A Writer's Life: Just Add Coffee

Writer, poet (7-time Rhysling Award nominee), editor, fairy godmother, nerd, wielder of sarcasm, coffee vampire. Supergirl meets Buffy meets Gilmore Girls. she/her

[always-coffee]

Welcome New Followers!

Since there are quite a few new folks popping in, I figured I’d say hi! I’m a poet, editor, word-nerd, and unapologetic coffee addict. I read tarot cards, and I never met a dog I didn’t want to hug. Or cat. Look, if it’s got four legs and a tail, I’m gonna wanna hug it.

If you’re interested in reading more of my poetry, there is a lot of it up for free online. I’ll link to the free ones below! If you like the poems, and you’re able to, support the mags that pubbed them. But either way, I hope you enjoy the work.

“Six of Swords Becomes The Emperor” in Uncanny.

“Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness” in The Deadlands.

“Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” in Uncanny.

“The Empress Chides the Hermit” in Small Wonders.

“Temperance and The Devil, Reversed” in Uncanny.

“When the Wraith Smiles” in Nightmare.

“The Heart Sings a Siren” in Mermaids Monthly.

“After The Tower Falls, Death Gives Advice” in Uncanny.

“A Meeting Place” and “Secret Keeping” in Mermaids Monthly.

“Of Monsters I Loved” in Uncanny.

“The Devil You Know” in Strange Horizons.

“Athena Holds Up a Mirror to Strength” in Uncanny.

“Three of Swords, King of Cups” in Fireside.

“The Magician Speaks to The Fool” in Uncanny.

“The Year We Got Rid of Our Ghosts” in Uncanny.

“Lorelei” in Uncanny.

“A Lovesong From Frankenstein’s Monster” in Uncanny.

“The Persecution of Witches” in Uncanny.

“From the High Priestess to the Hanged Man” in Uncanny.

Bonus: A Q&A I did with Asimov’s, after the published one of my poems.

[always-coffee]

Reblogging to add my latest:

"The High Priestess Writes a Love Letter to The Magician" in Uncanny.

[biglawbear]

I finished reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time in my life. With all of *vague gesture at everything* this going on.

I Am Not Okay

[biglawbear]

You have to understand. I watched the movies maybe once as a kid when they came out twenty years ago. I've somehow avoided learning like anything about these books my entire life. Literally everything about these books was a complete unknown and surprise to me. Totally blank slate going on. I barely even knew how it ended.

Holy shit.

[biglawbear]

Frodo didn't complete his task. Sam literally carried him up Mount Doom. And when he got to the end, he couldn't throw the Ring away.

But for Gollum biting it off with his finger, it wouldn't have been destroyed.

So Frodo's journey saved the world nonetheless.

And it broke him.

It was too much for him to bear. He could no longer live in the Shire or live in Middle-Earth. He wasn't of the world anymore. He had to go to the Undying Lands.

He took on the task that no one else would. He saved the world. Everyone got a happy ending. Aragorn became King, Sam rebuilt the Shire, Merry and Pippin became heroes. They all lived in renown.

But Frodo had the hardest task of all. No one else would do it. A simple hobbit who came by the Ring by chance. Not a King, not an immortal. Not a wizard. No power save his will and his friends. And he did it and saved everyone.

And he never got to rest. He never got to remain in peace. The task destroyed him. It was too much.

But there was no other way. Nobody but a simple hobbit could bear the ring all the way to Mount Doom and resist its power so long. Not a man, not an elf, not a wizard; they would have succumbed. Gandalf knew this, which was why he chose the hobbits in all his designs.

It's amazing that one of the precedent setting works in the fantasy genre holds up so well because it subverts what ultimately became the genre's core tropes. The hero was not the King, or a chosen one. In fact, the hero not being the King was a key point that allowed Aragorn to distract Sauron and allow the task in the first place. The hero was someone unassuming but courageous, who did the thing because no one else would, even though it was just by chance he came upon it.

But Frodo couldn't resist the Ring completely. He wasn't superior to anyone else in that way. And in the end it left him broken. The burden crushed him. No one else could do it, and in the end, he couldn't either. He wasn't so special that he was invulnerable.

I'm not okay. Holy fuck you guys.

[biglawbear]

It's been a week and I'm still not over this, I'll never get over this.

Something that I've been thinking about, as I struggle with depression and anxiety and *another vague gesture at everything* is that LOTR does not criticize Frodo for being broken. It does not shame him or deny him what he needs.

The task was too much and it broke him and that's okay. His friends nonetheless take care of him and let him go with understanding. The book doesn't treat it as a bad thing.

This seems to be a theme throughout the books. The characters rest and heal. They spend time recovering in Rivendell, Fangorn, Lorien, Ithilien. It's treated as good and necessary. They don't heroically endure endless torment from the second they set out until they're done.

