I’m happy to announce that Blackfire Rising has finally been resurrected and is now shambling in bookstores and websites near you. It was an experiment. A way to create a better soldier. Colder, more efficient. But some things shouldn’t be altered, and some creatures are best left to myth. The dead know no peace,…
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May Linkspam!
I am haunted by geese. Anyone who’s ever been to my alma mater, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, knows that the deer and the geese own the campus and we just borrow it from them. You aren’t a true member of the SIUE family until you’ve been chased by an angry goose. For the freshmen, that…
It’s alive!
I’m delighted to announce that the 2026 St. Louis Writers Guild anthology is live, with a variety of short stories, poetry, essays and more from our members. I am quite honored to be chosen for this year’s collection with a short story titled “Perchance to Dream.” Time passed as it does, and it faded to…
April 2026 Linkspam
Elizabeth Donald Linkspam for April 2026 This newsletter was written on time. And then it didn’t send. Those responsible would have been sacked except they are me. On the second day of the AWP conference last month, Jim and I finally broke free to snag some lunch, and then I requested to do a couple of…
Wait, where is February going?
Happy almost Valentine’s Day! Somehow I blinked, and it was Feb. 11 and I hadn’t sent out a newsletter yet. Who’s running this show? Those responsible will be sacked – oh yeah, that was me. As you can tell by the seriously-delayed newsletter, the semester is rolling. Three of my four classes are working on…
2025 in review
Hey look! It’s another rundown of books and movies from 2025! I know, we’re all thoroughly sick of these lists. But I find it helpful to look back over a year and consider what was good and not-so-good, even in a year as variegated as this one. Let’s start with the books… Fiction: • Probably…
It’s beginning to look a lot like December!
December is always a blessing. The semester is coming to an end and the light at the end of the tunnel may or may not be an oncoming train. I decided to make it a light holiday season and only booked one signing for December. There’s always plenty to be done: digging out the office,…
October-November Linkspam
October was a blast, or at least it must have been, because I hardly remember it! Somehow each year there’s a month that just sort of disappears in a melee of overbookedness, and it’s usually October. That’s why you’re getting two months’ worth of schtuff at once! This is my favorite time of the year. I…
Archon report!
It’s been over a week, but let’s face it: life doesn’t stop for con drop. Archon was an absolute delight, with a great vibe, good conversation, interesting panels and a rocking party, as well as terrific sales. We had a great group of Lit Underlords and minions working the booth and the party, so it…
Just a temp
Funny thing happened on the way to the semester launch: One of my employer colleges got a big uptick in enrollment, and they needed (wo)manpower quick. An application and interview later, I was offered and accepted a one-year temporary contract as a full-time professor. Longtime readers know that this is the end goal, the…
August 2025 Linkspam
It is a universal truth among academics that when Aug. 1 rolls around, the panic hits. We all begin the summer with the best of intentions. We will finally have time to read that giant backlog sitting on the TBR pile. We will unearth the surface of our desks and sort out the chaos that…