Writing News Update -December 2023
(This should've come out in November but oh well...)
It’s December already?! Dang it. How is it that time has been flying by? And how have I managed to keep so busy not to notice? What it means is that hey, I’m at home now so I have no excuse to put up Christmas decorations. Which means I need to take down the Fall decorations…but they look so pretty and officially it’s not really winter yet…
Anyhoo, I need to start working on a 2023 retrospective letter and awards post (because I can do that for this year!). Before I get to that, however, let me let you know what I’ve been up to these past few months.
New story in Sunday Morning Transport: “Deconstruction in the Form of a Cat God”
Biggest news is that I have a BRAND NEW story out in Sunday Morning Transport that you can read for free! "Deconstruction in the Form of a Cat God" is probably the most personal story I've ever written. Not that I ever stolen a cat. But if you know me, you’ll recognize a lot of easter eggs in it.
I've been trying for seven years to write about my deconstruction journey. At some point, I watched a YouTube video from the channel SmarterEveryDay that involved recording the physics of a cat falling to land on its feet. I thought it was an apt metaphor of what I was going through, so tried for years to write an essay about it. But it's hard to write something when you're right in the thick of having a faith crisis.
Here’s the thing about deconstructing faith. It doesn’t happen all at once. It takes an infuriatingly long time to question your beliefs. Also, things like the pandemic and politics and other stuff happened simultaneously.
I’m now in what people call the reconstruction phase—which one day I’ll write about. (Hmm… maybe a separate newsletter perhaps?) I’m able to finally write clearly about that time. When I was asked to write a story for SMT, I decided to switch the essay to fiction, but write it from a fictional me. This made it easier to play with events and convey the turbulent emotions I felt. I also put in many things that I experienced—fictionized, of course. Again, people who know me well will recognize them.
(Also fun fact: I did kidnap my husband of sorts before we even dated. It was a weird moment that has been immortalized among our friends as the “Great Lake Zurich Fiasco”. )
So far, people seem to like the story. In fact, on Bluesky, Annalee Newitz called the story "sweet and angry". Best compliment ever!
Viable Paradise
Twelve years ago, I awoke at the crack of dawn, took a bus to Chicago, flew to Boston, took another bus to Wood Hole, then boarded a ferry to arrive at Martha's Vineyard for the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.
This past October, I did the same thing again, but this time as an administrative staff of Viable Paradise to help with the logistics of caring for the new class of 2023. And by administrative, I mean I helped cook for people and run errands. A win for me, since I got to see more of Martha’s Vineyard this time. Granted, it’s mostly grocery stores, but still…
I also sat down and chatted with most of the students about writing. It was very chill and lowkey. I remember being so giddy being at the workshop as a student that I was vibrating with excitement. Now that I’m older, that giddiness has been tempered to deep appreciation. And I got to welcome in a whole new crop of giddy writers ready to be stretched and wrecked by the week’s end.
IAAPA
Finally, in November, I traveled to Orlando to join my story team from Meow Wolf to present an EduSession panel at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo. It is exactly what it sounds. The panel itself was well attended and well received, and I made some good networking contacts from it.
The show room itself though….
How to describe it? It was something like GenCon, but for amusement parks and themed entertainment. It had everything: rides, inflatables, arcade games, samples of Dippin Dots, VR activities. It. was. Insane.
The expo culminated with a celebration at SeaWorld which, in itself, turned it a pretty surreal thing. For one thing. It took place in the evening, right after the time change to Standard Time, which meant it was freaking dark at 6:30pm. Also, and this was the case for most of the expo, it kept raining off and on. So the park gave all of us IAAPA attendees blue ponchos. But this was also Florida, which meant it was warm and muggy.
Which would’ve been fine, except…it being now November, Sea World was going hard with the Christmas theme.
I mean. Hard.
So imagine a bunch of people in blue ponchos wondering a mostly empty theme park at night, in the rain, like a bunch of little blue gnomes. Also, most of the restaurants were closed because it was after hours. But not the gift shops!
Probably the strangest moment was coming across the Sesame Street section of Sea World. Obviously for the kiddies, but still. It was like walking the streets of actual Sesame Street…except at night, in the dark. In the rain. And mostly deserted except for the occasional blue gnome.
It all had this David Lynch / dreamcore / backrooms feel (while blasting cheery Sesame Street music and Christmas carols) that I may explore in a story one day. I had fun though. Got to ride a roller coaster at 10pm at night, in the dark, in the rain. So that’s something.
Coming Up Next
I’m working on a couple other short stories. I haven’t gotten back to the AfroFae Novel, but I’m fine with that. Again, I’ll be posting another newsletter soon on a retrospective of this year and my thoughts going into the new year. It will be…an interesting year, methinks. Because I have no clue of what it will look like.
Follow me on Facebook and Bluesky. And if you want a code from Bluesky, let me know…