Master of Toast

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 the end of another week! I’m currently in Napa for this weekend’s Napa Valley Comic Con. If you’re in Northern California, come say hello!

In other excellent news, National Students for Justice in Palestine has announced that the protest effort at Cal State Sacramento has won full divestment, set to officially start on May 24. The divestment agreement includes a commitment to no direct, indirect, or auxiliary investments that support any genocide, ethnic cleansing, or human rights violations! This is a huge victory and it’s just the beginning. If you’re looking to join this historic protest movement, you can check out some resources here to help you do so safely and constructively. 

You can also use the resources below to support those who are suffering during the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.

• Gaza Funds, a website that gathers crowdfunding campaigns from people in need in Gaza
• Check out Operation Olive Branch, which helps fund medical evacuations
• Donate to the Red Cross
• Donate to Doctors Without Borders
• Get involved with PCRF
• Connect with Jewish Voice for Peace
• Use Resistbot to contact your representatives

Locus Awards

The 2024 Locus Award finalists have been announced! Congratulations all!

Excerpt Reveal: Glass Houses by Madeline Ashby

Madeline Ashby’s upcoming novel, Glass Houses, looks fucking phenomenal. Here’s the pitch:

A masterful near future whodunit for fans of Glass Onion and Black Mirror; join a stranded start-up team led by a terrifyingly realistic charismatic billionaire, a deserted tropical island, and a mysterious AI-driven mansion–as the remaining members disappear one by one.

I loved reading the excerpt linked above and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. Preorder yours here.

The Master of Toast

This week SFWA announced that I will be the Toastmaster at this year’s Nebula Award Ceremony! I am deeply honored by this role and can’t wait to celebrate the luminaries of SFF.

I’m Reading: Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel by Kiersten White

Her name was written in the pages of someone else’s story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula’s first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula’s clutches—and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn in twenty-first-century London, when she meets another woman, Iris, who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. Yet she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris while Iris is equally mesmerized by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by outside forces. Iris’s mother won’t let go of her without a fight, and Lucy’s past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl once more.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness has always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

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

Featured New Release: The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to the aging ruler of a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. The bride's party is welcomed with elaborate courtesies and extravagant banquets, but between the frightened servants and the cryptic warnings of the lord's mad son, they quickly realize that something is haunting the shadowed halls.

As Chih and the bride-to-be explore empty rooms and desolate courtyards, they are drawn into the mystery of what became of Lord Guo's previous wives and the dark history of Doi Cao itself. But as the wedding night draws to its close, Chih will learn at their peril that not all monsters are to be found in the shadows; some monsters hide in plain sight.

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

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—Gailey