On Defeating Post-Con Blues, Automatons, and... 💖⚙️📚
A BRAND NEW TeslaCon update! 🎁 Plus, open for fun bookish news and more events!
I’m finally settling into my summer writing routine after attending DemiCon, the Chicago Steampunk Expo, and the Nebula Awards Conference over the last few weeks. Though I’m making an effort to slow down and focus on revisions while I’m home, I have several fun updates for this summer and fall!
Some of these events are virtual (and free!), so there’s a little something for everyone. If you’re having post-con blues, searching for community, or looking for your next convention, keep reading!
Join me for a virtual reading?
I’m so excited to be one of the authors reading for Strong Women, Strange Worlds on July 17th! Join Pauline Barmby, Joyce Chng, Amanda Nevada DeMel, Karen Eisenbrey, Glori Medina, and me for a fun, free virtual reading by pre-registering here.
Through the Looking Glass
Next year’s theme for the Chicago Steampunk Expo is The 1893 Exposition’s Adventures in Wonderland and I can’t wait to see all of the cool costumes! In the meantime, the Steam & Sorcery LARP (Live Action Roleplaying Game) for the convention is under new management and already issuing year-round challenges that can be completed anywhere. You can check out the shenanigans here! (And here is a handy guide to the rules.)
Temporal Textual Talks: Steampunk Book Club
On Sunday, June 22, at 7:30 Eastern/4:30 Pacific, Temporal Textual Talks, hosted by Madame Askew and Bill Bodden, is meeting virtually to discuss "Terror at Tierra de Cobre" by Michael Merriam. You do not have to finish the book to participate in steampunk book club, but do expect spoilers. If you’ve never attended, it’s a very fun group. I love the discussions! I always come away with new insights (and laughter. So much laughter from the chats!) For more info, check out this page, which regularly posts links to the active Discord server.
New TeslaCon Update! 🎉
I’m returning to TeslaCon from November 6th-9th, 2025 as both a vendor and a panelist! This week, I can announce two of my planned panels (with more TBA. 👀)
This year’s TeslaCon theme is The Tear of Odin, with lore seeped in mythology, fairy tales, and steampunk. I love blending magic and machinery in my books, so this will be fun! Here are my panels I can talk about this week:
Understanding Automatons
Come learn about the fascinating origins of automatons and their influence on steampunk! We'll discuss real examples of historical and often intricate clockwork machines before diving into the role of automatons in literature, comics, and movies.
Fairies, Folklore and Superstitions of the Later Victorian Age
Come learn about the real influence of fairies and folklore during the Victorian age! Topics will include the origins of the London Folklore Society, clashes between academic folklorists and fairy-beliefs among spiritualists, debates on ‘Psycho-folklore’, and strange superstitions.
I love that I get to talk about both fairy tales and automatons at the convention. I’ve spoken about my love of fairy tales before, but this Understanding Automatons panel will be a first. Writing sentient machines brings me the same kind of joy as writing my monsters in Strange Happenings. Part of it likely has to do with my background in robotics, but I also see the parallels between the nature of automatons and the creation of Victor Frankenstein’s monster in Mary Shelley’s novel1.
In my own stories, I’ve written automatons as an exhibit at the 1893 World’s Fair, an airship pilot, and in my upcoming release, The Clockwork Coffin, there are automatons with a very Gothic twist: All of the automatons have virtue names like Mercy and Atonement and are more than what they seem. (I also have more about my first automaton, Adam, from Strange Happenings in next year’s Alchemy and Automatons!) All of this is to say I’m very much looking forward to my panels!
For more information about TeslaCon, visit their website and active Facebook group for inspiration.
I’m so excited for all the upcoming events, both in person and virtual happening this summer and fall. Until then, I’ll be back at my desk, working away on revisions and writing on a couple projects under the best supervisors I could hope for:
When I’m not spending time with loved ones or revising, I’ve been getting back into TTRPGs and board games. I’ve been loving A Gentle Rain by Incredible Dream Studios, so now I have Kinfire Chronicles: Night's Fall by the same studio on its way. Though the former is a cozy tile placement game and the latter is a co-operative campaign game (think D&D but with cards and a map), what both have in common is that they can be played solo or with a group.
Having the option to play alone is a huge bonus for me! While I love my friends, sometimes I need time to introvert (though I no longer consider myself a true introvert. Around the right people, I come alive. I just need time to recharge afterward.💖 )
If you have any recs for solo TTRPGs or board games, let me know in the comments! (I’d also take video game reccs, but my list of To Be Played games has grown exponentially over the last few weeks while I’ve been away, especially after some conversations at the Nebulas. But if you have reccs, I’ll take them. 😂)
Happy reading!
I have at least 13 copies—possibly more now—of Frankenstein around my office in different editions. When I have to answer the dreaded question of “What’s your favorite book?”, Frankenstein always makes my list. Because I can’t just pick one favorite book.