New things are never simple + preorders and an interview

School is starting. Every parent you know just got a headache and/or ran off to add something to a list and/or preemptively purchase cold and flu medicine.

There are a lot of moving parts involved with parenting. But the start of the school year has extra gears, which are even more prone to breaking down that the usual machinery of child-rearing. There are supply lists, pre-school jitters, back-to-school respiratory viruses, no wait you had the wrong supply list here's the correct one, and transportation logistics.

It sort of feels like starting a new writing project.

I've got notes and to-dos in half a dozen places, three things I forgot to write down but that are very important, and the characters (children) have their own ideas about what should happen once the story (school) begins.

At least I know how to get the writing organized.

In news that doesn't make me look like a chicken played by Alan Tudyk: New Year, New You – the speculative fiction anthology kickstarted by/starring my Viable Paradise class of 2023 – is available for preorder, live on Goodreads, all the things! Plus, check out these great interviews with contributing author and top-tier roommate Julie Danvers, our fearless leader Chris Campbell, and, uh, me.

If you haven't yet, consider pre-ordering the anthology, which includes some of the most talented young writers I've had the privilege to read, plus short fiction by Elizabeth Bear and Daryl Gregory! Don't be a dumb chicken, buy this book.