Stone Soup Digest 03.10.23

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.

This week I am on top of a mountain, housesitting for a friend. Every time I go on a trip like this, I bring a barrel full of intentions with me: that I will write more than ever, read more than ever, cook new and exciting foods, and socialize with friends if friends are present, all while keeping up my usual administrative workload and attending to far-off friends with whom I am always in conversation.

This never works. I always end up finding something to read, taking naps, having long and lovely conversations. On this trip, the thing I’ve put down is the cooking. I had a great and thrilling plan to cook a million things. I have been cooking—a chocolate chip cookie cake, homemade hot cocoa, spur-of-the-moment tomato bisque to go with sourdough grilled cheese on an unexpectedly chilly day. But more than I’ve been cooking, I’ve been being cooked for. The friend who came with me to this housesit made a lamb tagine that very materially healed me, on a day when I was feeling heavy-hearted.

I’m not good at getting cared for, but it’s been wonderful here. I hope to do it more often. I hope you all can, too.

Know Your Station #4 is Out Now

The latest issue of Know Your Station is out now, and the billionaires may no longer be the killer’s only target. Head to your local comic shop and pick up a copy! If you don’t have a local comic shop, or if you prefer digital, KNOW YOUR STATION #4 is available at comiXology and Google Play.

Minnesota is Now a Trans Refugee State

This is massive.

Gov Tim Walz has just made Minnesota a trans refugee state with an EO!

He will decline extradition requests.
He will refuse subpoenas.
No resource can be used to enforce bans.

They will be the first state to upgrade to dark blue, safest states in my map. https://t.co/SGxtOvkWSn pic.twitter.com/pqJX9vSp55

— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) March 9, 2023

From A Certain Point of View Available for Preorder

On May 25, 1983, Star Wars cemented its legacy as the greatest movie franchise of all time with the release of Return of the Jedi. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, forty storytellers re-create an iconic scene from Return of the Jedi through the eyes of a supporting character, from heroes and villains, to droids and creatures.

This Star Wars short story collection features a treasure trove of brilliant contributors, including many friends of the newsletter! Pre-order to read stories by Saladin Ahmed, Charlie Jane Anders, Tom Angleberger, Kristin Baver, Olivie Blake, Akemi Dawn Bowman, Emma Mieko Candon, Olivia Chadha, Gloria Chao, Mike Chen, Adam Christopher, Paul Crilley, Amal El-Mohtar, M. K. England, Jason Fry, Adam Lance Garcia, Lamar Giles, Max Gladstone, Thea Guanzon, Ali Hazelwood, Patricia A. Jackson, Alex Jennings, Mary Kenney, Jarrett Krosoczka, Sarah Kuhn, Danny Lore, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Kwame Mbalia, Marieke Nijkamp, Danielle Paige, Laura Pohl, K. Arsenault Rivera, Dana Schwartz, Tara Sim, Phil Szostak, Suzanne Walker, Hannah Whitten, Sean Williams, Fran Wilde, AND Alyssa Wong!!

Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s essay Stuck/Unstuck

Maggie Tokuda-Hall has written this gorgeous essay about about STUCK by Oliver Jeffers, her time as a bookseller a long time ago, and her life as a mom now. It’s incredibly powerful and resonant.

Nebula Nominees Announced

Congratulations to this year’s fabulous Nebula Award nominees! This year’s award ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 14, 2023. Watch the announcements on YouTube, including professional SAG-AFTRA narrators reading excerpts from the nominated pieces.

Star Wars Hunters: Battle for the Arena by Mark Oshiro

Go check out this new Star Wars book from friend of the newsletter Mark Oshiro!

On the planet Vespaara lies the Arena—a series of battlefields where fighters known as Hunters face off in teams to compete in front of roaring crowds. Newest to their ranks is Rieve, a Force-sensitive orphan from Corellia with abilities she can barely control, and a past she desperately wants to leave behind. But Rieve gets off to a rocky start, strugging with her lack of confidence both inside the Arena and with her fellow Hunters. And when a mysterious stranger begins stalking the Arena, Rieve fears her troubled past has finally caught up with her...

