I woke up with pain under my right shoulder blade. It's an old Wii Just Dance injury that I revive every few months while sleeping awkwardly. My husband pulls out our trusty muscle massager and massages the injured part of my back for a few minutes, our tradition after these hard mornings. We talk about a host of things during this time: mostly the decimation of the Voting Rights Act, where we would move, and what would need to happen to make it so.

At the end of the Black Book Bash, a group of creators sat and ate one last meal together. Each of them ordered some variation of meals they enjoyed throughout the weekend, hoping to maintain the good vibes now imbued in their lemon pepper wings, mimosas, cheesecakes, and burgers. They talked about the event and the successes they got: one author was able to clear up preconceived notions surrounding his book, another author was given career-changing introductions and advice, and the social media creators at the table made a pact to be more intentional and consistent. But one creator, yours truly, gained so much more.

“Heeeeeeyy…How ya’ll doing???” she says nervously as she plays with her hair, hoping her beloved community didn’t take offense to her unscheduled absence. It’s been a while, but as I reflect on my 37th trip around the sun today, I wanted to give some updates (and I finally found inspiration to write while doing my hair, go figure). 

My parents weren't particularly religious until it was time to place judgment on others. But that didn't stop my aunt from trying to convince me otherwise. I remember one of the few times she took me to her church. We woke up before sunrise to make a trek from Brooklyn to the Bronx to an old Baptist church that felt like it was carved into the side of a mountain. Yes, my favorite person in the world was a devout woman who attended church every Sunday, sang in the choir, cooked breakfast and lunch for the congregation, and assisted with church administration. And even she couldn't change my mind. But I always enjoyed going with her. Not for the religious experience, obviously. But to see how others interacted with religion. How do you get a God to pay attention to you and your troubles?

I chose this short story after a recent conversation about the author, Ken Liu. While sharing book recommendations and current reads, I said, "Dandelion Dynasty is the greatest series I never finished." In fact, The Wall of Storms is easily one of the top five books I have ever read. I wanted to convince myself to dive back into his writings, and for me, that means starting small with a comic or short story.

I have a new reading goal and want to share it with the world to find like-minded readers. For the foreseeable future, I want to read one speculative fiction short story, written by Black, Indigenous, and other Authors of Color every week and analyze them here! I have always loved short stories. As a reader, I naturally gravitate to shorter sotries (under 450 pages) because of my attention span and memory (If I'm not annotating, how am I supposed to remember the whole story!!).

Eve and the Faders has a complex, amazingly depicted main character in Eve Cooper. Eve is a queer woman in a Black polyamorous relationship, and I LOVED it so much. The couple (Eve, Zoe, and Gabriel) are not perfect, yet the authors explore the difficulties that can come with being in a poly relationship in a healthy way. Through Zoe and Gabriel, we experience jealousy and some insecurities regarding Eve and where she stands with the married couple. And at every turn, love and open communication conquers all of those negative emotions.

I wouldn't call myself an arc reader because I rarely get to them in time, but I have two arcs I will have read and reviewed before they release! It's the small wins in life that bring me joy these days. This first ARC is from Tor Books and is slated to be published on May 27, 2025. Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi is an exceptional postcolonial fantasy noir that follows a down-on-luck, biracial veteran determined to suss out the secrets of his segregated city while figuring out his identity and reconciling with his past actions.

This year, Tatiana is blessing us with the sequel to Sistah Samurai, titled Return of the Sistah Samurai: A Champloo Novel on Juneteenth, and I am so excited to share the cover with you here!!!

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