What? Are we really halfway through November?! If you’re doing Nano, how’s it coming along? If you’re gearing up for the holidays, what are your plans? This is the time of year where things may get a little overwhelming…so make sure you’re taking care of yourself, drinking plenty of water, enjoying good food, checking in with someone you love and trust…and feel free to curl up on your favorite couch to read Speculative Chic! Here’s what happened this week to get you started!
Monday
After an important announcement from Shara, we’ve got our regular weekly column, My Favorite Things! Our special guest is author Kate Heartfield, and we’re celebrating her latest, Armed in Her Fashion, which just won the Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel! What sort of goodies gets Heartfield’s heart racing (😅)? How about political (and personal) games in the court of Queen Anne, or a land where jade grants terrible power to those who wear it? We’ve also got talented musicians who don’t shy away from the speculative, a brilliant comedy that breaks the fourth wall, and a convention worth remembering. Explore it all here!
Tuesday
Merrin journeys to the land of sequels with Disney’s latest offering, Malificent: Mistress of Evil, the follow-up to 2014’s Maleficent. Arguably one of Disney’s biggest and baddest villains of all time, does this current iteration follow through on the title’s promise? What about the unique take from the 2014 film — does it continue along that vein? Merrin’s got the goods here!
Wednesday
Andrea dives into Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, one of the newest official adventures brought to you by Wizards of the Coast. Baldur’s Gate is described as being “among the most iconic locations in fantasy culture. A mist-cloaked metropolis on the Sword Coast, it’s a place of history and a home to heroes.” What is awaiting you in the misty city? How about a Blood War, archdevils, and Nine Hells! So is this campaign material a Dungeon Master’s dream? Only one way to find out…
We also have a guest post from author Stephen Mitchell in honor of the release of his debut novel, Only the Devil is Here. We’re talking You’re My Inspiration, where authors talk about the fundamental influences on their work. For this column, Mitchell gives a shout-out to his childhood inspirations, plus some oddities thrown in for good measure: spoons! Chocolate in questionable forms! The ultimate piece of heroic fashion… and a choice cocktail! We’ve got a variety of muses waiting for you!
Thursday
Venessa gives the scoop on the newest convention in the universe, Multiverse Con! After two years of planning, Multiverse Con debuted the weekend of October 18-20, 2019 in Atlanta, proclaiming, “Be whoever you want to be. You are welcome here.” Venessa explains that the con was created with the tenet that “each of us is our own universe, bringing uniqueness to our fandom, that there is room in the multiverse for all of us.” Venessa played an important role in putting this event together (which we sneak previewed here) — so how did it go? What can you expect from the newest offering in science fiction and fantasy fandom? Look no further.
Friday
We’ve got a special post from the recent World Fantasy Special Award winner Scott H. Andrews, editor-in-chief of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Andrews gives awesome advice to writers on how to get your work to stand out from the slush pile. There’s a magic word called “spark…” Does your writing have it? How can you get it? Try tapping into emotion resonance and authenticity. Andrews offers a solid explanation and key questions to ask yourself in order to pull off this amazing — and important — feat. There’s lots to learn!
Book Club
The Book Club Reboot draws ever closer! If you need a refresher, look here. Starting off 2020 with a bang, we’ll begin the club in January with Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This is How You Lose the Time War; in February we’ve got Jeremy C. Shipp’s The Atrocities; and in March, Cate Glass’s An Illusion of Thieves. With a different contributor hosting each month, we’ve got a lot to look forward to, and it’s never too soon to start reading!
Since moving to Kyushu, I never thought there would be one food I crave desperately in the land of amazing food: turkey. Deli turkey, roast turkey, Thanksgiving turkey…this is just not a thing. So aside from giving shout-outs and gratitude to the awesome people in my life, Thanksgiving as I’ve always known it doesn’t exactly happen. (To be honest, I don’t even know when it is this year! Must Google.) I *do* have something that puts me in the holiday spirit even when I’m over 6,000 miles from home and family: that great musical masterpiece from Camp Chippewa (“Happy happy turkey day / hunger pains will go away”) starring Wednesday Addams setting alight the bullsh*t story of the pilgrims and Native Americans sharing a peaceful Thanksgiving dinner. Addams Family Values is a satisfying holiday dish, if you ask me! What are yours? Feel free to comment, and we’ll see you next week!
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