C.S.E. Cooney's Blog, page 3

A wonderful poem by the genius Jessica P. Wick.

Kim Gurnee

Saint Death’s Herald BOOK LAUNCH

(Plus a miraculous review of my book The Twice-Drowned Saint at the Pixelated Geek)

Dear friends,

I’m so excited as my book launch for SAINT DEATH’S HERALD looms closer next month!

If you’re able, please join me at at 7 PM on Thursday April 24th at Kew and Willow Books for the launch!

We are making 2026 CALENDARS to give away, out of Phoebe Ashcrofts FAN ART for my 12 Gods of Quadiíb! There will also be snacks!

If you can’t make the launch, you can still order SIGNED COPIES from Kew and Willow. Just mention that you want it signed in the order notes!

OR, if you’re in RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, OR BOSTON-ISH, and feel like COMING TO WESTERLY, RHODE ISLAND, Martin House Books is hosting a BOOK SIGNING for me on FRIDAY APRIL 25TH at 6:30!

Please tell anyone you think might be interested!

***

Also, this AMAZING review of my book THE TWICE-DROWNED SAINT came out today at the Pixelated Geek!!!

It is so thoughtful, so thorough, just so EXACTLY what I’d want a reader to get out of that book!

I loved how surprised the author Kathryn Adams was at how entirely the opposite it was from the Saint Death books, even though it has “saint” in the title. My fault for not THINKING AHEAD to mixing, um, my brand?

Review: The Twice-Drowned Saint

If this makes you want the book, you can find it wherever books are sold, or buy it directly from the wonderful small press Mythic Delirium here!

Fiction: Impossible, with Cassandra Khaw

TONIGHT! Monday March 10th! 7 PM EASTERN! On Twitch.Tv/csescooney !!!!

WELCOME FICTION IMPOSSIBLE, the SFF fiction and gaming talk show. This week, hosts C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez welcome horror scion and narrative designer nonpareil Cassandra Khaw to discuss what counts as scary, the CRPG renaissance we’re living through, and why they like to break narratives when they’re the one playing.

We’ll also discuss Khaw’s forthcoming book The Library at Hellebore as well as recent Cooney/Hernandenez reads: Pony Confidential and the rise of “Oops, It’s Fantasy” fiction in popular and literary fiction, Tomb of Dragons and how a series becomes beloved, and Kingdom Come II: Deliverance and why sometimes, slower is better.

See you tonight, and remember to eat this message after reading.

Dark Breakers “Breaker Queen” Readalong: More Chapters!

I recorded Chapters 7 & 8 of DARK BREAKERS, Book 1, “The Breakerr Queen” on twitch.tv/csecooney today, in my “Phoenix Quill Tavern” space.

Carlos helped me get the GREEN SCREEN working, so I actually LOOK like I’m INSIDE the tavern! LOVE!

I uploaded them to YouTube the DARK BREAKERS playlist as well!

The glorious genius Brett Massé is designing a logo for us! WHICH REMINDS ME! I MUST EMAIL HIM!

Chapter 7 “Piercing the Veil”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCOXlIj1RNY
Chapter 8 “Heartsease and Mercury”: https://youtu.be/A6v4whOQ_Tg

Our Boskone 62 Schedule

We are excited for Boskone 62 this weekend!

CLAIRE’S SCHEDULE

Fri 8:00 PM:  Infernal Salon
1 Hr 25 Min, Carlton

Sat 10:30 AM: Reading: C.S.E. Cooney (with guest appearance by Carlos Hernandez)
25 Min, Independence

Sat 1:00 PM: Interview with Jasper Fforde
1 Hr, Harbor I

Sat 4:00 PM: Book Launch Party
1 Hr, Galleria – Autographing

Sat 8:30 PM: The Humorous Worlds of Jasper Fforde
1 Hr, Marina III

Sun 11:00 AM: Concert: C.S.E. Cooney (with Carlos Hernandez)
30 Min, Stone

Sun 1:00 PM: Autographing: James Cambias, LJ Cohen, C.S.E. Cooney
1 Hr, Galleria – Autographing

CARLOS’S SCHEDULE

Fri 5:30 PM: Exploring Graphic Novels in the Classroom
1 Hr, Harbor II

Fri 8:00 PM: Infernal Salon (with C.S.E. Cooney)
1 Hr 25 Min, Carlton

Sat 2:30 PM: Why Villains Can’t Carry the Story
1 Hr, Harbor II

Sat 4:00 PM: Book Launch Party
1 Hr, Galleria – Autographing

Sun 10:00 AM: When the Darkness Strikes Back
1 Hr, Marina III

Sun 11:00 AM: Concert: C.S.E. Cooney (with Carlos Hernandez)
30 Min, Stone

Catching Up

First, I have a new newsletter up on Substack! In it, I:

– link to Virtuous Con’s list of BIPOC creators and vendors, courtesy of Cerece Rennie Murphy’s fabulous newsletter;

– celebrate poet Gerald L. Coleman, and talks a bit about his Kickstarter for INCENDIARY: a collection of poems and essays;

– and BOUNCE WITH GLEE about the forthcoming Black Men Reading Speculative Fiction 2 event. Sign up for this amazing virtual event for free!

