Hullo loves.
I have so many things ready to post for all the paid tiers, but after the eclipse I was absolutely bludgeoned by my 4th bout with covid. I’m finally testing negative now but I’m still not quite right in head or body; everything hurts all the time. And an inflammatory disease turns out to be terrible for carpal tunnel…
I’ve lost a ton of work time, and haven’t ...
2024-04-22 22:03:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Ok, I admit it. I saw it on a diner menu but I was being a brat and figured I could reverse engineer that idea for way less.
INFLATION IS ROUGH, KITTENS.
But I was right, though?
It's all pretty simple, really. The big improvement was adding half a box of brownie mix. It makes the waffled crispier on the outside and more dense inside. Without, the pure cake version is very fl...
2024-04-01 01:24:43 +0000 UTC View Post
I hope this RAM is pretty special to you, because it's pretty fucking special to me.
I've slowed down on posting photos of my child online, both because large groups of random anonymized people are simply the worst and I don't trust them ever and because they're old enough now that it feels to me like consent is starting to come into play.
But Bastian (currently attempting to convin...
2024-03-29 14:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostNote: This is a cross-post from my Substack, arriving here 24 hours later so that there is advantage to subscribing there but no loss for my loyal patrons here. The way my Substack works is that every public essay has a follow up piece under a paywall for the part I wanted to say but either didn’t have space for or, more often, didn’t want to deal with drive-by goblin-scream...
2024-03-21 18:00:26 +0000 UTC View Post
This is probably the most fun and exclusive RAM there will ever be: the song titles, singers, television shows/movies, books, the occasional concept, and band names that just didn't make it into the final Space Oddity manuscript...and therefore probably won't appear anywhere but here, unless the animated series in development gets greenlighted. I'm not saying never a third book, but I'm not pla...
2024-03-01 03:29:37 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a bit late for this but I was crumbling under a deadline, so...now for the most awkward post of the year!
You have about a week left to get your Nebula nominations in, the Locus Recommended Reading List is out, then Hugos to follow that (god willing and the fraud don't rise) and World ...
2024-02-22 18:28:10 +0000 UTC View Post
It is not generally my experience that a bowl of salsa is completely cleaned out, down to the last swipe of juice, at a midweek movie night.
This one was GONE.
So I'm mildly obsessed with this peanut salsa thing one of the groomsmen made for my brother's wedding and have been trying to recreate it.
This isn't that salsa, this is just a tribute.
But it's DAMN FINE. ...
2024-02-22 18:17:39 +0000 UTC View Post(Cross-posted from Substack 24 hours later so no one misses anything if they hate a platform)
If you were thinking of joining the ranks of those who like to comment suggesting I write these pieces with less swearing, or indeed type without one elbow on the capslock key, this would not be the essay to try me on.
Because I am fucking STEAMING. And...
2024-02-17 21:55:44 +0000 UTC View Post
IT'S DONE.
The sequel to Space Opera, Space O...
2024-02-13 17:16:51 +0000 UTC View PostI’m so sorry to be having to say I’m so sorry again. If I don’t turn a manuscript around by Friday the book will be pushed back to 2026 and I am struggling.
I will post January’s remaining rewards starting Monday. I really am so sorry, I will make it up to everyone.
2024-02-01 01:08:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Twenty years ago today, January 4th, 2004, my first chapbook and its companion were published.
My first anything was published.
I was living in Japan, the wife of a naval officer (a biographical fact that always stuns people who have only known me as I am now), lonely and miserable as a candle in a lamp shop, convinced that I'd never really be or do anything worthwhile now ...
2024-01-04 17:30:03 +0000 UTC View PostHello my darlings.
This week has been a roller coaster and I can't really talk about any of it but it's very high and very low. I apologize again for stumbling in my vain attempts to balance life and work and parenting on any level, and like Boxer, will work harder now that my schedule is a little less punishing and my carpal tunnel a little less excruciating. Though only a little.
...
2023-12-31 02:30:01 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a big one...because it was a big problem, and fixing it was a huge process. I can hardly get over how close we came to losing the back half of the house.
So...turns out my back porch was pretty much gone. I didn't realize it until early summer when I went outside and saw some rot, though paint and ignorance hid the worst of it from my exhausted eyes. I did know it was bad. I did l...
2023-12-29 21:50:46 +0000 UTC View PostBefore we get to the rest of this month's rewards, I want to make a public post explaining a few things from the Patreon creator backend (ha ha).
Recently, Patreon added a "subscribe for free!" button to all creators' front pages. Great idea, right? Easy click button to get people onto the free feed and increase visibility blah blah blah.
Well, if you follow any other creators you'v...
2023-12-15 17:37:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Everything I’m about to say in this essay is pretty much borne out by the month of October in my world, in which many things went corkscrewed, but most noticeably in this space, things went radio silent.
Call it a proof: of concept, of theorem, of life, which is only 35% a joke.
Don’t mind me. I’m just tired. So tectonically tired.
On New Year’s Day, I will ha...
2023-12-11 19:50:19 +0000 UTC View Post
I have never put these out for any number of people and had any single crumb left at the end of 20 minutes. Doesn't matter how many scones or how many guests, they're inhaled instantly.
