Happy Sunday book buddies!

Pausing my audiobook + housekeeping to send you a quick update. I don’t have a ton to share on the reading front this week, but I did want to tell you a little about the books I managed to finish.

Between two baseball games, a short work week, and conducting 13 job interviews, let’s just say this past week was a blur. 😵‍💫 I still managed to finish two audiobooks and make it about 30% of the way through my library read, but I’m definitely a little further behind than I hoped I’d be by mid-month.

First, let me share that Henry Tudor Must Die was TERRIFIC! I absolutely loved this debut and cannot wait to see what the author does next. It's a fun reimagining of Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon teaming up to take down the wretched King Henry VIII. I loved the world-building and witchcraft, perfect for summerween reading! 4.5⭐️s

I also finished Mob Queen on audio this week, and it was interesting. I read this one as part of some research for an upcoming Classic Film + Book pairing (more one that later), and I did enjoy it overall. It's a unique style of historical fiction writing; it's very open door with lots of cursing and lewd, violent acts. Y'all know I love a good morally grey character, so none of that really bothered me. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but the pacing felt a bit off at times. It's the type of book I would recommend to anyone looking for a bad girl FMC who isn't afraid to go after what she wants. 3.75⭐️s

Slowly but surely I am working through the nearly 500 pg behemoth that I checked out from the library as part of my Let's Go to the Library series. I am eager to finish, not because I'm not enjoying it; I need to start the BBFL book club book, which I'm hoping to read in physical format. I'm seeing lots of mixed reviews in the chat on Fable, so naturally I'm curious to see what I think of The Shadow of the Wind.

ICYMI

• My thoughts on the perfect historical fantasy, aka The Unicorn Hunters

• I narrowed it down to my top 3 books of the first half of 2026

• Paid subscribers got the secret password to access the October Historical Fiction Look Ahead

• I will NEVER stop recommending this author to anyone who loves WWII fiction

Hear It Here First

My monster ARC giveaway is now live over on Facebook! I'm trying to grow my following there, so I would appreciate if you can spread the word about the giveaway. Here's a photo of the books included in the giveaway. 👇🏻

My July reading wrap-up is in the works and should be ready to share sometime this week, so stay tuned.

Hope you have a great week & happy reading!

xoxo

c

The Sunday Prescription

One reading topic, one week of plans, and plenty of books administered weekly for chronic readers.

Symptoms: Social Media Has You Fried!

Hi gang, welcome back to the Sunday Prescription! You may have noticed there was no prescription last week - that's because I was in the above photo! Every year my family does a trip to Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and we all unplugged for a bit. So that's the topic for this week, especially given all the kerfuffle in the book social world while I was gone!

Obviously, I enjoy social media (being a content creator, that should be fairly obvious). However, I think it is really important, and in fact very healthy, to unplug sometimes. From the standpoint of content creation, many creators get so wrapped up in and obsessed with growth and content that it winds up taking over your life. They freak out about leaving town or not posting. You see more and more people recommending you post 3-5 times a day for maximum reach, people selling you guides to help you grow, and platforms pushing you to fork over money for more reach. Your last YouTube video is doing great, so you have to have another one this week to ride the momentum, right??? Then, like last week, something controversial happens. And you have to comment, and you have to make your own reaction video, then you have to weigh in on all the other reaction videos...

From the consumer side, it can be similar. You have to keep up with your favorite creators, you have to comment. Oh look, another carousel with 10 fantasy books with frogs who wear pants, I need to add all these to my TBR, and I need to keep up with reading because I have to read a book a day, and...

It can all get completely overwhelming, and fry your nervous system. So for me, I personally take (and advocate for you to take) breaks throughout the year. As an example from last week - I had a few videos that I had already recorded, so I posted those. I also had a few draft posts, so I posted those. But I didn't post a few days. I was super slow to respond. I even completely ignored social media for a few days, especially traveling back and forth. I spent time with my family. I read, I swam, we ate lots of great food, we napped, I did a puzzle, and we just unplugged.

It has been a wonderful year for me on book socials, with tons of growth and new opportunities. But, if you're not careful as a creator or a consumer of book content, you can and will burn out on it. I have come back feeling incredibly refreshed, and while I was down there I had a bunch of ideas for new stuff and plans for the rest of this year and looking ahead to 2027. I made notes, and sat with them.

You don't have to post everyday, you don't have to consume every day. you can read at your own pace, and you can take days - or even weeks - off of reading. You can miss a week of posting - the world will still be here when you come back. If you're not feeling reading, take a break (don't try to force it with the latest round of "certified slump busters"). The books will be here when you come back, and so will I!

One of the things I love about my community here on Bindery and Discord is that folks are understanding. No one harasses me when I get quiet, and we are all supportive of each other. We talk a lot about books, but we also talk about lots of other stuff too. So thank you all for being here, and remember, if you feel like you need a break, listen to your body and your mind - take the break, reset, and we'll be here when you're ready!

The Rx: What I'm Reading and Doing

As the summer winds down, so many exciting things are happening. In terms of book clubs:

• We're reading the Jasad Heir in our main Discord book club this month. I am starting this week, so still plenty of time to join!

• We're still reading The Wolf and His King on Fable, so still plenty of time to join that read!

• For September's Bindery book club, we have Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman coming up.

• For September's Fable book club, we're going to be reading Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. This sounds stunning!

• It's time to pick our October - December book club books! Head over to Discord and submit your entry for consideration, and I'll post a poll here to vote the last week of August!

If you are not on our Discord server, you should consider hanging out! I do exclusive giveaways there, and we have a ton of different channels (both book related and non-book related) to chat and enjoy. And speaking of Discord, Bindery, and content ideas, I am working on a new membership tier for 2027 that is going to include a quarterly book box! More to come, but if you have any thoughts or ideas, let me know.

In terms of hobbies, I finished my Minas Tirith Lego set (see above). It is awesome - now to figure out where to put it. I am working on some built ins and some furniture in my woodworking time, and getting ready for the kids to go back to school. My reading went wild last week. I'm finishing up A trade of Blood, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, and Wild Dark Shore. Then I'll be doing The Jason Heir and King Sorrow to finish out the month.

In terms of content, like I said I had a ton of ideas while decompressing last week, and will be recording a bunch of stuff this week. YouTube videos will be back next weekend as well. And last but not least, don't forget about our Monthly Reading challenges on Discord and StoryGraph. This month's challenge is to read an indie book, and participants are eligible to win a $25 bookshop.org gift card by participating on the StoryGraph Challenge page, or on our Discord server. I read The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay for this, as well as The Cost of Runes by KR House. Both were excellent.

Hope you all have a great week of reading and life, remember to take a break if you need it, and I'll see you next week!

Want More In-Depth Access?

If you enjoy getting into the details with me about reading, then consider upgrading to The Dark Travelers tier! My Dark Travelers get an exclusive Discord role and channels, a weekly deep dive reading update video, early access to YouTube videos, and each month they get to pick a book for me to read. This can be a book they want to read with me, or something they want me to try for them. It's super fun and a great tight knit group that I really enjoy talking books with, and I'd love to have you part of it!