Add Fit for the Gods to Your TBR

This anthology features a reprint of Wild to Covet, my retelling of the story of Thetis, Achilles’ mother. This one comes out in August of this year—keep an eye out for buy links!

Personal Canons Cookbook Highlight: William Alexander

This week’s Personal Canons Cookbook author is William Alexander. William is a National Book Award-winning author of unrealisms for young readers. His novels include Goblin Secrets, Ambassador, and A Properly Unhaunted Place. Additional honors include the Eleanor Cameron Award, the Earphones Award, two Junior Library Guild Selections, and two CBC Best Children's Book of the Year Awards. He studied theater and folklore at Oberlin College, English at the University of Vermont, and creative writing at Clarion.

William Alexander has written a guide on how to brew a perfect cup of Cuban coffee while listening in on family history. This essay is accompanied by William’s recipe for cafecito, plus bonus recipes for café con leche, sugarless cortado, and potent el pecado. Go give An Alchemist’s Guide to Cuban Coffee a read, and start your day a little better tomorrow.

I’m Reading: February Catch-Up

The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona

An artist named Ro retreats from the grind of the city to an old house in a small town to find solace and inspiration without realizing the muse she finds within is not what she expected.

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Comixology

Hawkeye Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction, Javier Pulido, and David Aja

Clint Barton continues his fight for justice...and good rooftop BBQs! When the apartment building he's moved into, and the neighbors he's befriended, are threatened by a tracksuit-wearing, dog-abusing gang of Eastern European mobsters who say "bro" an awful lot, Clint must stand up and defend his new adopted family… any way he can.

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Comixology

She-Hulk by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton, Scott Kolins, Paul Pelletier, Will Conrad, and Juan Bobillo

Jennifer Walters is a gamma-powered Green Goliath just like her Hulkish cousin, but her home is in the courtroom—where she takes on some of the Marvel Universe’s wildest cases, litigating alongside coworkers like reformed android Awesome Andy and researching old Marvel comics to set legal precedents. Could She-Hulk’s career get any stranger? Sure—when she’s summoned to outer space to practice Universal Law for the Living Tribunal, or pulled out of the timeline by the Time Variance Authority! But when the Superhuman Registration Act leads to a civil war, whose side will She-Hulk argue?

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Comixology

Black Cat by Jed MacKay, Nao Fuji, Travel Foreman, and Pepe Larraz

Felicia Hardy has a taste for the finer things in life and certain skills that help her… procure them. But now Felicia's on the run from the New York Thieves' Guild and their boss, Odessa Drake! Prepare for high-octane heists, thrilling twists and climactic chases across the Marvel Universe! Breaking into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum? Done. Crossing Wolverine's path in Madripoor? Check. Stealing Tony Stark's armor? Easy. Proposing marriage to Spider-Man? Wait, what?!

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

Castle Waiting is the story of an isolated, abandoned castle, and the eccentric inhabitants who bring it back to life. A fable for modern times, it is a fairy tale that's not about rescuing the princess, saving the kingdom, or fighting the ultimate war between Good and Evil—but about being a hero in your own home. The opening chapter tells the origin of the castle itself, which is abandoned by its princess in a comic twist on "Sleeping Beauty" when she rides off into the sunset with her Prince Charming. The castle becomes a refuge for misfits, outcasts, and others seeking sanctuary, playing host to a lively and colorful cast of characters that inhabits the subsequent stories, including a talking anthropomorphic horse, a mysteriously pregnant Lady on the run, and a bearded nun.

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Comixology

The Human Target by Tom King and Greg Smallwood

An assassination attempt Chance didn’t see coming leaves him vulnerable and left trying to solve his own murder, as he has 12 days to discover just who in the DC Universe hated Luthor enough to want him dead by slow-acting poison. And the prime suspects happen to be… the Justice League International?

IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Comixology

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—Gailey