Autumn Updates

...and a GIVEAWAY! and STARS!

Hi everyone!

This newsletter is a bit late. October was full of things and then November was even more full of things. I'm sure you all know how it goes. As it is, this newsletter will be mostly a bit of an update.

Things I Did:

• I just finished a beginning-to-end first draft of The Unbroken 2, aka #CrankyMagicPrincess. It's got a lot of gaps but I'm pretty pleased with where it looks like it's going. This is the first time I'm writing under contract like this, and so I was very concerned that I was going to write something completely illegible without time to fix it later. (I suppose we'll see how able I am to fix it...but first, a small break.)
• I started working as a SFWA Blog Editor! We're still getting things completely ramped up and things are a bit awkward with the holidays, but if you have Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror related nonfiction pieces, send pitches my way. Here are the guidelines.
• Watched The Old Guard and Portrait of a Lady on Fire an ungodly amount of times
• Received a gorgeous IGNYTE finalist medal as part of the PodCastle team.
• I wrote some stories this year! And they’re eligible for various nominations, like the Nebulas! But also the Hugos and most other international awards.

Things I'm Doing:

• I am reading on the beach. My family and I moved our bubble down south for the week. It's nice to take a few minutes out of the day and experience something so immeasurably vast that also sounds cool. A far cry from listening to my ocean-themed sleepcasts.
• I am inadvertently training for a marathon? I think? Because I'm running a lot and my plan is building in longer runs, I might end up hitting that distance a few months from now. Whatever happens, it's been keeping me some kind of sane over the past few months, and I’m on track for my second ever and first-in-a-long-time 100 mile month!
• Opening for developmental edits for science fiction and fantasy! Check here for more details about rates or contact me directly for rates and timelines.
• Working on PodCastle stuff! All I can say is that, despite any delays in responses to the slush pile, we are doing our best, so please bear with us.

The Unbroken Updates:

• This week, Publisher's Weekly gave me (and The Unbroken) my first ever starred review! I've been bouncing around the house pretty happily at that. They said it was "captivating story that works both as high fantasy and skillful cultural commentary" and used words like "remarkable" and "excellent," so I'm pretty pretty pleased.
• Goodreads is having a GIVEAWAY of the Unbroken! Entries accepted from November 27 to December 11. If you win a book, consider leaving a review! Don’t forget, you can also pre-order or read excerpts here.
• Here is a thread I wrote about The Unbroken as part of the #MeetThe2021s on Twitter. Go there for little tidbits about the process and the journey.
• We've been working behind the scenes on some amazing things! Like the MAP!!!! That will go in the front! It's amazing work done by Tim Paul. We've also got the narrator lined up for the audiobook. It's going to be amazing.
• Some more secret and/or unconfirmed stuff, but watch this space and/or my Twitter for more information as news drops. This includes interviews, blog 'tour' stops, etc.

Books I've Read/Am Looking Forward to:

• Savage Legion and A Memory Called Empire: I'd been wanting to read both of these for a while and finally got to them just ahead of the Empires panel I did with FIYAHCON. I've pre-ordered both sequels.
• She Who Became the Sun: I tore through this novel and will probably crow about it for the rest of my life. I felt seen and torn apart, and the writing was gorgeous. Pre-order this book. It's Sapphic and Achillean (f/f and m/m, respectively) and comped as "Mulan meets Song of Achilles."
• Silk & Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology: This just came out today! I'm looking forward to reading this anthology about steel lesbians and their silken counterparts.

Stay sharp, my friends.

Cherae