We are about halfway through the month of August which means it is time for our August giveaway!

About the Book

This month I'm giving away an ARC copy of In Stormy Weather, which is Chelsea Curto's traditionally published debut, alongside two art prints of the characters from the novel! I haven't read this one yet (I'm on a bit of a romance hiatus) but I've heard nothing but phenomenal things and I can't wait to get to it soon!

Nothing can rain on Quincy Monroe’s parade. She’s a woman-in-STEM with a PhD in atmospheric sciences, the host of a successful online weather show, and has one million followers on her meteorology Instagram.

Quincy has spent endless hours forging her path in this male-dominated field, becoming one of the best in the industry. And with a new job opportunity, nothing can derail her success. Except for the ill-timed arrival of Sebastian Dunn.

Sebastian is her best friend’s brother, her long-suffering academic and professional rival, and a flashy TV weatherman from New York City that everyone swoons over. Everyone but Quincy.

Over a scorching Florida summer and record-breaking hurricane season, Sebastian and Quincy are forced into close proximity. Setting aside their grudges to chase storms and stay alive is one thing, but can they weather the inevitable collision of their hearts?

The Giveaway

This giveaway is open to all members of my Bindery community over the age of 18 and will run from today, August 15, through August 22nd!

To Enter:

• leave any comment on this post

Rules and Regulations:

• you must be 18 years or older and have a US shipping address to participate

• this giveaway is not associated with the publisher or author

• follower tier members will get 1 entry, Inner Circle members will get 5

I'll be announcing the winner of the giveaway on Monday, August 24th so keep you eyes peeled for that!

Best of luck and happy reading!

Happy Saturday Collaborators,

I hope today (and this week) has been gentle for you. ALSO, Happy Bookstore Romance Day! I hope you all find some amazing HEAs, and have your own, as well. I was reminiscing earlier on Bookstagram about when Alisha and I eloped at our local indie here in Green Bay. I truly hope you all have that kind of HEA - in whatever form that looks like for you - with someone(s), marriage,(no) kids, single, etc. - I hope you experience the kind of HEA that live in your wildest dreams. May those dreams come to fruition for you in the same way mine have.

Today, I wanted to take a deep dive with you into the books I've recently been reading, what I loved, what I didn't love, and what's coming up next that I'm excited for. I will still post by reviews on IG for the masses, so I'll give y'all a more intimate and personal reasoning as to why I loved or didn't love them, and ultimately, why you should or shouldn't read them, too!

Before I begin, though, I read nothing in June or July, and so far I've read 5 books this month! I've been in grief therapy, or my regular therapy, once a week since my Memaw passed (tomorrow marks 2 whole months) and I've noticed that I am trying to participate in my hobbies - I'm just... struggling to either find enjoyment or excitement for them. For example, I'm one of the biggest Green Bay Packers fans ever, so much so, Alisha jokes that I moved here just for the proximity to Lambeau Field. lol. With that said, I LOVE training camp practices - and I've been to a whopping ONE this season. I just... don't care right now? It's definitely a weird, grief-y, season for me, so I'm just riding the waves and taking it one a day at a time. 5 books for me this month is a win. I'm not forcing anything, just picking what feels right for me. With that being said, I'll start with one author that has become an auto-buy for me:

Elizabeth Acevedo. Her upcoming novel Anger Is Only A Shadow (out September 15) is IMPECCABLY done. Her writing style, a combo of novel in verse, and a spoken-word style cadence, packs such an emotional punch. She also narrates this book, too, which is just... perfection. My first book by her was The Poet X, which left me weepy eyed, just like this one did. But the author's note is what truly got me. Please don't skip it - I know I said that in the IG review, but seriously, she brings her raw, personal experiences to the forefront and her relation to the story hits even harder. Don't sleep on this book, OR Acevedo.

The next book I also just reviewed on IG, is Conversion Therapy Dropout by Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez (out May 5, 2026). If you've read Coming Home, you know I also came from an evangelical background with multitudes of trauma yet to unpack - so reading these evangelical mega-churches act like a business transaction was wild to me. I also deeply, deeply related to Timothy's complex feelings to religion, however, we differ in the fact that he found solace in his relationship with his creator, to where I just abandoned religion altogether. Neither of which is the right or wrong way, it just is. Timothy's Epilogue also states at the end that we as the LGBTQIA+ community are not to be loved conditionally - we are whole and complete and deserving just as we are. And I echo that. Wherever you sit with religion, please know that you are deserving to be authentic, and to show up as yourself, wherever you are. Always.

Now, the book I finished today? Meh. Samantha Irby blurbed it and said it was "absurdly funny", but it... was absolutely not to me? I adore Irby, so when I saw the blurb on the cover, I got excited, because she is also absurdly funny. The book is The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Gay by Eliot Glazer (out August 11, 2026). I will not be reviewing this on IG, because I wasn't a fan of it. It just... was stereotypical gay? I don't know how else to explain it. It just fell flat, and was not funny to me. It sits at about 5 hours on audio, so if you're looking for a quick read, there you go.

I am also reading through the Heartstopper series in preparation to get to Volume 6 that was just released this year and is the final installment to the series. Since the beginning, I have reread each book each year a new volume is released, and it's bittersweet this is the last reread in preparation for that. (I will, of course, be rereading them again.)

I'm also slowing going through Welcome To The Grief Club: Because You Don't Have To Go Through It Alone by Janine Kwoh (out February 1, 2022). I'm taking my time with that one, as it is broken into smaller, bite-sized, easily digestible pages on all things grief and the emotions and feelings that go with it. If you are also experiencing grief, I highly, highly recommend that book.

What's the next book I'm going to pick up, you ask? That... I'm not sure. I'm on volume 3 of Heartstopper, the grief book I'm slowly reading, but I also know I do better with audiobooks as I'm doing chores around the house. I know Jesmyn Ward's On Witness And Respair and Kimberle Williams Crenshaw's Backtalker is eyeing me up on my Libro.fm account... I also have the physical copies of each of those books to do some immersive reading - but I just don't know if I'm up for that level of reading quite yet. A book I AM excited to read, that I also have the audio and physical copy, that also releases THIS TUESDAY, is by one of my favorite authors: Mason Deaver's upcoming novel Ship Happens. Maybe I'll go with that one now that I'm talking about it. I guess you'll find out in next week's newsletter.

Also, if you missed the first Collaborators newsletter, there's a poll at the end and also, some free swag up for grabs if you'd like some. Let me know!

I'll catch y'all tomorrow for Trans History Month, Volume 2.

Be easy on yourselves.

With all my trans joy,

Sawyer Cole

Hey there book besties!

I'm back from the beach and back to reality, which means new content for you! As promised, here's the super sneak peak of the October new historical fiction releases. I'm really excited about this list of new books, ESPECIALLY the new Philippa Gregory! I immediately added it to my hold/watch list on Libby.

There's quite a few books on this list that are perfect for Fall reading, ie gothic atmosphere, witchcraft, and supernatural vibes. But there's also plenty of other things to choose from if that's not your scene.

