Regular Sip - Understudies by Priya Sridhar (Hireath Publishing)

Understudies by Priya Sridhar (Hireath Publishing)

In this follow-up to Offstage Offerings, The Haunted Basilio Theater is back, and this time it’s (fraternal) twin sisters and playwrights Stella and Evangeline, the Stardust Sisters, who are leasing it to put on a show and make a name for themselves. Part Faustian bargain, part late stage capitalism, the story follows the pair as they make a deal with the strange beings who own the theater and deal with the fallout from their bargain. 

Quick Sips 06/23/2023

In which I...

- give some brief updates

- share some reviewing advice

- am very tired

Quick Sips 06/16/2023

In which I...

- give some brief updates

- share a new story out

- admit that I am not that good at Zelda...

Hi all—your favorite disaster here, checking in after a week away due to everything happening. But I've brought a Morn picture to soothe the fact that I was too crunched last week to do much other than get ready for the local Pride in the park event, which is something of the highlight of the social calendar for the organization that I volunteer at. And, as always, it was a bit of a mess and the weather played spoiler, for while it was mostly okay, we got hammered by rain and wind just before we'd have otherwise been closing down. I was so soaked. Sigh.

Quick Sips 05/26/2023

In which I give...

- my WisCon schedule

- random updates

- weird pre-convention musings

Hi all! So it turns out this week is WisCon. AHHHHHHH! Ahem. I mean, joy! Really, though, WisCon is always amazing but also involves a lot of people and travel and general stress. But I am rather excited. And I did manage to print my little poetry chapbooks so I'll have some swag to purchase if you run into me (probably at the SignOut where I will also have copies of The Burning Day and the 2020 and 2021 We're Here. So yeah, hopefully I will also have change!

Quick Sips 05/19/2023

In which I...

- Share a mood with Morn

- Give some brief updates

- Discuss amnesia in Disco Elysium and Breath of the Wild

So I've made it another week! Yay! Though I am also still in full struggle duck mode. For those not familiar with the struggle duck, it's a bit like the struggle bus but is a duck and therefore more adorable, grumpy, and tired. Yeah. Anyway, I am basically Morn in this photo, which means exhausted and Done with everything and just wanting to let those paws dangle. The battle is not over but Morn is no longer fighting. Let the storm sweep past, let it batter itself on the mountains and over the seas. Morn will weather what comes, preferably while sleeping. Which...a mood.

Quick Sips 05/12/2023

In which I provide...

- Fur analysis on Morn

- Some brief updates

- First thoughts on Disco Elysium

Okay let's go! First off please take a moment to appreciate Morn in all his sleepy glory, here captured in an apparently comfortable(???) position. He's something of a goof but a soft one. Unfortunately with the weather turning we are entering into one of his least favorite seasons...clump season! You see, Morn is not the most fastidious of groomers, and when it gets a bit more humid, he gets these fur tangles (despite being a short haired cat) that we lovingly refer to as clumps (or if we're channeling our inner Lumpy Space Princess, his lumps). Which means our son needs to get brushed more regularly, which he is mostly against (mostly because he doesn't mind brushing when he doesn't have clumps). He much prefers the colder months because 1. heat vent is on and warm; 2. no clumps because it's dry; 3. no birds to mock him. So it goes...

Quick Sips 05/05/2023

In which I...

- Admire Morn's Little Face

- Give some updates

- Discuss Star Trek: Picard Season 3

Why hello there. Morn couldn't help but notice that he's directly on your chest, just inches from your face, and you aren't currently scratching his ears or telling him he's a pretty boy. How will you make this right?

Quick Sips 04/28/2023

In which I...

- Give some personal updates

- Apologize for being a mess

- Look briefly ahead to WisCon

- Discuss why I don't like Kefka (FFVI)

Hi everybody! I spent last weekend traveling, and what a difference a week makes. The weekend before we had temperatures in the 80s F, and it was gorgeous out. Since then we had a blizzard and temperatures closer to freezing, with plenty of snow, rain, sleet, and freezing rain all thrown into the mix. It made for a rather gloomy adventure, but husband and I still managed to get out and do a little bit of geocaching, and see some sights in the UP of Michigan. Not a bad weekend, all told.

Quick Sips 01/13/2023

Still here. Still trying. Basically the song of my life for the last…while. I do wonder some times if you can just be sort of stuck in a loop of burnout and productivity. I mean…I do things. Many things, really, from reading and reviewing to participating in a number of other initiatives, plus my day job, plus plus plus. Heh. But somehow I am still stuck in the thinking that I should be able to do more, and I am sort of a disaster when it comes to communication, staying on top of deadlines, and generally not feeling like a wreck. But that’s been the case for a few years now. Whew.

Quick Sips 01/06/2023

Sorry about the recent absence! The end of the year just kicked me in the teeth and honestly I haven’t been settled enough to sit down and do an update. For all that, I don’t feel there’s even much to report. I am behind on a lot of things and in the middle of a lot of things and generally screaming. But that’s not precisely new. With the new year I will renew the resolution to be less of a fuckup than last year, but I haven’t had much luck with that historically, so… well, hope remains!

