The Epistle

It's the ODD SPIRITS resurrection day! Also, a small request <3

Welcome, witches and wonder-workers! Steep some herbs on the stove, shuffle your oracle cards, and dab on your rosemary oil. Today, we celebrate!

Happy Rebirth, ODD SPIRITS

Seven years after first drafting this marriage-in-trouble novella about a ceremonial magician and a folk witch battling a malicious entity in their home, the revamped version of ODD SPIRITS is out in the world 🔮 As book 0 in the Summoner’s Circle series, you can read it before or after EVOCATION!

It came from such a deep place of love for me, and I cried countless times revising it. Sometimes being unapologetically tender in my writing is hard, terrifying even, and it’s easier to hedge sweetness with angst and yearning and heavy metaphor. But depicting a married couple on the rocks who still undeniably love each other and have to choose to be frighteningly vulnerable in order to survive was healing. And I wouldn’t have been able to re-release this story without being loved so well and so faithfully by people in my life, for which I am incredibly grateful.

I’ve learned so much about craft and storytelling since first publishing this book, and about how I want to show up as an artist and what I stand for as a person. I’m grateful to my editors, line editors, authenticity readers, and critique partners for helping me polish this rough-hewn little gem into something I’m truly proud of.

Anyway, enough misty-eyed babbling! ODD SPIRITS is out now, baby! Light some intense, make a pot of tea, and crack open this spooky, cozy, heartfelt story of Making Love Work (oh, and exorcising a haunted house). Grab your copy wherever you buy books, and drop me a line when you’ve finished to let me know whether it’s more fun to read it before EVOCATION or after!

I love you guys. I quite literally would not be here without you coming on every wild journey with me and showing up for my soapy gothic queer romances. 🌹

Help My Brother Rebuild After Helene

As effervescent as this beautiful autumn week has been, there’s bittersweetness as well. A couple of weeks ago, Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic flooding and collapses in and around Asheville, where I grew up and where my family still lives. I was supposed to fly out to visit them with my partner the day of the storm, and even though I’m happy we cancelled our flight, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to see my family again. Thank God, no one in my family was hurt, but my younger brother lost his apartment and nearly all his possessions in the flood. I know there’s a lot of tragedy in the world right now, and we all have limited time and resources to give to those outside our immediate community, but I would be incredibly touched if you took a look at my brother’s Go FundMe, where he’s raising money to help him, his roommate, and their families recover. Thanks, friends <3

Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately

I’m still enjoying reading more journalism and paying for my news, but a kind newsletter reader tipped me off that the New York Times has a poor track record when it comes to reporting on transgender issues and lives, so I’m looking for a new go-to news site. Meanwhile, I’m reading THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones which is harrowing and so, so fantastic.

Here’s some juicy video essays I’ve been chewing on lately:

Depth Diaries: Jung vs. Robert Greene: Seduction, Power, and the Art of Manipulation

Lily Alexandre: Project Blueprint & the Horror of Eternal Life

Also, if you, like me, have spent your makeup-wearing years dreaming of a blurry soft-touch matte lipstick that hydrates like a balm, I need to introduce you to the bisou balm by VIOLETTE_FR. I’m living in this right now, and I’m already picking out the next color I want.

That’s all I have for you this week, dear reader. Be safe and well until we meet again.

-S