I'm working on three things this year, in order:

1. Revisions on What the Darkness Would Keep

What the Darkness Would Keep was my 2020 NaNoWriMo novel. From my (successful!) query letter, which was written with tremendous help from my friend Chelsea:

Witches. Magic. Family secrets dark enough to destroy a whole town.

When Freddie Silvera and her younger brothers are forced to move in with their abusive grandmother, dark secrets lurk in every room. The Silvera Estate is a crumbling seaside mansion overrun with cats, which Freddie soon learns are much more than they seem. And when she picks up a key tossed onto the beach by rowdy waves, she has no idea she’s accepting a gift. The kind of Gift her mother warned her about.

Now Freddie has a rude, barely-helpful familiar and supernatural powers she doesn’t understand—powers that make her a target. The witches in this town have been disappearing for years, and no one knows what happened to them. No one knows what’s in her grandmother’s bricked-up basement, either, or why her family always seems to prosper while others only find tragedy, but they all have their suspicions, and now Freddie does, too.

It’s up to her to unravel the secrets of this town, and of her family’s grim past, before she finds out firsthand what happened to all the people on the “missing” posters.

I'm nearly all the way through! And when i finish, i'll move on to...

2. The next two chapters of the sequel

What the Darkness Would Keep ends with some questions unanswered, and whether or not Book 1 sells, i plan on getting those answers for myself!

I usually do better writing a beginning and then mulling it over a little, because my brain gives me really fun, unexpected paths to take if i let it rest, so i'll need a break after i finish Chapter 3 or so, and that means i will try...

3. Finishing The Body in Bay 14

My NaNoWriMo project from 2021, a sci-fi murder mystery:

On a luxurious seed ship destined for Alpha Centauri, eight cryopods open in a random cargo bay. Seven people who were supposed to be prisoners waking on a penal colony climb out to find they have new wealthy identities... and that one of them just stabbed #8 before the others woke.

If Ruby wants to remain a wealthy socialite instead of reverting to a political prisoner, she'll need to solve the murder before they reach their destination. She has one week to use her investigative reporting skills to give the colony police an answer that preserves her secrets. Everyone who came out of those pods has secrets, though, from the cute hacker to the sarcastic birdwatcher to the tattooed children's magician--and they don't trust her any more than she trusts them.

Not solving the murder isn't an option, but if Ruby answers--or asks--the wrong questions, she could be next.

This is an unorthodox tribute to my Gramma Rubye, who was a fascinating woman. (Just imagine, for a moment, a Chinese-American Episcopalian priest with vibrant, gothy purple eye makeup, driving a Porsche into which she has crammed at least one enormous 80lb+ dog.) She was a writer as well, and though i'm not sure i have the chops to rework her romance manuscript and see it published for her, i built an alternate reality where my memory of her has an adventure she might have liked to read. If her own spiritual beliefs are true, she can read it--but she won't be able to get me any criticism until i eventually show up in her afterlife. (She believed all kinds of mainstream stereotypes about queer folks, but at least she thought we go to heaven if we're good.)

I'm sure that'll keep me busy through six weeks and then some!

2024 Write-a-thon

Tobias Buckell and Nisi Shawl on stage at Town Hall Seattle during the 2022 Summer Reading Series.

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