s right: Paperback copies of the first book in my A New Age of Magic series are now available! You can order them through Amazon (as linked above), but since I set up printing through Ingram Spark, you should also be able to ask physical bookstores and libraries to order in copies. It’s so weird and exciting to be able to hold my book in my hands! If you get a copy yourself, don’t hesitate to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram so I can see my little book in the wild: @rachaellawrites

Articles
9 Tips for Self-Publishing
A relative recently asked me for some advice on how to go about self-publishing for the first time, and that gave me the idea to turn those quick bullet points into this full article. After all, if I can help more people get started on this journey, why not?

Top Videos I’ll Miss After The Inevitable Death of Unus Annus
By the time I post this wrap-up, the Unus Annus YouTube channel has long since been deleted, and the videos I’ve discussed here are no longer accessible. But if you’re interested in some out-of-context reminiscing and my own personal written time capsule, then definitely check this out!

”I don’t really think he counts as a guy.” Queerness in the House of Night Series
I actually started working on this way back in 2018, but I’ve taken several long breaks from it. Having a project go on for so long and then finally finishing it feels strange, but I’m super proud of how it all came together in the end. This has definitely been a passion project, and I hope to do more long essays like this in the future.

And that’s it for November! What did you read this month? And what are you looking forward to in December? I bet there are a lot of holiday book purchases on the horizon – whether you’re receiving them from a loved one or buying them as a gift for yourself. ;D

Paperbacks of SHE WHO RISES are Finally Here!

I was going to save this announcement for November's Wrap-Up Post, but I decided I'm too excited to wait that long.

She Who Rises is now out in paperback!



I've been working on this for a while, and now that I finally have all the kinks sorted out, this beautiful little book is available for purchase!

As demonstrated by the link above, you can order paperbacks through Amazon, but since I set up printing with Ingram Spark, you should also be able to order copies in at your local bookstore or library. If you do get your hands on a copy, I'd love to see it! Tag me in photos over on Instagram or Twitter, which are both @rachaellawrites

October Wrap-Up

What I’ve Enjoyed

Books
Out of Sight, Out of Time and United We Spy by Ally Carter
The finale of the series, and all the twists and grim changes definitely hold up on a second read through. I loved seeing Cammie get her happy ending, especially with all the trauma and hardship she had to endure to get there.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other stories by Beatrix Potter
My husband picked up a whole little collection of these books earlier this month in preparation for us having our first baby, and he’s taken to reading them out loud to my stomach. Not only is this very sweet (and exciting to baby, if the kicks I got are any indication), but the stories themselves are adorable and beautifully illustrated.

Articles
A Brief History of Traveling With Cats
There was a lot of stuff in this I already knew – Egyptians revered cats, cats were often brought aboard ships as mousers, cats are not technically fully domesticated even to this day – but there were still a lot of details and nuances that I wasn’t aware of going into this article. Having the whole timeline laid out neatly and fairly succinctly like this helps make sense of exactly how cats became the furry house companions we love today – and including pictures of cats from throughout history certainly doesn’t hurt.

10 Types of European Breads with Fascinating Stories
Reading this mostly filled me with a mix of wanderlust and hunger, but it also taught me some snippets of history, so I’d say it’s all in balance. Now I just need an excuse to go to Europe…

The World’s Most Efficient Languages
When I was younger, I wanted to learn a language from every continent. I’m less ambitious now, but I still find language fascinating and love learning all the oddities and nuances of different tongues, especially how they can say the same thing in wildly different ways. This article explores and explains those differences beautifully.

Invisible No Longer
Reclamation and revitalization of traditional practices is, unfortunately, a common experience for many indigenous cultures around the world. That the moko kauae of the Māori almost disappeared due to the pressures and cruelties of colonization is, without question, a tragedy and the result of the many atrocities committed by European settlers – but seeing it return can be a source of hope and pride, especially for the Māori women who wear these sacred tattoos.

There’s Drama in the Queer Penguin Community
Sometimes you just need a light-hearted story, and gay penguins stealing eggs from their lesbian penguin neighbours definitely fits that bill.

Other
How These Cycling Dogs are Delighting Islanders during COVID
What’s better than dogs? Dogs in goggles. This adorable, wholesome story is straight from the Island that raised me. Makes me miss walks through Victoria Park.

