July Newsletter: Purple and Pink

A month of racing around both physically and metaphoricall

How are we already at the end of July?? I feel like I do not know where this month went — except, I do, because it’s camp season and I’ve done a fair bit of traveling and there are some wild things happening. So let’s get to them!

News

My news this month is all Worldbuilding for Masochists related! I’m absolutely delighted that the podcast is now a three-time Hugo Finalist for Best Fancast! We are so honored and so grateful that our fans think highly enough of us to keep getting us on the shortlist. It’s amazing, and not at all something that young!Cass would have even thought to have hoped for.

As always, huge thanks to the amazing guests who are such a big part of making the podcast both fun and a great exploration of writing speculative fiction. I remain dazzled by the people this podcast gives me the opportunity to chat with.

I won’t be attending this year’s WorldCon, but I wish all the best to all Hugo nominees! It’s a fantastic slate

Our Kickstarter for the Traveling Light anthology is also still ongoing!

No lie, friends, the demise of Twitter has made rallying support for this a lot harder than it would have been before its new evil overlord started dismantling everything that made the platform both functional and a place people want to spend time. I am so excited about this project and the amazing list of contributing authors we have lined up, but if we don’t make the funding goal, it won’t happen. Because we believe in paying people for their work! So if you, too, really want to see an anthology of stories set in a world where instantaneous transportation is possible but steals your pants on the way, please spread the word to anyone you think might be inclined to support us.

Random Current Thoughts

So, I saw Barbie on Monday, and it was quite simply incredible. The sharpest screenplay I’ve heard in a very long time. I need to see it several more times to lock all the genius lines into my head, but they were so quick and clever! I haven’t laughed that hard at a movie since Galaxy Quest, and honestly, I think the two movies are spiritual cousins in a way. Both are satire, but satire done with love and affection. They can recognize the inherent absurdity of their subject matter, but it feels like it’s coming from inside. Laughing with, not at.

Anyway, go see it! It’s delightful.

The other thing I’m up to right now is… traveling! As you get this newsletter, I’m in New York City, visiting our Brooklyn camps. From there, I’m heading upstate, to a place I’ve never been! I have a friend in the Hudson Valley who’s going to be traveling for a couple of weeks, and she needed a house-and-cat-sitter, and the timing worked out really well for me to come up and do the thing. I’m pretty excited about exploring a new town that sounds very cool.

I’m also hoping that a change of scenery might be just what I need to get my writing back into gear. I made some progress in July, by which I mean I wrote any words at all. It was definitely bumpy and uneven progress, though, and while a lot of that was due to travel and work and such, I’m hoping that August will help me find a smoother path back to creativity.

What I’ve Been Reading

Okay, as great as June was for reading, I’ve finished very few books in July, so I’ve only a few to share! As always, these are affiliate links, and if you use them to purchase or pre-order these books, I will receive a small commission from Bookshop.

• Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep, Seanan McGuire (both of which are coming this fall!)

• How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community,

  Mia Birdsong

• flower crowns & fearsome things, amanda lovelace

Hoping that August will be a bit more robust in the reading arena!

Wrapping It Up

So that’s July just about wrapped up — and August continues the thrill ride! The next time y’all get a newsletter, it will be on the other side of my Galactic Starcruiser adventure (which is still the thing occupying, like, 85% of my non-work thoughts). I imagine I will have many, many thoughts and even more feelings.

I hope your summer is going as well as may be! Stay cool as best you can, wherever you are!