This coming month is going to be a busy one.

I’m a week out from my birthday (which will be celebrated by driving to the next country to collect an ancient skate sharpening machine), and after that is Cymera, then my first weekend holiday away in nine years, and then a spot of minor surgery.

I’m taking the full three week recovery time because I’m pretty sure I’ll need it.

Today I’m utterly shattered and all my joints feel like they're gears filled with sand. I’m fairly active and I get frustrated when i feel like this. I need to tell myself out loud that hey, you have two chronic conditions and now a possibly sinister cyst in your thyroid. You’re not operating at peak physical effiency here.

But, whingeing aside, there’s a lot to look forward to.

I absolutely love Edinburgh’s Cymera Festival:

This year I have the honour of chairing a panel on Sunday (12-1) on a subject I adore, and with three excellent writers bringing deeply different approaches to their folklore faves:

Folklores and Other Stories with V. Castro, Lyndsey Croal and Gustaffo Vargas

Very much looking forward to hearing what they have to say, plus so many other interesting panels and events — my weekend is looking daunting!In other news, i commisioned artwork for The Shape of Monsters from one of my favourite artists, the incredible Jenni Coutts. I already own a few of her prints, but now I’ll own a pen and ink work done for me, and it IS GLORIOUS.

Here’s a sneak peak of the final featuring Ilea and Aleks:

The full thing is so beautiful, and Jenni drew it so that it could be flipped either way and still work, like a strange divination card froma deck that doesn’t exist.

On that note, I know that the actor recording the audio has gone into the studio, and release date approaches. Stay tuned for some Monster news ;)

New Words

I have been pretty snowed under, but I have finally launched back into working on the fungal bug mage book. Still no idea where it’s going, but such is life.

Sent my agent a possible collection revolving around bodily transfiguration, water, and gods, so we’ll see if that has legs.

And that’s pretty much it for the moment.

Reading

Set up some dedocated reading time because with edits and work and skating everything had just fallen by the way side. It’s good because I have read some new novels, collections and novelettes, and that helps my writing brain wake up a bit.

Stand out so far has been Jane Flett’s Freakslaw, which i absolutely adored.

If filthy, raucus, queer, femme, freakish revenge and joy is your jam, then i recommend.