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Crocus Spoke - Amanda Acker , 2023.

Australian, b.  1982  -

Oil on panel , 12 x 9 in.

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We're so excited to publish our latest article: @aba-daba-dooo on teaching fic writing to middle schoolers!

Fanfiction does something that my traditional English classes cannot. It teaches students about our role in the creation of media, culture, and history. It invites students not just to analyze the role of a text, but to partake in its deconstruction and recreation on their own terms. It places the power in the hands of the student. After all, what English class asks you to transform a text into something you want to read? 

Read or listen to an audio version via the link above—and to support more in-depth fan culture journalism, consider becoming a patron!

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Bookmarks // The Bookish Den

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Jelly cycle, gamblin ink on kitakata paper, hand pressed

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Knitting, 2021 - by Joseph Ford, English

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books centering female rage

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Not For the Faint of Heart

Not For the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher

i ADORED Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, so i was super excited when this galley popped up!! and Croucher did not disappoint, they might be the only author writing romance right now that i enjoy including the romantic plotline and not in spite of.

the plot in one sentence: the descendants of Robin Hood and his Merry Men are still fighting on behalf of the people of the Greenwood—or so they tell themselves—but when Hood's granddaughter follows orders to kidnap a charming and garrulous young healer, both of them are thrown onto a new path...together. <3

ngl, this book works a very particular kind of magic on me. Croucher's writing is so swift and sharp and funny, and their characters all feel simultaneously very real and charmingly heightened. what a true joy to read a book where the twists still surprise me—i was set up and knocked down easy as bowling pins—but the predictable beats of a romance are tender and queer and rewarding instead of boring and rote. i laughed a TON reading this book. i also cried (at work, whoops).

i was enchanted by gruff Mariel, and the motley group of young Merry Men (of many genders) in her command. sensible and honest Clem felt immediately like a friend. the actual plot of the story was gripping and moved at an exciting clip, and it was wonderful! but the real treasure here was two women who fall for each other in spite of their strange circumstances, who then continue to communicate with each other through failure and triumph. we stan two flawed queers being gentle with each other and giving each other the benefit of the doubt.

honestly, i'm so delighted. this is a high quality potato chip book for me: craveable, gone too fast, indulgent. i would read a hundred more books just like this, if Lex Croucher wrote them.

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley, and this is it, i am finally caught up enough to take a little break from galleys and read some library ebooks and physical books that have been piling up! also i am definitely buying this book when it comes out, and giving a friend a copy for the holidays.

try this if you: have ever been deeply into Robin Hood (of any flavor, but it was fox Maid Marian who did it for me as a kid), love snappy dialogue and funny, self-aware flirting, are soothed by a homonormative universe, or think two very capable women deserve to kiss a bunch.

some lines i really liked: a selection of Clem narration bits that made me guffaw

The morning the Merry Men came for Old Rosie, Clem was trying to put a hat on a fox. She felt quite bad about this later.

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Mariel's bow was slung over her back, the quiver full of arrows at her hip untouched. She was fighting with her sword and her fists, on occasion her feet, clearly reluctant to cause any real harm even as the others came at her with what looked like murderous intent. You wouldn't have been able to tell that she was wounded, or under strict instructions not to do anything to make that wound worse. In fact, you wouldn't think she'd ever received any kind of medical advice from a consummate professional at all.

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There were no two ways about it: Clem and Mariel were spooning.

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Kit and Baxter were a bit hollow-eyed but absolutely holding hands under the table; Morgan could barely lift their head high enough to take in porridge; and Josey was so fresh she looked like she'd just been born into the world, excited to take on her very first day.

pub date: November 26, 2024! mark your calendar for this one!!

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Spring Chill - Amanda Acker , 2023.

Australian, b.  1982  -

Oil on muslin covered panel , 8 x 10 in.

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Water, Water: Poems

Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins

it's been a little while since i've read a poetry collection, even though twenty-five years ago i thought i wanted to be a professional poet and i still really enjoy reading it. so it was lovely to dive into this collection, which for the most part was very much to my taste!

this book in one sentence: a collection of fairly short free verse poems, which use pleasingly accessible language to examine the emotions underneath mundane, everyday, or just very small moments.

i'm sure it's become clear through my reviews that i love reading beautiful language, and part of that for me is really loving when frank and un-flowery language is used to beautiful effect. this collection really struck me that way! poetry is at its best for me when it casually turns over the most insignificant rocks to expose some view i wouldn't have seen or thought about, human experiences that are not universal, but rather emotionally understandable. Collins is doing that here, in ways that were more or less relatable to me in their specifics, but were full of feelings and interesting observations and straightforward words for un-straightforward things.

this isn't to say that there are no stunning poetic turns of phrase here—there are—but the strength of this collection is in ordinariness, i think, and Collins' willingness to make fun of himself a bit. charming self-deprecation is hit or miss for me, but these poems mostly hit!

