so I thought, no more blogging. no more poetry, no flights of fancy. no enchantments posted Puck-like to put a girdle round the earth in record time.
too many machines scraping it. no escaping it. don’t want to feed it. don’t need it. our books, stories, verses. the work of our lives– Pac-Manned by not-quite-AIs?
so, I thought, just stop it. I was taught handwriting. use it privacy. sensuality. the lick of pen to paper. obsolete and lovely as a rapier. a hobby indulgence. yet, the refulgence.
but oh, those scraps of heart. slivers of our vulnerable ineffable. offered as alms to birds, as words of air. not for legacy. for our here, not there.
for you, when you get to it. when you click to it. like a flower in your window. like a lamp in your hand.
and you said: if you want it, do it. blog’s your beauty? don’t refuse it. gives you pleasure? let is please you. fear of theft? don’t let it bereave you.
make it. share it. move like a wind through the world. like a poet, barefoot, walking the winding world.
eight years ago, I married you. eight years is ceramics. and so I say to you: how you glue the broken pieces back again– the Pac-Man potshards, the Humpty Dumpty bodyparts– the DIY kintsugi of all your mending ways– you make every day ceramics day.
by C. S. E. Cooney October 27th, 2025 for Carlos Hernandez
LOL WAHOO YIPPEE WHEE WOAH HOTDANG HOT DIGGITY DAWG!
Um.
I get to tell you now.
Book 3: Saint Death’s Doorway is a GO!
In fact, I’m writing it now.
In fact, I’m a 1500 words short of ONE FIFTH DONE. And I hope to get there by the end of today!
And so, this will be brief!
But if you want to read the OFFICIAL SOLARIS BOOKS UPDATE, here it is!
And here’s my screencap of its picture!
Oh! And if you wanted to see Tachyon’s 30th Anniversary Reading but MISSED IT, fear not! I have uploaded it to the YOUTUBES! Have Master SFF authors read to you whilst you do dishes or put your garden to bed. WHY NOT? Tis the season, tis the century.
FEATURING: Samantha Mills, Mary G. Thompson, Naseem Jamnia, Auston Habershaw, Josh Rountree, Kimberly Unger, Mia Tsai, Pat Murphy, Sam J. Miller, and editor Jaymee Goh.
More information on Tachyon, all the authors, and editor Jaymee Goh on our Event page, found HERE!
Plus: Plus a “Catch-Up” date, Upcoming Appearances, and William Alexander in New York!
(This is mirrored from my newsletter, so please forgive the repetition if you get both of them.)
Dear friends—
Goodness, how the month has flown!
The Storyteller event in Baltimore’s Ivy Bookshop, and Marty’s launch of Audition for the Fox at the Thespis Theatre. were equally really lovely.
Baltimore
I took the Amtrak in to Baltimore and walked from there to the Baltimore Museum of Art . The onboarding experience there was very ludic, with “social sculptures” of usable gaming spaces, encouraging interaction and participation, all while being surrounded by images and objects from the history of human games.
But my favorite thing was the special exhibit there called Black Earth Rising. There’s an article about it here: https://artbma.org/exhibition/black-earth-rising, if you’re interested! I loved the work of Firelei Báez and Teresita Fernández particularly, but everything made me stare until my eyes hurt.
There were also two side-by-side exhibits: one, Malcolm Peacock’s “A Signal, A Sprout” (it looks like a massive redwood trunk made of all hand-braided synthetic hair); the other, “Heavy with History: Devin Allen and the Baltimore Uprising,” featuring the throat-catching, heart-hammering photography of Devin Allen.
I followed all kinds of new artists on their various platforms after my visit! And I left the musuem incredibly impressed by BMA’s collection: their beautifully and ethically curated African art room, especially.
The Fox LAUNCHES
Marty’s book launch took place at the Thespis Theatre—which is SUCH A PLACE! It resides within the Hellenic Cultural Center, which has so many statues of Greek Gods—anatomically correct, ahem, except for those few missing a few… pieces—a Greek Orthodox chapel the size of a parlor, completely with full stained glass windows, a theatre, and a black box! I loved this place. I want to live there.
