Year in Review, Part the First: The Personal Stuff

Dec. 28th, 2025 04:50 pm
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Okay, so apart from the horrors at the national and international level, my 2025 was defined by the following events:
  • My wife and partner of 29 years, bookbinder and conservator Jana Pullman, died in February after a 5 year struggle with dementia (the same week as my mom's birthday, which will be super fun this year).
  • My boy kitty, Shu, got diagnosed with feline diabetes requiring multiple insulin injections per day at the ripe old age of 15 in early March.
  • I was awarded a 2025 Alice B. Readers Award in March. This is an anonymous juried award for an author's body of work in sapphic fiction, nonfiction, poetry and/or drama. Previous winners have included such "lightweights" as Joanna Russ, Dorothy Allison and this year, Emma Donoghue. I was floored and thrilled and floored again. It is a lovely thing and it made my year much better.
  • In June, my friend Anne Shaw died unexpectedly (I didn't find out about it until several weeks later, for reasons I won't go into now) and I miss her a lot. Other folks who passed in 2025 who were friends/colleagues to one degree or another: bi activist and organizer Lou Hoffman; poet and WisCon/organizer.volunteer Terry Garey; and Tiptree Award/WisCon/lots of other things artist Freddie Baer.
  • In July, my IT contract ended (this was expected). But in the ensuing months of unemployment, it has become clear that between my age, the fact that I have to work remotely due to kitty care needs and changes in the job market, I am probably involuntarily retired from IT after 25 years. I have some mixed feels, but acknowledge that I was completely and utterly burned out and that, money aside, it is time for a change.
  • Over the summer, Jana was awarded the first posthumous Laura Young Award for Service to the Guild of Bookworkers. I wasn't able to swing going to Iowa City for it due the job situation and the need to pay for cat sitting, so other folks were kind enough to deliver my speech on her behalf and bring back the award. Thanks to Parry, Madelyn and Chris!
  • I started writing fiction again! And nonfiction! I had a new story up at Heather Rose Jones's LHMPodcast, "An Encounter with a Lady" and an short nonfiction piece at New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine, "Joanna Russ: Sword & Sorcery Pioneer?" I will have a second nonfiction piece out in New Edge in 2026, "Thula the Maid and Her Creator," date TBD. Thanks to embracing the writing sprint model, I currently have 2 short stories, a novella and the next werewolf novel in progress.
  • I am knuckling down on making Queen of Swords Press profitable enough to pay me on a considerably more regular basis, to which end, I have enrolled in the State of Minnesota's CLIMB Program for entrepreneurs and Hennepin County's Elevate program, which does small business mentoring. I am also attending a crap ton of  classes and such and am trying to spin up an editing business (hire me!). You can also check out my Ko-fi store for sundry workshops, coaching, downloadable things to read, boxes by Jana, etc. 
  • I set myself a goal of doing one new thing and one thing that I hadn't done since before lockdown in 2020 each month. This included some travel adventures: a weekend in Red Wing, MN, at a historic hotel by myself; going to Seattle Worldcon and coming back by sleeper car with friends on the train; and flying first class for the first time in my life to Readercon in Boston. I've also been visiting new to me places around the Twin Cities, like Raspberry Island for the Alebrijes show this summer, and places I keep meaning to check out again, like the new location of the Somali Museum of Minnesota and the Landmark Center in St. Paul. Lately, I've been working on making some new friends as well as connecting with my old ones.
  • I continued with my weekly online movement and isolation dance/exercise class with local Middle Eastern Dance maven, Cassandra Shore (apparently, I can now "Shimmy Like Your Sister Kate" at a very basic level). I found a massage therapist I really like. Apart from ongoing pain issues and the occasional migraine, I'm pretty healthy.
  • I started a 3 part series of classes at the University of Minnesota to get a certification in Data Analytics in October. I aced the first one so here's hoping I can do as well on the next two classes!
  • I'm ending this year with some hopeful financial news, which is lovely. So overall, a very mixed bag of year from devastating to stupendous and back again.
Finally, many thanks to the friends who've helped me get through this year. A lot of people helped in a lot of different ways and I want you to know that I greatly appreciate it!Next up, publishing news!

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Racing toward the end of the year...

Dec. 16th, 2025 09:29 pm
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I have a huge number of updates and end of year things to post, but I'm scrambling to get things done and wrap up some deadlines. Here's a brief recap:
  • Queen of Swords Press has released the new Astreiant omnibus! The Complete Astreiant by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett includes all 6 novels and is available in the various ebook platforms. However. Amazon is absolutely fleecing us on this, taking 65% of cover, so please, please, buy it direct from us or Smashwords/D2D or Kobo or even B&N or GooglePlay instead. I need to see if Weightless is interested too. At any rate, the Astreiant Series is eligible for the Best Series Hugo this year! Please keep it in mind.
  • I'm trying to wrap up the first third of my Data Analytics certification, with a final this week.
  • I'm doing Queen of Swords Press's 34th event for 2025 this Saturday - stop by AudreyRose Vintage in Minneapolis on 12/20 12-4PM for fun shopping with multiple vendors of various things!
  • I'm working on edits for Joyce Chng's fab collection, Sailing the Golden Chersonese, which we're releasing early next year.
  • I need to complete a new grant proposal in the next two weeks.
  • I have written several thousand works of new fiction, including working on the next werewolf novel in the last few week, thanks to writing sprints.
  • I have come to recognize that I will not be landing in an IT gig any time soon, if ever, due to needing remote work, my age and the state of the job market, so I'm enrolling in the State of MN CLIMB Program and have gotten myself a small biz mentor through Hennepin County Elevate and I'm doubling down on publishing. 
  • New editing biz is open! Got a manuscript that wants some love or need some publishing coaching or know someone who does? Send them my way!
Okay, stopping there for the moment. End of year wrap up posts coming soon! 
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Where in the world is Catherine?

Nov. 26th, 2025 03:17 pm
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An endlessly valid question these days. I am not wearing a striped shirt (one has to have standards), but I have been a. Wrestling with Hell Cold for weeks now and b. Piling on all the events I can get into because no day job and c. Wrangling my data analytics class, Queen of Swords Press stuff, writing, job hunting and sundries.

Some things have begun to dawn on me, albeit quite slowly. I'm unbelievably burnt out. Objectively, I knew this, but I'm starting to reckon with the fact that 5 years of nonstop stress and 60-70 hours week have...dented me pretty badly. The last year of deranged boss and constant threat of being fired did not help either. Add to that my age, my cat who needs medical attention and feedings which require me to be at home (even if I wanted to go back to the cube farms) and the IT job market tanking and I'm starting to let go of it. I'm going to focus on ramping up the press, reviving my dormant editing business and seeing what kind of other WFH I can scare up here and there. Eventually, Social Security will have to be a thing, but even with Jana's added in, it won't be enough to live on and I'll have to work anyway.

