Happy Friday the 13th! I meant to get this published earlier today but completely spaced on it last night, because that is how my May is going. Whee!
This is the second edition of my so-far monthly Recommended Reads series. Check out April’s Recommended Reads here.
Longform Love: Writing in Scary Times and Emotional Logic
Nicole Evans wrote about the power of stories in the face of political and cultural upheaval: Your Stories Matter. This blog post watered my soul. If you’ve been struggling over the last couple weeks as I have, you should read it.
Choosing to invest in yourself and in your writing in a world where the powers at be care nothing about you is resistance. Writing down stories that they want to ban is resistance. Taking care of yourself when they want to crush you is resistance. Using your words as a platform against their hate by writing stories of revolution, of love, of hope, of victory, of parallels and possibilities, is resistance.
Nicole Evans, Thoughts Stained With Ink
Matthew Claxton has some thought-provoking observations on the death of the midlist and why the internet has failed to deliver on its promise of higher discoverability in his newsletter Unsettling Futures: Brandon Sanderson, fame, and the failure of the Long Tail.
Kate McKean spoke to me directly yet again in her newsletter edition on the inconvenience of feelings in the context of current events.
You can’t banish your feelings (believe me, I’ve tried) and unfortunately, the primary way to deal with them is to feel them. It is very inconvenient!!!! Frankly, I would prefer not to. It is necessary, however, to feel things so you can feel and do other things.
Kate McKean
In their blog, Mel expanded my thinking this month yet again with their thoughts on how emotional arcs trumps logic in storytelling.
Fiction and Fandom
This Village by Eugenia Triantafyllou in Uncanny Magazine was another moment of soul-healing in a difficult month.
We will not ask you why you came to our village. We already know. The people who find it are the ones who need it.
Eugenia Triantafyllou
For the Star Wars fans in the spirit of May the Fourth, you need to read this amazing alternate storyline for Finn.
Gizmodo’s Lin Codega has captured exactly how I feel about Our Flag Means Death.
Cool Miscellany & Multimedia
If you’re wondering why the Tumblrites are all talking about Jonathan Harker and/or wondering what set off the gleeful cackling from my general direction (Jake), it’s Dracula Daily. This delightful newsletter-style chronological live read of the 1897 classic has us all waiting breathlessly for the next epistolary dispatch from our hapless young solicitor friend, his fiancée Mina, and her girlfriend, Lucy. Meanwhile the eponymous Count, a DILF with a spectacular mustache and some curious opinions about mirrors, is doing his best to appear like a normal human nobleman with a full complement of servants, to great comedic effect. It’s a trip, it’s joyful to experience a classic with a host of other people on the internet, and it’s definitely improved my week.
If your brain is like mine, you might appreciate Mary Robinette Kowal’s tips on writing with ADHD on TikTok.
My mentor’s debut Under Fortunate Stars came out this week in ebook and audiobook format! Also, it has an original song and a playlist because Ren is just that cool.
Obligatory Self-Promotion
I am very excited to share that my second novel, CAMBION’S BLOOD, is now available for preorder in ebook format! You can buy it in all available formats here, or on Amazon below:
Erin Fulmer Writes SFF 
Thank you so much for sharing my post, Erin!! I am SO glad it was the balm I hoped it would be (and selfishly needed myself). 🖤
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