Today, I read two more chapters of Dark Breakers, Book 1 “The Breaker Queen,” on my nascent Twitch Channel.

You can ALSO find the whole playlist on YouTube here!

More soon. Boskone’s coming up! Eek! I will post my schedule anon.

Dark Breakers Read-Along

Dear friends,

I have started my experiment on TWITCH! For ease of entry, I’m doing a weekly Tuesday morning read-along of my novella “The Breaker Queen” from my collection Dark Breakers.

I’m here at twitch.tv/csecooney

This morning, my first attempt, I made it through Chapters 1 and 2.

The video buffering is a bit… buffoonish. Alas! A problem for Future Claire to solve, possibly with a more robust desktop computer! I think my little laptop can’t quite handle OBS.

But AT LEAST the audio is pretty clear, so I’m hopeful it will make a nice listen whilst friends are doing dishes or laundry or or want some company while they eat lunch.

Chapters 1 & 2 can be found here: https://www.twitch.tv/csecooney/videos

Or, if you prefer YouTube, I’m uploading them to my channel there as well: https://www.youtube.com/@c.s.e.cooney/videos

If you want to READ ALONG with Dark Breakers, but don’t have your copy yet, find it at Mythic Delirium, or wherever books are sold!

A New Newsletter is Available…

On my Substack. I thought about just copy/pasting it here. But it feels disheartening, somehow, to do that.

Here is where I’ll write poems, or wanderings, or schedule updates for cons. There is where I write great big swooping newsy infodumps. Not that I don’t do that here too… But, ah. Not mirroring. Not today. No.

Anyway, here’s a link. https://csecooney.substack.com/p/butreally-you-know-mr-stryver

It’s Subheadings are:

Things You Should Know (TL;DR, the Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic has opened enrollment for their Fairy Tale Heroines course, and you should, you know, check it out)Twitch Channel (I have one: find me at twitch.tv/csecooneyGaming (Hearthglow actual play updates)Writing (so much, not enough)Sadness.

I’ll pause here for that. On Sadness. Briefly, our friend Howard died on the 16th of this month. I just… I want to thank all of you who helped his family on their GoFundMe page we started for him a few months ago.

Death is ruinous. Sometimes it ruins everything. And sometimes enough of us step in that something can be salvaged from the wreckage.

Let us please look for more ways to help as many as we can.

Pinging all Friends: Friend Looking For a Job

Dear friends,

A little while ago, our buddy Deborah J. Brannon went in for major surgery: a hysterectomy for endometriosis.

GREAT GOOD NEWS: she has been RECOVERING WELL!!! As they say in Oz, “THANK GOODNESS!”

However, job security is a thing, and our darling Deborah is looking for it. Her skills are thus–dear friends, DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO NEEDS THEM? Please leave a note for Deborah in the comments here or contact her directly on Bluesky as @ourladyjack.bsky.social

“My primary skills are in writing and editing. I have experience writing features, for blogs, copy for social media or products, ghostwriting, etc. I’ve edited both fiction and nonfiction books. I also have experience as a social media manager. Farther afield, I also have experience in operations and education.”

What she’s looking for:

“Short-term freelance, one-off assignments, proper work-from-home employment, all welcome.”

If you know of anything that might suit, please let us know! And if you want to help another way, here’s her GoFundMe for recovering from surgery.

A sale! And some submission opportunities you might love!

First of all:

Solaris Books has a “start a series” book sale—featuring books that have series continuations coming out THIS YEAR! My first book SAINT DEATH’S DAUGHTER is now on sale, in anticipation of the APRIL release of SAINT DEATH’S HERALD! If you’re interested: https://rebellionpublishing.com/sale/

Second of all, I heard about these awesome submission opportunities you might be totally interested in:

For playwrights: RED BULL THEATRE’S SHORT NEW PLAYFESTIVAL 2025:
https://www.redbulltheater.com/submissions-open
Friends, the theme is DEFIANCE! Read the guidelines carefully, do your Red Bull research, and submit!
The world needs your art!

For writers in general, F(r)iction Lit is holding their Spring 2025 writing contest at https://frictionlit.org/contests/

For my fairy tale writers, poets, and essayist, the next issue of F(r)iction is themed BROTHERS GRIMM. Sub your fairy tale stuff here! https://frictionlit.submittable.com/submit/294821/friction-fairy-tales-submissions

GO FORTH! BE BOLD! BE BOLD! AND YES, TOO BOLD! (Except in the use of AI. Just don’t.) (Also please read the guidelines and be polite to the nice editors! They’re working their tushes off!)