i announced this a while ago on social media platforms, but! book 2, the weavers of alamaxa, has a gorgeous cover!
i’m obsessed with the color scheme and the way it’s an inverse of the first book’s color. the structure in the background is modeled after cairo citadel, which i’ve been to several times, and it is magnificent (and is featured in a major scene in the book!)
i am currently working on pass pages, which means arcs will be available shortly (idk how shortly though haha). i’m very excited to share this book with the world; it’s very different from its first counterpart, for many reasons, so it will be interesting to see how it’s perceived. that, and, it killed me to finish this book, so i will be very excited to have it physically in my hands on march 26th!
speaking of which! you can preorder from wherever you usually buy books, but if you would like a signed and personalized copy you can request one from my local indie riverbend (and you can also request signed copies of the daughters of izdihar)!
one other significant thing happened in my life since my last newsletter, which is that i finally visited the UK! it was my first time, after longing to go for years and years. we visited the cotswolds, london, leeds (very briefly), york (the city), the yorkshire moors (GORGEOUS, my favorite place), edinburgh, tantallon castle, and st. andrews. it was a whirlwhind seven days and not nearly enough time. some quick opinions: i did not like york the city, i LOVED the yorkshire moors and had planned to go to the dales but sadly ran out of time, i found the cotswolds supremely overrated (i’m so sorry), and i need to visit edinburgh again when it isn’t fringe festival lol.
what i’ve been reading/watching (short form):
this poem called persphone 3 by marie howe. i’m generally not a poetry girlie because i’m too dumb for it but sometimes a poem really hits.
this polemic against travel that got me thinking about what it means to travel in today’s world, as someone who dearly loves to travel.
this article about going to grocery stores for travel souvenirs.
a short story by kate alice marshall titled red bark and ambergris. fascinating worldbuilding and spectacular character work.
this lovely music video about a lady knight and her queen lover.
this…interesting music video by cody ko and friends is my current hyperfixation. you can judge me it’s ok.
this live rendition of marrikh by mashrou’ leila which will make shivers go down your spine.
what i’ve been reading (books/long form):
i have finally finished BABEL by rf kuang and…it deserves the hype. i LOVED it. i am first and foremast absolutely awed by its scale as a novel and the passion behind it. i thought the writing was stunning, absolutely stunning, a narrative style that reaches for the excess of the victorian era but doesn’t quite achieve it, though this is only to the novel’s benefit, because it meant the prose was compelling and easily readable. robin, to me, was a dynamic and sympathetic protagonist. i related a lot to him and i think he was a great medium to confront the reader with some very difficult ethical questions. and finally, i loved learning about linguistics and translation. this is the height of dark academia. the standard has been set.
i also read HOUSE OF HOLLOW by krystal sutherland, a very atmospheric ya horror novel which was delightfully creepy and full of body horror and sisterhood and one of my favorite side characters of all time.
i read THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL SIRAFI by s.a. chakraborty and it was spectacular. amazing. stupendous. the characters, the banter, the humor, how often did i laugh out loud? how casually and unapologetically muslim it was, in a way i’ve never really seen before. the astonishing grasp of history that brings to vivid life a vibrant and exciting time period. the skillful way reveals were deployed. it gave me so much joy and laughter. i will read literally anything s.a. chakraborty writes, forever and ever.
what i’ve been watching (tv/film):
i watched the sixth season of BLACK MIRROR. it was pretty good, though nothing was mind-blowing. my favorite episodes were demon 79, beyond the sea, and loch henry.
i watched an anime for the first time in years??? it was HELL’S PARADISE and probably it helped that i watched it with friends and my brother, but i enjoyed it a lot. it’s a lot more fast-paced than most animes i’ve encountered which i think is what helped get me into it.
i watched LAMBS OF GOD which is a gothic australian drama about three nuns living on an isolated island the priest who arrives to disturb their way of life. i came across this because i’m slowly making my way through sam reid’s filmography, but i thought this was riveting. it was also very strange and stretched credulity a bit, but i think that was the point.
i watched MOON KNIGHT, aka the egyptian marvel one. i’m obsessed with may calamawy and she killed it. tbh i was very lukewarm about the actual storyline, but i really loved that it was set in egypt and featured egyptian actors and music. and oscar isaac was incredible as well!
i watched the sixth season of SHETLAND, which marks the final season for douglas henshall! i think det. jimmy perez is really the heart of this show; there’s something about how earnest he is and how good he tries to be that’s just so affecting. it’s such a change from the usual broody detectives that have a lot of trauma that makes them assholes. jimmy perez is genuinely nice. i really hope the next detective they bring in is as nice.
i did the BARBENHEIMER thing on opening day and it was fun. some other movies i’ve enjoyed in the past couple of months: NIMONA, BELLE, SPY, TALK TO ME (terrifying and i still think about it!!!), and MAMMA MIA (i had no idea this was abba songs and that was a delightful surprise).
what i’ve been writing:
lol.
i’ve just been a bit all over the place with what i want to write. in june i was deciding between three projects but then i randomly started something completely new, but i don’t know if i’ll committ to that either. we shall see. this one is adult fantasy with some gothic undertones, maybe?
and that’s all! we are officially moving into autumn and i am excited for my favorite season and the end of summer, because summer makes me sad and lethargic.