It seems that ice cream was indeed sufficient motivation to write another blog post, because here I am, a mere three months later, writing another! I did genuinely drive a couple hours to meet a friend I hadn’t seen in a while for ice cream as a reward for writing that post. Turns out blogging isn’t so bad if you’ve got the right motivation.

Anyway, I liked the format I did last time, where I shamelessly plug some of my recent work followed by even more shamelessly plugging someone else’s work that I enjoyed, so I’ll do that here as well. I haven’t been reading a ton of short fiction lately (I know, I know!), but I’ve been devouring books faster than I can review them for Apex, so I figured I’d shout about one of those here!

THE RECENT PUBLICATIONS PART

First, I had a story called “Rosewater, Clinging to the Tongue” published in the penultimate issue (sobbing. SOBBING) of Apparition Literary Magazine (support them by buying one of their issues or some of their merch – they’ve got cute lil pride skeletons!). It’s a short, bittersweet thing about memory and trauma and the way things linger, as well as the ways they don’t. Small excerpt below:

Your ghosts drift around your feet, formless things like pale kittens, winding between your ankles as if they have the weight to make you trip. The sorrowful ones, you hear, taste like light lemon wafers, crisp like fresh snow between your teeth; joy like rich cream, running thick down your throat; and love like salt, like the drowning ocean.

You would not know. You find the idea of eating lost memories each morning ridiculous: a breakfast of the rest of your life, bloating your belly before a morsel of true breakfast, never knowing which to pick because by morning you’ve forgotten what each is.

The story is free to read here – I also narrated it, if audio is more your thing! Like many people, the idea of listening to my voice on a recording elicits much shuddering and many “absolutely not”s, so y’all will have to let me know if it turned out all right!

Second, Crepuscular Magazine let me come back with another micro called “Calm, Quiet, Silence” as part of their Friday the 13th double issue (support their Patreon here!). It’s a tiny, creepy thing that begins with, “The worst part is that they buzz.” The whole thing is free to read here, and if you’re interested, I did a micro-interview and an essay alongside the story!

THE PART ABOUT THE BOOK

I finished Hana Lee’s Road to Ruin a couple months back and absolutely loved it. If you’ve not heard about it yet, it is a delightful secondary world fantasy which does NOT do the love triangle thing! Jin-Lu, a sparkrider in love with the two royals whose secret letters she delivers across the storm-ridden wastelands between cities, is asked to instead deliver the princess to the prince. They’re pursued by storms, beasts, the princess’s fiancé, and her father, and in the process of escaping, the two of them learn secrets both about each other and the way everyone is taught magic works.

I absolutely tore through this book. The worldbuilding was rich and layered, and I absolutely loved the characters – I found myself mentally shouting at them multiple times throughout the story (in the best way possible), as well as shouting at the friend who recommended the read (also in the best way possible). I hung on this book’s every word even in its quieter moments and found myself even more invested than I thought I would be when I started.

I’d recommend this one if you enjoy mysterious magic, dangerous and unknowable wastelands, believably complex characters with buried regrets, and adventure with a shade of romance. I’ll definitely be picking up book two when it comes out!