August 2023 Recap: Whirlwind Travel, Broadway & Charlaine Harris

Hello, dear readers, and welcome to Spooky Season!

As we move into Fall, I'm resurrecting the blog. Expect fun news, announcements, reflections, and other exclusive content, as well as monthly recaps right here–starting, not surprisingly, with the August recap!

Calling August a whirlwind month is an understatement. In sum, we traveled 15 states–from San Francisco, CA alllll the way across the southern half of the US and then up the Eastern Seaboard to NYC. 

For our first stop, Finn and I drove up to Pennsylvania and The Highlights Foundation for the Western Connecticut State MFA Summer Residency. We had a phenomenal week working with students, reading and learning, and enjoying live readings from students and other visiting authors, as well as spending lots of time being surrounded by good friends and beautiful nature (check out the pics on Instagram!). From there, we flew to San Francisco and started making our way back east. Along the way, we *finally* got a chance to check out Bone Haus Brewing, a boutique craft brewery I invested in a few years back. When I was first introduced to the company, I fell in love with their branding and art, but after spending time on location, the beer is pretty darn good, too! (My personal fave is the Hilton's Hollow Marshmallow Porter–yum!) Take a gander around the brewery: Porter

Afterward, we took a short trip off-route and headed down to Tombstone, AZ, where we did some sight-seeing (and some fun research!). We brunched at Big Nose Kate's Saloon, visited The Bird Cage Theater, and came home with LOTs of trinkets.

All this time in the Old West made for the perfect backdrop to chat with Charlaine Harris about her brand new book (and the fifth installment in her Gunnie Rose series), ALL THE DEAD SHALL WEEP. 

As Rue Morgue's author-in-residence, I have the great privilege of interviewing many amazing authors and creators, but getting a few minutes of one-on-one time to chat with Charlaine was a special treat. Not only is she an inspiring and engaging storyteller, she's an incredibly sweet lady practically powdered in Southern charm and good humor.  

We chatted about writing, about reading, and of course about Gunnie Rose, both the new book and the series. The book is available now, and you can read the exclusive interview on Rue Morgue.

All that time on the road left little time for reading, but I recapped my favorite August new releases in a new monthly column at Rue Morgue - our tasty morsels list!

Highlights this month include new books from friends Daniel Kraus, Josh Malerman, and Catriona Ward, as well as new books from Kiersten White, Nick Cutter & Andrew Sullivan, and Danielle Valentine.

Check out the full list (with summaries) on ​Rue Morgue.

Our last stop of the month, after a quick jaunt by my university to kick off fall semester with grad student orientation and after a quick stop at an upcoming new film studio locale in Hoboken, we made it into NYC for one thing and one thing only. 

*Insert primal yell* GROBAN! Specifically, Groban as Sweeney Todd in the Broadway production of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET. I simply cannot tell you how incredible this experience was! We dressed up, we paid too much for merch and snacks, and we cried during "Johanna." Josh Groban and the entire cast did a phenomenal job, and naturally we can straight home and watched Tim Burton's version of the same play, because why not?

By the end of the month, we were home and back to work, and I'll be spending all of September wrapping up one novel and working on the sequel to BLESS YOUR HEART. I'm wrapping up edits on not one but TWO upcoming anthologies, and working on a number of small pieces, blurbs, and other end-of-year projects, before ramping up for 2024.

That's it for now! Happy September, and remember, Halloween is only 57 days away!
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Currently Reading: THE INVISIBLE HOUR by Alice Hoffman