May 2026
a podcast, an event, and filling the well with blooms
Hello readers!
I’m not quite sure what happened to the last month but here we are in May. Leaves are budding out, flowers are blooming, and my allergies are also blooming accordingly (entirely worth it to be surrounded by so much green again). I have become obsessed with roses and bought two gorgeous varieties today, and I have dreams of adding to the collection before June comes (Queen of Sweden, you will be mine). Basically, I’ve been spending as much time in the garden as possible during these cool spring days so this will be a shorter missive, but I do have a few things to report. Let’s get to it!
happenings
ICYMI I did my first podcast! Last month I had the pleasure of chatting with Noah on the Write Here, Write Queer podcast. We discussed writing intuitively, how I chose the POV for Sorcery and Small Magics, and I also babbled about a few books that I love (as I am wont to do). Many thanks to Noah for the great questions!
On June 6th I will be at Books on the Bosque for their RomCon event! More on this once I have info on times and such, but mark the date if you’re in the Albuquerque area.
Sorcery and Small Magics is out now in France! The French edition has gorgeous sprayed edges that I very much can’t wait to see in person. In the meantime, thank you for tagging me in your lovely photos. 💜
While I wait for my editor’s notes on Wildersongs book 2 I’m starting to put together a rough outline for book 3 and having lots of fun doing so. This early idea stage is one of my favorite parts of writing, when nothing really has to make sense yet and you’re running on pure inspiration.
Q&A
Q: How did you come up with Leo and Sebastian’s names?
A: Finding a good name reminds me of tapping pottery to check for cracks—it should have a certain ring to it. Grimm’s name came to me very early (as did Agnes Quest’s). I think I just liked the name Sebastian and then cast about for whatever surname seemed to go with it best. Which is funny, because I never even think of him as Sebastian now, only Grimm.
Similarly, Leo’s name was always Leo, but in early versions I did not have a surname to go with it, or know what it was short for. When I sat down to write the book for real, I wanted his name to have a certain flourish and as soon as Leovander Loveage rolled off my tongue, I knew it rang true.
Q: When and why did you decide you wanted Leo to use music as his outlet for magic?
A: When I first had the idea for SASM ten plus years ago (eeek how has it been that long?), Leo’s mother was a musician. Later, when I was sorting through Leo’s grief over losing her it made sense that music and playing the same instrument that she had would be something that was important to him. The magic portion was introduced because I had just finished a D&D campaign as a bard and wanted to play around with that archetype a bit more. From there, it all was built to suit the story and Leo’s personality.
Have a question you’d like me to answer in an upcoming newsletter? Leave it in the comments, or fill out my contact form.
filling the well
Reading: I had high hopes for April curing me of my reading slump, but it didn’t quite happen. Still, I managed to finish one of my most anticipated books of the year, The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan, and it did not disappoint! Such a good (and vicious) tale that managed to feel classic and original all at once. I adored the voice and found Livia to be especially delightful. Sticking with the theme of demons in your head, I returned to the Penric & Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold, which I had started ages ago before being swept away by the Vorkosigan saga. I jumped back in with books 5 and 6 and enjoyed them immensely. Penric, while not as wild of a character as Miles, has his own brand of chaos that I really like.
Watching: Since I’ve mostly been filling the well by gardening my watching has slowed. However, there are two shows that I’ve been very happy to make time for. The first is Pursuit of Jade, which has surpassed all of my expectations and reminded me of exactly how wonderful Cdramas can be. The gorgeous visuals! The drama! The tropes! The angst! Inject it into my veins. The only reason I haven’t finished binging is that I know I’m going to be very sad once it’s over. If you are a Cdrama watcher please give me recommendations for what I can fill the void with once I’m finished.
Show #2 is the long awaited Witch Hat Atelier anime! I’m so happy with how they’ve managed to capture the intricate art style from the manga, and the characters are just as wonderful as ever. Qifrey in particular is a delight to see animated. My only complaint is that the episodes are too short (and maaaybe that Tetia is a bit hard to understand in the dub, but that might just be me).
That’s all for this month. See you in June (probably with more flower photos sorrynotsorry)!
Omg my heart is so full with the prospect of a third book on the way…. ❤️🩹
I just wanted to say that I always feel happy when I see your newsletter in my inbox - it's a delight to read 😊.