If you are signed up for my newsletter, you will have already read this, so feel free to move along, nothing new to see here. But if you haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for? I only write these things once in a blue moon — just two in 2020! — so I won’t be filling up your inbox with JPK propaganda. And I usually include freebies or personal recommendations for books and teevee I’ve enjoyed as well as some (bad) writing advice or (misguided) digital punditry.
Here’s the first-of-the-year edition of my very, very occasional newsletter. I hope you made it through 2020 without losing your balance. I have to admit that there were whole months when I wobbled and I definitely stumbled several times, but I’m here and typing and looking forward to better days. As the new year approaches, I find reasons to be optimistic; at least some of the changes in prospect are for the good.
If anyone is looking for entertainment recommendations, here are some diversions that got me through the last never-ending year. Among my favorite 2020 reads were a new translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley (astonishing), True Grit by Charles Portis (better than both movies), Laidlaw by William McIlvanney (peak Tartan Noir) The True Queen by Zen Cho (magic and Fairy politics), and The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black (must read for R. Chandler fans). I’m halfway through Elizabeth Hand’s The Book of Lamps and Banners and am thrilled with it. My ten teevee highlights include Ted Lasso (Apple), Rake (Netflix) Line of Duty (Prime), Ozark (Netflix), Schitt’s Creek (Netflix), Bosch (Prime), Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), GLOW (Netflix), Exhibition on Screen: History's Greatest Painters (Amazon) and Succession (HBO).
This is the time of year to look back and look ahead. There are a couple of new 2020 entries in my bibliography that I’m proud of. In February my novella King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats debuted from Subterranean Press. With a wonderful cover by Jon Foster, the hardcover, to my practiced eye, is a triumph of the printers’ art. Subterranean crafts some beautiful books! Many of you have downloaded the audiobook version, recorded by my Grammy-Award-winning friend Stefan Rudnicki, which I’ve been giving away free since publication day. If you haven’t yet downloaded your absolutely free copy, what are you waiting for? Click the cover! (Did I mention that it’s free?)
I had a short ghost story in the March issue of F&SF called “The Man I Love,” and in June a flash fantasy story about ancient magic called “Faithful Sister” in Daily Science Fiction. August saw a romantic comedy with gourmet cooking and robots called “Your Boyfriend Experience” in Entanglements, edited by Sheila Williams from MIT Press. As part of the promotion for the book I did a online interview with two pals, Nancy Kress and Sam J. Miller, who were also contributors. We talked about writing the stories and laughed a lot. You could watch by clicking the Entanglements cover.
Looking ahead, I have two projects in the pipeline. “Grandma 5oC” is coming in the March/April issue of Asimov’s and I’m honored to appear in a new volume in the Outspoken Authors series from PM Press, edited by Terry Bisson. The First Law of Thermodynamics Plus is coming in late Winter or perhaps early Spring.
I hope this finds you well and ready to meet the challenges to come and to savor the pleasures you’re sure to have in the coming months.
