六

Author

MK Hardy
October 01, 2023

Beyond all odds, it is now October. On the one hand, it’s the start of spooky season, and the month of E’s birthday. On the other, it’s another month darker, another month colder. It’s almost as if nothing in this world is ever fully good or bad.

Onwards.

What we’ve been writing:

For the first time in ages I’m not sure we wrote a single word this month. We went on submission with The Needfire at the beginning of September, and it’s been a distracting time! Plus work has hit full-force with the start of the academic year so September has been very light on words.

An exciting bit of news is that we’ve had a story accepted for the upcoming Shadows on the Water anthology by Flame Tree Press! Our story, To the Sea, is a bleak but ultimately hopeful (we hope) tale about trying to find your place in the world, striving against the tide of human-led environmental change, and selkies. We can’t wait to read all the other wonderful stories we’re sharing a ToC with!

What we’ve been reading:

This month has been a bit more successful in the reading department (possibly due to needing distractions!), and E consumed the following:

  • Ghosted by Jenn Ashworth, which was intimated to be a speculative literary book which ended up being not at all speculative. Still a good read but c’mon people, gimme some ghosts!!

  • Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, which I have already enthused about on several social medias. It’s sharp and propulsive with some truly excellent character work, and due to an inaccurate spoiler I had a really interesting experience towards the end of the book which really heightened the themes for me.

  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was another where I was expecting the speculative elements to be a bit more ‘out there’ (I mean, there’s an octopus POV!) but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

  • The Freeze-frame Revolution by Peter Watts was a really clever sci-fi set up playing with the expansive timespans only possible with deep space settings. It’s novella-length, which made it a quick read, but I actually would love to see it expanded!

  • I’m partway through The Bone Ships by RJ Barker and really loving it - classic fantasy with a nautical twist. I’ve never read Barker before but I’ll definitely be checking out his other books in future.

  • I stalled halfway through Saint Death’s Daughter - which is very engagingly written and incredibly creative. I got frustrated with the slowness of the plot, but it’s likely a me problem rather than a problem with the book, so I’ll revisit it in the future.

Links:

Mushroom of the month

Not that there haven’t been mushrooms this month, but we’re going to digress a little to feature another foraging favourite - that’s right, it’s bramble season!

Wild brambles in various stages of ripeness

For a brief time - usually only a few weeks - the hedgerows around us sport glossy, juicy berries. At first it feels like you’ll never be able to pick them all, but before long they’re gone, leaving you nostalgic for the sharp, sweet taste of autumn. Many people make them into jam, but in the MK Hardy household we turn our foraged finds into Crème de mûre.

It’s a simple and satisfying recipe that varies depending on who you ask (here’s a good one to start with) - basically smash up your berries and combine the mess with a bottle of good red wine and let it macerate for a few days; strain and combine the liquid with a whole lot of sugar and vodka or gin, and then let it sit for a bit to mellow and meld. It can last up to a year properly stored (more if the bottles are sterilised and sealed) and makes a great gift… if you can resist drinking it all yourself.

That’s all from us - until next month!