IZ AN UPDATE
Hello it’s December and I totally did not update this newsletter in November. Don’t worry about it. These things happen. Expect another post toward the end of the month as compensation. Probably my new years resolutions. For accountability.
IZ BOOK:
A couple of big Sublimation updates! First, Look At My Covers! I’ve been DYING to show people these for MONTHS and a few weeks ago they were finally posted:
US Cover!
UK Cover!
I hadn’t thought about how covers are made before getting covers for Sublimation, and then I thought a lot about covers. The cover is the first point of communication between the book and the potential reader, and as such, needs to quickly invoke a lot of information, including a) what the book is about, b) where it sits in the market, c) the tone, vibe, general demeanor of the book, and d) this is a professional publication that is Worth Your Human Dollars. Basically, it sets reader expectations. I’m not an expert in these things—though I did take some graphic design in college—but it was pretty cool seeing the way the design process for the US/UK covers differed in what they thought was important to highlight.
(And hidden in the cover reveal is that yes, Sublimation has a UK publisher, and the cover reveal just came out before the announcement because publishing is funny like that. But Picador and my editor there (Hi Ebruba!) have been enormously cool and a pleasure to work with)
The other cool news, is that if you are the sort of person who likes reading ARCs and reviewing them, ARCs of Sublimation are available on to be requested on Netgalley and Edelweiss. So, you know, if you want to read the book six months in advance….
Annnd if you’re someone who likes playing the lotto, Tor is running a giveaway on Goodreads for fifteen print copies of Sublimation, so try your luck if you’re so inclined. Giveaway runs until Dec 15th!
IZ AWARDS SZN:
It’s also that time of year again, where everyone gets to say Look What I Wrote. So, this is What I Wrote this year (all of which I’ve posted here before). Now’s a good time to check ‘em out, if you’re so inclined.
also look at my good graphic design
Novelette:
Human Voices, in Lightspeed — This is a story about FAMILY and also EATING PEOPLE (conceptually) and also BECOMING THE PEOPLE YOU EAT. Sort of. It’s complicated.
Short Stories:
Freediver, in Reactor — What if you had to repair telecommunications cables in space and also you were getting over a breakup and also there was SOME GUY on your BOAT.
Wire Mother, in Clarkesworld — OK if I’m being honest this one’s probably the Story With The Most To Say About Society. Iff that’s what you’re into, this is the one to read.
IZ MEDIA RECCS:
Fuck it. It’s December. It’s cold and it’s time to stay inside. I’m just going to tell you about things that I think are neat that I’ve been consuming recently. Are they good? Who can say. I liked them.
The Righteous Gemstones (show)
- HBO show about a megachurch family dynasty. What’s good about this is that every single person in it is like, the worst person alive, but in a way that is less worst person alive than in Succession, and has great family dynamics. By great, I mean deranged. J and I basically crunched through this one like candy. After watching this I kind of want to go to a megachurch just once to see what it’s like.
UnReal World (game)
- Survival sim set in iron age Finland that’s been in development / released / still being regularly updated since 1992. Because of how old it is, it plays extraordinarily old school—if you like things like Caves of Qud or Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup or Dwarf Fortress (disclaimer: I still haven’t played dwarf fortress), this is probably up your alley, and if you don’t like stuff like that, it isn’t. I really like stuff like this conceptually and occasionally to play–there’s a real tremendous depth to this game that is abstracted through the extremely 1992 interface. You can get this on Steam!
Dispatch (game)
- Episodic superhero game that feels very half show, half game. Built by a bunch of the people from Telltale Games and Critical Role. Also, Yung Gravy is there? Why’s he there. This game is good enough that I’m considering writing fanfic, which is a secret for you and me because I actually know one of the writers by a friend of a friend connection, and they can’t know about it because I’d combust. Anyway. I love Robert. There’s something wrong with him.
Lorne, by Susan Morrison (book)
- Sorry, I’m always reading some random bullshit that isn’t a SFF novel. This is a biography of Lorne Michaels, the guy who started SNL. This shouldn’t be interesting, but it’s really interesting, especially if you like learning about old-school Hollywood gossip.
Red Star Hustle by Sam J. Miller / Apprehension by Mary Robinette Kowal
- I just started these, but so far they’re both aces, as expected. They’re sff noir /thriller-y in the best way, and a nice pair of stories to hold against each other—literally. This is a really fun book to get a physical copy of, because Saga’s doing the old-school two-books-in-one thing, which is just really fun to hold. I’m having a great time flipping the book over when I swap between stories, which I don’t actually think was the imagined reading experience by anyone creating these.
If Books Could Kill (podcast)
- Both my podcast cohost and one of my besties were on me for years to listen to this, and I finally did. It’s fucking fantastic if you like listening to two very smart funny guys rip apart books that suck. Also, it’s hilarious because they’re forced to read books that suck for this podcast. God. I’m selling this terribly. Look, this one’s just really good and you’re going to have to trust me, ok?
The Adventure Zone (current arc—Royale) (podcast)
- I’m an og Adventure Zone girlie and the adventures of tres horny boys in Balance carried me through the latter half of college (if this doesn’t mean anything to you, don’t worry about it). That being said, I’m going to make a strong pitch for listening to the current arc of the Adventure Zone, which is an all-wizard battle royale d&d actual play, set in a universe where every wizard only knows one spell….unless they kill another wizard and take their spell. Anyway, I’m a big fan of wizard on wizard action, and also, Clint plays one of the worst bugs alive in this, which is just excellent.
Ok, that’s all I got! See you guys later.
Iz