Spark a fire and light a stick of cleansing incense, all ye gathered. I’ve got a themed newsletter for you this week about a subject that’s been on my mind a lot lately; the role of sexuality in fiction. So make a tasty beverage, get cozy, and let’s chat about it!
Events
I’ve always been someone who is drawn to writing about two things that are considered impolite to discuss at the dinner table: spirituality and sexuality. They tend to make the wrong readers (for me, anyway) squirm, but they also tend to attract the right readers to my work, and I’m perfectly okay with that. So much of maturing as a writer is writing what you love with unabashed, shameless authenticity, and being brave enough to share it with the public. So as a lover of romance novels and an appreciator of the power of a well-placed sex scene, I wanted to host an event dedicated to talking about how writers can use sexuality in speculative fiction!
I’m going to be teaming up with E.E. Ottoman, an author of “radical trans happy ever afters” to talk about our favorite speculative fiction books that center sexuality, the bits and piece of writing a good sex scene, and integrating sexuality in worldbuilding. I’m announcing this one well in advance because I wanted time to build up a reading list for myself, and I’m looking forward to reading DOCILE, KUSHIEL’S DART, PALIMPEST, THE COMPANION, and The Magpie Lord books leading up to the live so we can discuss them! Do you have any favorite specfic books that feature sex? Comment with them and I add them to the list!
We’ll be going live on my instagram at stgibsonauthor, so give me a follow to make sure you don’t miss it!
News
It’s a new month, and that means a piping hot batch of fresh content over on my Patreon. I posted an excerpt of the a DOWRY OF BLOOD short story, a new tarot reading for writers, and a new mini-essay! This month, I decided to stick to the theme and write about writing your first sex scene, written especially for the steam-shy.
This mini-essay features some tried and true writing tips along with two of my own favorite secret weapons, and I very much hope you enjoy it!
Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately
On another note, today A DOWRY OF BLOOD turned five months old. Today was also the first day I ever saw any of my books in a bookstore, when I went to Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA to sign some copies!
It was such a pleasure to sign books in a store for the very first time. If you’re local to Boston get on down to Booksmith to snag your signed copy!
I, like the rest of the world, have been so blown away by the songs Olivia Rodrigo is giving us, and good 4 u has been on repeat for days and days. It’s a perfect little gem of young female rage, and it sounds exactly like that special kind of unhinged you get after a breakup! Plus, it’s a totally danceable treat for your ears. Enjoy!
That’s all I have for you this week, my dears, but keep those eyes peeled for the A DOWRY OF BLOOD excerpt coming to you soon! As always, be so well until we two meet again.
-Saint