On the jollier side, I'm writing again! I cranked out 1000 words of novel draft last night, the most I've written at one time in a while. I have 2 other projects in progress and am gradually getting some ideas for other things. I'm going to be pitching some talks and classes and articles as well and working on new story collections as well. I just reactivated my Professional Editors Network membership and will be rebuilding my profile in the next few days. I have a new small business mentor with the county and am meeting with her next week. I found a support group for unemployed older women and will meet with them next week.

And Queen of Swords Press has a terrific new gay vampire novel by M.Christian out and we'll be releasing an omnibus edition of the Astreiant Series by next month on 12/15! The Complete Astreiant by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett is up for preorder now (please buy direct from us if you can; Amazon is going to crush us on their percentage for this book). The Astreiant Series is also eligible for the Best Series Hugo this year, so please keep it in mind when you are nominating. Melissa Scott has never won a Hugo and I'd love to change that.

Queen of Swords Press is also WisCon's Vendor of the Month for November so if you buy a backlist title (not the preorder) from us using coupon code WisCon26 at checkout, you get a sale price and we'll donate $ to the con. The proverbial win/win!

I'm adding Jana's boxes and journals to the shop on Ko-fi, along with some of my own projects and offerings. Please feel free to boost if the shopping aspects won't work for you.

More bulletins soon! Have a great holiday if you're celebrating! I'm going to veg out with my kitties and do some writing and editing, before enjoying a good takeout meal from the co-op. I'm booked every waking moment Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday so please don't worry that I'm being left to weep alone into my cranberries. I'm deliberately choosing to have a day off. :-)
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And back again!

Nov. 3rd, 2025 09:28 pm
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I kept starting posts, then getting too busy/distracted to finish them so here goes for an update:
  • I did not get the job I had a second interview for. I do not currently have any prospects for another IT gig at present. This is not...great from a financial standpoint. I am not in dire straits, but I would also prefer to avoid sailing into them in the not very distant future. Ways to help, if you are inclined and able, while I sort myself out: Ko-fi (posting once a week - there are also things in the shop); Patreon (I post a couple of times a month); or the ever popular hire me for things like editing, writing, teaching etc, and/or buy a book or two from Queen of Swords Press. 
  • In fact, speaking of Queen of Swords, we are WisCon's first Vendor of the Month! Subscribe to the newsletter  to get the sales code and when you use it on our website, you get a discount and we do a matching donation to WisCon. How cool is that?
  • What else is going on? I finished vetting 27 state arts board grants. For organizations. It was a lot. But some cool projects coming up and I look forward to seeing how they turn out.
  • I started my data analytics certification course the first. Having some issues getting the instructor to respond when there are problems (I can't get into the Zoom for university reasons) so hopefully we'll get that sorted this week. Otherwise, learning how to do some new things in Excel with data and it's pretty interesting.
  • Doing an ungodly number of events. Last week, I did a pop-up on Sunday, a reading in Anoka on Tuesday and a book fair at a brewery in Fridley on Sunday. Friday, I go set up for the Twin Cities Book Festival for Saturday, then do a reading at DreamHaven on Wednesday, then a Queer Writes events on Sunday, then a three day marathon of Fables & Flames, the romantasy con. I "only" have 2 events for December so far so probably picking up more. Why? Well, it's likely to be my income soon, but only if I can get it to pick up quite a bit.
  • Writing! I'm doing writing sprints with Broad Universe once or twice a week and it's helping get me back on track.
  • Going to art things with friends. So far, that's included a mural tour of Lake Street, Dia de los Muertos on Lake Street, a performance about the Fox Sisters and spiritualism, Lizzie Borden: A Punk Rock Musical, a play about the creation of Shakespeare's First Folio and sundry other things I'm forgetting about.
  • I went to the Careerforce meeting I was supposed to go to and now I need to follow up.
  • A metric ton of meet ups and trainings of various kinds - I finally finished the developmental editing certification that I've been working on sporadically for a while!
  • Cooking things from scratch like applesauce and borscht. 
  • Went to a small No Kings event with some neighbors.
  • Winterizing the house, cleaning things out, embarking on the deep clean I haven't managed to get to for years now.
Cats are still hanging in there, though Shu is slowing down, poor boy. But otherwise managing for the moment.
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Moving into October

Oct. 4th, 2025 09:10 pm
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So the big personal news for this week is that I finally got a job interview to wrap up last week...back at the same company I've been contracting at for most of the last three years. Different manager though, and more interesting-sounding position. Seeing as I know the ropes pretty well, I'm getting the second interview this coming week and we'll see how it goes. If I get the offer, I have to take it since my former contracting company is paying for my unemployment and frankly, I'm not very up for eyeing the abyss of "what happens if unemployment ends/savings have to be burned through/the entire social safety net finishes unraveling." I've been through enough of that over the last 5 years.

Apart from ageism, sexism, the economy and so forth, the main obstacle to me getting at least up to the interview stage is that my kitty Shu requires shots on a very regular schedule a couple of times a day, plus regular feedings--the cats are on a raw meat diet due to being allergic to chicken and somewhat delicate tummies so I can't just pop food in a feeder and let them fend for themselves. Paying my catsitter to come in a couple of times a week just so I can go into an office to make a manager feel more secure isn't particularly viable, not to mention the costs of gas and commuting. So it has to be full WFH and those IT gigs in my skillset are few and far between right now. Given all that, please wish me luck!

What's the backup plan? Well, I'm doubling down on publisher meetings, trainings related to book production and marketing and whatever I can glean from startup support/culture that is somewhat relevant to Queen of Swords Press. Today, for instance, I went to an Entrepreneur Expo at the Central Library and got some useful thoughts from one of the folks I talked to (from the county's Elevate program for small biz startups). I think she will probably be more useful for immediate advice than the guy I spoke to at St. Thomas a couple of weeks ago, and she did say that she wanted me to touch base with her soon. Last week was a couple of marketing workshops and a publisher meetup. Monday is a meetup for the the queer small business app we're now underwriting, Everywhere is Queer. Oh, and I added some events. And we're putting out a new book this month - Running Dry by M.Christian (gay vampires with a twist!) is up for preorder now. I'm also starting to add Jana's boxes to my Ko-fi shop, along with sundry services you can hire me for. 

I've got some writing and teaching plans that I'm working on as well, including, you know, books. Unfortunately, some of the teaching venues I taught at before are no longer viable the way they were before or have shifted directions in ways that do not play to my strengths. So more research, more pitching, more work all around. But next month, there's paid grant vetting and I just turned in another article so I can start pitching more of those.

