What I'm up to

This will be a short update, because it's a fairly uneventful summer (and honestly that's just fine). July was a weird transitional month for me both in writing and otherwise. The stifling, record-breaking heat is not so different from being snowbound, in terms of feeling tired and restless and being trapped inside. Just... sweatier.

We've had some beautiful flowers during the short periods between the heat waves. Here are our hibiscus in bloom, and our bee balm living up to its name:

On the writing front, I did send off a novella to my agent, a project I've been revising and poking at for a good while between other things, and it feels good to have it done for now. It's part ecological sci-fi, part portal fantasy, and I've been calling it "Narnia in space, for adults." Nothing in publishing is guaranteed (or fast) but I hope I'll be sharing it with you eventually!

The biggest excitement is that I'll be in Glasgow next week for Worldcon! If you're not familiar, this is the huge global sci-fi and fantasy convention that hosts the Hugo awards, and it moves to a different host city each year. 

I'm on one programming item, a group Rapid Fire Reading on Sunday at 4 pm in Castle 2. Other than that, I'll be hanging out, meeting people, and enjoying the truly mind-boggling array of programming. And Scotland has been on my travel list since forever, so my spouse and I are making a vacation of it, traveling around before and after the con.

If you'll be there, shoot me a reply and let me know! If you see me in Glasgow, it'll make my day if you come say hi, plus I'll give you a Warped State bookmark!

Fun bits and bobs

The rest of this newsletter will be some interesting things from the Internet this month (plus one useful link). And of course your cat picture.

Rebuilding in Lahaina: You hear a lot about disasters in the immediate aftermath, but much less so during the much slower work of rebuilding. I loved this look at Lahaina's history, how colonialism and the sugar plantations literally changed the shape of the land, and how rebuilding from the awful fire could give them the opportunity to restore what was lost (if rich white people don't get in the way).

This is wild to me: a new study found that people's appearance changes over time to suit their names. You wouldn't think the cultural associations of names are that specific, but "You look like a ____" is a thing people say, apparently for a reason, even if that reason isn't totally clear.

For some much more serious science, a rigorous classification of the evolution of Italian filled pasta. 

If you're in the U.S. and you're feeling a lot more optimistic about the future than you were a few weeks ago, I'm right there with you. But there's still a long way to go before November, and we can't get complacent. If you're motivated to help get out the vote, consider writing letters to voters! I've been doing letter writing with Vote Forward for a few election cycles now, and I love how easy they make it to get started, and how data-driven their approach is. If knocking on doors isn't your jam, maybe give this a shot--no interacting with strangers required!

Last but certainly not least, I needed new shoes for my upcoming trip, and it was very nice of me to buy Ada such a good box in the process. Charlie was concerned about whether she could get back out. (Spoiler: she did.)

Until next time,

Jo Miles