Update! March 2025, or Is It Spring Yet?

I’ve had some new short stories published:

“The Fairford Duck,” at The Sunday Morning Transport. This was inspired by an Anglo-Saxon replica pendant my friend made: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1787102225/fairford-duck-anglo-saxon-replica-bronze

“Ninth Life,”  a contribution to a website celebrating the work of Charles de Lint. A story about Esther the Cat, who really thought she would get to rest this life. Yes, this is the same Esther who lives with Frida and Judi in the Kitty series.

“Bravado,” Reactor Magazine, another story about Graff, a gay hedonistic secret cyborg. This is his origin story. More Graff stories are on the way. I love that guy so much.

This month’s lesson:  Some thoughts on publicity. Hint: I don’t know anything about publicity. Nobody does.

And… I’m working on a couple of new short stories. I’m a big believer in “write every day” but I took a break from writing last month. It was the right call. I needed to let my brain rest. Like a runner who’s pulled a muscle, you know? But I’m slowly coming back to it, with freewriting and brainstorming, going over old notes to pick up threads that got dropped. I accepted an anthology invitation; the deadline is in April. So back in the saddle it is.

I saw a couple of movies. I really liked Captain America: Brave New World, more than a lot of other people did. I think it’s because it went back to some classic superhero tropes, battles, and plots. Mutated villain who uses secret mind control to infiltrate the government? Yes, please! Familiar characters, good actors, just all around competent without a lot of the complexities the MCU has gotten bogged down in. No multiverse, huzzah! And… it’s chock-full of non-toxic masculinity. Three generations of men mentoring each other and helping each other. At the lowest point in the movie Bucky tells Sam, “I love you,” honestly and unironically, like good friends do, and it was beautiful. I didn’t know I needed to see that until it happened.

Atlas on Netflix was dumb as a pile of bricks and the less said about it the better. Except that the AI mech suit should have been the protagonist.