And in Gondor's march from Minas Tirith to Mordor, Aragorn recognizes that some of the very few men he's taking with him don't have the heart to go to battle against the Enemy. And he says that's okay. He gives them other tasks the they can do. They hold other strategic points. They aren't shamed for not going all the way, or kicked out, or told that they aren't manly or whatever. Their limitations are recognized and respected. The task was too big and it was okay that they couldn't do it.

I don't know man. I've held on through some absolutely crazy shit. White knuckled through mental health crises when my doctors were begging me to take a break, to go to the hospital before I hurt myself. My therapist has tried to slow me down and tell me that I've been going through it and it's understandable that I am feeling some kind of way. Even one of my colleagues remarked that I've had an absolutely fucking wild career and that I've seen more as a lawyer of seven years than she has as a lawyer of forty. But I've gotten it into my head that I have to be strong, I have to be independent.

Fuck me, man, I'm currently white knuckling through life and hanging on by a fucking thread. A few weeks ago I was about an hour away from checking myself in to a mental health facility until my best friends swooped in to help me. And then I went right back to work.

And then I read this book. This fucking brilliant and beautiful book written by a man who had seen the horrors of war and spilled it all over the page. And I read it for the first time as an adult with full understanding and experience of what it all means. And it hits me like a fucking truck.

And it says that you can't endure everything. That at some point you need to rest and heal. That if you take on too much you will break. And that all of that is okay.

How am I supposed to move on with my life after reading this?

[three--rings]

Certainly there are many messages within Lord of the Rings, but you have to think that Tolkien would have been happy that this message in particular was still being conveyed all these years later.

[gremlininho]

then & now ♡

[amarguerite]

Person who has burned too much midnight oil: Hunh I wonder why I am out of oil at noon on a Wednesday. It surely cannot be the consequences of my actions from the past month

[always-coffee]

Rude. Fair, but rude.

[monstermonger]

Friend in an alleyway | my wife sent me this photo the other day and said "you HAVE to draw this." and I agreed completely <:

[monstermonger]

oops I was told you can only see the photo if you have a bsky account, so here's a screenshot of it!

[canipleasehavefood]

[srsfunny]

Masha The Hero

[asryakino]

They forgot the part where the ambulance actually stopped to let the cat in

[booty-uprooter]

oh good I was worried

[dr-dendritic-trees]

What a good cat. What a kind cat. How can anyone not love cats they are so good and loving.

[squibbbly]

they also forgot the part where they only found the baby because masha was screaming her head off bc she knew this baby was in danger. she went around outside the alley the next morning and yelled at passerby until she got one to follow her to the baby. she kept him warm all night and then made sure someone found him. she was adopted after this bc she was a stray and is in a loving home and is a hero

[pon-raul]

Hero cat

[goaliesarethebest]

Thank you, Masha, you’re such a good girl.

[jenniferrpovey]

See.

Kittens can’t regulate their own body temperature. That’s why they pile up.

Cats see us as colony members.

Masha saw a kitten that was on its own, no mommy, no other kittens to cuddle with. She instinctively knew that was a cold kitten. She knew that a kitten alone on a cold night was very likely to die. Because a kitten would have died too.

So, all she was doing was what any good colony member does - protecting the abandoned kitten. Then when the abandoned kitten’s mommy didn’t come back, she called the rest of the colony for help.

People have this bizarre idea that housecats don’t have a social sense. They do, and it saved this kid’s life. And possibly Masha’s too, as life on the streets is dangerous for a kitty.

We say “good dog” all the time, but Masha was being a very, very good cat…not just by human moral standards but by feline ones.

[cricketcat9]

Rebloging again because who can resist Masha the Hero cat 😻😻😻

[always-coffee]

This made me cry in the good way. Cats are great.

[omgthatdress]

Two words: QUEEN. SHIT.

[fuckyeahfightlock]

[gothiccharmschool]

STEVIE! Iconic.

[erinmorgenstern]

The Folio Society edition of The Night Circus, illustrated by Cristina Bencina

[erinmorgenstern]

Prints of Cristina Bencina's Night Circus illustrations are available on INPRNT!

[erinmorgenstern]

The Folio Society edition of The Starless Sea, illustrated by Cristina Bencina

[gaileyfrey]

God help me but I made a video to talk about two things I hate. Go to action.everylibrary.org/callhr7661 and get to work so I never have to do this shit again 🙏

[myjetpack]

My latest cartoon for New Scientist

[lizleeillustration]

Couldn't help myself; Crowley's blond streaks give me life

(Don't repost, but please support me if you can!)

[always-coffee]

Anyway, hi.

[emmaharwoods]

photos by the artemis ii crew

[a-mel0n]

reblog if you’ve had an online friendship that’s lasted more than 2 years

[always-coffee]

Pretttttty sure one of my oldest and dearest online friendships is 26 years and going strong.

[mothernaturenetwork]

Coyote finds old dog toy, acts like a puppy A photographer spotted a coyote as it trotted into her yard and explored a toy left in the snow. What she managed to capture on camera is the beauty of play.