This is my first time celebrating Samhain, or at least my first time observing it as an actual pagan.
What a fucking year to start.
Okay, two semi-related things about Samhain that have been on my mind, about how this is just about the most appropriate holiday we could be having at this point in the flow of events.
The first is that this day marks the end of the old year. A lot of p...
2020-11-01 01:27:45 +0000 UTC View Post
[Note: I actually wrote this piece a year ago in response to the interview linked below and the Twitter thread from Ryan Boyd (@ryandroyd), the latter of which I unfortunately can’t find. I decided to not post it, for reasons which are now hazy to me. But people are talking about the game on my timeline again, so I fi...
[photo by Steve Hillebrand]
For reasons I’m not certain of, today during my meditation I turned to a line that was echoing in my head, from a Wendell Berry poem the name of which I couldn’t recall. When I found it, it made sense that something was tugging me toward it. I’ll probably come back to it again around Samhain—after all it is in part explicitly about death—but it’s...
2020-09-25 20:07:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Today is Alban Elfed, the Light of the Water, the autumnal equinox (known as Mabon for many others). It’s my first Druid holy day, and I’ve been incredibly excited—like, excited maybe out of proportion to what’s actually happening. After all, I’m not celebrating with anyone except my spouse (who is not a Druid but who will be happy to eat the enormous roast chicken dinner I’ll be...
2020-09-22 19:53:59 +0000 UTC View PostI was going to open this by saying I’m not sure why I’m even doing it, because it will probably be painfully disgusting and an unpleasant experience for all concerned. But that’s not quite true; I do have a couple of specific reasons for wanting to put in the time and energy involved in this project, a couple of specific reasons why I think it’s worthwhile.
First, I believe that the book itself is important. Not in and of itself, mind you; in and of itself it’s total poo...
2020-09-21 03:21:23 +0000 UTC View Post
[photo by Rob Wanenchak]
I think we’re all pretty freaked right now.
~
Something my particular journey down the Druid path involves at this point is a heavy focus on meditation (known in some quarters as the Moon Path). That involves the sort of meditation where one merely Is in a specific place, wherein one experiences it and allows one’s awareness to filter outw...
2020-09-20 03:05:47 +0000 UTC View PostHi, everybody. I’m apparently a Druid now.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter—which I imagine is the majority of you—will probably have noticed this, because I’ve been talking about it pretty openly. I feel compelled to talk about it here as well, because I’m having a lot of thoughts and feelings about it and this seems like as good a place as any to try to articulate them. How much to articulate is something I’m not sure about yet; when I was first embarki...
2020-09-17 19:58:12 +0000 UTC View PostHey, everybody.
So as I think I've mentioned, the Plague Times have thrown me for a serious loop (I've been in lockdown since March with only my husband and cats for physical company) and work of any kind is just super weird and uneven and often difficult right now. I haven't been able to keep up with a lot of things and I feel shitty about that, especially inasmuch as I feel like I'm continuing to promise people stuff that I don't deliver. Plus money is tight for a lot of us and for a ...
2020-08-04 18:09:17 +0000 UTC View PostHey, folks. Today I bring you something I've been meaning to do for a while but have been spurred to do in a particular sense by *GESTURES BROADLY AT THINGS IN GENERAL*
This is a reading of the story "Walk Briskly", from Alexandra Erin's fantastic fiction and poetry collection First Dates,...
2020-05-14 02:32:28 +0000 UTC View PostAt the end of last year, I was trying to make it to my goal of three books written in 2019, and for the final attempt I decided to go ahead and dive into full-on Id and not worry about whether or not I’ll be able to sell. The result was very weird and very intense—and very filthy, although I don’t think I’d actually categorize it as straight up smut.
I’ve been talking about it on Twitter a bit, and low and behold, there seems to be some interest in it. I’m making an initial ...
2020-05-02 16:16:29 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to my first Celtic Cross reading on Patreon! I meant to do this monthly a while ago, but, well, I meant to do a lot of things on a more regular basis until we were hit with a literal plague and that frankly disrupted, well, pretty much everything. You know.
Which is a shame, because this is the kind of time when I could do with some more Tarot. It always helps me feel more collected. But it also does take some effort and energy, and the latter is something I often don’t have m...
2020-04-20 02:21:23 +0000 UTC View PostAn explanatory intro: I’m experimenting with incorporating my ongoing study of the Tarot into the stuff I’m producing for Patreon. This is the first in a series of brief weekly analytical posts I’ll be writing on individual cards. I’m clearly not getting as deep into them as someone more knowledgable in the full occult history and symbolism of the Tarot would be able to, but I think this is a useful exercise for myself and hopefully you might find it interesting.
...
2020-04-05 22:34:59 +0000 UTC View Post[An explanatory intro: I’m experimenting with incorporating my ongoing study of the Tarot into the stuff I’m producing for Patreon. This is the first in a series of brief weekly analytical posts I’ll be writing on individual cards. I’m clearly not getting as deep into them as someone more knowledgable in the full occult history and symbolism of the Tarot would be able to, but I think this is a useful exercise for myself and hopefully you might find it interesting.
So something I do when I’m feeling anxious or uncertain is pull out my Tarot cards and do a reading. I did that tonight, because yeah.
A brief word on how I approach the Tarot: I don’t come at it with any particular eye toward supernatural intervention, spirits, vibrations, or anything else that falls along those lines. Other people find that powerful and resonant and that’s totally cool, but it’s not me. For me, the Tarot is an elegant meaning-making system with cards, a ...