On the bright side, I'm making progress on patching concrete around the house foundation and almost succeeded in patching the leaking pipe. I've managed to clean out and shift some stuff in the house so that none of the heating vents are blocked any more and there's a bit more space to move around. Next up, tripping hazards and things that make it harder to clean (like books in weird places, etc.). Shu is relatively stable, Ma'at is great and I've been vaxxed and all that good stuff. I'm doing a lot of cooking from scratch and some preserving and such. All in all, as long as I don't look at the news, I'm doing reasonably well, under the circumstances. 

Fingers crossed that it's the same for all of you right now!
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My, it's been a few weeks...

Sep. 12th, 2025 09:21 pm
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I didn't realize it had been that long. So what have I been doing? Always a fair question.
  • Being unemployed. With no interviews. And a sick cat who hanging on enough that I have to work remotely since hiring my catsitter multiple times a week plus commuting costs so I can hang out and experience a germ-laden cube farm has lost any appeal it ever had for me. Alternatively, I'm not killing my cat  so some dweeb can watch me in person instead of online. Plus, I am still absolutely crispy.
  • What am I doing instead? I have registered for an online Data Analytics Certification program at the University of Minnesota. It starts next month and doesn't look too painful. It's also not industry-specific in case I want to get out of healthcare. I am also dutifully signing up with contracting companies, lining up references, checking in with colleagues and all that.
  • I'll be vetting grants again in November for a small stipend.
  • I need to get a list of Jana's remaining fine bindings to show to her former boss. He's looking into getting some institutional support for a couple of artists and wants to include her work. On the one hand, not much budget out there. On the other, the man is a Macarthur Genius Award winner so that my well help.
  • I'm starting up a Ko-fi store for things you can purchase off me, like hour long consultations on things I know a lot about, some of my classes, Jana's handmade boxes (there are a lot) and fiction and nonfiction that isn't readily available elsewhere or under contract. At the moment, I'm trying to get a buffer by raising funds to pay down some not huge debts while I try to spin up some editing and writing gigs. Please consider bookmarking it, hiring me, throw a coin to your Witcher and all that. I'm managing, but if things go sideways, it will be unpleasant.
  • I have spun up a couple of writing gigs in progress.
  • Queen of Swords Press news! We just signed a reprint (gay vampires!) by author M.Christian (due out end of October) and a new collection of sapphic fantasy tales set in Southeast Asia by Joyce Chng (due out in February, if all goes well). Hoping to pull off an ebook box set of the Astreiant Series around Christmas.
  • Adding lots of events because for the first time in almost 9 years, Queen of Swords Press is actually covering my royalties! I'm parsing out old royalties by quarter so we don't run into cash shortages, but it is pretty fun to be collecting my dues on my books once again.
  • I have been to the State Fair, a couple of movies, tea in Anoka, MN, to see sundry museum exhibits, been out with friends, had friends over, started patching concrete around the house, begun fixing small things I can figure out by watching YouTube (I managed to trip the safety on the furnace on one such endeavor, which necessitated a tech visit today, but other things have gone a bit better).
  • I have signed up for lots of free trainings and entrepreneur stuff that the city and county offer.
  • I am writing again. Fiction and nonfiction. Slow and disorganized, but there's stuff on the page once more.
So lots of activity, none of which pays a living wage or close to it. If I can patch enough stuff together, to hang on until the end of March, I can apply for Social Security, if it still exists, and go from there. 
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Back from Worldcon

Aug. 21st, 2025 07:17 pm
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I took off a week ago Tuesday to fly to Seattle. The trip went well, apart from my flight being moved to 0 Dark Thirty, which was painful. I landed at our hotel, rendezvoused with the Merriams and we headed off to the Chihuly Museum and the Museum of Pop Culture.  For those playing along at home, that means that on 4 hours of sleep, I rode in a car, a plane, a monorail and a train in a day. But it was delightful! I hadn't been to the Chihuly Museum before - many of the exhibits were lovely. I had been to the Museum of Pop Culture before, back when my friend Brooks was the curator of the sf and f collection and enjoyed it. This time was fun as well, if a tad crowded.

After that, I picked up my reg stuff and met Nicole Kimberling of Blindeye Books for dinner at the ASEAN Food Hall. We had a long chat and got caught up; we last got to hang out pre-lockdown so it's been awhile. She puts out some excellent books - check them out! And when I got back, my friend and roomie for the weekend, Hugo Award Finalist Heather Rose Jones had arrived so we got caught up. Next day, I was on the queer-coded villains panel, which was fun. Then it was off to a delightful lunch with the glorious "steampunk personalities" (as we were all dubbed in The Steampunk Explorer), Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter and one of their friends. I puttered around the con running into people, including hanging out with with my pals Rob and Peter from D.C, and dropping books off at the Liminal Fiction table in the Dealer's Room before heading out to meet my friend Brooks and his sweetie Lisa for dinner. Then Brooks and I were off to the Clarion West party at Hugo House. Got to chat with a bunch of folks there, including Casey Blair, who I hadn't seen for a few years, including Charlie Jane Anders and more, as well as hanging out with Jennie Goloboy and meeting Astrid Bear.

Thursday was my "light" day so I went to Concurrent at the Union Theater for an interesting panel on publishing short fiction. A friend who was on the panel became ill so I sat with her for awhile after the panel. Multiple people checked in and fortunately, she was doing better after some rest so after checking a couple of times, I got her a Lyft and sent her back to her hotel. She was doing much better all weekend so I was very glad that things turned around!  I think I went to a good panel on Medieval Women Writers after that and the art show and such. I had lunch with my former editor and friend, Evan J. Peterson, an hour or so before he found out that he was a finalist for the Endeavor Award. I did some more puttering about and spent some time with delightful pals Monica Valentinelli, Matt McElroy and LaShawn Wanak. After that, it was off to dinner with Heather, the Merriams, Jody Wurl and her friend Cynthia. Friday was my Table Talk, which was fun! Someone showed up to talk about my gaming, someone else stopped by to ask about the werewolf books and another person wanted to talk publishing. Then I grabbed lunch with LaShawn and worked a shift at the Liminal Fiction table, where I finally met J. Scott Coatsworth in person. Then I got to hang out with Martha Wells and her husband for a nice chat. After that, I went off to a fun-filled Seattle Underground tour with the Merriams. 

Saturday was my reading, which could have gone better (I had a coughing fit), but was well attended. I chatted with folks and sold some books, which was nice. I met up with various folks (apologies for things blurring a bit by then), worked another table shift, did some other things, then went and did the Joanna Russ panel. It went well - lot of good discussion and some anecdotes. 