Quick Sips 12/16/2022

Snow. It has officially returned here where I live in Wisconsin, and I’m not a huge fan. I don’t exactly hate the snow. I’m well used to it now, really, having lived with it for so long. But it’s also a pain in the ass, and shoveling it is never my idea of a good time. But it’s here, and that’s what’s happened. Sigh. Other than that…well…there’s not a huge amount to tell.

Quick Sips 12/09/2022 Eligibility Post

It's the end of the year so I guess it's time that I do an eligibility post? That is what people do, and as much as I am struggling at the moment with most things, I will push myself to try. Because, while it's possible I did a little less in 2022 than 2021, it's not like I still haven't done...a lot. My fiction output might not be the highest, but I've still written many reviews, lists, and other things to help people navigate short speculative fiction, as well as co-edited with the amazing L.D. Lewis the second volume of We're Here: The Year's Best Queer Speculative Fiction. So for ease, I'll separate out my award eligible work into three categories.

Quick Sips 12/02/2022

Still here. Still trying. That’s basically my mantra as we move toward the end of the year. There’s a lot yet to do (so, so much yet to do), but I’m determined to do it, and to maybe catch myself up some. Patrons will have noticed that I slid way behind on Sips of the Week, and I’m starting to catch back up. Hopefully I’ll manage to close the year out strong on that. Some other things are still in the works. My recommended reading list is A Mess. My extra projects likewise. But I have gotten through worse. I will get through this. Thank you so much to everyone’s support during all this. You’re wonderful.

Quick Sips 11/04/2022

Wow I’m behind on a lot of things. Hmm. I mean, I guess it’s about time to check back in with how the year is going, and what’s working, and what’s not. After all, I’ve made some big changes over the last year, effectively stepping back from Quick Sip Reviews and stepping into my role as a columnist at Locus. I’ve also been settling in as series editor of We’re Here, and that’s been something as well. But…well, we’ll get there.

Quick Sips 10/28/2022

Apologies for skipping last week, but things have been a bit busy around here. After the dog-tastrophe that happened a few weekends ago, there was the car trouble, and after the car trouble (or more like around the car trouble), there's been helping my husband get through some surgery and recuperating, and after and around that, M'Ress has a little cold. That, and *still* dealing with the non-profit drama with the local non-profit, though that hopefully will be improving (I live in hope). Just general screaming, really.

Quick Sips 10/14/2022

I’m a bit late in writing this up this week, mostly because it’s a weird time of year and this week has just been A Bit Much. First, one of our cars broke down and has been in the shop for the last week, which means we’re back to sharing a car. It…mostly works, in that Matt works 3rd shift (nights) and I work either 1st or 2nd shift (mornings or evenings). Because of my evening shift, and because that’s what I work more often, there’s really no conflict there (unless Matt gets called in by the hospital). But when I work mornings there’s really no time in between our shifts so I have been having to get in a little late and stay a little late. Not a huge deal, but I was also running an event for National Coming Out Day and have in general been trying to do other things and just…yeah, it’s a bit much. But I’m trying.

Quick Sips 10/07/2022

We made it to October! Spooky season can officially begin! Though in truth, I’m not 100% sure I know how to celebrate. At the moment, I’m trying to enjoy that we recently bought a new bed frame (our first big “adult” furniture purchase), which is indeed quite nice. Unfortunately, our dog Leia has been sick and that has meant having to clean a lot of carpet with Resolve and ewwwwww. Anyway, that aside, I’m also rather deep into a number of projects and trying to take moments to appreciate just how awesome it is to have a gold Ignyte Award medal of my very own (so cool!). I’m here, trying to try.

Quick Sips 09/30/2022

For those who hadn’t seen it yet, We’re Here 2021 is now released and out in the world! It is super pretty thanks to cover artwork by Paul Kellam, who did a fabulous and colorful cover for Fiyah and whose Insta is incredibly gay and thirsty so obviously it was a fabulous fit for the second year of We’re Here. I do recommend people check out snag a print copy as soon as possible, because they tend to go fast. But it’s exciting launching year two now that the inaugural volume is a Locus and Ignyte award winner. Onward!

Quick Sips 09/23/2022

It turns out We’re Here 2020 won an Ignyte Award! Which means that I, as one of its editors, gets a shiny gold medal! Fucking right! I am incredibly honored by this, and incredibly proud to have had the opportunity to work with C.L. Clark and all the authors featured in the anthology. I was a bit too shocked and fuddled during the ceremony to make a great speech (in part because I think I was booted from the stage before I could and then wasn’t sure what was happening so I panicked to some extent), but basically what I was trying to say is that I’m incredibly grateful that I can do something that I love, that is all about reading great stories and sharing them. The hard work, that of the authors who wrote and got the works published previously, is arguably the more difficult, but I’m really happy all the same to be a part of it, and am floored that the We’re Here 2020 went undefeated for the awards it was up for. Thanks to everyone who voted for it!!!

Quick Sips 09/16/2022

So I’m back to being behind on things…kind of. I mean, I did catch up on Sip of the Week posts (and hope to have another one out today for patrons, but I also just feel behind in general. Most of that is purely personal—for whatever reason there’s a lot going on. Some of it’s good, some of it’s not so good, and all of it is taking something of a toll. So the struggle bus continues to roll its way.