Surprise! It's another project.

In this week's episode of Kathryn doesn't know when to stop, I have finished another project. Or rather, I have finished a workable draft of a short story and novella double header. She's dark, she's disturbing, and definitely not helping the rumors that all I know how to write are dark and distubing things. I've reconciled myself to being a medium of Weird Shit---honestly, there are worse things to be. I'd rather spend my time writing off-the-wall stories I care about than trying to fit some mode of literary fiction that's written to pander to a quote unquote highbrow magazine.

Hopefully the collection will be ready to send out for judgement soon---right now it's with two cousins and one of my dear beta readers for the preliminary rounds of: did I created something cohesive, or is it a dumpster fire of disjointed stories with a cool title? The jury's still out!

All this activity is coming fresh from a trip to Maryland, the land of Old Bay and my family's home since we came back from overseas when I was a kid. Strange, the passage of time. My brother leaves the country on Friday, and it's hard to believe the kid who largely sat on me and hurled me and my sister into the couch cushions during the fond memories of our shared youth is not only now MARRIED but also leaving for the second time. But, I'm glad I went. He's alright, at the end of the day.

In this week's reading roundup, I've been doing a bit of genre perusing. Short story collections for working on my own, to get me in the mindset of the contained world of the Story. Chanelle Benz' THE MAN WHO SHOT OUT MY EYE IS DEAD and Carrie R. Moore's MAKE YOUR WAY HOME: STORIES have been the most recent reads, alongside my former professor Mona Awad's latest triumph in The New Yorker, a story called The Chartreuse.

While I'm still making my way through Moore's stunning work, both books (and Mona's story,) have made me think very critically about structure, and connectivity: how do you spin an overarching narrative across disparate stories, even timelines and genres? The project I've just finished is lightly speculative, and I'd be lying if I said it was entirely a painless process to find out where exactly the pieces fit together. More often than not, it was akin to trying to force a square through a circular hole, a botched sort of jigsaw. But! This morning, running on three hours of sleep and a very strong black iced coffee, I finished three story endings, two of which had given me trouble for months, and with their addition, I feel that the collection hangs together more easily now. Inch by inch, row by row, I'm knocking genres and projects off my list. It feels good. It galvanizes me.

In other media I've been enjoying, give a listen to Em Beihold's latest bop, Brutus. I've had it on repeat since it came out. Go treat yourself to an insanely catchy song about the pitfalls of comparison.

Again, some bit of housekeeping: my publisher, Riot in Your Throat, is having a Sealey Challenge sale, and I'd be thrilled to see BAD ANIMAL in your Sealey stack! Snag it for $10 on their website today.

That's about it for me today! Go forth! See you on the flippity flop.

Best,

Kat