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley yet again. I really truly am almost caught up now. i can see the horizon when i will pick up a physical book in my room and read it without the pressure of galleys i thought i would get to quicker weighing on me, lol.

try this if you: dig poetry that feels mundane but resonates deeply, enjoy a bit of writing about writing, or are looking for a way into poetry with something more accessible!

some lines i really liked: part of a poem and the whole of another!

... as I examine the details of a rural scene on the side of this Delft teacup while waiting for the water to boil and for you to come back home. Unless, of course, you are waiting out there for me to apologize, in which case you will find yourself all alone at the end of human time, beholding the tall, cascading waves of fire, sinkholes of ice, and that merciless quartet of horsemen in their scarlet vestments, who are now wheeling their steeds around and appear to be galloping furiously in your direction.

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Against Longing One of the things I would not write is I wish I could fly away on silver wings or I'd like to be a starfish on a sandy beach. Longing was once a big part of poetry, but now it's better to just say you're flying. I'm flying! And don't sound overly surprised by it. Then you can describe all the things you find yourself flying over. Another baseball diamond...and that marina. And as for the nagging ambition to be a starfish lying on a sandy beach, just be one, lying there on a summer day in the middle of a circle of little kids, all poking you with sticks until some older kid comes along, picks you up, and launches you underhand in a huge arc back into the sea. Poof, you're a starfish. Also, you don't need that extra word sandy. Let the reader make the beach sandy in his head, let him meet you part way. You can even picture your reader alone in a poorly lit public library looking down at your poems the way those kids looked down at you on the beach, wondering how you were ever born and how you manage to get from place to place.

pub date: November 19, 2024! shockingly, i am ahead of publication on this one! go look for it at your local indie or library!

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Hot take: Actual literary analysis requires at least as much skill as writing itself, with less obvious measures of whether or not you’re shit at it, and nobody is allowed to do any more god damn litcrit until they learn what the terms “show, don’t tell” and “pacing” mean.

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Magazine highlights: FIYAH Issue 29, Winter 2024

you can tell how far behind i've gotten in my magazine reading because i'm still working my way through issues from LAST WINTER, but i've been so looking forward to diving into FIYAH! every work here was incredible, but these two are my particular favorites:

"Kiss of Life" - P.C. Verrone

premise: angels—of a sort—pick up an enslaved young girl and make her their translator as they travel from place to place..."building bridges."

gut reaction: holy shit! i've come away from this one bleeding internally. the voice and the progress of the plot are both so compelling, and then the slow horror of what's happening starts to dawn, and both the text and the allegory stab you right in the chest. stunning.

"D.E.I. (Death, Eternity, and Inclusion)" - N. Romaine White

premise: a freshly turned vampire is called to the office of the head of the clan, who makes her an offer.

gut reaction: sharp and hilarious! i would read a whole novel about Carolyn and her new role in undead society. what a glorious callout of corporate racism! and also each character is beautifully clear and distinct, a real challenge in short fiction.

for real though, an exciting range of styles and emotions to be had in this issue, and it's short enough to read in a sitting (even though i did not manage to read it in a sitting whoops).

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📚Watson's Sketchbook PREORDER!📚

Hello! In response to ~unprecedented levels of demand~ for print versions of Watson's Sketchbook Volume 1, I'm doing another print run, and will be opening preorders here on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, at 9:00am PST/12:00 noon EST/5:00pm GMT.

DETAILS:

-This run is much larger than the two previous ones, but still limited, so being prompt is a good idea. Last time it sold out in 2 minutes, I do not think that will happen this time, but...early bird, etc.

-They will take a bit longer to arrive than previous orders, but should arrive for everyone by the end of January 2025, print- and shipping-gods willing. Thanks in advance for your patience, as I'm working with a small press printer and a small local distributor.

-If your address changes before the book ships, you can always send a message to the shop to update it. In general, any messages or questions about shipping should be sent there rather than by reaching out to me on here.

-I'm really hoping this run is large enough so that everyone who wants one can get it! Thank you always for your support of this ridiculous project that has consumed my life (positive) and for your support of independent art and queer art!

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some good books in here. including mine!