Dive into the list here👇🏻

https://shesbecomingbookish.com/new-historical-fiction-books-october-2026/

Password: crisp

Let me know which of the books you're adding to your TBR in the comments below.

Happy reading!

xoxo

c

Welcome back to an author interview! Today, I'm joined by author Dane Erbach talking about his buzzing book, Meat Bees, released by Clash Books.

1. I use the first question as a freebie. Use it to introduce yourself and tell us as little or as much about YOU as you would like!

I'm Dane Erbach, and I write books, some of them spookier than others. My book MEAT BEES was released by CLASH Books in August, and I have a few other books currently in the editing phase for publication in 2027. In real life, I'm a high school English and journalism teacher. I've also been married longer than I haven't to an amazing woman I met in high school; we have three amazing, creative kids—one in high school, middle school, and elementary school each. I like loud and/or fast music, but sometimes quiet and/or slow music too (or really any combination of any of those descriptions), and I like Pokemon more than the average millennial.

2. Tell us a little about your book, Meat Bees.

MEAT BEES is about a teenager named Scarlett who is living with her dad near the Smoky Mountains for the summer, much to her chagrin. She gets a job at an adventure park called Stovetop Outfitters just to get away from her dad (also: so she can afford a car). Here, she meets Liv, a Finnish teenager in the U.S. for the summer on a work permit and spends a few weeks working on the zip-line. When they stumble upon skeletonized bodies—and when some of their co-workers start to go missing—the discover that swarms of wasps are eating the people they find along the highway. Though Liv is resentful of having to spend the summer in the Smoky Mountains and not exactly interested in making friends, she and Liv work together to solve the mystery of why the wasps are eating people—and avoid trying to get eaten themselves. There's a meat blog involved somewhere too...

3. What bug grosses you out/scares you the most?

When I was younger, daddy long-legs scared the hell out of me. They used to sneak into my tent at scout camp and I'd lose my mind. I don't think I'm as scared of spiders now, especially since I'm now the dad who has to remove them from the house after they sneak up on my kids. Stinging insects like wasps have also been high on my list of insects I hate—which I suppose makes sense considering MEAT BEES. That said, writing that book has actually helped me understand both bees and wasps a little better, and I think I'm a little less freaked out by them. By far, though, the bug that grosses me out most house centipedes. Have you seen those things? Oh god, just thinking about them makes me feel squirmy. 

4. What was the hardest part about Meat Bees to write? The easiest part?

When I came up with the idea for MEAT BEES, I literally started with the "Jaws with wasps" pitch before anything else. I knew there would be wasps eating tourists, and that's basically it. With this concept at the core, the book really wrote itself, especially as I fleshed out Scarlett's character. The hardest part, then, might have been that I didn't really have a clear ending in mind AT ALL until I was about 3/4 of the way through the book. Even then, I wasn't totally sure what that final "twist" would look like until I was there along the side of the highway with Scarlett and Liv (not that it's a huge twist or anything). I guess this wasn't a huge difficulty, but it sort of felt like dread as I was writing.

The easiest part was Scarlett's voice. She's definitely the sassiest character I've ever written, which has made me want to write more unlikable, bratty characters in the future. After I visualized her, she just came to life—he jokes and snarky comments, but also her courage and morality. I think it complicated her character and (I hope) added a layer of reality. She revealed herself as a girl who wants attention but not friends, who loves her mom and kind of resents her at the same time. 

5. Are you working on any other projects at the moment? If so, any hints?

At the exact moment of this interview, I'm officially between books. I have been sent edits for my YA contemporary novel FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT (about a kid who quits his punk-rock band in 1989 to get a job at Showbiz Pizza), so I'll have to dive into that soon. Sooner than later, I also will probably have edits for my horror novel SKITTERS too (see below). 

I did just finish a book that may or may not follow the mayhem in MEAT BEES. I'll be sending that to my editor soon...

6. What character did you resonate the most with in Meat Bees? 

I think it's sort of a cliche to say that writers put a little of themselves in every character, but I think it's probably true. After all, we're all we authors have to pull from. You'd think I resonated with Scarlett's dad the most, but I think I resonated with Scarlett and Liv more, both in really different ways. Scarlett is the side of my personality that has strong opinions, emotional beliefs, and a strong sense of justice (along with a "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" attitude); being a high school teacher, I have to keep a lot of this side in check, so writing Scarlett helped me release some of my impulsive feelings a bit and live in that mindset a little more freely. Liv is the complete opposite side of my personality—the one that feels compelled to think things through, be responsible, and take care of others. I live in this role a lot more often in real life, so it felt very natural to walk around in her shoes. Each time I wrote those characters, I was really pulling from my different parts—and I think I see that more clearly now than I did when I was writing this book.

7. What horror books have you been reading lately?

I read an advanced copy of a book called RAVENOUS by Dax Dagger at the beginning of the summer that was SO MUCH FUN. It was creepy, but also artfully told in dual perspectives, and spiraled into a kind of madness that I could only dream of executing as an author. Also, one of my favorite authors is T. Kingfisher, and her book WOLF WORM icked the heck out of me. She has such a great voice as an author so that you're almost caught off guard when worms start pushing their way out of people's bodies. Most recently, I read Rachel Harrison's PLAY NICE—my first book of her's—and it was really, really fun. The protagonist in that book is maybe not the sort of person I would hang with in my free time, but it was a blast living in her head—especially while she faced off against a demon possessing her childhood home.

8. Any upcoming horror books you'd like to put on our radar?

A few—but only one that I really feel like I can talk about for now. It's called SKITTERS and it'll be coming out from Quill and Crow Publishing House next year. It's about a teenager who spends the summer working at his aunt's failing Holiday Inn. He discovers that these big, biomechanical spiders are digging wormholes, and he accidentally keeps stumbling back in time—to the 80s, then the 60s, then the 30s, and so on. I know it sounds a little complicated, but I've pitched it as BACK TO THE FUTURE meets PSYCHO, since (as usual) the real monsters in the book are humans. But, you know, also those crazy metal spiders, which end up carving a lot of people apart with their scissor legs.

9. Do you have any writing processes or rituals to help you get in the zone?

I went through a phase in writing when I just was way too in my head, obsessing over word choice and sacrificing my voice for something that felt Very Serious. One thing that helped me was buying a typewriter—like an honest to goodness Smith-Corona electric typewriter. It worked wonders and shook me out of that horrible writing habit by forcing me to move forward and resist deleting everything I write. I had to let the sentences stand whether I liked them or not and just edit them later, Shitty First Draft-style. I actually wrote a few books on that monster (or, well, both of those monsters, since I literally had two of the exact same typewriter—one at home and one at the school where I teach). The problem was turning that paper draft into a digital draft, which was tedious. I needed something that felt like typing on a typewriter but was still digital.

I almost bought one of those cool Freewrite keyboards, but they're really expensive. Instead, I dropped $30 on a bluetooth keyboard, which I connect to my phone, and draft all my books that way—using Freewrite's free Sprinter app and Postbox storage. Sprinter won't let me select text and will only let me delete one character at a time, and very slowly, so it's annoying to delete anything. Writing on my phone only gives me a limited view of what I'm writing—only a few sentences at a time—so I don't scroll backwards and stress over a sucky sentence. It's really helped me trust my voice and not second guess myself. MEAT BEES was written entirely using this method, as was one book I wrote before it and two books I have written since.

