Guest Host Brandon Crilly

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.

Hello from sabbatical! I have been on a whirlwind tour of various spots in Western Europe for the past couple of weeks, so I have a lot to share and no time at all to share it. Brace yourselves for a big update in two weeks or so. In the meantime, check out my linktree for resources to distribute throughout your community to help people who are vulnerable right now, nearby and around the world.

I can share an oort of news now, though: I’m going to be in the new season of About the Authors TV: Fantasy Edition! Check out the trailer. Also, I’m going to be a Guest of Honor at this year’s Locus awards! I can't wait to see you there.

Now, meet your guest host for this week’s digest! Brandon Crilly is a Canadian novelist, games writer, and speaker specializing in weird worlds with doses of cli-fi, characters on the sidelines and outside-the-box adventures. His debut novel Catalyst won an IPPY Award for Fantasy in 2023; Castoff will be his second novel, completing the Aspects of Aelda duology in 2025. He has more than 50 published short works to date, in markets including Fusion Fragment, Apex Magazine, and Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction. Brandon is also a freelance games writer, contributing to award-winning IP lines like The Expanse RPG and Shadowrun and publishers including Kobold Press and Gallant Knight Games. Find out more about his upcoming releases by following him on Instagram or signing up for his newsletter via brandoncrilly.com.

His latest novel, Castoff, comes out this October, and we've got the exclusive cover reveal right here.

Take us away, Brandon!

-gailey

Hello, dear readers of the Stone Soup! It’s an absolute honor to tag in as the host of this week’s digest, while Gailey is off, totally engaging in a “sabbatical” and not just secretly writing more words that will slice directly into my feels and keep me up at night. (Has everyone forgotten when Just Like Home became a living creature hiding under their bed? Because I sure haven’t.)

I’m told it’s springtime in North America, but that’s not the case in my corner of Ontario, where we probably have snow again. (I’m gambling a bit, writing this a few days ahead of when you’ll read it, but I’m pretty sure the odds are in my favor.) Regardless of what’s happening outside, there’s one member of our household who’s sure it’s spring, and that’s Bob the Snake. Did you know that male corn snakes, every spring, even in captivity, even with an absolutely tricked out vivarium, spend a solid month or longer on a nonstop quest for sexy lady snakes? Or at least Bob does. And in the process he upends his water dish, his water feature, his various hides, and enough dirt that when I open the viv, I need a broom. A distraction that’s part of his endgame, because the only thing he wants more than companionship is to distract me and escape to… I don’t know, somewhere.

Will there ever be sexy lady snakes for Bob? Gods no. But he has a quest to occupy his days, and the rest of the year he sleeps, so it’s not a bad life. And while I can’t offer you a Bob the Snake livestream here on Stone Soup, allow me to provide some other things that have delighted me recently, and hope that you like them, too.

Neon Hemlock’s Sixth Volume of Novellas

Neon Hemlock is crowdfunding its sixth volume of novellas, and every batch is an incredible mix of weird, poignant, mesmerizing stories unlike anything else out there in the genre. They’re already fully funded, but there’s a chance to get in on the fun and help push for some stretch goals before May 3.

Fish Doorbell

I only just learned about Utrecht’s visdeurbel, or Fish Doorbell, which lets you watch a livestream of the waters at the Weerdsluis lock and, if you spot fish needing to get through, click a button to notify the onsite operators to open the doors. Please join us in making sure Netherlands fish reach their spawning grounds safely!

Will.i.am and Artist Burnout

There’s a lot of great discourse out there right now about the risk of burnout as creators, but as someone who likes having a lot of pans in the fire, this interview with will.i.am in Fortune was a really honest take on a different perspective to balancing your day job vs creating, when the latter is what you really want to do.

More Studies on Burnout

On the flipside of that, I just got into the podcast Ologies, hosted by Alie Ward, and listened to this November interview with Dr. Kandi Wiens on the study of burnout. Great material for anyone who worries about fatigue (like I do) and how to figure out when/where you need a serious break.

Writing Music

When I write, I have a whole playlist of live music and especially love recordings where one singer or band crashes another’s concert. Especially this recent pro-shot of The Killers and Bruce Springsteen: Encore at the Garden!

BRANDON IS CURRENTLY READING: Seventhblade by Tonia Laird

I’m a few chapters into Seventhblade, the debut fantasy novel from Métis author Tonia Laird. She launches you right into the action and interpersonal tension in a way that I love, and I’m already hooked on protagonist T’Rayles’ search for revenge and Laird’s approach to the complexities of colonialism. I’ve been having trouble finding fresh, well-written adventure fantasy lately, but Seventhblade nails it so far.

After the murder of T’Rayles’s adopted son, the infamous warrior and daughter of the Indigenous Ibinnas returns to the colonized city of Seventhblade, ready to tear the streets asunder in search of her son’s killer. T’Rayles must lean into the dangerous power of her inherited sword and ally herself with questionable forces, including the Broken Fangs, an alliance her mother founded, now fallen into greed and corruption, and the immortal Elraiche, a powerful and manipulative deity exiled from a faraway land. Navigating the power shifts in a colonized city on the edge and contending with a deadly new power emerging from within, T’Rayles must risk everything to find the answers, and the justice, she so desperately desires.

Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website | Local Library | Find an Indie Bookstore

BRANDON RECOMMENDS A FEATURED NEW RELEASE: Andor Season 2

I know Star Wars is pretty divisive these days, but I’ve been chomping at the bit for Andor season two (a show that I know has also been divisive). As much as I’m starting to bounce off stories of revolution these days (it feels like there are a lot in SFF, and fewer and fewer that stick the landing), so many moments from Andor’s first season still live rent-free in my brain. Maarva’s final speech. Luthen’s monologue about sacrifice. Kino not knowing how to swim. There was so much heart to that season, and to me, that makes for an excellent examination of resistance and struggle. Star Wars has hurt me before, but I will be eagerly eating up season two starting this week.

Thank you, Brandon!! 

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In the meantime, do what you can. Care for yourself and the people around you. Believe that the world can be better than it is now. Never give up.

—gailey