4 min read

Stone Soup Digest 11.18.22

Cookbook, socials, sale
Stone Soup Digest 11.18.22
Photo by Brett Jordan / Unsplash

Welcome to the Stone Soup Weekly Digest! This is where I share what I'm up to and some of my favorite things from around the internet. Subscribe to Stone Soup to get this in your inbox every week.


It’s been a huge week over here! This week I announced my big 2023 project: The Personal Canons Cookbook, an essay series exploring our relationships to food, identity, and community. Submissions are open through the end of this year! If you’re interested in submitting, check out the full guidelines here. Please spread the word about this paid writing opportunity — I’m looking for a broad range of voices, and BIPOC & non-US writers are strongly encouraged!

At the same time, twitter has begun coming apart at the seams. If you’re shifting your presence to other social media platforms, here’s where you can find me:

Instagram
Tumblr
TikTok
Mastodon

In case you missed it, we’re having a big sale! You can get a Supper Club subscription for 25% off. Supper Club members get all kinds of great stuff including access to tomorrow's coworking date. For just a few bucks a month, you can be part of a great community, and you can help me afford healthcare. Sign up now! I promise you won’t regret it!


Supporting the Locus Crowdfunding Campaign

Locus is an essential part of the SFF ecosystem. Their crowdfunding campaign is live now and includes some really spectacular rewards, including book bundles from me! Go check out their crowdfunding page to learn more.

Bound in the Flesh Cover Reveal

Artist Babs Rastorfer created an amazing cover for this upcoming anthology of trans body horror from Ghoulish Books. Go check out the art and the amazing TOC!

The Vampire Slayer #8 is Out Next Week!

Obsidian Entertainment’s Pentiment Released!

Pentiment is a new game that invites players to “step into a living illustrated world in a time when Europe is at a crossroads of great religious and political change.” It’s a historical narrative-driven game focusing on character development, heavily stylized art, and choice-driven storytelling in early 16th century Bavaria. Friend of the newsletter Kate Dollarhyde worked on this game and hearing her perspectives on narrative and game design in the lead-up to this being released has been an incredible education. If you like games, check this one out!

Help Hailey Kaas get a PhD

Gaming Is Hard: DongWon Song is streaming and interviewing

DongWon Song has announced a new feature of their newsletter Publishing is Hard in which they’ll play a video game while interviewing an industry pro and answering questions live. Their first stream is 11/21 on Twitch — you won’t want to miss it!


From the Archives: Crackers the Cat and the Wind that Wasn’t

I wrote this short story in response to a request for a Lovecraftian tale. While things didn’t end up working out between me and the publication that commissioned the story, I was proud enough of what I wrote that I decided to publish it here.

“First Mate!” The Captain’s voice rang out across the deck, and the First Mate bolted away from the rail to face the Captain, their spine straightening fast as an anchor chain. The Boatswain shoved his empty ration packet into a coat pocket, wiping his hands on his pants, hoping the Captain hadn’t heard him talking shit about Aicten.
Behind the Boatswain, Crackers sat abruptly and began washing a paw, his passionate need to kill the bootlace discarded as quickly as it had first arrived, nothing more or less important than any of a thousand impulses that would pass through his mind over the course of a day.
The captain strode across the deck, her eyes narrowed with a focus that made the First Mate’s throat tighten. “Lunch break’s over, I’m afraid,” she called. “I don’t know if you noticed, but we happen to be at sea.” She lifted one arm and pointed to the horizon without breaking stride, without shifting her icy gaze away from the First Mate. “We happen to be at sea, and there happens to be a rather significant storm heading our way…”

Visit the Stone Soup Archives


Visit a Neighbor: Tochi Onyebuchi’s Italics

Tochi Onyebuchi is one of the most brilliant, acclaimed writers working today. He writes novels, comics, videogames, essays, and for TV & film. He’s also an all-around rad person. In his newsletter Italics, he shares his thoughts about news, politics, science, and pop culture.

Sign up here!


I’m still not dropping any book recommendations this week as the HarperCollins strike is going strong! But the National Book Awards were this week and folks had things to say there…


If you’re a paying subscriber, come by the Stone Soup Supper Club for our weekly chat! I can’t wait to find out how you’re doing. And don’t forget to join me for our coworking date tomorrow morning 11/19 at 10am Pacific Time! The Zoom link is in this month’s Supper Club post. I’ll see you there!

—Gailey