Stone Soup Digest 03.25.22
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.
Today, you can see a special first look at the upcoming prologue to my series in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe! My series, titled The Vampire Slayer, features a new slayer, a spell gone awry, and a lot of secrets. The introduction to this new storyline and universe will be featured in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer 25th Anniversary Special, out next week from BOOM! Studios!
Sara A. Mueller on historical corsetry
Sara A. Mueller, author of new release The Bone Orchard, wrote this Stone Soup guest feature on the way we view corsets through a flawed lens. Never before have I had the pleasure of editing a piece that talks so much about the logistics involved in having, maintaining, and dressing up boobs.
Shing Yin Khor’s reflections on Remember August
In the final days of my marriage, I bought a typewriter. In the liminal days when we had agreed that it was over but still occupied the same space, circling each other like new strangers that nevertheless knew each other way too well, I threw me and that typewriter into making a game about the heavy spaces that loss occupies, the terror of failing memory, and the friends that pass through you life for one brief bright moment.
This piece is a reflection on a brilliantly-designed correspondence game. It’s also a powerful meditation on distance, connection, and relationships.
Esquire’s 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time
You may think I’m tooting my own horn with this link on account of The Echo Wife coming in at number 50. And maybe I am, a little, toot toot. But this list is frankly fantastic, and you should use it to populate your to-read list post-haste.
Failure To Adapt features Chris Sarandon talking about The Princess Bride
Failure To Adapt is one of my favorite new podcasts, featuring Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Red Scott discussing (with various guests) books and their film adaptations. This very special episode features Chris Sarandon, who you may recall as Prince Humperdink from The Princess Bride film, discussing the much-beloved franchise! It’s well worth a listen.
Taika Waititi on Our Flag Means Death
I watched the entirety of Our Flag Means Death this week. It’s an exquisite show that succeeds on several levels. There’s a level of goofiness that I’ve been missing from the past decade-plus of prestige television. The representation is effortless and beautiful. The pace and plotting delighted me by simultaneously landing classic sitcom beats alongside a perfect rom-com buildup (those who love me have endured more than enough of my fury at the loss of rom-coms in the box office, so I won’t go into it here). The historical representation of piracy is accurate where it matters and hilariously anachronistic where it doesn’t. The show doesn’t pull punches when it comes to real emotional grounding, while remaining committed to delivering solid and often surprising comedy. And of course, I would be remiss not to mention that Taika Waititi’s Blackbeard represents, to my eye, one of his strongest film performances to date. Anyway, go read what Waititi himself has to say about it.
I’m Reading: Stranger Things Happen: Stories by Kelly Link
The eleven stories in Kelly Link's debut collection are funny, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. They were all especially written for you. A Best of the Year pick from Salon.com, Locus, The Village Voice, and San Francisco Chronicle. Includes Nebula, World Fantasy, and Tiptree award-winning stories.
Featured New Release: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #19 by Alyssa Wong
ETERNALLY YOURS! The trap has been set! DOCTOR APHRA and SANA STARROS are ready to steal the ASCENDANT’S GREATEST TREASURE! But their search for the SPARK ETERNAL will lead them somewhere they never expected… back to the place where Aphra’s archaeological adventures began!
Issue #19 of Star Wars: Doctor Aphra is written by Alyssa Wong with art by Minkyu Jung, and cover art by W. Scott Forbes. Find it at your local comic shop! If you prefer digital, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #19 is available for Kindle.
Kitten Update
When we took Bert to meet the vet for the first time, the vet couldn’t stop exclaiming over the very large belly on the little kitten in front of him. I’m delighted to share that the belly continues to gain power and influence in our home.
As you’re probably aware, queer and trans children are still under attack across the United States; Ukraine is fighting against a Russian invasion; AAPI communities are facing discrimination and violence. If you’re struggling to figure out how to help, here are some places to start.
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.
—Gailey