10. What are your top three horror movies from 2026? Of all time?

Okay, it's a little embarrassing to admit that I haven't watched a lot of new horror movies this year. I have a son who LOVES horror, but getting out to the movies is tough and expensive, so we watch a lot of older movies on Netflix (which has that movie THRASH that I kind of loved because if you can't enjoy a movie about hurricane sharks, then I don't think you can really enjoy anything). We did see THE BACKROOMS, though, which was very cool and very weird.

As for all time favs—ALIENS started everything for me. I actually started with that one, then went backwards to ALIEN. That franchise is really my fandom, and ALIENS is my favorite movie of all time. I was drawing xenomorphs tearing apart colonial marines in school when I was ten, and still have a lot of my Kenner action figures. So does ALIEN count as my second choice, then, or should it be lumped in with ALIENS? What if I told you that ALIEN: ROMULUS was one of my favs of the franchise? What if I told you that PROMETHEUS still gives me goosebumps? I can't choose three ALIEN movies here, can I?

I'll pick two more: Another horror movie that messed me up was EVENT HORIZON, which is probably the scariest movie I had ever seen when I saw it for the first time when I was a teenager. I loved the mystery and tension, but the big reveal of where the Event Horizon went really freaked me out. Last on my list, I probably have to choose THE THING. I actually didn't see this movie until relatively recently, but I found it to be so psychologically intense—and, at times, so little ridiculous—that I became a lifer instantly after I watched it. I even enjoyed the remake.

Ohhh, is it too late to add PREDATOR, or is that technically linked to ALIEN? What about PREY, which was easily my favorite movie of 2022?

Use the space below to drop any website links/social media handles.

I have a website at daneerbach.com, which is sort of a hub for my creative life, be it books, short stories, or other projects. I'm pretty active on Threads and Instagram (and, to a lesser extent, Bluesky) @browntrowsers, which is literally my Hotmail username from 2004. 

✨ Most of the stories we read, the FMC and MMC get married and live HEA. But here our story starts way later

✨ Love Wells Kept is story of Jackson and Kate, who have been happily married for 10 years with 2 kids. One terrible accident and Jackson loses his memory. The book is about then working together and trying to keep their love and marriage afloat

✨ I think Bailey Hannah captures the heartbreak of a woman whose husband suddenly doesn't remember her and her children very well. The confusion, frustration, struggle that Jackson goes through is also very well described. I was feeling so sad for both of them. Despite the heavy setting, the side characters and the kids bring a much needed lighter note. As this is the fifth book in the series other characters make appearances. But it can be read as a standalone as the author had cleverly used Jackson's amnesia to make sure reader catches up. The story did seem a little flat in the middle. The spice is also great - especially the hot tub action 😉

Trigger warnings - mentions miscarriage

✨ Thank you so much @booksparks and @baileyhannahwrites for this book. I took it with me on a train ride and didn't even realize how much time passed.

#src2026 #thebookodyssey #booktok #cowboyromance

Hello nerds,

Another beautiful month full of events at the best bookstore in the world.

Thursday, August 20th at 6:00 PM

Join us at Sunny's for Yuma County Abolition's teach in with X Dimas. RSVP HERE.

• About the session: Join us for a conversation on early colonial encounters and settlements in southern Arizona. What does it mean to make “contact”? How do colonial histories echo into our present—through borders, medicine, industry, belief, and the systems that still shape us? We’ll explore a complex web of threads: technology, trafficking, resistance and compliance, minerals and industry, christianity and morality, kinship and marriage law, slavery, propaganda, literacy, and even the internet and fentanyl—tracing how the past keeps recurring in the present.

• About Yuma County Abolition: Yuma County Abolition is a grassroots, volunteer-run network dedicated to providing immediate support to our community while building long-term, self-sustaining resilience. We ground our work in solidarity, intersectionality, abolition, accountability, mutual aid, and autonomous direct action.

Saturday, August 22nd from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

• About: Join us at Sunny's to celebrate our THIRD birthday! We will be having massive giveaways, ice cream, and celebrating somehow making it to year three all day long. RSVP HERE.

Thursday, August 27th at 6:00 PM

Join us for an author event with Caroline Tracey, a Tucson writer, to discuss her book Salt Lakes. Caroline will be reading from her book and copies will be for sale to be signed by the author. This is a FREE event to attend, but we ask that you RSVP so we have a good headcount and can prepare the space. Caroline will be joined in conversation by Sunny’s owner, CJ Alberts. RSVP HERE.

• About the book: More than a hundred salt lakes dot Earth's surface, most of them hidden away in remote desert valleys. But today nearly all of them are at risk of drying up. Their death is a harbinger of rising sea levels, life-threatening dust storms, and environmental collapse. An exquisite blend of travel writing, memoir, and reportage, Salt Lakes is an inspiring call to fight for all that is fragile in our lives.

Sunday August 30th at 11:00 AM

Join us online for our monthly book club Zoom meeting. The August book is Our Sister's Keeper by Jasmine Holmes. RSVP HERE. Jasmine will be joining us for the last 30 minutes of this book club discussion!

• About the book: A gripping blend of historical fiction and Southern gothic psychological horror, Our Sister's Keeper is a fierce exploration of Black sisterhood, rage, and resistance.

• About Sunny's Book Club: Sunny’s Book Club is a monthly book club highlighting both new releases and backlist titles we love. A virtual discussion is hosted over Zoom on the last Sunday of the month. You can check out our selections each month and sign up here. You do not have to buy the book from Sunny's to participate, but we love when you do!

Thank you all for your support as always and hope to see you in person this month.

CJ

Love what we do? Become a paid subscriber for less than a cup of coffee a month. Your ongoing support helps us plan ahead, fund causes we care about, and create meaningful programming for our community.

Long time no recap! I love writing these Case Files—the only thing holding me back the past few weeks was feeling overwhelmed by book mail. Everyone always says publishing slows down during the summer, but I don’t think that’s true anymore.

Anyway! Let’s dive into what I’ve read over the past few weeks.

This week’s reads:

• You’ll Be Sorry by Lisa Gardner (finished): Creepy, eerie, witchy . . . this had it all! I also loved chatting with Lisa for the Cluesletter and hearing more about her research process for the book—plus her thoughts about writing canine characters.

• We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (finished; out Sep 15): I love Osman’s writing and it was fun to return to these characters, but I hate to say it, this plot dragged for me. It picked up at the end and the conclusion was solid, but that middle bit? Phew, it took me much longer than it should have to get through it.

• Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley (finished; out Sep 22): I read this in a day! A very respectful homage to Marple written in Lucy Foley’s own style. No imitation attempts—just good characters, juicy twists, and a snowy setting. I’ll be filming a video review soon.

