J.L. Peridot's Blog

Until We Met Again: A peek at the past

My time travel romance is finally launching in October after being on the back burner for over a year! This little novelette has been on quite the journey ��� researching it, writing it, and preparing it for what eventually was a non-release, saw me through a train of life events, including losing a loved one, my first public author appearance, the disappearance of a dear friend, a family emergency, and meeting my baby niblings for the first time.

As a reader, I never gave much thought to the significance of manuscripts beyond story. But now that I���ve written several manuscripts, I���ve come to see them as markers for stretches of time where life events happen, milestones you pass on the rode to somewhere, oftentimes somewhere unknown.

Until We Met Again is launching as a standalone, but it wasn���t originally written this way. The earliest complete version was crafted to sit at the end of specific romance pieces in an anthology, a time travel novelette that (with the consent of the other authors) would incorporate elements from the stories that come before. I���d never seen this done in multi-author anthologies, and thought it would be an interesting exploration of craft.

The actual writing had to be done in three parts. First, I had to write my story up to around the halfway/two-thirds mark to establish the concept and premise. Then I had to wait until all the other stories were written before I could work their elements into my draft and figure out how to get to the end. Finally, I had to provide my fellow anthology-mates with elements from my story to incorporate into the background of theirs to support the time travel concept of my protagonist visiting their settings in the past.

It was, in a way, not unlike time travel, having the future of other stories affect the past in my own. And then for those changes I made to ripple into how those other stories would finally end up. There���s this idea that time itself doesn���t exist, and what we refer to as ���time��� is simply our subjective experience of particular states in a coherent sequence at a particular location. This idea fascinates me, and I wish I was smart enough to think about it more in-depth, but I���m still actually recovering from how meta things got, organising fictional points in time while managing real-world ones.

Anyway, we made it all the way to collating the anthology, hiring an editor, and designing the cover. And then we discovered why you don���t see this kind of thing done in multi-author anthologies.

Life is chaotic and unpredictable. One manuscript belonging to one writer can bear witness to a host of many significant, life-changing events. Multiply that by the number of authors in an anthology and you���ve got all these possibilities in a kind of superposition occupying the quantum space of the book. Kind of.

Days before we were due to prep for go, we encountered a situation: one of our number disappeared. The only way forward we all felt comfortable with was to cancel the anthology. It was a darkly fitting development for Until We Met Again, since the story itself deals with things that suddenly vanish from your life.

Giving up the project was sad, but worse was not knowing what became of our dear collaborator. More than a year on, I still don���t know, and can only hope they���re okay, hope I see them again someday.

Until We Met Again ��� a time travel romance novelette

A time traveller absconds to the past in search of her lost love.

One word: my name. A call from Origin through the neural lace grafted to my brain and nerves, connecting me to another place in another time. A reminder of what I���m here to do.

I clutch a bottle cap; its sharp metal edges ground me in the present. It���s funny, don���t you think, to consider this moment the present, as if the past and future I came from aren���t supposed to exist? If you were here, I���d ask. You���d smile and kiss my forehead and say you love my nonsense questions.

But you���re not here. They want me to forget you ever were.

Preorder now

Blog now lives at jlperidot.com/blog

blog.jlperidot.com has moved to jlperidot.com/blog. Please update your bookmarks, etc. like it���s 1996 ����

I am trying to figure out how to migrate my fediverse followers. In theory, such a thing should be possible since other Fediverse systems like Mastodon let you bring your followers with you when you move. But my blog uses Bridgy Fed, and there���s nothing in the docs about how to do this.

In the meantime, if you���d like to switch over yourself, you can now follow @jlperidot@jlperidot.com in your home Fediverse instance, or by entering your own fediverse address on my profile page.

Blog moved, please update bookmarks

blog.jlperidot.com has moved to jlperidot.com/blog. Please update your bookmarks, etc. like it���s 1996 ����

I am trying to figure out how to migrate my fediverse followers. In theory, such a thing should be possible since other Fediverse systems like Mastodon let you bring your followers with you when you move. But my blog uses Bridgy Fed, and there���s nothing in the docs about how to do this.

In the meantime, if you���d like to switch over yourself, you can now follow @jlperidot@jlperidot.com in your home Fediverse instance, or by entering your own fediverse address on my profile page.

Reflections on Nolan���s Hunger

If you���d told me Nolan���s Hunger was a paranormal romance, I would have thought twice before picking it up.

It���s my own fault. Bingeing the entire Twilight film series over a couple of weeks left me with a warped impression of what paranormal romance means these days. Never mind that it once meant Anne Rice���s Vampire Chronicles with intense reflective moments about love and the human condition. No ��� sparkling vampires put a new shine on modern nosferatu that I���ve only just started recovering from.

But this gem of a novella isn���t even labelled a paranormal romance, despite the strong ���marriage story��� thread and the obvious vampirism. It���s labelled a horror, though I personally found it rather lovely. Aside from all the blood and murder, I mean.

