Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, everyone! This April marks one year since I started this newsletter. Can you believe it? Sounds like the perfect excuse to go out and get a little treat! Get one for yourself as well because this newsletter would have never gotten off the ground without you amazing subscribers. Thank you so much for going on this journey with me and sticking through the ups and downs of the writing life. You’re the best!

Let’s celebrate with some news!

Nonfiction Debut!

I am so excited to share that I am now a nonfiction writer! My debut nonfiction piece will appear on the SFWA blog this month. It’s called “Butt in the Chair: How Disability Changed my Writing Habits.” Like it says on the tin, the essay details out my personal journey with chronic pain and how that shaped what it looks like for me to be a writer. It is a deeply personal piece, I am more than a little nervous for when it goes live, but ultimately I am so proud of myself and the work I did to make this essay happen. The folks at the SFWA blog were an absolute delight to work with, and I cannot wait to share this with you soon.

Locus Awards

April 15th is the last day to cast your votes for the Locus Awards for your favorite stories and artists from 2024. You do not need to be a member of anything to vote, nor do you need an account. You simply need to log on to Locus, get a link, fill out a brief survey, and then cast your votes. And you can vote for whatever you loved from 2024! Locus prefills options with their recommended list, but you can also write in something that is not there.

I highly encourage you to get out and vote. The Locus Awards are some of the most accessible awards and a great way to show some love for the works that maybe don’t get too much attention on the awards circuit. Of course, if you would like to consider voting for any of my short stories from 2024, I would be absolutely honored. Links to read my eligible work and vote in the Locus Awards are below:

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

As I mentioned above, it’s the one year anniversary of this newsletter! I’m happy with what I have built over the year, and I figured this anniversary was a great time to give the newsletter a makeover.

The biggest change is that starting in May this monthly update will now be email only. It will not be posted to the main newsletter site for web viewing. What does this mean for subscribers? Not a thing. You’re already signed up, so you will continue to receive it as normal. However, if you or someone you share this newsletter with are not subscribed, then you will need to sign up to continue to receive the updates—which you can do for FREE and get a bonus story from me in the bargain.

In addition to the update being email only, I will also be changing the format of it just slightly to include some more tidbits and recommendations and insights from me about my work, what media I am consuming, etc.

So, why am I making this change? This is simply a way for me to consolidate some of my work that I do here behind the scenes to run my sites and socials. It’s also a small way I can show my appreciation for my lovely subscribers by giving you some bonus/exclusive content and access. Your support of me throughout this year has meant a lot, and this is one way I can give back to you.

So what will be posted to the web? Major updates/announcements like awards, appearances, some publications, etc. might get posted to web as well as sent to subscribers. An example would be like the announcement of my panels at Flights of Foundry last year. I would post something like that to both.

There will most likely be some wrinkles to smooth out as I go with this, and I am happy to hear any feedback or suggestions from my subscribers here on what you’d like to see going forward. Just leave a comment.

I’ve got more news I have to sit on for now until I’m clear to announce and some pretty lofty projects I am starting that will hopefully lead to more good news down the line. Until then, Happy Spring, everyone!

Keep on writing on.

—Catherine