Marty himself was wonderful; he said he’d been nervous all day, but had decided to view the book launch as a warm hug. He actually knew everyone in the audience by name—except for our friend Ben, whom Carlos and I had invited. We read an annotated section of his novella together, and then I did a Q&A with Marty before we opened it up to questions from the audience.
Oh, and we had Matt Kressel as our virtual guest on Fiction: Impossible, which is now archived on YouTube here! (In case you missed it and you want company some night while you’re, you know, doing dishes.) (Dishes are endless. Good news is: so is short-form entertainment!)
THE MOST EXCITING NEWS EVER!!!
My darling, beautiful, wonderful BRILLIANT FRIEND, Caitlyn Paxson, has her DEBUT NOVEL out NEXT YEAR, and this week they did the COVER REVEAL!
BEHOLD IT AND TREMBLE! (Tenderly!) (Ardently!) (Amorously!) (For it is a ROMANTASY! With Necromancy! So it is, as we like to call it… NECROPANTASY!)
Here are the two covers: one is Canadian and one is United States. It’s also coming out in the UK but I don’t know what cover goes with that. DON’T YOU WANT TO EAT IT UP! WITH THE SKULLS AND EGGS AND THE POISONED MUSHROOMS AND THE CANDLES AND THE PISTOLS OF IT ALL???
Here is the synopsis:
Here’s some alt-text for that description from Del Rey:
“In this witty fantasy romance, a widow blackmails her rakish necromancer neighbor to bring her husband back to life and save her home-only to find herself falling for him instead.
“Witty, whimsical, and deeply kind, A Widow’s Charm is beyond charming—it’s wholly enchanting.”—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Everlasting
Lady Hildegarde Croft is accustomed to changes in position. After all, she rose from maidservant to lady of the manor when she married Lord Thorgoode Croft. But when he drops dead quite unexpectedly, the plans that would have protected her and the people of Croftholde from her malevolent brother-in-law die along with him. What’s a widow to do?
Fortunately, potential salvation arrives in the form of Lord Erol Elmwood, who is fleeing the consequences of using his forbidden Charm to raise the dead and save his own life. Now he’s injured, destitute, and miserable, stuck hiding out at the neighboring estate.
For Hilde, blackmailing Lord Elmwood to resurrect Thorgoode seems like the perfect solution. For Elmwood, beautiful Lady Croft seems like the ideal distraction from his troubles. The problem is, all she wants from him is the horrifying power he knows he can never use again.”
AAAUGGHHH I CANNOT WAIT OMG OMG OMG! And Alex frikkin HARROW blurbed it? Couldn’t you just GOAT FAINT??? I could!!!
Upcoming Virtual Appearance
This Saturday, September 27th, I get to be a guest poet for the Science Fiction Poetry Association! I shall read you SO MUCH POETRY! But I won’t be the ONLY ONE! It’s an OPEN MIC, yo!
I think you need a membership to Nebula Conference 2025 online, or be a SFWA member!
Tachyon’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Reading and Q&A
Oh, and I wanted to remind you of THIS, coming up on Thursday October 2nd! ALSO VIRTUAL:
ACCLAIMED GENRE PRESS TACHYON PUBLICATIONS CELEBRATES 30 YEARS IN 2025
Join us for a night of virtual readings and Q&A on Twitch TV with some of Tachyon Publications’ team: Jaymee Goh(editor), and authorsAuston Habershaw, Josh Rountree, Kimberly Unger, Naseem Jamnia, Mary G. Thompson, Mia Tsai, Pat Murphy, Sam J. Miller, andSamantha Mills.
We’ll be hosting our friend, National Book Award Winner William Alexander for the New York leg of his tour. He’ll be doing one virtual and three in-person events that I know of.
Who is William Alexanders?