But I'll be honest, this is a Smitten Kitchen recipe with a bit of spice and walnuts. I just kept adding...
2023-12-01 02:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Space Oddity edit is finally done and I can return to the land of the living!
Thank you all SO MUCH for your patience, this has been an incredibly trying Oct/Nov and I apologize for falling down on you guys when I was under so much pressure from book and life.
I need a day off REAL BAD so starting Tuesday, rewards will go up with an extra goodie or two.
Again, thank you fo...
2023-11-26 19:29:19 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone
You've probably noticed I haven't posted this month!
That's because many exciting things are all crushing my shoulders beneath their weight just now.
I have a really tight, everyone-will-yell-at-me-and-not-the-firm-taskmaster-kind-the-super-mad-kind deadline next week, I mad the DAMN FOOL MISTAKE of trying to carve a pumpkin for my kid and obviously my carpal tunn...
2023-10-31 15:31:38 +0000 UTC View Post
I can't take credit for this one. Sophie made it for the girls' going away party this year, and she got it off an instagram reel, and I just copied down what she did. To be honest, I feel like it's rife for experimentation...coconut milk, a sugar lime zest ring, I don't know, go nuts, it's just an amazing drink that's so creamy and lime-y and somehow doesn't curdle, but it tastes like summer an...
2023-09-30 14:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
So I looked up the etymology of the word pain the other day.
I don't know if this is a TED Talk or the opening to a Letterkenny episode, but either way, I can feel a black turtleneck and discreet-but-not-really headset and/or a plaid flannel shirt and deeply unfortunate bangs spontaneously sprouting from my skin as I type this.
But I can't really stop thinking abou...
2023-09-28 16:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Now, now, I know that looks like the most basic boring unflavorful lame white people dishes up there, but I promise it's not. I'll be hard pressed to make any other kind of sauce for fish again for some time. It's SO bright and tasty and silky and elegant AS SHIT.
I swear.
So it turned out that one of my chosen nieces staying with me this summer had not seen Titanic. Which ...
2023-08-31 18:19:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Next summer, I've have been publishing professionally for twenty years.
It's funny, I still don't really feel old enough to have been doing anything for twenty years, even though, you know, I was there the whole time, doing the thing for twenty years, but I suppose that's time and memory and the strange loop of existing in an organic body on a linear path through self and history...
2023-07-31 20:36:45 +0000 UTC View PostWe've had a number of new people sign up this month (HELLO NEW PEOPLE YOU ARE WONDERFUL THANK YOU SO MUCH) so it's time for a piping hot new Discord invite so that you all can join our little happy place in the maelstrom of the internet.
Be cozy in there, the mod team is god-tier and very tolerant but we are all protective of the deep thread of kindness and acceptance in the community we'...
2023-07-24 20:55:09 +0000 UTC View PostCross-posted by request from Substack with the full knowledge that nothing in here feels cozy because I feel just as guilty as anyone. Sorry, guys. Tried to end on a hopeful note?
Remember how I said I’d be using the paid tier for follow-up pieces to talk about something I wanted to say in the 2023-07-20 00:21:41 +0000 UTC View Post
IS THIS THE END FOR TOTORO? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK TO FIND OUT...
(Also do not judge my unscrubbed shower)
Yes, my very normal, very petite ragdoll Totoro lies despondently in the shower like a fluffy Norma Desmond. But don't be fooled. This one looks fancy as fuck but he is 100% BROTORO in the soul. He's a pure fratjock, Channing Tatum's cat form. Friendly, handsome, not, like super...
2023-07-15 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostPink in the house!
For your ears (and minds) to enjoy.
To be fair, I will only provide the link to the playlist here - you can share it if you choose! But initial access will only be through this site, for all patrons.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/77pRlCR...
2023-07-13 00:34:31 +0000 UTC View PostCrosspoted from Substack even though it's not cozy because I feel this is pretty damn important to get out now while the beast is young.
You know, I had other things I wanted to yell about. I have about five essays in my drafts folder about like, deep systemic issues and big bad shadows on the horizon. And I have like three jobs, all of which are screaming for my attention.
Did I invent this?
I mean, I was going to say I didn't, but looking over the falafel waffles online I don't really see anyone doing the full-shawarma-in-one thing I did here, so maybe I did.
If so, I'm a genius because this was SO GOOD. Every plate was fully cleaned. Absolutely delicious.
Now, many people on the unstable microblogging platforms of your choice scoffed and...
2023-07-12 15:21:37 +0000 UTC View Post
This one is for all of you, as many of you pooled funds to get me this beautiful little thing for my birthday this year! (There will be a second Denizen for the paid tier, hold tight)
THE LITTLE FREE LIBRARY IS UP AND RUNNING AND ENTICINGLY PLACED AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE FOREST!
I do think I probably need to make a TAKE ONE/LEAVE ONE sign of some kind for those who don’t...
2023-07-12 14:15:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Did you know hummus is Latin for dirt?
It’s true.
I can’t fully explain how my friend and I unhinged our actual jaws to inhale this on any substrate we could dig up. But that is also true. And yes, you have to take the bean-condoms off first. If you know what’s up with hummus you already know what I mean.
Is it a traditional hummus? No. Is life short ...
2023-07-01 05:25:34 +0000 UTC View Post