I had this amazingly detailed dream about my book recently when I’d given it this crazy conceit of setting it in a boarding house or hotel or something where the various authors lived, and Tiptree could see the ghosts of people before they died, but could not prevent their deaths, so she killed herself. I was like I don’t really understand why I wrote this book in this strange and highly allegorical way but wow it works.

Then I woke up and thought, that really would not work. That would not work at all.

June in posts

I knew it, I knew that the Taylor Swift Toy Story song would not fix my malaise. Maybe I need a hunk to shoot some aliens for me, but I’d probably still find a way to whine about it.

June in writing abroad

June in Japanimation

June in perfume

June in random YouTube videos I was really into

June in other newsletters

I imagine some of you will want to follow along with this series on Samuel Delany from Katherine Packert Burke:

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Untitled Samuel Delany Project #0: Introduction & The Jewel-Hinged Jaw (1977)

I didn’t really care for Samuel R. Delany the first time I read his work. It was 2016, and through a brief stint working at the Strand the year before I had already been (re)introduced to LeGuin and Butler, both on the cusp on their renaissances that continue to this day. But Delany, oddly, no one was talking about. It was actually only in the liner not…

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25 days ago · 19 likes · 16 comments · katherine packert burke

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Untitled Samuel Delany Project #1 - The Jewels of Aptor (1962)

It begins with a girl, upset over a recording of a four-armed boy being tortured. She decides she’ll write a poem to get the image out of her head. Immediately before that, her mentor reminds her of an anecdote from the life of Cellini, that…

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17 days ago · 7 likes · 3 comments · katherine packert burke

N.B. for the Russeans,1 Burke’s new novel, All Us Ghosts, has a minor character who plays in a punk band called “Whileaway.” Cute!

June in “buckwheat pillow”

I bought a buckwheat pillow (as mentioned here). Specifically, I bought this buckwheat pillow. wanted to know if I liked it, and I promised I’d mention the results of using it for a couple weeks in the monthly digest.

I really do! I did have to empty more buckwheat hulls than I expected to make it the right height for me. In fact I bought another pound of buckwheat hulls and a zip-up pillow shell and just made my own “travel pillow” with the amount I took out. My neck has been great. No pain. I’m a convert to buckwheat pillow life.

There’s nothin’ shakin’ come this here July.… Except.…

Some July preorders.

• We Were Forbidden (Jacqueline Harpman)

• Twenty Minutes of Silence (Hélène Bessette)

Pretty light month.

July in Japanimation

• Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon), July 11

• Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondō), July 25

This month’s theme is “girls in the arts.” These are out of chronological order but I got a nice physical edition of Perfect Blue and I’m going to be archive diving and restricted to streaming in the second half of the month, so I would like the option of watching the special features, even if I will in fact forget to watch the special features.

July in perfume

I got the Pineward summer protoype set to write about, and now the prototype set is retired. But I’m still writing about it, so.…

I said in the post announcing that I’m working on a book (dunno if you heard but: I’m working on a book…) (a book? I’m working on one?) that one possible future change was doing a monthly digest post. So I’m going to experiment with that idea. Here’s Experiment No. 1.

The monthly digests are partly an attempt to think in a slightly longer time frame. Up until now, the way I’ve done things is that I just send newsletters out whenever I feel they’re done. But now, ideally, I’d like to have some things ready in advance if they are already-recurring features—like the capsule reviews—because I want the newsletter to stay “general interest” and active even if I’m busy (while incorporating Weird Sisters stuff too).

I have made these digests their own “section” so that you can opt out of receiving them. We love an opt out at BDM Industries.… You can see how to navigate sections here.

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