Well, you probably already know Will, but for those of you who DON’T:
William Alexander is the author of Goblin Secrets (McElderry) and other unrealisms for young readers. His work has won the National Book Award, the Eleanor Cameron Award, the Librarian Favorites Award, the Teacher Favorites Award, two Junior Library Guild Selections, and two CBC Best Children’s Book of the Year Awards. Most recently he wrote Sunward—his first novel for grownups, forthcoming from Saga Press in September of 2025—and co-edited the middle grade anthology Starstuff: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Celebrate New Possibilities. As a small child he honestly believed that his Cuban-American family came from the lost island of Atlantis.
Will’s New York Tour!
Monday, October 20th, 7-8 PM: online, on Fiction: Impossible!
Carlos and I will be hosting Will Alexander as our Guest Star on Fiction: Impossible. Will will read a bit from Sunward, we’ll ask him some LEADING QUESTIONS, and then we’ll all talk about books and games we’ve liked recently. Join us on my Twitch stream twitch.tv/csecooney
After that, Will’s coming down from Vermont, and we get to HOST him at our HOUSE! “The Week of Fantastic Fish” we’re calling it, since we’ve decided to ONLY EAT SUSHI while he’s here.
Simon and Schuster describes Sunward thus:
A cozy debut science fiction novel by National Book Award–winning writer William Alexander, this story of found family follows a planetary courier training adolescent androids in a solar system grappling with interplanetary conflict after a devastating explosion on Earth’s moon.
Captain Tova Lir chose a life as a courier rather than get involved in her family’s illustrious business in politics. Set in humanity’s far future, hiring a planetary courier is essential for delivering private messages across the stars.
Encouraged by friends, Tova begins mentoring baby bots, juvenile AI who are developmentally in their teens, and trains them how to interact within society essentially becoming their foster mom. Her latest charge, Agatha Panza von Sparkles, named herself on their first run from Luna to Phoebe station. But on their return, they encounter a derelict spaceship and a lurking assassin, igniting a thrilling chase across the solar system.
Tova and Agatha’s daring actions leave Agatha’s mind vulnerable, relying on Tova’s former AI pupils for help. As Tova starts gathering her scattered family around her, she is chased through the solar system by forces who want her captured and her family erased. This debut science fiction novel by National Book Award–winning author William Alexander is a must-read for fans of Becky Chambers and Ursula K. Le Guin. Lovers of poignant science fiction, where the bonds of found family, the evolution of AI, and the building distrust of centuries of bias, come together in this visionary look at humanity’s future.
Meet Will Live!
Thursday, October 23rd at 7pm Kew & Willow Books Authors Will Alexander, Carlos Hernandez, and C. S. E. Cooney discussing Will’s new SF novel Sunward, as well as writing in the SFF genre ! (More info on this as it comes) 81-63 Lefferts Blvd. Kew Gardens, NY 11415-1728
Friday, October 24th at 6pm Books of Wonder Authors Carlos Hernandez, Eliot Schrefer, and Will Alexander discuss Starstuff: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Celebrate New Possibilities.
Saturday, October 25th at 2 PM-3:30 PM King’s Bay Library: authors Carlos Hernandez and Will Alexander discuss Sunward, Starstuff, the state ofadult SF and kidlit, for the edification of ALL OF BROOKLYN! 3650 Nostrand Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11229
In a thrilling follow-up to Tasting Light, ten best-selling and award-winning masters of the form use the possible—and the premise of hope—to explore how science and technology can reshape our world and defy assumptions.
At once a collection of hard science fiction for curious middle-graders and an antidote to despair in the face of dystopian uncertainty, these ten horizon-bending stories may seem unreal, but all follow the rules of physics and biology as we understand them today. These tales of space junk, multiverse navigation, an asteroid named Doomsday, and bees and marmots in space pulse with honesty and optimism. Whether home is a planet, a moon, a space station, or a fleet starship, relatable protagonists of different genders, classes, nationalities, ethnicities, and orientations face challenges—some harrowing, some hilarious—true to their moment in time and space. Brisk plots, resonant themes, and scientific rigor define these forward-facing stories by leading middle-grade authors. Taken together, the tales champion youth agency through characters who approach science in adventurous ways, underscoring that we are all, indeed, made of the same luminous stuff.