• Liars in Paradise by Olesya Lyuzna (currently listening): After loving Olesya’s debut last year, I am enjoying its sequel on audio! If roaring 20s New York City and darkly glamorous crime is your thing, definitely give this series a try.

• The Enigma Challenge by S.C. Godfrey (currently reading): Okay, so I love a good treasure hunt mystery/thriller. This is scratching a Vicky Bliss itch for me—danger, banter, romance, and that sensation of not knowing who to trust. Too good.

• Murdoku by Manuel Garand (currently puzzling): I feel so stupid playing Murdoku but it’s absolutely addicting. I’m nearly finished with this first volume and have the second waiting for me.

This week’s book mail:

• Murdle Detective Notebook by G.T. Karber: Once a Murdler, always a Murdler.

• Three novels from Random House: Sunrise by Téa Obreht, You First by Caroline Kepnes, and Honey by Imani Thompson

• Three novels by Seichō Matsumoto: Tokyo Express, Suspicion, and A Quiet Place

• I Know the Ants by Lang Leav: A literary mystery + coming-of-age story that I anticipate will be lyrical, emotional, and poignant.

• The Tainted Cup, A Drop of Corruption, and A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett: As an amateur fantasy reader I’ve long been intrigued by this Holmes-and-Watson style fantasy-mystery series.

• Tear the City Down by Andre Hardy (out Sep 1): Not book mail, but I snagged a signed copy at Andre’s prelaunch event in San Diego! Hard-boiled crime novel set in America’s Finest City, written by a former NFL player.

• How to Write a Murder by Jessica Brody (out Sep 22): The premise is giving The Ending Writes Itself but, like, a lot better. Thrilled to read this one soon.

Thank you to Chronicle Books, Random House, Lang Leav, Del Rey, MB Communications, Grand Central Publishing, and Bantam Books for these gifts.

Yours mysteriously,

Manon

A barefoot detective. A music-powered magic system. Puzzles, satire, fantasy, and a tortoise playing a bassoon. Welcome to the wonderfully unconventional literary world of L.E. Bendon.

For this edition of Book Club Conversations, we're going behind the scenes with author L.E. Bendon, whose upcoming fantasy adventure The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites brings together a love of Terry Pratchett, roleplaying adventures, puzzles, music theory, and satire.

But Bendon's writing life doesn't stop with fantasy.

They're also the author behind the Lance Pomegranate mystery series, featuring an Australian detective in London who has one particularly unusual preference: he works barefoot.

We asked Bendon about everything from favorite Discworld novels and writing routines to the evolution of Lance Pomegranate, the creation of a music-based magic system, and the challenge of moving between murder mysteries and high fantasy.

Let's get into it.

🧙 The Terry Pratchett Connection

Q: Your bio opens with a poignant note about Terry Pratchett. What is your favorite Pratchett book, and how does his comedic legacy influence your satire?

Bendon says choosing one is nearly impossible.

The Last Continent was the Discworld novel that really opened the floodgates after previously reading The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

Other favorites include The Fifth Elephant and Interesting Times.

Bendon's love of Pratchett is also deeply connected to The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, where satire, irreverence, adventure, and humor collide.

✍️ What Does L.E. Stand For?

Q: Since you're known for changing what the initials mean, what do L.E. stand for today?

Currently?

Ludwig Elderberry.

But that is about to change.

With the release of The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, L.E. will become Ludicrous Enterprise.

And Bendon warns that the initials will very likely change again for The Weapon and the Fruit: Hipsters of Teddington Lock in November.

We absolutely love the commitment to keeping everyone guessing.

☕ Writing in Cafés

Q: What's your favorite café writing environment?

When Bendon is near home in North Karnataka, Om Home is the go-to café.

It's a half-hour walk from home and has become a creative headquarters for writing, editing, music composition, mixing, online lessons, and author interviews.

In Bangalore, Bendon also works from chains including Third Wave, Coffee Day, and Chai Point.

Apparently, there is also a recurring battle involving Indian night buses and drivers who make passengers hunt down their booked bus before boarding.

A little caffeine and completed writing apparently helps with the challenge.

📖 The Book That Started the Love of Reading

Q: What was your gateway book?

The Kingfisher Book of Myths and Legends.

At around seven or eight years old, Bendon would choose myths at random, reading stories from Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, Chinese, and other traditions.

Even after reading the entire collection, Bendon happily reread the stories.

It's easy to see how that early love of mythology, storytelling, and imaginative worlds eventually found its way into fantasy writing.

🧠 The Book Bendon Returns To

Q: What's your ultimate comfort read?

Bendon says rereading fiction doesn't work particularly well for them as an adult.

Knowing the ending and remembering what happens can make revisiting a story feel more like work than comfort.

Nonfiction, however, is different.

One book Bendon particularly enjoys returning to is How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker.

📚 What's Currently on the TBR?

One physical book currently waiting for Bendon is Cut Like Wound by Anita Nair, purchased on a whim in Bangalore.

But Bendon is primarily a Kindle reader, especially because of constant travel.

There is also a practical reason: carrying a physical TBR through buses, trains, and planes and through a previous 5,000-mile move is considerably less appealing than keeping everything on one device.

Bendon is also currently reading an ARC of A Peculiar Patron by C. R. Walker, another UK indie author and Pratchett fan.

🐢 Why Tortoises Win

Q: What's the story behind your love of tortoises?

It started with Fred.

Fred was a pet tortoise owned by one of Bendon's uncles who wandered around a garden in Twickenham at his own pace.

Years later, Bendon spent time caring for a baby Horsfield tortoise, taking him into the garden and even playing hide-and-seek.

That lifelong affection eventually became a tattoo:

A tortoise playing a bassoon.

As for the cat in The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, Bendon says Potato's personality is heavily influenced by their ex-wife, who apparently has quite a talent for cat-like behavior.

🎼 Building a Magic System From Music Theory

Q: How did your musical background shape the magic system in The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites?

According to Bendon, the magic system almost built itself.

Music theory provided the foundation for the geography of the fictional planet and the rules governing its magic.

The planet is modeled on the cycle of fifths, with twelve equally spaced islands representing twelve major keys.

Magic works differently depending on the relationship between the islands, mirroring concepts of harmony.

Bendon also incorporated elements of Indian classical music, drawing on their experience performing with Indian musicians while developing their own understanding of the tradition.

🗡️ From Murder Mysteries to High Fantasy

Q: What made you jump from London crime fiction to a fantasy world filled with purple plants and no murders?

Bendon's love of Discworld was a major influence.

They had long wanted to build a fantasy world where satire could be used to explore the real world.

They also love roleplaying adventures, puzzles, and traditional fantasy parties working together to solve problems.

For The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, the goal was to let readers participate in the adventure almost like a game working alongside the characters to figure out solutions and evaluate their choices.

The book draws inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons and the early-'90s television program Knightmare, combining adventure, puzzles, wit, and irreverence.

Unlike the darker Lance Pomegranate mysteries, Bendon deliberately chose to avoid murder and serious malicious intent in this series. The villains are intended to be arrogant and narrow-minded rather than truly evil and are defeated through laughter as much as weapons.