Beyond the surface elements of oops, my partner is a vampire now lies an exploration of a long-term relationship���s defining test of commitment. Blood-starved Nolan and his doting partner Parker are forced to confront their deepest fears about who they are and who they might become. It���s the point where many relationships may buckle, either breaking entirely or carrying on like ghost ships on haunted waters.

That���s what struck me about this book. That it so unassumingly used horror and the paranormal to venture into uncomfortable relationship territory, centered on the frustration and desperation of wondering whether your love really is worth enduring.

My taxonomer tendency wants to call this book a horror romance, or a romantic horror, or a dark love story, because you could easily read more into the ending to throw a more sinister shade.

But I also want to call this a paranormal vampire romance. Just not the kind you���d imagine in a post-sparkle society.

No, Nolan���s Hunger, I felt, was altogether something special.

On recommending books to people

Recently, I asked an online community for a book recommendation and got a reply with a link to a generic Goodreads list. It was a bittersweet experience.

On the one hand, someone was kind enough to look something up for me, which I certainly appreciate. But on the other hand, there was nothing inherently human about their response. For all I knew, the reply could have come from a chatbot that didn���t intend any kindness whatsoever.

For the past couple of years, I���ve been thinking about the value of personal recommendations when it comes to deepening connections between friends. Baked into these ideas for what to read, watch, play and eat are implicit messages about who we are as people and how we relate to the person who asked for advice.

If you were to query your best friend on what book you should read next, they won���t just name any old title that happened to cross their shelf (or something an advertiser paid them to shove down everyone���s throats). They���d base what they say on what they know you love and want, blended with whatever affected them enough to keep in their mind.

What you get from that entire exchange is a new book to check out; the tacit message of, ���I see you, friend, and I know you see me;��� and someone you could potentially have a good conversation with once you���ve finished reading.

This is what making book buddies and finding community through reading means to me. Never mind the algorithms and listicles and five-star titles on gamified websites. When I love a book and I reckon you���ll love it too, there���s a good chance I���ll tell you about as ���humanly��� as I can.

And I hope you���d do the same for me.

Only a living man, stupid enough to wonder

The computer has freed man���s brain.

But computers did not go hand by bloody hand across The Clivorn���s crags. Only a living man, stupid enough to wonder, to drudge for knowledge on his knees. To risk. To experience. To be lonely.

No cheap way.

��� James Tiptree Jr., ���And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways���, Warm Worlds and Otherwise (1975)

This quote is from my favourite short story by science fiction writer Alice Sheldon, under her pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.

For me, it���s about daring to experience the wonders of life for oneself. Maybe there are some wonders you don���t care much for, but the ones you do are worth pursuing. We only get one life���and, so far, no one���s gotten out of it alive���so, might as well use it in a way most meaningful to you.

Status Update: Mar 2024

It���s probably time for another status update, as so much has happened since the last one. I���ve been (reasonably) well-behaved lately as far as getting things done and not burning out have gone. Here are some noteworthy bits and bobs.

The book event at Durty Nelly���s

The book event for Yet We Sleep, We Dream went sooooooo well!

Thank you HEAPS to everyone who came, who listened to my ramblings, who endured the reading of a spicy Oberon �� Titania scene, and who even lined up for a chinwag and a signing. I didn���t realise until after taht the line actually wrapped around the room ���� SORRY TO MAKE YOU GUYS WAIT!

And thank you so much to Stefen and the team at Stefen���s Books for making this little indie author���s night/week/year/life ����

Until We Met Again

Formerly codenamed ���Lacewing���, Until We Met Again is the time travel romance novelette that���s been eating my brain since last October (and maybe a bit before). It���s currently under review by the anthology group and a couple of my critique partners, but early feedback has been encouraging, and early suggested edits have shown me I���m terrible at proofreading my own work ����

I did not end up outsourcing the title to a human or an AI. I just avoided thinking about it for a couple of weeks, and something suitable came to mind when I was halfway through the final chapter. I understand now this is just how the creative process works for a ���High Input���, according to the�����

Clifton Strengths

After listening to a friend go on about Clifton Strengths for years, I caved and bought an assessment. The results have been both astonishing and unsurprising. I learned my top 5 strengths are: Learner, Individualization, Relator, Input and Arranger.

There���s a whole thing around the strengths to the point where it can seem a bit culty lol ���� But even just brief and shallow investigation has changed the way I look at my work and how I operate. For example, I used to avoid being avoidant about stumbling blocks, but the combination of my top 5 strengths means I can use tactical avoidance to engage my creative intuition. ���Shower thoughts��� pretty much sums up my brain.

The full Clifton Strengths assessment is about AUD$100, but it���s less than half the price if you just get your top 5 done.

Project Orellia

Due to a non-trivial number of family members descending upon Perth, I���ll wait until April to start this manuscript. Not just for self-care reasons, but I���d like more time for contemplation.

This is an entirely new project and universe, weaving in elements I���ve not written about before. I���m keen to hit some very specific notes with this body of work, and realise that no matter how tempted I am to start right away, the extra time to think has been what���s made me fall in love with this project already. I wouldn���t feel so strongly about it, had I started when the idea first came up.

