Hippolyta Marie Siefker-Griep (Not recommended for peak productivity.)

Friends, an update has been a long time coming. The summer has flown in and past and through at a most alarming speed. After some whirlwind, post New Charity Blues launch travel, my get up and go got up and went. I gave my Easy Street staff the month off and bought a puppy. (She and Dutch are getting along swimmingly, but the puppy has a desire to work on the computer that would send most copyeditors into apoplexy.)

It hasn’t been all political conventions and bon bons, though. I’ve been helping to launch Prison Renaissance, a collaborative non profit aimed at breaking cycles of incarceration. I’ve been catching up on Easy’s submission queue and reading contest work from The Lascaux Review. I’ve even been reading for fun! (I’m in the middle of Annie Proulx’s Barkskins for those keeping track.)

I spent a bit of time last weekend chatting with my dear friend Sarah Meckler-Tate, who now runs the lovely Golden State Media Concepts Book Review Podcast. I talked so much they had to give me two episodes. The first is available via iTunes now and the second should be up next week. It’s always exciting to talk about writing, but getting to talk to a friend about writing takes a lot of pesky nerves from the equation.

I’m also working on my latest book project, Virgie’s Guide to Hell. Re-entering the world of satire via a contemporary hellscape has been a lot of fun so far. We’ll see where it takes us. Onward to August, no doubt where I’m headed to the sweltering Midwest for a wedding, skipping Worldcon, but then it’s on to the Montana Book Fest, some time with friends in Oklahoma, and World Fantasy in Columbus. I hope to see some of you along the way. As always, thanks for reading. xo