Expert Dream Monster @cislyn@wandering.shop

#introduction Bi poly married speculative fiction writer. I mostly write short stories and poetry - long form stories are harder for me. I dabble in a lot of crafts, make messes, pet kitties, play games, and dither about how to introduce myself on social media sites (especially since I'll likely just lurk. It's what I do). I'm a submissions editor for Uncanny Magazine, and I read voraciously. Um... yeah, that's me.

Oh hi, insomnia. :(

Check it out, and let me know if you have questions or are interested in the class: https://literarylevelup.substack.com/

The newsletter and course are for you if you've ever read something nifty and wanted to figure out how to do that (or, equally valid, if you've ever read something that just didn't work and wanted to figure out why, and how to avoid it in your writing). We're aiming to give you the vocabulary to talk about things, the skills to analyze, and the practical advice to apply it to your own work. Think of it like a Literary Level Up, specifically for plot and structure.

The lectures are on Sunday evenings, they'll be recorded if you miss one, & signing up includes a free subscription to all the newsletter content. The class slots will be open for just a little while longer, as we don't want folks falling too far behind and having to play catch up.

This newsletter, on the other hand, is something you can dive into at any time.

Writer friends! Here's a thing you might be interested in: I'm helping behind the scenes with an online literary plot and structure course, run by my friend Anaea Lay. Anaea is a writer, developmental editor, workshop instructor, and all-around witty pedant.

We're putting out newsletters with the course content. About half the content of the newsletter will be free, so there's plenty to sink your teeth into. There's also still room in the class (over skype), so let me know if you're interested.

Update: she's still helping.

Blizzara is so keen to help with the crocheting. And by "help" I mean "chomp".

It's raining, and I just felt all the tension go out of my shoulders. I don't know what it is about a good rainstorm, but it does this to me every time. 🌧️ 💕

The Dream Foundry does a media exploration club where we pick a theme, and then analyze different works across media for the theme. Our theme right now is "Found Families" and this month we're looking at the first two episodes of Firefly, and next month we're talking about Dragon Age: Inquisition. All these conversations are led by professionals.

I'm really enjoying geeking out about Firefly right now. If this sounds like a thing you might enjoy, come join us!

https://forum.dreamfoundry.org/topic/30/omec-found-families/73

I forgot that every time I work on this blanket, one or more of the cats wants to lay on it and/or help with the crocheting. There might be a reason it's not done yet.

Two of the kitties are heading to the vet for regular checkups today. I'm hoping it'll be relatively easy to wrangle them together (separate carriers, though, because Blizzara has gotten Rather Big). Wish me luck!

Today is for catching up on Uncanny slush and also petting cats and also maybe going for a nice walk in the arboretum.

How are y'all doing?

I had some feelings about superheroes and wrote a poem and Strange Horizons published it. Wheee! :)

http://strangehorizons.com/poetry/borrower/

Havin' a high anxiety day and whooooooo this is exhausting. Hope my hyperactive lizard brain calms down soon.

A thing I said over on birbsite and else-internet but not here yet: I got into Viable Paradise! I'm so freaking excited and nervous and happy and aaaaaa!

I felt super cute tonight and also went to a Weird Al and symphony orchestra concert. This is a vast improvement from pneumonia. :)

+ slay the spire is out on PS4 yay!
- I have soooo much to do and am very behind on all the things
+ I'm making incremental progress on the things. Grudgingly.
- I'm fighting off a cold. WisCon is at the end of this week. Aaaaargh.
+ WisCon! At the end of this week!
- Oh geez I'd better figure out my reading soon.
+ I'm doing a reading! And I'm on a panel! And stuff!
- Ahahaha am I really ready to be this social?

Hi, I'm feeling a bit mixed this morning. How are you?

Now I'm left with her last email with that bit about being sure we can find someone local for them and I just... I have no idea how to respond? It would come off as cruel to say that we found a home for them in NC, since that obviously entails moving them and that's what freaked her out (sigh) so that's out. I guess I could thank her for her time, but that's kind of like thanking her for the panic attack and getting my hopes up fruitlessly, so yeah, no. Best to say nothing, I guess.

Yeah, um. No. If there was someone local, I wouldn't be spending enormous amounts of energy and time asking literally everyone I know, and strangers from all over if they can adopt these senior cats.

I spent all of yesterday evening in a low-grade panic attack when she went silent after freaking out about the transportation. Woke up to the email that she wasn't going to take them after all. It is what it is. And we found someone else, in North Carolina, so, at least there's that.

Urf. So, yesterday was a roller coaster. I thought I'd found a perfect home for Kate's cats - a human who has lots of space, was willing to come meet me in Atlanta. Awesome! And then she heard that I'd be flying with them cats and freaked out. I told her that we were willing to work with her, that we'd hire someone to transport them to meet her, or I'd rent a car and drive them myself, but she backed out saying she was "certain that there's someone local who can take them."