What I’ve Created

Articles
Your Body is a Canvas – But You Aren’t Always the Painter
This is a more personal piece than my usual fare, as it explores my experience of being diagnosed with cancer when I was 19 and learning to accept the scars that left me with. Writing helped me a lot during that time, and this is no exception. I also entered this piece into the Body Art contest on Vocal, so it would mean a lot to me if you liked and shared it. <3

Writing for an Audience vs. Writing for Yourself
This is a discussion I’ve seem over and over for years – even back in middle school when I was browsing the Writers’ Forum on Gaiaonline (yeah, that’s a throwback), I saw people debating over this. So I put together some of my own thoughts and advice on the matter.

The Nova Scotia Fishing Dispute and Canada’s Systemic Racism
This one is close to home, both because I’m an Atlantic Canadian and because I wrote my thesis on systemic racism against Canada’s indigenous people. Seeing that same history continue to repeat itself is infuriating and disheartening, and writing this was my small way of contributing to the cause and trying to support the Mi’kmaw nation.

Ontario in the Eyes of a Small Town East Coaster
I wrote this on a whim one evening – I totally meant to chill out and take it easy, especially since I had just completed another article earlier that day, but I was hit with a sudden wave of inspiration. I’ve learned over the years not to ignore that sort of feeling, so I sat down and wrote. 2500 words later, I had this piece. It was fun to write, and kind of cathartic to reflect on such a happy, free time after spending so many months cooped up and wracked with anxiety. I hope reading it provides as much relief and escape as writing it did.

September Wrap-Up

What I’ve Enjoyed

Books
Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
Still on this series, still really enjoying it. Once again, this book is a lot more intense than earlier installments of the series, but it still has the same charm and distinct narrative voice that I love.

Articles
Why This Charming Gay Fairy Tale Has Been Lost for 200 Years
It’s no secret that there has been a long history of LGBTQIA+ people and their stories being silenced or covered up (shoved into the closet, so to speak), but it still surprises and excites me when I come across stuff like this. A gay fairy tale! From at least the 1800s! That’s amazing! Now we just need a faithful, animated adaptation and other retellings so it can become common public knowledge.

In the Land of Kush
A fascinating read about an ancient Sudanese society whose true nature and accomplishments has long been forgotten, dismissed, or overwritten by historians. Plus, the article is full of gorgeous photos.

Can You Tell an Author’s Identity by Looking at Punctuation Alone? A Study Just Found Out
This is super nerdy, I know, but I honestly just wanna read more about it. There are a lot of implications in a study like this, and I’m curious to see if and how its expanded upon in the future.

12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms
I now know why “go” conjugates to “went” and why we call it a “nickname” and it all makes so much sense! Weird language quirks and the history behind them are one of my favourite things, in case you’re new to these wrap-ups or somehow didn’t pick up on that in the previous ones. And this article definitely delivers on that love!

The ‘Flying Feminist’ Who Was The First Woman to Design, Build, and Fly Her Own Plane
I think the thing I love most about this article, aside from the obvious joy of seeing women in history spotlighted for their accomplishments, is that Bland led such a long and varied life. She dedicated time and effort to creating and flying her own biplane, but that was far from her only ambition or achievement. To her, it was just a check in the box, another adventure completed – and I think that’s incredible and deeply admirable.

Other
Princess Mononoke
Another Ghibli movie! My husband and I are trying to make it a point to watch one of these films when we have a Saturday to ourselves, and I’m loving it so far. Princess Mononoke was definitely a lot darker than Castle in the Sky, but it was an incredibly powerful, beautifully animated story.

What I’ve Created

Books/Short Stories
Aether & Ichor
This is technically an old publication – it came out in January – but its inclusion on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database is new! The Beasts of Legend issue of Aether & Ichor features my short story, One-Tenth Merperson and can be read online for free.

Articles
Is It Possible to Play a Pacifist in D&D?
I’ve been missing playing D&D during the pandemic, and nerding out about the game helps sometimes. I saw a fellow D&D nerd online ask about the feasibility of designing a pacifist character, which I thought was a really interesting idea, so I wrote a whole little article about it.

Descriptive Writing: How Much is Too Much?
I’ve started poking around in some online writing communities recently, and a question I came across the other day was about knowing when you’ve described enough in a scene. I thought this was an interesting and complicated question, which made it great material for a quick little article.

How to Find Prenatal and Parenting Classes During a Pandemic
Life during a pandemic and being pregnant bring their share of stresses and uncertainties, and experiencing both at the same time only amplifies that. One problem I found myself grappling with was figuring out where to find classes for first-time parents. So, to save other new parents the same stress and hassle, I put together this little article to hopefully offer some insight and guidance.