🦶 Meet the Barefoot Detective

Q: Where did the idea for an Australian detective in London who refuses to wear shoes come from?

Lance Pomegranate's Australian identity serves a practical purpose: it makes his willingness to throw sass at complete strangers feel more believable and helps keep him from becoming too much of a self-insert.

But the barefoot aspect?

That's very personal.

Bendon has disliked wearing shoes since childhood and gradually became comfortable going barefoot despite the attention it attracted.

Eventually, around ten years ago, Bendon stopped keeping footwear at home entirely.

Now living in India, going barefoot is less unusual, although Bendon still gets plenty of questions mostly about being foreign and about their tattoos.

💔 When the Mystery Gets Personal

Q: How do you add emotional depth to Lance while maintaining the series' wit?

Bendon didn't initially intend to take Lance quite so deep.

The original idea was closer to Poirot or Jonathan Creek: focus on the cases while gradually revealing Lance's quirks and unusual worldview.

But each subsequent book naturally revealed more.

Readers eventually discover painful memories, secrets, and the experiences that shaped Lance's decision to start over in London.

Bendon describes the process as a way of turning personal demons into something productive transforming difficult experiences into writing they're proud of.

✏️ Plotter vs. Pantser

Q: How do you approach plotting?

Bendon identifies more with being a plotter, but doesn't think the plotter-versus-pantser distinction is always particularly useful.

For Bendon, plotting means establishing the major plot points and timelines before focusing heavily on prose and dialogue.

One important exception is mystery writing.

Because mysteries depend on knowing who was where, when they were there, and what they were doing, careful planning is essential.

At the same time, Bendon loves writing dialogue and may write pages of it before returning later to add action and scenery.

🕐 The Writing Routine

Q: Morning person or night owl?

Neither.

Bendon jokingly describes themself as an "afternoon... albatross."

Their most productive hours run from roughly an hour after lunch until around 11 p.m.

Warm weather also helps.

Living in India means comfortable writing weather is readily available, although the same preference that makes cold weather productive for sleep makes warm weather somewhat less helpful for bedtime.

🧩 The Easiest and Hardest Part of Writing

Puzzles and dialogue are among Bendon's favorite things to create.

The difficult part?

Those necessary chapters that connect major plot points, account for travel time, and make the story feel complete without seeming like filler.

Bendon has learned not to overthink these sections during the first draft. Later drafts provide opportunities to add new plot points, subplots, red herrings, and secondary crimes that can eventually connect back to the larger mystery.

🍻 One Day With Lance or Melisma?

Q: Who would you rather spend the day with?

Why choose?

Bendon would happily bring Lance to Melisma's Inn, have a few pints, and then head off on an adventure.

And, naturally, Potato the cat would have to come along too.

📚 A Very Busy Autumn

With major releases planned for August 7 and November 7, Bendon's release calendar is packed.

Rather than spending release day obsessively refreshing sales numbers, Bendon hopes to attend book events and establish opportunities to sell and distribute paperback editions in India at prices accessible to Indian readers.

They're also working with another independent author in Hyderabad to brainstorm ideas for future events.

🔎 Where to Find L.E. Bendon

The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites

Release: August 7

Amazon UK — The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites

The Weapon and the Fruit: Hipsters of Teddington Lock

Release: November 7

Amazon UK — The Weapon and the Fruit

Previous Books

Amazon UK Author Store

Website

L.E. Bendon

Social Media

Instagram & Threads: @authorbendon

Twitter: @L_E_Bendon

Bluesky: @lebendon.com

Goodreads

L.E. Bendon on Goodreads

🕵️ An Easter Egg for Mystery Readers

Bendon has hidden two externally accessible Easter eggs in Lance Pomegranate's second outing, The Weapon and the Fruit: Any Body Can Murder.

There's even a potential reward for the first reader who discovers and activates either one.

So...consider this your warning.

The hunt is officially on.

💬 Our Book Club Question

Would you rather read a satirical fantasy adventure inspired by music theory and Discworld or a clever London murder mystery starring a barefoot Australian detective?

And, more importantly, would you be brave enough to hunt for those hidden Easter eggs?

We'd love to know!

Thank you to L.E. Bendon for joining us for this month's Book Club Conversations and giving our readers such a fascinating look behind the books.

📚 The Page Ladies Book Club
Where readers become part of the story.

What do Terry Pratchett, music theory, puzzles, a barefoot detective, and a tortoise playing a bassoon have in common? They all lead us straight to our latest Book Club Conversations author!

We're excited to introduce L.E. Bendon, author of The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, a satirical fantasy adventure that blends humor, puzzles, music-inspired magic, and a healthy dose of Discworld-inspired irreverence.

In this special Book Club Conversations preview, we're getting to know the author behind the books from favorite Terry Pratchett novels and childhood gateway books to café writing sessions, mystery influences, and the surprising inspiration behind a barefoot detective.

🧙‍♂️ The Terry Pratchett Connection

Q: Your bio opens with a poignant note about Terry Pratchett. What is your favorite Pratchett book, and how does his comedic legacy influence your satire?

L.E. Bendon admits it's nearly impossible to choose just one, but The Last Continent was the Discworld book that really opened the floodgates.

Other favorites include The Fifth Elephant and Interesting Times, although Bendon makes it very clear that this doesn't mean they're not absolutely in love with nearly all of Pratchett's work.

✍️ The Pen Name Roulette

Q: What does L.E. stand for today?

For now, L.E. stands for Ludwig Elderberry.

But that answer is temporary.

With the release of The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites, the initials are set to become Ludicrous Enterprise, meaning ARC reviewers and readers will be among the first to discover the change.

And apparently, it may change again for the November release of The Weapon and the Fruit: Hipsters of Teddington Lock.

☕ The Café Writing Vibe

Q: What's your go-to café writing spot?

When Bendon is home near Hampi in North Karnataka, the favorite is Om Home, a café about a half-hour walk from home.

It's more than a place to write. It's also where Bendon edits, composes music, mixes, teaches online lessons, and records author podcast interviews.

When traveling through cities like Bangalore, reliable favorites include Third Wave, Coffee Day, and Chai Point.

📖 The Gateway Book

Q: What book first made you fall in love with reading?

The Kingfisher Book of Myths and Legends immediately came to mind.

Bendon remembers reading it around age seven or eight and randomly choosing myths night after night including Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Chinese stories.

Even after reading them all, Bendon happily returned to them again and again.

🧠 The Comfort Read

Q: What's one book you can reread forever?

Interestingly, Bendon says rereading fiction isn't really something that works for them anymore because knowing the outcome can make revisiting a story feel like a grind.

Instead, nonfiction books tend to make better return visits.

One standout?

How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker.

📚 What's on the TBR?

Currently waiting for its first read is Cut Like Wound by Anita Nair, a physical book Bendon picked up in Bangalore.

The catch? Bendon is primarily a Kindle reader and travels constantly, so carrying a physical book everywhere isn't exactly ideal.

They're also currently reading an ARC of A Peculiar Patron by C. R. Walker, another UK indie author and fellow Pratchett fan.