I then grabbed dinner and went back to our room to watch the Hugo Awards. A brief pause from general goodwill: I watched the first 45 minutes of the ceremony with the sound on, got tired of the song repetition and the mispronunciations of finalist names and switched to captions. So I missed the part where the editorial staff of Khoreo got skipped over and the Lodestar finalist was skipped completely and a bunch of things covered elsewhere. I will just say that when GRRM mangled multiple finalist names at the 2020 Hugo Awards in New Zealand, there was an understandable hue and cry about it and it was deemed highly disrespectful (which it was). This is no different and the impacted finalists are due an apology. Also: for the love of whatever you hold sacred, Hugo Admins, address the damn issue. Hire transcriptionists, compel the hosts to practice names, record the names ahead of time, but DO SOMETHING so we stop experiencing this frankly xenophobic nonsense every year. EDITED: turns out the Hugo Awards Committee may have done things to address this and the issues lie more squarely at the door of the presenters and possibly the on the ground folks administering the awards.


Sunday, I went to a panel on romantasy, then had lunch with Heather (who did not win, but enjoyed herself anyway). Then we toddled off to the Amtrak station where Jody, the Merriams and I ran into local author powerhouse Pat Wrede. We all hung out until we boarded the bus to Spokane (there were train issues) for a four hour trip across the state of Washington. They did let us board the train and get into the sleepers around 10 even though the train wasn't leaving until 1AM. I got a couple of hours of broken napping, then roused Jody from the upper bunk so we could grab breakfast before watching morning over Glacier National Park. It was glorious!

The rest of the trip was lively. The dining car ran out of most food because they were supposed to stock up in Seattle, but couldn't. Staff was very stiff upper lip about it and did the best they could and we were sympathetic (and tipped). I didn't get much sleep what with the train rattling and all, but Monday night was better than Saturday. All in all, though, it was a fun expedition and I'm glad I did it! Big shoutout to Tony for picking up Jody and Kevin for picking up the rest of us to go home.

I'm currently in the midst of a two day women in publishing virtual conference and scrambling to get caught up on sundries. Still job hunting, but unemployment came through so that helps a bunch. Tomorrow, more conference and other things, before going to the State Fair with my friend Matt. More updates on the conference as soon as it wraps!


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Seattle Worldcon schedule and weekly update

Aug. 1st, 2025 04:24 pm
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Seattle Worldcon is looming in a week and a half and I'll be there! I'll be rooming with Heather, who's also on the Hugo ballot so that'll be fun. I am beginning to make dinner and other plans so if you want to hang out with me or talk projects with me or both, now's a good time to schedule. What kind of projects? Well, hiring me for things like commissioning stories and articles, signing me up to teach classes, coach or do editing and writing projects would all be swell. I know a lot about book marketing and sales and the publishing process, just saying. And I'm an award-winning writer who's good with deadlines.

On the directly related to Queen of Swords Press front: I'm reading some fine queer horror and dark fantasy and historical fantasy subs and am awaiting at least one more for this year. But we are light on queer science fiction and I'd like to fill that gap, ideally with novel length work. It will be very, very helpful to be familiar with at least some of our existing titles. I have fairly idiosyncratic tastes and I drive what gets selected. Anything much over 90k words is a hard sell for POD and anything slow-moving is a hard sell for me. We are also a "fly by the seat of our pants" operation, which while it is totally on me, also has helped us be flexible enough to outlast many, many other presses. But this is not everyone's speed and I get it. What does the future hold? Who knows? We're still here right now and making stuff happen. Reach out to me here if you don't have the QoSP email. We are not officially open to subs so this is on an invite basis.Talk to me first.

Back to Worldcon:
Wednesday:

Why Are Villains Queer-Coded?

Culture/DEI; Horror; Streaming; Virtual
Room 435-436, –

Numerous genre traits, characteristics, and stereotypes have been molded into the modern idea of the villain, and many such quirks are directly tied to stereotypes of the LGBTQ+ community—but why? Is it because the status quo fears the growing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, or because the status quo has always excluded and oppressed these individuals? Let’s break it down and discuss ways we creatives can alter that message for positive change regarding this misconception, even in the darkest of genre fiction.

Dr. Heather O. Petrocelli (M), Catherine Lundoff, David Demchuk, Sumiko Saulson, The Grand Arbiter

Friday:
 

Table Talks - You do need to sign up for these beforehand - limit of 6 per talk
Room 430, –

Have an intimate discussion (up to six participants) with your favorite creators. Advance sign-up is required (sign-up info coming soon).

Brandon O’Brien, Cassie Alexander, Catherine Lundoff, Daphne Singingtree, F. J. Bergmann, Melinda M. Snodgrass

Saturday:

Reading: Catherine Lundoff

Readings
Room 428, –

Blue Moon. Blue Moon is the third novel in Catherine’s Wolves of Wolf’s Point series, about a group of women from different backgrounds who turn into werewolves as they enter menopause. Blue Moon picks up where Blood Moon left off and traces the origins of the Wolf’s Point Pack. The books are sapphic dark fantasy.

The Radical Fiction of Joanna Russ

Genre History; Streaming; Virtual
Room 435-436, –

Joanna Russ, author of The Female Man, wrote some of the most radical fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. The Female Man has remained consistently in print and is one of the most experimental and challenging books of our genre. This panel will discuss her short stories and novels and their effects.

Sue Burke (M), Catherine Lundoff, Langley Hyde, Michael Swanwick, Rich Horton

I'll also be at the Liminal Fiction table in the Dealer's Room selling my and other folk's books on Friday from 1-2PM and Saturday 1-2PM.


What else have I been up to?

  • Some passive job hunting through contracting companies
  • Accepted an invite to do grant reviewing again in November (pays a stipend)
  • Followed up on numerous things that needed following up on
  • Read 1.5 submissions
  • Did some writing and made a writing date for tomorrow
  • Worked on my developmental editing certificate class
  • Laundry and cleaning things out, like old files and things that need to be emptied before I can sell them
  • Selling more of Jana's tools
  • Prepping for Worldcon
  • Went with friends to see the alebrijes sculptures at Raspberry Island, the current art show at the Cafejian Art Trust in Shoreview, the weird Renaissance show at the MIA and "Glensheen: The Musical" at the History Theater and by myself to the Minneapolis American Indian Center to see the queer/two spirit art show at Two Rivers Gallery.
  • Diagnosed a plumbing issue and ordered parts to fix it.
  • Followed up on some Jana-related things including turning over an unfinished project to the people it should have gone to originally, networking with her former boss about selling some of her bindings and finding more things for the Minnesota Center for Book Arts to sell in the Shop at Open Book.
  • Starting to get some ducks in a row for talk and class proposals.
  • Research for the article I have due soonish.
Okay, that was a lot. Hang in there, folks. It's Friday.
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Sales and other updatey things

Jul. 1st, 2025 08:18 pm
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Spent the weekend peddling books at TC Pride and it was a....LOT. Hot, sporadic rainstorms (with a big one overnight that trashed some folk's tents) and other wackiness. Full writeup here. Short version: terrible location, lower sales than last year, a state funeral next door with all that goes with that, primo people watching, good chats, nice folks and TC Pride in all its gigantic glory. Also, vendor pals gave me a piece of really tasty homemade coffeecake and Alexa (my assistant) is a champ.