2020-03-04 01:04:07 +0000 UTC View PostYeah, I renamed the audio series. I just didn't love the previous title and this feels a lot more accurate.
Anyway, I got mad and did a Super Tuesday thing. I was going to do it tomorrow on my birthday but again, got mad.
By the bye, you feel inclined to get me a birthday present, you can become a supporter! You can also buy my short fiction collection. It f...
2020-03-03 19:52:49 +0000 UTC View Post[An explanatory intro: I’m experimenting with incorporating my ongoing study of the Tarot into the stuff I’m producing for Patreon. This is the first in a series of brief weekly analytical posts I’ll be writing on individual cards. I’m clearly not getting as deep into them as someone more knowledgable in the full occult history and symbolism of the Tarot would be able to, but I think this is a useful exercise for myself and hopefully you might find it interesting.
I mentioned yesterday that I’m going to be experimenting with incorporating my ongoing study of the Tarot into the stuff I’m producing for Patreon. This is the first in a series of brief weekly analytical posts I’ll be writing on individual cards. I’m clearly not getting as deep into them as someone more knowledgable in the full occult history and symbolism of the Tarot would be able to, but I think this is a useful exercise for myself and hopefully you might find it interesting. ...
2020-02-19 21:44:30 +0000 UTC View PostHI, all.
So I’ve just started this politically-oriented audio series, and I’ve been thinking of other ways to maybe not fail quite so much at Patreon that free me from the anxiety of producing fiction writing (aside from the books I’m working on) on a regular basis. You may or may not know that I’ve been studying the Tarot for a few months now and I‘ve also been doing readings for people as well as myself, and I’ve found that it’s not only interesting but really centering ...
2020-02-18 22:37:42 +0000 UTC View PostHello, friends.
This is the first of what I intend and hope will be an audio/semi-podcast series on the dangerous state of politics in 2020, the primaries, the election, what comes next, and what it all might mean. Basically it's me trying to work through some of what I'm thinking and feeling, while hopefully also providing some edification and encouragement, or at least moderate entertainment.
As I say in it, I'm not sure how often this will update but I'm aiming for at lea...
2020-02-17 21:07:49 +0000 UTC View PostHey, lovely folks,
Now that I HAVE MY PHD FINALLY and my dissertation revisions have been sent to my committee, and life is undergoing some reorganization, I'm taking stock of what I can and can't manage and how I need to be dividing my energy. I've been looking at the Patreon as part of this, and I've concluded that I've made a mistake that I understand is very common for people new to Patreon: I've overestimated my energy and my capacity and my spoons, as well as my external workload....
2019-07-03 15:20:22 +0000 UTC View PostI yelled about this on Twitter last night because some frustration built up in me over it, but I feel like it might be worth going into it in some further detail, because it matters:
DON’T WRITE SHITTY DEATHS
Here are a few pointers on how to avoid this. A good character death:
1. Shouldn't be just for pathos. That's not to say that it can't be for pathos at all, but you shouldn't axe a character simply because you feel like the ...
2018-09-16 20:12:23 +0000 UTC View PostI talk about the existence of my fanfiction on my actual page here, but as yet I haven’t crossed the streams much. I’m changing that today, because a) my Big Silly Werewolf AU fic Howl is - in my opinion - something anyone who likes big silly werewolf things can enjoy regardless of fan status, and b) it turns three today.
I‘ve been writing this thing for three years. 2018-09-13 21:57:33 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a reading of a story originally published in issue #20 of Uncanny Magazine (which can be read here). It's one of my favorite stories that I've written to date, and it's one of my very favorite stories to read aloud, so I wanted to go ahead and do that. If you like it, this is something I plan to do more of now and then for supporters at the $5+ level, in addition to ...
2018-03-31 23:41:37 +0000 UTC View PostAs I did last week, I've done a recap/analysis of this Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead as part of the Keep Singing podcast. Topics include Rick's grieving process, (not) dealing with trauma as a running theme in the entire show, a few things that I don't entirely dislike about Negan, the question of whether or not Negan actually has any real human emotions a...
2018-03-06 23:25:01 +0000 UTC View PostFor any of you following me for fandom-related reasons, or any of you interested in The Walking Dead, I've started doing a series of episode recaps as part of my Keep Singing podcast. In this one I cover: the rightness and wrongness of Carl's demise, how deaths on this show do and do not work in general, Rick's arc, the fascinating stuff going on with Carol and...
2018-02-26 20:19:46 +0000 UTC View PostLovely GONE listeners, I promised to do this a while ago and I'm sorry it took me so long: The Interlude episodes, while I did make them somewhat garbled on purpose, are naturally going to be somewhat difficult to make out for some people, and while I was posting the text on the Podbean page for a while, I let it slide. So here, for those who want it, is the text of all the Interludes. Hope you enjoy. 💖<...
2018-02-12 20:43:11 +0000 UTC View Post(Basically c/ping this straight from my Tumblr)
You may have seen this post. It explains what’s going on with Patreon better than I can - I’m tired and upset and for the love of God, can we please have one day where someone isn’t fucking with us, PLEASE - so here’s the gist of it:
Patreon has gotten big enough that they’ve negotiated a standard...
2017-12-07 05:10:03 +0000 UTC View Post