🐢 Team Tortoise

Q: Why tortoises over cats?

The answer goes all the way back to childhood and a pet tortoise named Fred, who wandered around an uncle's garden in Twickenham with absolutely no interest in rushing anywhere.

Years later, Bendon cared for a baby Horsfield tortoise and even played hide-and-seek with him.

The love of tortoises eventually became permanent literally.

Bendon has a tattoo of a tortoise playing a bassoon on their upper right arm. 🐢🎶

🎼 Music Theory as Magic

One of the most fascinating elements of The Dungeon Campaign for Animal Rites is its music-inspired magic system.

Bendon's musical background helped shape the world itself. The planet is modeled around the cycle of fifths in Western music theory, with twelve islands representing the twelve major keys.

The magic system also incorporates elements of Indian classical music, inspired by Bendon's growing understanding of and performances with Indian musicians.

💬 Want More?

This is only the beginning!

The First Editions members can read the complete Book Club Conversations interview, including questions about:

✨ The leap from London crime fiction to high fantasy
✨ The inspiration behind barefoot detective Lance Pomegranate
✨ Writing emotional character backstories
✨ Plotting versus pantsing
✨ Writing routines and productivity
✨ Creating puzzles and witty dialogue
✨ Spending a day with Melisma Gat or Lance Pomegranate
✨ Release-day plans
✨ Upcoming books and projects
✨ An intriguing Easter egg hidden outside The Weapon and the Fruit

Want to read the entire conversation? Join The First Editions and unlock the full interview!

📚 The Page Ladies Book Club
Where readers become part of the story.

Y'all I made a meaningful dent in my TBR pile! It felt incredible to finally read By the Bootstraps by Alexa Martin, a fluffy fun cowboy romance published earlier this year by Berkley. I also read the newest book in the Spell Shop series by Sarah Beth Durst, Sea of Charms, in preparation for our event together at Northport Books. Next week I will share an edited transcript of our conversation about why escapism is a necessity, not a luxury.

As we hit the last two weeks of August, here are the books in my tote bag.

Til Quest Do Us Part by Ivelisse Housman — I'm almost done with this cozy romantasy publishing in December from Ace. It's like The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs meets the Zelda franchise and I haven't been able to put it down since my arc arrived in the mail. Pre-order it for sure.

When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd — I'm on a Lloyd kick following the release of her newest historical romance Rogue Around the Edges. Her books are wildly sexy and smart, and this one features her trademark Typically Self-Composed Man In a Horny Panic. Really good enemies to lovers, too.

Unfinished Business by Clare Osongco — I'm slowly reading this genre-bendy book about a woman whose recently deceased mother is haunting her company's Slack. The love triangle has just introduced itself (both men are alive, for the record), but what's hooked me is the commentary on workplace culture and the extractive manipulation of a business taken over by venture capital. This book feels like a cousin to my debut novel But How Are You, Really and I want the heroines to get lunch and talk about quitting their shitty jobs!!

Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube — I'll be honest, I borrowed this best-selling TikTok smash from the library to make fun of it with my boyfriend and we both wound up engrossed. Originally self-published as Spit or Swallow, this book is about a basilisk/man training a young virgin in the sensual arts (to put it politely). It is pure erotic romance, and it delivers. It's got me thinking about how BookTok has destroyed the genre divisions between erotica, erotic romance, and romance, with all three lumped together under the label of "smut." If you pick up Kiss of the Basilisk expecting a classic romance, you will probably not enjoy it. But if you go in wanting to read erotica with training kink and hot snake men, this is the perfect book for you.

What are you reading? What should I add to my TBR?

As you all know, I've officially joined Threads.

And yes... I still stand by my original opinion: it feels like the Wild West over there. 😅 A lot of people lose all nuance and become the meanest, least understanding versions of themselves.

That said, I did come across a conversation that genuinely made me think.

Someone argued that the protagonist in Daggermouth "wasn't Black enough." They compared it to books like Legendborn and Our Vicious Oaths, saying those stories keep Black culture at the center in a way Daggermouth doesn't. Their point was that you could change the protagonist's race and the overall story would stay the same, so they didn't consider it a book "for the culture."

It made me wonder:

Does a book by a Black author have to center Black culture or racial dynamics in order to be considered a meaningful Black book?

It also reminded me of a post I made a while back about BookTok, where people seemed determined to "check" whether Black creators were reading enough books by Black authors.

Why do we keep moving the goalposts?

Daggermouth is a dystopian fantasy. It's set in a world with its own social structure, economy, and rules. It's not trying to mirror our reality in the same way contemporary fiction might.

So why do we sometimes expect every Black author to write stories that explicitly center Blackness?

Now, I know there's another layer to this conversation.

H.M. Wolfe has been controversial. She's spoken about being mixed and not identifying exclusively with one side of her heritage. More recently, when readers questioned why the protagonist appeared noticeably lighter in the traditionally published artwork, she said the character was always intended to resemble herself. That explanation didn't sit well with a lot of readers, and some decided they no longer wanted to support the book.

I understand why representation matters and why readers have strong feelings about how Black characters are depicted. Those conversations are worth having.

But I also keep coming back to this question:

Can a Black story simply exist without having to constantly prove its Blackness?

Or are we putting expectations on Black authors that we don't place on anyone else?

I'm genuinely curious where everyone lands on this, because I don't think there's an easy answer.

Love to hear your thoughts below!

I was so excited to see Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim as an August option. It was one of the only August new releases that I knew I had to get my hands on.

This book takes a fairy tale and turns it into a "story of mothers and daughters, the scars they inherit and the magic that binds them, [it] is a tender and enchanting exploration of what it means, at last, to be seen." (Penguin Random House) I can't wait to read this one!

I have been loving collecting the BOTM Centennial Editions for my Classics collection. This month, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote made its way to me. It's described as the first non-fiction novel and tells the story of a real murder investigation in the 1960's. I haven't previously read this Classic, but the murder mystery/true crime plotline quickly drew me in. I also read that Harper Lee heavily assisted Capote in his research, with immediately increased my curiosity!

🗨️ Which one would you pick up first: fairy tale inspired fiction or true-crime non-fiction?

-or-

Do you subscribe to any book boxes you'd recommend?

Want to try BOTM for just $5? My referral 🔗 gets you the goods!

Hi Chanterelles!

It's time for our seasonal giveaways🥰 I can't believe how fast time is flying and just cause I do know some of you are not on the discord channel, I've shared that we're doing this giveaway and the next one earlier so that you guys have it in time for holiday seasons 🤎

Giveaway:

This is our second Digital giveaway and so we're running it from today, August 14 to August 25 11:59 pm (UK timezone) and I'll pick the winner shortly after. I've been given some feedback that you guys would like to know the winner has been chosen and announced so I'll be sending another post once this is done🥹

And just bare in mind, sometimes the newsletter emails or my general emails will go to spam so always check your spam folder to see if you've won anything!