The other cool thing that happened was that the Queen of Swords Press reissue of the classic gay fantasy, Point of Hopes (Astreiant #1) by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett, won the Midwest Book Award from the Midwest Independent Publisher's Association! Very pleased about this. Hopes was our third title to be a finalist for these awards and is now our second award-winning title after The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater, winner of a Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collection. :-D

2 days left on the Pride StoryBundle! Melissa and I got a really great lineup this year and we've raised $770 for Rainbow Railroad so far. I might add that the proceeds from this will also be a nice help to the participating publishers and authors, including my own press, and that, seeing as I will be unemployed by Thursday, my half of the curator's fee will help cover my travel expenses for Readercon which would be super helpful. If you're in a position to get one and it looks appealing, maybe pick one up?

The Summer/Winter Smashwords Sale has also kicked off today and you can get a great deal on Queen of Swords Press titles, including my own books. This is traditionally a solid sale for us and it means that I can pay myself more this month if it goes well. Also, speaking of sales, the audiobook for my second Wolves of Wolf's Point novel, Blood Moon, is on sale right now through 7/15. The narrator that Tantor hired is really good - I've been enjoying listening to her reading my books while I get regrounded for/in Book 3.

What am I going to do for the next couple of weeks? Honestly, rest. Write. Read. Get caught up on projects like the developmental editing class I paid to take online...last year. Clear some stuff out of the house. Put some things up for sale. Spend time with people who I've wanted to see for quite a while. Spend some time with my kitties (I don't think Shu will be around a whole lot longer). Can I afford to retire? Alas, no. But I have got to unglue from the ceiling and the last 8 months of this job have been toxic with a cherry on top. I will need to start job hunting soon after I get back from Readercon though and possibly exploring other areas of endeavor if IT has dried up for me so lots of uncertainty ahead. In the meantime, if you are in a position to support me recovering for a bit, consider pledging the Patreon and buying a book or two. I also have a Ko-fi and will be more active out there soon. Stay tuned! More updates ahead.
And hugs to everyone who needs them.




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Readercon schedule, TC Pride and more!

Jun. 27th, 2025 10:27 am
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It's Twin Cities Pride this weekend and I'm headed in to do some preliminary setup this morning. It's been raining for days, with some more expected this weekend and 3 of the interstates are closed - what could go wrong? No, don't answer that. At any, Queen of Swords Press will have a table in the Queer Writes Test/Zone (called different things on the map), space #496. I'm "between jobs" (out of work/taking a short break) as of 7/3 so if you can't make it to Pride and are up for buying a book or two, now would be a great time. Library requests help a lot too!

Readercon 34 - I will be attending (please buy a Pride StoryBundle if you can! My half of the curator's fee is funding my trip cash for July and these are some great books. We're also raising money for Rainbow Railroad too!). My schedule is here and I'm on everything from small press publishing to aging in sf to erotica and horror to doing a reading.  Looking for ward to it! Will I see you there? Let's get a meal/snacks.

I am also adding an October trip to Iowa City on 10/11 to accept a posthumous Laura Young Award for Jana from Guild of Bookworkers at their Standards Conference. That will be something of a whirlwind, but if you're in the area, breakfast on Sunday could be a thing.

I have a Seattle Worldcon schedule but it doesn't look quite baked yet. I also apparently promised a debut reading of Blood Moon, (Wolves of Wolf's Point #3) from some months back when I had 10K words...then had to revise and reset in a different character's head. Apparently, there will be a lot of writing in the next couple of weeks to get some things ready for readings at both cons!

 

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How am I viewing my looming unemployment, you ask?

Jun. 24th, 2025 07:51 pm
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Well, I'm hella tired. So sleep and doing odds and ends are looking very appealing. Also writing and editing. I'm signing up for various workshops and classes and just came across a developmental editing class that I signed up for...a year ago. I should probably finish that. In a couple of weeks, I will be looking for editing, teaching, speaking, writing gigs, but I definitely need to recharge a bit. Let me know if you're interested in my sundry nonIT skills. For the IT end of things, my contracting company will keep looking and the very large healthcare co. that currently rents my services has expressed interest in having me back in another capacity so we'll see if anything works out there. In the next couple of weeks, I have vending at Twin Cities Pride this weekend (500,000+ people, 3 day marathon - come see us at the Queer Writes Tent in Loring Park!), the Inbound Book Fair for Grownups in 2 weeks (4-5000 people last year, 2 day marathon - come see us at the Fairgrounds in the Education Building!), followed immediately thereafter by Readercon (my schedule is lit!). Then back for a couple of weeks, then off to Seattle for Worldcon. Somewhere in there, I will freak about money if I haven't figured something out, but I also figure I've been planning for this for the last year and if I don't seize the moments where I can, when will I?
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And here we go again...

