I don’t update this blog regularly any more, but I realised it might be a good idea to post some publishing updates. Here’s the first:

My novelette “Reconciliation Dumplings and Other Recipes” (c. 8,800 words) was published in GigaNotoSaurus in December 2023. Lake-dwelling demons, goblin bargains, and overcoming prejudice — wrapped around some delicious recipes that Actually Work because my collaborator Jari Haavisto and I tested them!

Snow defends us from darkness, blankets us against the demons. Summer is sweet, short and dangerous — in summer, the demons rise from the water. We must always be watchful. We must bring them offerings. But in winter, when the ice forms on the lake, the demons are trapped beneath the water and we have many months’ respite from fear.

Read “Reconciliation Dumplings and Other Recipes” here.

I love this story, and am really pleased it’s out in the world! Jari and I had a lot of fun testing the recipes. “Reconciliation Dumplings” was first conceived quite a while ago, and has been in the making for ages, so I don’t even remember how we did it — I think I came up with ideas for what kind of foods I wanted to write the recipe-stories about, and then Jari came up with the recipes. But it was a to-and-fro fluid process!

I always enjoy stories involving recipes even when the recipes themselves are more metaphorical/abstract, so it was great writing a story that has actually cookable/bakeable recipes!