That’s all for today’s newsletter, friends! Beautiful work is pouring out into this world. “Something,” to quote Charlotte Gray, “to set against all this.”
For those of you who missed the amazing Matthew Kressel in conversation with Carlos Hernandez & yours truly on Monday night, it now lives in perpetuity on YouTube!
View the rest of the “Phoenix Quill Tavern” videos, including virtual book launches and other episodes of Fiction: Impossible here.
But meanwhile, there’s this! Tonight! AND I GET TO BE A PART OF IT! I might have to borrow Carlos’s fox tie. (Don’t worry; no foxes were harmed in the making of this tie.)
Here is where you buy tickets–either by themselves, or with a BOOK that Marty can SIGN! The event is hosted by Astoria Bookshop, and they’ve been just cupcakes about the whole thing.
(I’m told they’ll even have a few copies of my book too, since I’m book-talking with Marty, which is AWFULLY KIND of them!)
I’ll be asking Marty all kinds of questions about the book, his own creative process, publishing, and oh, just anything. And we’ll open up to questions from the audience. AND we’ll be performing an EXCERPT from his novella too!
TONIGHT! Tonight, friends, Carlos and I are so excited to present the newest episode of FICTION: IMPOSSIBLE, our monthly Twitchcast (except when it’s, you know, summer) featuring authors with new books out this year!
We host it on my Twitch channel, twitch.tv/csecooney, in a virtual space we like to call The Phoenix Quill Tavern.
Why the Phoenix Quill Tavern?
Because, friends, we want STORIES WRITTEN IN FIRE!
We hope to make this a space for sharing all kinds of stories—fiction, games, music, art—and all the delicious, liminal spaces between!
Tonight’s guest star on FICTION: IMPOSSIBLE (hosted by writer and game designer Carlos Hernandez and yours truly, C. S. E. Cooney) is our good buddy Matthew Kressel—author of Space Trucker Jess!
Who is Matthew Kressel? HOLD YOUR HOSSES! I’m about to TELL YOU!
Matthew Kressel is a multiple Nebula and World Fantasy Award nominated author and coder. His many works of short fiction have appeared in Analog, Asimov’s, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Tor.com/Reactor, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and many other publications and anthologies, including multiple Year’s Bests. Eighteen of his stories are included in his debut collection, Histories Within Us, which came out earlier this year from Senses Five Press. And his far-future adventure novel Space Trucker Jess is just out from Fairwood Press. His Mars-based novella The Rainseekers is coming from Tordotcom in Feb 2026. Alongside Ellen Datlow, he runs the Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series in Manhattan. And he is the creator of the Moksha submissions system, used by many of the largest fiction publishers today.
We will be TOTALLY GRILLING him about his SF book, Space Trucker Jess, which we both read and loved, and about what he’s been reading and playing lately.
He’ll also read an excerpt, which, my friends, will truly BLOW (THE SOCKS OFF) YOUR MIND(FEET)!
What’s Space Trucker Jess, you ask? I (and the person who wrote the back cover copy) HAPPILY answer:
Jessian Urania Darger is a kick-ass take-no-shit foul-mouthed too-smart-for-her-own-good sixteen-year-old girl with a chip on her shoulder. She and her daddy have been grifting their way across the verse for years. But when her daddy gets arrested for running crypto-credit scams, Jess is forced to get a job on Chadeisson Station as a roachrunner, fixing starships to survive.
She dreams of a better life, away from her corrupt daddy, so she’s been saving up to buy a Spark Megahauler, a huge cargo ship, ever since she saw one in a printer catalog. She wants to run the long hauls, to sail alone into the black and never look back.