Jun. 17th, 2025 08:48 pm
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Which sums up so much, really. In a very short time last week, the following things happened:
  • I successfully sold one of Jana's design bindings (my personal fav, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) to a book collector. Not the institution I had hoped for but still good news and very helpful.I also managed to rehome/sell a bunch of her reference books and remaining tools with someone else who was one of her students and a colleague.
  • I got news that Jana is getting a posthumous Laura Young Award from the Guild of Bookworkers this year in Iowa City. One the one hand, this is "Yay! Awesome!" and very well-deserved, On the other, I am kind of resentful that this recognition couldn't have come in the Before Times so she could have enjoyed it, given that was when she did the bulk of the work that is being honored. But so it goes. Now I have to figure out how I'll fit in a trip to Iowa City in October, especially as I may be unemployed.
  • Because that is the other thing that happened on the same afternoon last week. I got word that my contract wasn't going to be extended so I'm out on 7/2. On the one hand, this fairly toxic project was starting to be bad for my mental health, especially after what I've been through already this year. On the other, super fond of the paychecks and not yet in a position for retirement to be more than a good joke amongst friends. And, of course, Readercon (midJuly) has been a goal for ages and is partially paid for and Worldcon in Seattle (mid August) is paid for with the exception of hotel, food and sundries and I have a roommate and a friend to travel on the train with, so cancelling is not on the table.
  • I did go to 4th Street Fantasy over the weekend and had a perfectly nice time with friends. And I wore my Alice B. Readers' medal pinned to my chest like a Napoleanic general all weekend because I'm not going to get another lifetime achievement award (in all likelihood) so I'd best appreciate it while I can.
  • I had a really nice queer elder moment this weekend. A local young person is trying to spin up a homemade scones delivered by bike business that I have ordered from a few times and they reached out on Sunday to ask if they could stop by to give me some scones since they had extra from their last sale. We had a nice chat and i enjoyed the intergenerational bonding. Will try and do more of this!
  • I watched "Ballerina" and "In the Lost Lands" in the last week and they are both terrible in different ways, but also action-packed and entertaining fun. Very, very high body count and quite gory if those are things you wish to avoid.
  • Things that would be helpful as I embark on another effin' round of job hunting:
  1. Job referrals for analyst gigs - as much WFH as possible. Shu is not doing well and I'd need to pay someone to check on him otherwise (this is what I do when I have all day events, given his shot schedule).
  2. Check out the Pride StoryBundle - buy one if you can, encourage your friends to do the same, recommend it to others and boost if you can't buy. Melissa and I split the curator's fee so the more we sell, the better we do. It also means more money for the publishers and authors as well as for Rainbow Railroad so very much a win/win.
  3. Hire me! I edit, I coach people on publishing and marketing, I can format ebooks, give talks, teach classes and workshops and all that good stuff. I write fiction, nonfiction and media tie-ins - invite me to write or edit for your project!
  4. I have a Patreon that supports both me and Queen of Swords. The tiers are nonsense at this point - everybody gets something and any amount helps.
  5. Buy books or get your library to buy Queen of Swords Press titles. Reviews and recommendations help lots too!
  6. Stay tuned - I'll be putting stuff up for sale online, including finally getting Jana's boxes up on my Ko-fi. I'm looking at article pitches and CFS and crowdfunding a Queen of Swords Press project. Oh, and finally writing that next novel and digging into writing a new short story collection and more.
Am I aware of what's going on in the outside world? Yes. Doing what I can to make things better where I can, but I also gotta consider what happens to me, my cats and so forth so that needs to be the priority. Hugs all around if you need them.
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And back!

May. 27th, 2025 02:45 pm
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 Well, technically back on Sunday. How was Red Wing? Mostly delightful! Drive down was uneventful. I stopped to visit the Anderson Center, which is an art space/art residency/studio space/alternative high school at the edge of town. I had had a writing residency there back in 1999 or so and did not have the best memories (combination of medical emergency and wildly incompatible other residents engaged in ongoing social conflict) and was delighted to find that the energy is very different now. The high school was hopping, the sculpture park is very nice and the gallery shows were really good. Staff is also more pleasant so big thumbs up, all around.

From there, I went to the tea shop, after killing some time in the big geek garage sale place next door and picking up a couple of DVDs. The Wisteria Tea Room is, alas, closing this week as they have lost their space and the owner wants to retire. Tea was very tasty and the ambiance was entertaining so I’m sorry not to visit again. I picked up A Life of Laetitia Pilkington by Norma Clarke on Charlie Jane’s recommendation and it’s brilliant. Read it through multiple meals, including this one. 18th century poet, wit, fallen woman, former Swift-protege and more - this bio is glorious. Highly recommended, though sadly out of print.

From there, I went to the St. James Hotel, a glorious Victorian pile in the middle of downtown, settled into my very pleasant room and vegged for a bit, then went for a walk and had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Then went back to my room, puttered on things and took a bath in the whirlpool tub, which was heavenly. Saturday was puttering around downtown after breakfast, hitting the one remaining bookstore, visiting the Red Wing Shoe store, wandering until lunch, then eating lunch before going on a self tour of the Sheldon, the gorgeous restored Victorian jewel box theater. I then ambling into the Uffda Scandinavian Gift store, where I acquired a large and ornate statue of the goddess Hel (“Is it a gift?” The salesperson asked. “Who would I give her to? I mean, the mountain of skulls alone…” I responded.), then winged it back to my room for my WisCon panel. It went reasonably well and I went for a walk afterwards and got dinner at the only place that was open for dinner nearby, apart from the hotel. The wings at Otto’s Public House are excellent, by the way, and they are better about the whole showing up with a book thing that some of those places are. Then it was back to my room for more puttering, reading and Second Bath. 

I had forgotten that the St. James is right next to the Amtrak station and the freight train lines and Saturday night was a train horn party. I got myself together on Sunday morning, ate breakfast and decided to skip the pottery museum in favor of driving home. Got there just in time to unload, feed cats and go to a very long vendor meeting for Twin Cities Pride. Then errands, and collapse with kitties on Sunday night. Monday was puttering, barbecue and “Killjoys” with friends and then sundry catchup things Monday night.

How was the trip overall? Well, the whole newly widowed, get used to be on your own a lot thing was both relaxing and sad. Downtown Red Wing needs a lot of love - so much has closed since I was there last! Definitely a bit depressing, but people were friendly and pleasant. I got in some great reading and the baths were a wonder. My cat sitter camping out overnight seemed to go well. I feel positively taller and more relaxed. 

All of which was much needed. I still need to do a bunch of catchup on things and the work contract end date looming not super helpful. I do not enjoy this job at all…but it’s pure WFH, Shu is not doing super well and I would have a much tougher time of things with a commute. I can’t afford to retire any time soon - house needs work, I’m still in debt and trying to replenishing savings from years of paying for my wife’s care, etc., etc. Better than a lot of people, worse than others, but need to suck it up if I get extended and try to get things more on track. Sigh. Anyway, hope everyone had a nice weekend!

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Catching up...

May. 20th, 2025 07:59 pm
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What's been going on? Oh, nothing much. A tornado missed touching down in my hood on the way to downtown by an uncomfortable margin last week - it ended up not touching down, at all, fortunately for us. Unlike poor St. Louis and elsewhere. I did get from the attic to the basement with essentials, my emergency lamp/charger and 2 elderly confused kitties in 3 minutes, so good to set a preliminary bar to improve upon.
 
I went to the Independent Book Publisher's Association Pub U Conference on Friday in St. Paul. On the plus side, I met some lovely people and had a nice lunch. I also scored contacts at two book distributors to have chats about how to try and "level up" sales at Queen of Swords Press so I think that part was worthwhile. The one workshop panel I made it to was...an experience. Apparently, they don't really vet their presenters. Or maybe they do and thought this was fine? I went to a panel on fundraising and grant writing for publishers at which: one panelist conducted a sort of revival meeting about writing mission statements and believing in yourself (but nothing about finding sources of funding, applying, etc.); there was a mildly terrifying New Age skinny white lady who had no noticeable publishing experience, but was apparently trying start a cult, and urged us all to ask our personal communities for $5000-$25,000 to “be a part of the process” (head slap! Why didn’t I think of that?); and then there was the moderator who urged us to go through our mail to look for possible local funding sources to approach  (I’m sure the fly-by-night realty companies trying to get their hands on my house would tots be interested in our books! Or maybe the gas company!). Then there was the AI panel, about which the less said, the better and which also could have done with several fewer people who were all unquestioningly “shiny toy!” and utterly clueless about the fact that if they get the brave new techbro future they are so excited about, no one will need them (hint: avoid NYU's publishing program. Just saying).  Would I go again? Not unless someone else was paying for it.

