IZ AN UPDATE:
Hello, its ferociously cold outside and I’ve spent the last two months trying to beat a draft into submission. I emerged victorious from the writing mines earlier this week, and then immediately had another draft to edit. Details about these drafts will be released at some point in the future, but rest assured that they are very different, and one is about “wizards” and the other is about “the American shopping mall.” Neither of them is a SUBLIMATION sequel. They’re about stuff and things. Hope that helps.
So, that’s why there was no newsletter in January. That and the horrors unfolding outside that I viewed through my computer screen during the decades-long month of January, all while going “are you seeing this shit?”
Speaking of which, I’m sure you’ve seen this but hey, Stand With Minnesota has a list of places to donate re: Minnesota, Minneapolis, ICE, etc. So drop them some cash if you’ve got some to spare.
Back to writing updates (how to transition between the horrors and the mundane? I still don’t know):
SUBLIMATION is apparently a “A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Glamour, LitHub, New Scientist, The Nerd Daily, Library Journal, and more!” according to my publisher and also the various publications (and more!) which is very cool and surreal! That’s a thing I made with my brain, and now there are articles about it. Neat.
It’s also 25% off right now, if you order from Indigo, until Feb 8, after which I assume it will be the regular price. So, you know. It’s free 25% off, if that’s something you’re into.
Other than book news, expect a couple of short stories from me this year (maybe more!), but I’ll give more updates on that when we’re closer to publication.
And, last, cool awards-related stuff:
“Freediver” and “Wire Mother” are on the Locus Recommended Reading List, along with a bunch of other cool things, if you want to vote for me that would be cool. Unless you want to vote for someone else. Who can say.
“Wire Mother” is a Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll Finalist! So, uh, vote for me. Or vote for someone else. Your choices are your own.
IZ THIRTY:
I’m turning thirty in a couple of weeks! This is depressing and exciting. Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but I’m a little sad about my twenties being over, even though I’m also weirdly relieved to be done with it. Anyway, let’s review the last decade and the concept of “being in my twenties.” Just for fun.
Overall, I would say that my twenties were “basically pretty good” if averaged out, but with some real high points and low points. I hated the first six years of them! Being in your early 20s sucks really bad because everyone is telling you that you’re in the peak of your attractiveness and potential and you’re there like “I look bad” and also “none of my potential has turned into anything useful and I keep getting rejected from opportunities and also I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.” This got better as I got older, although I gained new problems.
THINGS I LEARNED:
Skip this part if you’re older than thirty, I guess. You probably already learned these things.
- Your peer group and friends starts being people with Jobs and occasionally Clout and Useful Connections. I don’t know why this surprised me other than that I guess no one expects their high school friends to end up doing real people things.
- You feel the oldest at 20 and then again at 23/24, and then at 28-29. Other than that, I pretty much felt the same age the entire time.
- Being a nice person who can have a conversation is underrated. Similarly, people will tolerate a lot of weirdness as long as you are fun, competent, and pleasant to be around.
- When you’re 26-27 there will be a great sorting where half your friends get really serious with their relationships and the other half break up. Or maybe that’s just my friends.
- I’ve noticed that certain aspects of my personality have crystallized, and I’m unsure how to feel about it. Similarly, I’ve shed a bunch of neuroses and gained a bunch of new ones, and I can only speculate that this just happens as you become more aware of the world around you and how much you can control or not control it.
- If you want to write, you should start early and fail often because boy does it take a lot longer to publish than you’d think. No one’s fault, just systemic. I wish I had been a little more serious about it a little earlier, but whatever. I was busy living my life and writing reams of fanfic.
REVIEW OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF BEING IN YOUR TWENTIES:
Early twenties: as previously stated, kind of gross. If you’re a pop star or one of those wunderkinds who pop off with their cool career at twenty or something, I guess the early twenties is a different experience, but for me it felt like I was always doing something wrong and also, I wasn’t doing enough, and also, I was very confused and mostly just felt like an overgrown child but very old at the same time.
The middle part was fine but complicated by the pandemic and going to law school, which were both pretty big bummers, though I liked aspects of law school and met some very cool people there. Post-pandemic desperation-for-a-social life was kind of fun in a weird way, and I did a lot of socializing that I don’t regret but also don’t regret slowing down on (look, it’s only so much fun to have to figure out how to get back to jersey from NYC at one in the morning). Working at a law firm was weird and fun and also sometimes terrible, but mostly okay and interesting, and someday it will all go in a book.
The end of my twenties was pretty good! Baby’s First Book Deal and Quitting My Law Job and getting into a really serious relationship were probably the biggest highlights, and these were all really positive, exciting things even if they were a little scary. By then I kind of felt like I knew how to deal with Situations but the Situations also seem to be getting more serious and complex. Which is worrisome.
OVERALL:
I’m a little sad to no longer be considered “”””young”””” anymore, because I’ve always felt more comfortable being a precocious Nice Kid (read: suck-up) than the responsible adult in the room. Though, I’m much happier now that I have a better sense of what I want to do with my life, and I’m excited to be able to write older characters better.
On the macro scale, the oddest thing was that the entire decade felt like coming of age during a long, slow civilizational decline. In a lot of ways, I felt like I became an adult just in time to watch the entire social, political, and economic order that I had been taught would be static, completely break down. I was 20 when Trump was elected for the first time. I’m turning 30 in the world that flowed downstream from that destruction. That sucks pretty bad. On the other hand, many people lived full and rich lives during the decline of the Roman empire. Who can say what the future holds.
What am I planning for my thirties? I’m getting married in a month, so, first I’m doing that. And then SUBLIMATION comes out. So, that’s also happening. And after that? I don’t know man, it’s my first time being alive on this earth. I guess I’ll write some more books.