Go here for an introduction to the Wheelhouse Project. Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline may at first glance seem like an odd pick for the "language" wheelhouse. This novel focuses on Joan, a First Nations Métis woman, whose husband Victor stormed out of the house after a fight a year ago and disappeared. Joan has been … Continue reading The Wheelhouse Project: Language
Fantasy Fiction
A Conversation about ‘Crossings” by Alex Landragin
In a first for this site, I recorded a conversation with my brilliant, wonderful friend Dr. Martina Shabram about the recently-released novel Crossings by Alex Landragin. This novel has a formal innovation where you can read it straight through as three free-standing but interconnected novellas (Martina's way) or via the "Baroness method," which tells you … Continue reading A Conversation about ‘Crossings” by Alex Landragin
Summertime Reading
What to do when you write about books and the reading life, you have lots of good books to choose from, and yet you find yourself without much inspired to say about them? I find myself in this predicament, whether from the ongoing pandemic, the lure of summertime, the dumpster fire state of the world, … Continue reading Summertime Reading
The Night is Dark and Full of Wonders: The Winternight Trilogy
Every once in a while a book or —even better—a series of books comes along to take you out of yourself. Such a series is the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. At first glance, the structure of these books, particularly the first one, The Bear and the Nightingale, feels familiar. Vasilisa "Vasya" Petrovna runs wild … Continue reading The Night is Dark and Full of Wonders: The Winternight Trilogy
Introducing “Here Today” + New Books
A couple of quick items. First, meet "Here Today," a Medium site devoted to reflecting on daily life during the novel coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing. It features several writers, including myself. Second, if you have the means, throw some love to your favorite local indie bookstore (as opposed to that decidedly not indie … Continue reading Introducing “Here Today” + New Books
‘Gideon the Ninth’ and Food Metaphors for Genre Fiction, a.k.a the Delicious Delights of Lesbian necromancers … IN SPAAACE!!!
I have been reading a lot of books about the climate crisis lately, mostly because three separate work projects have put me in their path. These books are less about the science, per se, and more about how we should respond—emotionally, actionally, narratively. I'm grateful for these books having deadlines because, despite how much attention … Continue reading ‘Gideon the Ninth’ and Food Metaphors for Genre Fiction, a.k.a the Delicious Delights of Lesbian necromancers … IN SPAAACE!!!
Memory, Family, Trauma: The Deep and The Yellow House
On the podcast Still Processing hosts Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham discuss pop culture and life in America circa now. On a recent episode while discussing Wortham's tour of Thomas Jefferson's plantation Monticello, alongside Bong Joon Ho's film Parasite and the HBO series Watchmen, Morris says, "[Black people,] as a people, we are allergic to … Continue reading Memory, Family, Trauma: The Deep and The Yellow House
Of Doors and Thresholds, Magic and Stories and Change
Very, very mild spoilers for The Ten Thousand Doors of January, The Starless Sea, and The Magicians. I have been thinking a lot about doors and thresholds. We pass through them all the time, entering and exiting buildings and rooms without thought. Metaphorically, doors represent beginnings or endings or changes, and thresholds represent the in-between … Continue reading Of Doors and Thresholds, Magic and Stories and Change
Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
How many other appreciators have lumped together the ineffable Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, and Octavia Butler? Combined they may be up there with poems to spring or love in terms of clichéd subjects. But I'm going to do it anyway because these three transcend easy comparison about "women writing speculative fiction." They are prophets … Continue reading Weird Sisters: Atwood, Le Guin, Butler
Summertime Slump
Into every reading life, a slump will come. Maybe you're just not in the mood for what's in the stack. Maybe the line-up of blockbuster movies and bingeable shows is too much to resist. Maybe there's simply a lot going on. Regardless of the reasons, dry spells are inevitable. My recent slump seemed like it … Continue reading Summertime Slump