Saturday was Rochester MN Pride, which was mostly delightful except for being cold and windy. My friend Matt was great and we found a fun new restaurant.
Sunday, I went to breakfast with Caroline Stevermer, who is a marvelous dining companion, and to a matinee of "Things Like This" with another friend. This is a new indie gay romcom in which one of the protagonists is fat, but that is not the central conflict of the story and no one insists that he get skinny to get the guy! It was charmingly uneven and enjoyable.

This week is a mad scramble of stressors - my work contract is up in a couple of weeks, my mortgage just took a healthy leap upward, etc. So I am dealing with it like an adult and fleeing town for part of the weekend. My cat sitter is camping out here by way of a mini vacation for her and I am off to Red Wing, MN to hang out at a delightful Victorian hotel with a whirlpool bath (my sore hip is craving this!), go to tea at the local tea shop, look at antiques, write a bit and such. Oh, and log in to WisCon online for our 4PM Saturday panel on small press publishing. Is this wise? Nope! Very much looking forward to it.
Have a grand holiday weekend, however you're spending it!


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April has been a lot already

Apr. 13th, 2025 09:14 pm
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Sunday morning, I got up, dealt with necessary kitty things, drank my keffir (my homemade goat's milk yogurt never really solidifies, but is other wise good), and went back to bed with Shu for snuggle time. Then got up again, made breakfast, started the dishes...and had a pipe break  under the sink, cascading water down into the remains of Jana's studio in the basement. Frantic scrambling ensued and I managed to get everything moved or tossed and a tub under the sink for the time being, but it all took awhile.

And so far this week, I've had my annual physical (went well), my annual eye exam (went fine, but need new glasses again, which was spendy) and had a project fall through, which isn't surprising as I and the other party want different things, but I am annoyed at having my time wasted. I'll have to deal with that tomorrow, along with its related permutations. Added to that, the plumber comes on Thursday to deal with the pipe and the electrician/plumber comes on Friday to cap the gas and set up for the new washer and dryer, which will be great, but a lot.

But apart from all that, I've done a couple of fun events, one being 13 Gears Steampunk, which I always enjoy, and the other being the first HerStory Book Fair at the Midtown Global Market, which is an indoor international market in Minneapolis with lots of small restaurants, crafts and events. The other authors were very enthusiastic and I had some fun chats with folks. And it's nice that some of the vendors remember me - Jana and I were in there a lot right after it reopened after the riots in 2020. A lot of the folks who own businesses there also live in the building and they had to defend it so they're very, very committed to being there and we wanted to support them as much as we could. So lots of takeout, grocery shopping and so forth. It's harder to make time now since I have to juggle all the house stuff, plus events and Shu's shot schedule, but it was nice to see it really hopping again.

My containers for container gardening are starting to show up. I'm going to try growing potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, herbs and the starter onion my neighbor gave me. I'm also dutifully reading a book on container gardening in hopes of being successful enough at it that I can share food. I'm looking at participating in the neighborhood garage sale as well in order to move a solid chunk of Jana's memory care furniture and some other sundries out from underfoot.

And the rest of this week will include a trip to the Women's Club of Minneapolis for a evening of "Song to the Moon": music, poetry and watching the moon rise from the roof with my friend Julia. Since we met there at the Jane Austen Society meetings, it seems appropriate that we return, especially since the Women's Club is in danger of closing due to a combination of unmet expenses, reduced funding and so forth. It is a grand old pile with a lot of history and I hope there's a deus ex machina to save it. On Friday night, a friend is taking me to "Spellbound," a new play by a new queer theater company at the Phoenix Theater, and on Saturday night, another friend is taking me to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society at Crooner's.


Around all of that, I'm trying to do some useful things, but I think I'll also need to take Sunday as a recovery day and just deal with my gigantic to-do list as well as getting some writing done.

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Updates and such

Mar. 18th, 2025 09:07 pm
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Still can't announce about the award, alas. Writers, keep your contact info up to date and check it occasionally! Do it for the team, if nothing else.

I'm making progress on Jana's memorial and will post about it when we settle on a date. it will take place at the Open Book in Minneapolis, where the Minnesota Center for Book Arts is located.

Apart from that, I am still employed, despite recent reorgs. I do get to shift to an even worse manager for a while though, which I could very much do without. I have also come to the conclusion that the 20+ year old washer and dryer are not long for this world so this Friday, I get an estimate on whether or not the aging hookups can be converted for a heat pump dryer and a new washer. Fingers crossed on that. My experiments with induction cooking on the hot plate are going well and I am continuing to very slowly clear things out of the house. I am also looking at taking up container gardening because I know I'm not up for the full scale garden beds, weeding, et al. I am looking at my 62nd birthday in a couple of weeks and I want to be as realistic as possible about where I and things are at.

I have also been reaching out to Congress, sending money when I can and so forth. I also signed up for Elders Climate Action, which is a national group that does awareness, conservation, education, lobbying and protests, which I figured was a nice broad range that I could plug myself into. Other things under consideration: rejoining the Unitarian Universalist Society and rejoining the Society for Creative Anachronism.  This is by way of checking out communities where friends are involved and are recommending them to me. Given how things are, more community is much better than less. Also, more art. Been trying to make it to a concert or a play with friends every week, which has been delightful.

In other news, Point of Hearts (Astreiant #6) by Melissa Scott comes out from Queen of Swords Press on Thursday 3/20! And Books 1-5 are on sale on our website through tomorrow 3/19.

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Emerging...

Feb. 26th, 2025 08:43 pm
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It's been a lively two and a half weeks. I'm starting to get my arms around things. Jana's death certificate showed up yesterday so I'm tackling life insurance, just sent off her obituary to the Cremation Society (need to do the newspaper one next) and getting other odds and ends in motion. I have to update beneficiaries and I got an appointment to go by the DMV and get her name taken off the car title. Still have to wrangle one last credit card and shutting down the last of her social media, but her ashes are residing on the entertainment center and her memorial brick is being carved as we speak. Picking out photos has been hard. People asking me when the memorial will be has been harder, but discussions are in the works and I should have that ironed out on Friday. But even with planning, this has been a lot.

