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Returning To The Cult

Last month I took a little break from my reading of cult books and instead let myself relish some of the other nominees for the Philip K. Dick award. While the whole list looks like a good set of reads, I especially wanted to make sure I had read the books of the two other authors that are scheduled to be at NorWesCon this April, so I listened to the audio book of Sunward by William Alexander and read the e-book of Uncertain Sons by Thomas Ha. I do hope to read the other nominees soon, but reading these two, I feel absolutely humbled that Casual is listed among them.…

Exploring SSRIs and Writing

I often explore mental health in my writing, and part of that is because I’ve struggled with my mental healthy for most of my life. I was a melancholic kid. The thing about being suicidal is it feels a lot like alcoholism – it never really went away for me. I have learned coping methods, and I’m not a danger to myself, but the ideation still exists as a type of compulsion in the back of my mind. The only thing I’ve found that allows me to get the thought out of my mind – and body – for months at a time, has been SSRIs. And they say that…

Hop, Hop, Little Bunny

Reading Bunny by Mona Awad

Allowing the Fallow State In Writing

Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done. My writing to-do list has four novels, a poem, and several short stories on it. Right now I’m working on a novel, and splitting my guilt between going too slow, ignoring the other projects, and not giving myself enough time to breathe. To-do lists are a double-edged sword that way. Yes, they keep me organized and allow me to quickly move to the next thing. But rarely do we add rest periods to the to-do. So it can feel like we are constantly moving onto the next project without taking time to breathe and grow between each project. And that growth…

Go Read Midwestern Chrome

About a month ago, I received an arc of Midwestern Chrome by Michael Bettendorf. I knew I’d like the book because Tenebrous has a keen eye for weird books with emotional resonance. When I saw the cover, I suspected I might love it. But honestly, I wasn’t ready to become obsessed with it. The book is a collection of cyber-noir short stories. Now, I love short stories. They’re fun to write, and reading them gives you the mental and emotional payoff of a full story with little time commitment. That being said, I usually prefer my shorts from magazines or anthologies rather than collections. I figure if I’m reading a…

Just One of the Girls

The Girls
By Emma Cline