This giveaway will be the same as the previous one, where you can win a giftcard from any of the following that is of a value of £50 (or your chosen currency's equivalent):

• Bookshop.org or any indie bookshops

• Any small business that do any Cozy Hobbies, Teas or anything to support your slow living

• Steam or Indie Games giftcard

• Really anything within the same theme as above but might not exactly fit! (Feel free to DM/email me to discuss this)

Just fill out the form in here before the deadline and I will be in touch with the winner through email! Good luck to everyone🤎

Summary
Tracing a loose arc from Edwidge Danticat's childhood to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent events in Haiti, the essays gathered in We're Alone include personal narrative, reportage, and tributes to mentors and heroes such as Toni Morrison, Paule Marshall, Gabriel García Márquez, and James Baldwin that explore several abiding environmental catastrophe, the traumas of colonialism, motherhood, and the complexities of resilience.

Review

I adored this collection. Each essay was so masterfully constructed that it made me both want to teach this writing and write again myself.

I really appreciated how much this book taught me about Haiti, but what really struck me the most were the pieces about family, death, and moving forward.

“Writing the Self and Others” was my favorite essay from this collection.

What I learned

• In the early 19th century, Polish soldiers were fighting along the French army in Haiti, but switched alliances to join Haiti in their battle of independence from France. When independence was won, these soldiers were the only foreigners granted Haitain citizenship.
  

• in the 1930s there was a large population of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic as agricultural workers and families of Haitian descendants. In 1937, dictator Rafael Trujillo imposed a quota of Hatians that estates could employ in the Dominican Republic. And a month later, he commanded his army to kill all Haitians in the northwestern region of the Dominican Republic. It's estimated that between 14,000-40,000 Haitians were murdered.
  

• In 1990, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first democratically elected president of Haiti after the 29-year Duvalier dictatorship. However, his presidency didn't last long as a coup by the Haitian military (where some members were on the CIA's payroll) outsted him. This happened again in 2004 after he was re-elected.

  • After this coup, more than 40,000 Haitians were arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard as they fled the country. They were thrown into prison at Guantánamo Naval Base.
    

• After an earthquake struck Port-au-Prince in 2010, UN peacekeepers released raw sewage from their base into one of Haiti's rivers. This caused cholera epidemic that killed 10,000 people.

Vote for one of the books I read over the next month! I will record an exclusive review of the book that is chosen just for you awesome Bindery lot :).

I am changing things up. I have a lot of random ideas, short stories, and of course work in progress. That's going to be what I start sharing for my exclusive post. I don't want to make new content just for the sake of it when I could be giving you a behind the scenes look at my writing process. Hope you enjoy! After finishing the outline weeks ago I took a break to get another idea out of my head (I Wish I Was a Vampire) now back to Werewolf Summer I have finished the first five chapters of the first draft so obviously anything I share will most likely change somewhat or who knows A LOT. Okay enough stalling. Here is part of Chapter 1!

CHAPTER 1

Jenna sits across from Winona in the radio station booth while Winona adjusts the levels and pushes a stack of papers out of the way. The desk is covered in CDs in and out of their cases, old flyers, coffee rings, and black pens.
Her mic is still muted, so she takes another breath and tries to calm down. It does not help much. Her hands are damp, her stomach is tight, and the first page of her notes is too neat. When she gets nervous, she overprepares, as if bullet points can somehow keep her from falling apart.
At the top of the page, she has written: First episode back. Below that: Charlie. Woods Bay. Why now? She hates seeing those three things together.
“You okay?” Winona asks, popping her head up like a meerkat from behind her computer screen.
“Yes?” Jenna says, but it sounds like a question even to her.
She looks out the window at the sheets of rain coming down on the historic downtown of Woods Bay. It’s been humid all afternoon, the kind of sticky summer weather that makes the air feel thick, and now the rain is hitting the pavement hard enough to turn everything outside soft and gray.
Winona waits.
“Fuck,” Jenna says, dragging the word out like a moan. “No, I’m not, but I will be.”
“That sounds more like it,” Winona says with a fake-it-till-you-make-it level of enthusiasm before giving Jenna a cheesy thumbs-up.
Jenna almost laughs, but it comes out more like a breath. “I want to do this. I do. It’s just a lot.”
“Then we don’t have to do it today. That’s what’s great about owning your own station,” Winona says.
She puts her feet up on her desk and leans back in her chair. As she goes to put her hands behind her head to really commit to the relaxed appearance, her face shifts from a smile to panic. A second later, she tumbles backward onto the floor.
“Yes we do you goofball. Are you okay?” Jenna asks between giggles.
Winona’s voice comes from the other side of the desk. “I’m fine. At least I got you to laugh. And no, we really don’t.”
Jenna looks down at her notes again. Charlie’s name is still there, like it is just another topic she can get through if she stays professional enough.
“We do,” Jenna says. “That’s how sponsors work. You produce content and then you get paid. It’s just the first time recording without her.”
Winona climbs back into her chair. Her face softens, but not in the careful way people use when they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Jenna appreciates that. She hates being handled like she might break if someone speaks normally.
“I know,” Winona says with a sadness in her eyes that breaks Jenna’s heart a little.
Jenna knows she does. That is one of the reasons she agreed to record with her. Winona doesn’t know everything, but she knows enough. She knows Woods Bay. She is a member of one of the town’s founding families, which means she understands what it is like when something terrible happens and strangers decide they have a right to talk about it. Back home, people had been kind. Jenna cannot complain about that, but kindness was not enough.
In Woods Bay, people are strange and nosy, but they do not need Jenna to explain why she flinches at certain sounds or why the smell of chlorine still makes her throat close. They understand enough.
Winona slides a pair of headphones toward her. “Last chance to run dramatically into the rain.”
“Tempting,” Jenna says looking out the window as if really debating running out the door and getting soaked.
“I’d give you thirty seconds before I mocked you on air,” Winona says, smirking at her.
“How kind of you,” Jenna says.
“As Jacob would say, kind is my middle name,” Winona says.
Jenna who is middrink almost spits water all over.
“You did not just quote one of the Twilight movies,” Jenna says in between coughs. She slides her cat ear headphones on.
Across from her, Winona glances at the levels, then smiles back at Jenna.
“Damn straight I did and it got you distracted and laughing. Well after choking. Seriously though. You say the word and we stop,” Winona says. “Anytime.”
Jenna nods. Winona unmuted her mic first. The red light comes on.

MINI POD! In this episode, Jordy dives into the hidden wonders of snail mail clubs: what they are, who’s sending them, and why they bring so much joy. Tune in to discover new artists and creatives deserving of your support.  

 Listen on Apple Podcasts // Spotify // Deezer // Pocket Casts

Books/Resources Mentioned: 

The Mossheart Mail Club website // Instagram 

Naomi VanDoren, Tales from the Isles of Antarah website // Instagram 

Brambletown Mail Club website // Instagram  

Writings from the Wild website // Instagram  

xoClementine website // Instagram  

The Moonlight Mail Club website // Instagram  

Tabby Mail website // Instagram  

Katie Mai Mail Club website // Instagram   

Support and follow our host! 

Follow Jordy: Instagram // Pagebound.co

This episode was edited and produced by Renee Powers on the ancestral land of the Dakota people.

Original music by Amarissa