But when her daddy goes missing from prison, Jess realizes she just can’t let him go, and she makes it her life’s mission to find out where he’s gone. In an odyssey that takes her across the galaxy, Jess encounters vanished planets, strange societies, inscrutable alien gods, and mind-bending secrets that may change humanity’s path forever.
When is this amazing show?
Why… TONIGHT! Monday, September 15th, from 7 PM–8 PM Eastern!
I already know you’ll love Matt, because he’s smart as hell, incredibly community minded, and just an all-around renaissance mind. You can also subscribe to Matt’s newsletter here, if you can’t get enough of him tonight!
“If Philip K. Dick had a vision of a protagonist as gutsy Katniss Everdeen hyperdriving her way through a Gibsonesque cyberpunk galaxy, he might have imagined Space Trucker Jess—minus the humor and voice that are singularly Matt Kressel’s. Wild, philosophical, inventive and totally unpredictable, Space Trucker Jess is a recklessly paced slow burn that will take you on a journey through a warts-and-all universe where the stakes couldn’t be higher, nor nearer to the human heart. — Carlos Hernandez, author of Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
Here’s what I wrote:
“Like its titular protagonist, Space Trucker Jess is foul-mouthed, funny, hungry, lonely, and tripping balls. It’s poetry and philosophy and science and religion and friendship, streaking by at light speed, a radioactive burn in the black. Matthew Kressel’s slangy prose sucks you in like a black hole, and like a black hole, is singular in the ‘verse.” — C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter
I missed this anthology’s launch at Readercon this last July, so I’m so happy to hop on an Amtrak train to Baltimore and read with some of my fellow authors!
”…Packed with diversity, supercharged with emotional and philosophical revelation, and full of surprises and power, Storyteller is a special ‘must have’ acquisition for readers and libraries who have felt the power of Tanith Lee’s voice and will be delighted to find it mirrored by her most ardent fellow writers.” —Midwest Review of Books
“Storyteller is a brilliant tapestry of tales, elegantly illuminating and excavating fantastical worlds. The same fire – profoundly profane, yet almost holy – that lit Tanith Lee’s stories burns brightly here. A fitting tribute to the Queen of Word Witches.”—A.G. Slatter, award-winning author of The Crimson Road
“Sixteen authors, including big names like Martha Wells, Andy Duncan, and Nisi Shawl, celebrate the late World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tanith Lee in this passionate and playful anthology of stories inspired by her work…The result is both a fitting tribute to a master and an enchanting compendium in its own right.”—Publishers Weekly
Book Launch for Martin Cahill’s Audition for the Fox
Our dear friend Marty is debuting his novella Audition for the Fox, and I get to be in a book talk with him ! 7 PM! Astoria Bookshop is hosting the event, and you can buy your tickets and book here!
When? Tuesday, Sep. 16th, 2025, 7:00 PM–8:30 PM
Where? Thespis Theater at Hellenic Cultural Center of NYC, 25-02 Newtown Ave, Astoria, NY 11102
“Fox-fleet and brazen, merry and mischievous, haunted by mercies: Martin Cahill’s Audition For The Fox has the trick of doling delight. The language leaps and laughs, teeming with a trickster’s teasing. This book made me happy: both while I was reading it, and long after I’d finished.”
―C. S. E. Cooney, author of Saint Death’s Daughter
Awesome Virtual Stuff
Monday, September 15th, 7 PM–8 PM Eastern Fiction: Impossible
Our Fiction: Impossible program is back at my Twitch channel, The Phoenix Quill Tavern, after our summer break!
This time, we’re hosting guest star Matthew Kressel, author of recent release Space Trucker Jess! You can subscribe to Matt’s newsletter here! I will do another newsletter introducing him and his book more fully. But for now—ready your calendars!
Both Carlos and I read his SF novel and ADORED it, so we can’t wait to chat with Matt about his book, what he’s reading, what games he’s playing, and also hear a bit from the novel itself.
Stream us live on twitch.tv/csecooney,Monday, September 16th, 7 PM – 8 PM Eastern!
