Welcome to the new home of the Teapot newsletter, my own blog! I’ve been thinking about moving away from Substack since last year when we discovered, in the words of Annalee Newitz, that Substack “paid a secret group of writers to make newsletter authorship seem lucrative.” Recent policy communications from SubStack pushed me over the edge, and my reasoning is very close to that of Grave Lavery, who wrote a good essay on why she’s leaving as well.
Hopefully the change was seamless on your end and you’ll enjoy commenting here better than SubStack since you don’t have to sign in. Onward!
The biggest news I have on the book front right now is that I don’t have big news yet. Eep! I’ve seen a sketch of my cover and it looks so good and is so close to being ready, but can’t be revealed now. Soon, though, and I know y’all will love it.
Things are calm enough this month that I’m heading up north for a a week-long writing retreat in-between class obligations. After that it’s going to be class, class, maybe a convention if it seems safe, class, class, more class, book launch. I’m trying not to be pre-exhausted.
There will be more to tell next month, I’m sure. And I’m still working on sorting pictures from Egypt. There are soooo many.
🧡 Tempest
I have a bit of news to share with you below, but down in the comments I want to hear your news. Tell me about the stuff going on in your life that you’d like to share. Can be great things, or not so great things, or a funny story, or an epic story. Share pictures, share laughter, share what’s troubling you, share wisdom.
Awards Season
It’s that time of year when nominations for awards open up. If you have the ability to nominate for the Hugo or Nebula, I humbly ask that you consider my one contribution from last year.
Classes
Normally this time of year I’d be running my writing prompts email series. Doing something a bit different now. 33 Days of Inspiration is an automated email series where you can get 10 – 20 minute long writing prompts and exercises via email every 3 days for 33 days. You can start whenever you’re ready and use these prompts to generate new story seeds or help you get in gear with your work in progress.
Click Here To Learn More & Register
Writing the Other is starting classes back up again and I’ll be teaching the Creating Diverse Characters class alongside Nisi Shawl and Piper J. Drake from February 26 to March 12. You have two options for this class: a weekend intensive with live lectures and discussion or an asynchronous class where you can log in for discussions and such on your own schedule.
There are scholarships!
Click Here To Learn More & Register
Last Month in the Tempestuous Salon
Egypt definitely inspired me to get back to work on my writing! After coming home I wrote a dark story inspired by the solstice sunrise at Karnak and revised another story inspired by the solstice sunrise at Hatshepsut’s temple. If you’d like to read them…
Write With Me
I’m hosting Friday night writing times for Clarion West this month. If you join you can work on your WiP in the company of other people who give off creative vibes or you can write something based on one of my writing prompts. The sessions are free, but have limited sign ups.
Enough About Me
I’m ready to hear from you 🤗 Just one note: this is a community space. Please keep in mind that this is my space, so please act the way you would if you were in my actual parlor having actual tea with me 😍
Hallo, Tempest! News-wise, I’ve got two books coming out in the next two months, so that’s exciting… although in some ways it feels like old news, since it’s such a years-long process, publication. Now is the time to BE excited about it, but oddly, I find I have to work at it, because so many other, very current activities (like chores!) get in the way.
If you don’t mind me asking, what are you using in lieu of Substack. I keep my blog on WordPress, and was thinking about branching out into a sort of Newsletter-y thing. Did you find the process seamless on YOUR end? Are you using some WordPress function or something else? It was indeed seamless on my end, and it’s nice to be able to comment so effortlessly.
How awesome that you’re hosting Friday night writing-alongs! I belong to two Zoom writing groups (loosely “groups”: they welcome everyone), one with a strict sign-in policy at 9 AM EST and a strict sign-out at 12 PM EST that is totally muted, and one that’s an open “cafe-like” space, where anyone can sign in to write any time, and invite one’s friends. If you ever need or want other writing groups to hop into as you enter with renewed vigor into a writing schedule, let me know, and I’ll hook you up with all that.
Once a month, I host a “Sitzfleisch Poetry Hour” where a bunch of (mainly SFF) poets sign in, and silently write poetry. This is with the understanding that “anyone can write poetry for one hour” but poetry, like other kinds of writing, needs a very dedicated time and space. So, if you’re into that, let me know, and put you on the invite list (it’s a FB group, but I can send you emails, or whatnot).
Hi Tempest! Things at my house are difficult right now. We’re taking it one day at a time & it’s not mine to tell, but it hurts my heart. So it was lovely to get this message this morning, read it with your voice in my head & think about all the wonderful beings you are!
Hi, Tempest! My news is that my health insurance approved a new migraine medication, and it’s really helping with my hemiplegic migraines as well as the regular ones. Enough so that I’m able to start (gently) excercising again! Also, I wrote a funny Christmas flash fic and I’m confident it’s good, so I’m using that energy to start submitting again. I HATE submitting as so many of us do, but I guess this is the life of a working writer, right? The writing while disabled interview series is going well, I have two more coming out soon and three more set up to do in the next few months. Hoping to get one or two more captured and transcribed before ICFA. I’m very excited to be working with my editor at Strange Horizons on this, she’s lovely. I’m focusing on multiply marginalized disabled sci-fi authors, and it has been deeply satisfying.