🐉 Fantasy for Our Time is back, custom journals, and new hardcover editions of Raven Son!
November 2024
I was born in November.
Now, that doesn't mean much for someone who lived most of his life in the never-changing uni-season of San Francisco. November is not much different from May over there.
But in cow country? Wow.
November is the tipping point between autumn and winter. It should be the ugliest, most unpleasant time of the year. There isn't much snow yet, there are no more colors in the trees, everything is...
Well, everything is beautiful! There is nothing like the blue of lake water in November, when the land, as contrast, is turning all kinds of shades of brown and dark green. You see bits of purple here and there, and you never realized how much gold there is brown.
Seriously. It's the most beautiful time of the year. And it's the most productive for me. My mind and heart go into creative overdrive in November and December.
This year is no exception. I've written almost 40,000 new words in the past quarter, and things aren't slowing down. Most of this is the secret project, but the productivity is bleeding out in all phases. Renewed podcast, revived Patreon community, new short fiction, and new editions of Raven Son!
Yep. Ewan Craig's beautifully designed hardcovers for the Raven Son series are ready! Here's a taste for you. And keep an eye out for information on how you can get your own copies.
Personal Updates
"Fantasy for Our Time" is back! This is a podcast I retired two years ago but that people have been asking me to continue. Here's episode one, as a youtube video (it's also available as a podcast on all podcast players), where Richard Rohlin and I talk about the modern state of science fiction.
Audiobooks of the In a Certain Kingdom series are now ready and available! If you'd like to purchase a copy, let me know!
I designed a really cool journal for the backers of the In a Certain Kingdom Kickstarter. Here's what it looks like. If you'd like your own copy, let me know!
By the way, I mentioned that I met Paul Kingsnorth in New York a week ago. It was quite an event. I have many, many thoughts. Some insider type stuff that I'm not making public. But I shared my impressions with my Patreon community. So join us if you want to hear what I thought about Paul Kingsnorth's Erasmus Lecture in New York City.
Reader's Nook
As the evenings get longer, take some time to arrange your reading space for comfort and coziness. Then take some time to read these longer pieces. Some good ones this time:
I have some depressing thoughts about what the culture considers to be the best SFF authors opining on the state of the world. But it's good to know where we stand, I guess. Just underscores how important it is to write good stories right now.
Have any of you wondered why Suzannah Clarke, author of the incredible Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, has written so few books? Well, here's a wonderful biographical piece about her,including a tidbit that I was excited to hear about: she's writing a novel featuring the Raven King!
Anyone here a "Severance" fan? I'm starting to really get into this weird and wonderful show. The New Yorker calls it "sci-fi for the soul"
Why novelists are embracing substack. Is this novelist going to embrace it too? Hint: yes. (stay tuned)
A lovely piece about an in person writer workshop in Vermont. Makes me so happy that we have something like St Basil's writers' workshop these days. (We're opening up registration for next year soon, by the way).
Richard Powers is always a really good interview. Here's one about his latest book.
Well, that's it for this time! Thanks again for coming along with me on my writerly adventures!
~Nicky