Here’s what Carlos wrote about Space Trucker Jess:
“If Philip K. Dick had a vision of a protagonist as gutsy Katniss Everdeen hyperdriving her way through a Gibsonesque cyberpunk galaxy, he might have imagined Space Trucker Jess—minus the humor and voice that are singularly Matt Kressel’s. Wild, philosophical, inventive and totally unpredictable, Space Trucker Jess is a recklessly paced slow burn that will take you on a journey through a warts-and-all universe where the stakes couldn’t be higher, nor nearer to the human heart. — Carlos Hernandez, author of Sal & Gabi Break the Universe
Here’s what I wrote:
“Like its titular protagonist, Space Trucker Jess is foul-mouthed, funny, hungry, lonely, and tripping balls. It’s poetry and philosophy and science and religion and friendship, streaking by at light speed, a radioactive burn in the black. Matthew Kressel’s slangy prose sucks you in like a black hole, and like a black hole, is singular in the ‘verse.” — C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter
Tachyon’s 30th Anniversary Virtual Reading and Q&A
ACCLAIMED GENRE PRESS TACHYON PUBLICATIONS CELEBRATES 30 YEARS IN 2025
Join us for a night of virtual readings and Q&A on Twitch TV with some of Tachyon Publications’ team of authors and editors.
Jaymee Goh(editor), and authorsAuston Habershaw, Josh Rountree, Kimberly Unger, Naseem Jamnia, Mary G. Thompson, Mia Tsai, Pat Murphy, Sam J. Miller, and Samantha Mills
When? October 2nd, 2025, at 5 PM (Pacific), 6 PM (Mountain), 7 PM (Central), 8 PM (Eastern) (etc)
I wanted to let you know that Carlos has a new INTERACTION FICTION out. It’s called The Burger Meme Personality Test (Not an actual personality test). And it is BONKERS!
Anyone who wants to play it—and any of the other interactive fiction games on the Interactive Fiction Competition website—can do so here! Anyone who plays and rates five of the games can turn in a ballot!
(I got to help sing the theme song as the credits rolled. I got to use SO MANY VOICES. It’s one of my favorite feelings. That feeling of being a village of clowns. That feeling that Mel Blanc must have felt every day he recorded voices for a Looney Tunes cartoon.)
More soon, but farewell for now! Thank you for reading!
Well, we saw OCTET last night, by Dave Malloy (of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Ghost Quartet), a chamber choir musical, produced by Hudson Valley Shakespeare and directed by Amanda Dehnery.
It was mind-slapping. Like, electric shock after electric shock. Like tapping into the smorgasbord of anxieties and tech addiction in the digital age and making it analogue AND a cappella and EMBODIED right there for your eyes and ears and muscles and connective tissues and bones.
There’s an original cast recording from 2019 on Spotify to listen to—please do!—but, if you can, also hop a train up to Garrison, flag a Lyft and see this cast, this director, this show.
You can even get a picnic box right there at the restaurant. The show’s under a tent outdoors, and they provide bugspray and everything. It’s the most summer-like and alive and astounded I’ve felt all year.
I want everyone to experience this thing, somehow.
So, first off, I’ll start with this week. Carlos and I are running a workshop—”Playful Storytelling: Fresh Ideas from Other Genres”—on Thursday with the fine people at Meet Your Apex, an offshoot of Apex Magazine.
The code DOON10 will get you $10 off the registration for live or recording-only, if you’re interested. Find us at reachyourapex.com/playful.
Coupon for our “Playful Storytelling” workshop.
The description is thus:
No matter what genre you’re writing, one of the hardest things to do is to come up with ideas that editors haven’t seen a thousand times before, written with language galvanized by verve, novelty, and identity. Join award-winning authorsCarlos Hernandez and C. S. E. Cooney as they explore writing in different genres through exercises that will show you the transferable skills you already have while giving you delightful new tools to add to your repertoire.
