What ho, readers all! I should probably blog every once in a while if I have a website, eh? But these days, my blog is my Patreon.

I guess can start this belated update with that, as my Patreon has undergone some changes of late. Earlier this year I had to say goodbye to my beloved cat companion, Toad. He had been feeling his age for a while, but then he got sick and it became time. It was tough. Toad was 16+ years old; he’d been with me for nearly 40% of my life. He moved to Colorado with me, he stayed with me when I got divorced, we spent the Covid lockdown together. He was almost famous, too, between my Patreon and his many fans on my social media. As I said when he passed away, I am sure he has already put the Devil out of a job in Hell. I miss him a lot.

My Patreon was based around pictures of him, so I’ve had to change it up a bit. I’m still posting my writing updates to my followers there, and I’ve been writing about my journey with some new houseplants. As free posts I’ve been blogging my way through my choice to buy a 50lb bag of sushi rice at Costco even though I’m a single hottie who lives alone. I’m curious to see how long it will take me to eat it all. I love short-grain rice, it’s a staple food in my house, but it’s gonna be A Thing. I’ve had some fun with onigirazu and will be making rice pudding soon.

As for my writing life, things are starting to happen again with that. This makes me happy, as I experienced a period of pretty severe burnout/loss of confidence after the publication of the third novel in my series. I’ll have some good news soon about A Big Thing soon but need to wait until the ink is dry.

But! I have other things going on, such as my being selected to write a forthcoming official Jirel of Joiry story, the first in 84 years I believe! It’s called “Jirel and the Mirror of Truth” and it will be in New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine later this year. I’m so pleased about this opportunity, it was such an honor to be asked to be the one to resurrect the First Lady of sword & sorcery. I tried my best to bring Jirel into the 21st century while retaining everything that makes Jirel Jirel if that makes sense.

I’ve also had a recent short story appear in The Sunday Morning Transport, “Eight Wedding Rings from Unhappy Marriages.” If you’d like to read it, here’s a link to a limited trial subscription though by now you may just be able to read it on the site? I’m not quite sure how it works.

As for what’s next, I’m working on a new novelette. I’m reading for the Kitschie Awards again, so that’s been a gas. I love reading for awards, it gives me such a deep appreciation for what’s current in my field. I’m mentoring for SFWA, and my latest mentee is really cool, we’ve been inspiring each other. I just last month attended ICFA, the International Conference for the Fantastical in the Arts, and that was wonderful. I saw many friends and colleagues, did a reading and a panel, and met some new and wonderful people.

Currently I’m gearing up for a workshop, and also for some travel! I’ll be attending WorldCon in Glasgow this year, and I’ll be touring Scotland before and afterward with some friends. I’ll see Inverness, Loch Ness, the Orkney Islands, and Edinburgh. I’m so very stoked. I mean, I love haggis and I hear they will put it on a pizza in Scotland, so, there it is. I’ll also be headed to the Mediterranean for the first time in 20 years. I lived in Turkey for six months back in 2002, and this year I’ll see Ephesus again, along with spending some time in Athens, Rome, and a few other little islands.

I have a few other irons in the fire. I’ve been asked to write a novelette for a forthcoming anthology, so once I finish my current story I’ll start work on that. As for longer projects, my novel and I are spending some much-needed time apart, but I hope soon to break ground on a new idea that I’ve been contemplating. Longer stuff has been hard for me, but, I’ll get there.

If you’d like to keep up with what I’m doing on a more regular basis, please follow or subscribe to my Patreon, or follow me on social media. I’m not on Twitter much these days, only sometimes to make Theodore Sturgeon jokes I guess; I’m easier to find on Instagram, BlueSky, and Facebook.

Tinkerty-tonk,

Molly