What else have I been up to? Day job continues slogging along for the moment, at least. I went and sold books at TC Pride's Queer Writes Romance Book Fair with Alexa and saw some friends and had a fine time. A friend took me to my first heavy metal concert (Apocalyptica/Nita Strauss at the Uptown) and it was pretty fun, once I decided to stand in the back away from the strobe lights and smoke machine. I went to go see "The Root Beer Lady" at the History Theatre with a different friend; this was a one woman show about Dorothy Molter, the last nonindigenous person to be allowed to live in the Boundary Waters. She was quite fascinating - check out the link. We got Jana's room cleaned out at memory care and I've started rehoming stuff. I did some necessary financial planning things. My cat sitter came by to learn how to give Shu his insulin shot so now I have a backup person. I went to a panel by the MN Legislature's Queer Caucus at Queermunity (the new LGBTQ+ community center) on Monday night and felt a bit more heartened (and Roseville folks, vote for David Gottfried!). Apart from that, been reaching out to my electeds, donating where I can and supporting good local things. So mostly hanging in, if wildly stressed on bad days. How about you?
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Driveby posting

Feb. 7th, 2025 10:22 pm
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So, in the interval in which I did not go see Jana (last entry) and when I intended to, hospice reached out and said they think she is at end game. I went and sat with her for a while on Tuesday afternoon. She slept the whole time, but I gather she woke up briefly when her former PCA, now a hospice volunteer, stopped by. The hospice staff says she's been sleeping most of the time this week. I'm going by tomorrow and Sunday this weekend to sit with her. I read to her when she wakes up, but that's not very often. At this point, she's heavily medicated and seems relatively comfortable so I'm hoping she passes in her sleep very soon.

How do I feel about this? On most levels, I'm ready for her to move on. I think it will hit me eventually, but I've done a lot of my grieving as she disappeared. I hope that her spirit moves on to something better for her.

Shu (boy kitty) is handling the shots well, although I'm finding the schedule challenging sometimes. I've started working with my cat sitter to teach her how to give shots so I can get the occasional break. They're 16 year old cats now though, and he's lost weight and muscle mass so I don't really know what his prospects are.

I did two self-care things this week  - a darning class at The Curiosity Studio and a visit from Costco's contractors to remove the 19 broken window blinds and install new ones and I love them so very much. the house looks very different and I did some overdue cleaning and clearout, both of which made me feel better. Last weekend, I finished reviewing 26 grant proposals (some of which were terrific) and completed and submitted my first brand new story in 2 years. I'm working on some other projects, plus Queen of Swords Press, but I'm definitely getting back to writing.

I can say nothing about the world situation that others haven't already said. I've been emailing my congress people, signing petitions, donating and supporting organizations and people in my own communities as much as I can. And that's what I've got for now.

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Small victories

Jan. 28th, 2025 08:56 pm
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I am making progress on some things, despite having a hellacious cold.
  • Had a great time going to see "Escape from New York" at the Parkway Theater on Thursday. Also, kudos to the Parkway for their "Host Your Wedding" ad campaign which features "Rick and John's Wedding Here" in prominent letters on their marquee.
  • Am almost done reviewing all 26 grant proposals, many of which are amazing. Lots of great stuff coming down the pike, Twin Cities folks.
  • I'm 3000 words into my new story and really liking it.
  • Shu seems to be doing slightly better and is a bit livelier (kitty diabetes - 2 shots per day)
  • I went to an interesting talk about textile waste, recycling and creating circular market here in Minnesota that reduce waste at The Great Northern our local festival of art and climate change, on Saturday. Then I went to a mending workshop right afterward and successfully patched up a work shirt and one of my house clogs.
  • After that, we were off to The Phoenix Theater for a production of Patricia Wrede's "Dealng With Dragons." It was a delight!
  • Sunday, I thought I had a crochet workshop at StevenBe's, my local gay-owned yarn shop, but it turned out that I got the date wrong. The nice man at the counter penciled me in for next Sunday though, so it will hopefully work out.
  • My friend Matt came over for pizza and the continued watching of "Witchblade," a series I never got to see when it aired but am now viewing thanks to the gift of dvds from a friend. First season was pretty brilliant!
  • Did not go see Jana this weekend, but will next weekend, cold permitting.
  • Apart from that, have done donations and membership renewals, contacted Congress about various things, poked Target about being stupid asshats, prepped some donations and giveaways and continued working my way through my prep list. I have supplies on hand for a lot of basic things, so now I'm doing wacky stuff like acknowledging that I went 3 days without power last summer and that is likely to be longer and/or more frequent. On their way: a solar-powered lantern that doubles as a charger for devices from LuminAid, a company that helps with light sources after disasters, and a battery-powered portable cooler that can be charged via standard plugin or solar (once you get the setup - I'm going battery only for now) from a company in the L.A. area in part because that's where they're made and in part because they'll need all the help the rest of us can muster. I figure I can help myself and my neighbors as needed with these.
More stuff in the works - stay tuned!
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Uncertain times

Jan. 22nd, 2025 08:22 am
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 So Hell Boss, after making a layoff list and showing it off to a person or two and doing sundry other unhinged things, all of which pointed to layoffs, suddenly did a pivot and offered me a permanent position. 2 months ago, I would have taken it. However, the offer came couched in exactly the same terminology that she used when I asked her why she had fired Scrum Master #2 (we’re on #4 since last April when I started) and experience has taught me that any boss who equates “team participation” with being servile is not one I can work for. My days would be numbered at the outset and frankly between my dying wife, my sick cat and the political situation, I’m out of spoons for dealing with extra crazy. Will I regret it? Probably. Would I regret hiring on even more? Also probably. And yes there could be a chance of transferring if I hired on, but I’ve been told explicitly that I’m not “allowed” to talk to other teams and she badmouths all of us on the regular, from the snippets I’ve heard. So vanishingly unlikely. Still employed today, will go on discussing job options and looking about and having a more serious look at retraining. One foot in front of the other, step by step.

What else am I doing? Reviewing 26 arts grant proposals for a local organization for a small stipend. So far, so good. Currently completing my favs and then going through my other yeses, maybes and nos. Some amazing BIPOC and queer art projects in the hopper! I’m also working on a new pirate/spy in the 17th century Caribbean story and making good progress. 

Other than that, I made an appointment for a free energy audit to look for more ways to make the house a tad less drafty. We had one about 20 years ago, so it’s time. I sold some more of Jana’s tools and supplies to a local artist. I’m looking at upgrading my convection oven to a new model that will further reduce my reliance on the gas stove. Next up, looking at a single induction burner for same. I’d love to replace the stove but all the repiping and changes were super spendy when last I checked it out, not to mention the cost of the stove so baby steps. I’m also reorganizing my finances to make it easier to access funds and to organize my estate planning. And adding events for this year! Stay tuned on that. I’m also trying to do 1 or 2 things every day to support queer folks, women who didn’t vote for this hellscape, BIPOC and immigrants folks in the same bucket. Everything is very budget-dependent so a healthy chunk is things like spending my money at better places, renewing memberships and upping monthly pledges a bit, but doing what I can at the moment. More to come!

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