C.S.E. and Carlos will cover forms you may never have tried, such as game writing and comic book writing. Even if you never intend to work within these forms, experimenting with different genres will give you fresh perspectives on your writing and creative new ways to re-envision it.
In this class, you’ll get an overview of different genres and conventions, and learn about the underlying skills that connect them all. You’ll engage in exercises that:
invigorate your language on the sentence level
center solid worldbuilding
experiment with different genre structures
Claire and Carlos have over 50 years combined experience in fiction, poetry, comics, game writing, and drama. They have won awards for their writing and have published with major publishing houses. They’re also very different writers from each other. This unique dual perspective provides a wide panoply of ideas applicable to your own writing practices.
You’ll leave this workshop inspired, brimming with ideas, and with the spirt of play that is bound to feed your creative self.
DATE: August 14, 2025 – Thursday
TIME: 1PM ET | 12PM CT | 11AM MT | 10AM PT | 17:00 UTC
I also started a different newsletter, what was it, a week ago? Two weeks ago? But I never finished it.
I was going to tell you all about how our summer con circuit went. I’ll attempt a quick summary now.
We attended the Origins Game Fair, CONvergence (where I was a Guest of Honor!!!), CONfluence (where we were MUSICAL guests, in our band-persona of “Brimstone Rhine”), and GenCon.
C. S. E. Cooney at CONvergence 2025, Minneapolis, MN
Highlights of Origins? I got to sell my books, talk to a lot of readers, but my favoritewas a young person named Trinity, maybe 11 or 12 years old, who had an imagination as big as the sea, and who stood at my table for two hours telling me about sirens and mermaids. She came to one of our panels on Worldbuilding and asked the most interested questions. I was so glad to have met her!
Highlights of CONvergence? SO MANY! Everything!
My mama flew out for that one, as did my friends Patty Templeton and Brett Massé. My friend Sara Logan, who is local, was also there! And darling Carlos. So I felt surrounded with community.
Also? The CONvergence volunteer staff is the number one staff of anystaff anywhere, and my handler Kyle Dekker was a dream of care and solicitude. He was also a great moderator for all my “solo” panels.
Also! Tina Connolly and Dr. Mary Crowell came, and we gave our first public review of some of our “The Devil and Lady Midnight” musical theatre podcast!
(Left to right: C. S. E. Cooney, Dr. Mary Crowell, and Tina Connolly onstage at CONvergence 2025 for the “The Devil and Lady Midnight” concert.
GenCon—where our TTRPG, Negocios Infernales—had its debut! People who pre-ordered through the store have already gotten their games, and Outland is working on fulfillment for our Kickstarter backers. We found five of our backers at GenCon and gave them their games and neoprene maps!
C. S. E. Cooney and Negocios Infernales backer Kathy Brown, making the game fulfillment at GenCon 2025
All copies of our game sold out. Next time, we’ll bring more. Studio 2 Publishing is Outland Entertainment’s distributor, and they were amazing!
Carlos ran three Negocios Infernales games at GenCon through Games on Demand, who were also wonderful, as usual. Games on Demand is an “open gaming event” organization that facilitates finding players for indie games at conventions such as Origins, GenCon, Pax Unplugged, and many more.
“Every game begins unwon,” as the Deck of Destiny likes to say. This is a Negocios Infernales table before the game is played.
I got to see my beautiful mama several times (she flew out for TWO of my cons!) And my brother Jeremy, who sang with us at CONfluence. And my dad and stepmom, whom we visited in Chicago on our way home. And my brother, sister-in-law, and niece and nephews in Pittsburgh, though we did that masked, outside, and from a distance, due to a minor illness on the poor kiddos’ part.
The band Brimstone Rhine at CONfluence 2025, Pittsburgh PA. Left to right: Jeremy Cooney on vocal and guitar, C. S. E. Cooney on vocals, and Carlos Hernandez on ukulele and cajon.
This is day four of being back, day two without houseguests, and the first day I get to sit down and write. So I’m here.
And now I will go to my fiction. More soon for you, I hope!
C.S.E. Cooney 