Proper announcements to come later this year, with Dot Club readers getting first dibs on details.

Other notesHeadspace digestives: A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys Loved by the Playboy by Millie Wolf Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal The Artificial Kid by Bruce Sterling Dune: Part Two ����WIP board:Until We Met Again, a post-collapse time-travel SF romance. Awaiting feedback.���Orellia���, a little project I can���t talk about yet. Scheduled.���Satine���. To draft.The Basilica Conspiracy. To (finsh the) outline.Sunset on a Distant World, SF romance. Under revision.

They���d collapse on the bed and he���d kiss her

It Starts with a Kiss is my standalone sci-fi office romance novella originally published by Kyanite Publishing in 2019. It���s a bit of a love letter to the underestimated women in technology, who I hope now in 2024 are more appropriately regarded.

Celeste is the she in today���s snippet, a bright and somewhat na��ve engineer who doesn���t mind her dead-end job at what���s basically a post office on the edge of the Solar System. She just wants to get stuck into work alongside her colleague and unrequited-love interest, Owen.

Cider���all over the desk, pooling around the base of the gift and spilling into her lap. Her desk, her clothes, her room���everything���smelled of sweet, musty apples.

���That���s what I get for not being a workaholic tonight,��� she muttered into the empty room.

She set the gift on a shelf and peeled the fabric away from her soaked, goose-fleshed legs. Gingerly, she undid her uniform and began to disrobe.

As she stepped out of her clothes, thermals and all, she thought of Owen with his top half down, walking casually around the function room. God, it would have been nice to have him up here. He had a trim figure���agile and fit for purpose. Not quite the big kind of guy that Tahnee went for, but not the slender, androgynous kind that Katie liked.

Back home, he would have been a surveyor or an ice climber. In the transient colonies, with their mishmash of standard gravities, he might have been a hauler. But he was just an engineer from Mars, working and bunking in a mail drop-off on the outer edge of Sol���s Aries sector. Who would have thought someone like that could look so good?

She should have said yes when he offered her a hand. She should have let him in here and sat him down. Would he be as good with gift-wrap as he was with his consoles? Or would he have just sat on the bed making smartarse remarks while she cut into the paper and ribbon?

That message would have come in. She would have let it go unanswered. Maybe she still would have spilled her cider and he'd sit there, watching while she got her kit off.

Maybe he���d offer her a hand and, this time, she���d say yes. He���d pull her top down���all the way down, not stopping at the waist. With a hand on his shoulder for support, she���d step out. She���d feel his breath on her thighs���that���s how close his face would be. Warmingly close. Awkwardly close.

Except, it wouldn���t be awkward. He���d crack a joke. She���d laugh and fire one back. They���d banter like they always did, but she���d be smooth instead of nervous. They���d collapse on the bed and he���d kiss her���softly at first, then deeply���while his hand traveled up her leg.

Read the rest of It Starts with a Kiss

Celeste is a talented engineer who doesn���t realize her job���s going nowhere fast. She���s a little na��ve. She���ll cut code and solder cables forever as long as Owen���s around. Owen, on the other hand, knows exactly how badly things suck���he just doesn���t care. Sure, his skills aren���t what they used to be, but they���re still better than what Halcyon Aries deserves.

Then it happens. The company���s toxic management team finally cross the line. As both techies race to upgrade the station and to free the team from their oppressive contracts, they come to learn that life���and love���can only ever be what you make it.

Strap in for a steamy office romance in space, because sometimes It Starts With a Kiss!

This novel is available in ebook from a bunch of retailers.

Is it warm in here or what?�����

This post is part of a hot and bothered blog hop. Keep stoking that fire�����

But love isn���t words

But love isn���t words. Love is the other. It grows within you. It holds you. it warms you. It is its own being. It is a power, like fire. It cares nothing for the woman who thinks she owns it. It cares nothing for the man who thinks he can replace it. If you fight it, it will sour and poison you. If you suppress it, it will only sink deeper and destroy you.

��� Bruce Sterling, The Artificial Kid (1980)

This book started out like the Axe Cop kid made an omelette with A Clockwork Orange and cyberpunk curds. And then it became something else. Something altogether quite wonderful.

And here���s another favourite quote from a later chapter:

In any case, I still had my shotgun nunchuck.

Pretty sure Bruce Sterling is my new writing hero.

5 Mar 2024: Stefen���s Bookclub Author Night @ Durty Nelly���s

Okay, it���s official. I will be facing my anxiety at an in-person author thing. If you���re in town, of pub-going age, and of the nerdy bookish persuasion, come join us in the cosy Brew Bar out the back of Durty Nelly���s Irish Pub on 5 March 2024 from 6:30pm���8:00pm.

The event is hosted by Stefen���s Books, which is A HUGE DEAL FOR ME because they���re my favourite bookshop in this city. A friend pointed me their way about a year and a bit ago, and I���ve found so many new favourite books and new favourite authors since, just from browsing the impressive collection and chatting with their very knowledgeable book-loving owner, Stefen.

More details in the Stefen���s Books Facebook event.