“A magic school book, but make it queer”

Here’s what’s keeping me super-busy this month… Can you believe it’s been 15 years since Magic University hit the (digital) shelves? It feels like a different era of history. In 2010, Obama was president, the Kindle was still a newfangled thing, and Twitter still felt niche (at 40 million users). And the final Harry Potter…

Continue reading →

Arisia 2025 and Capricon 45 Schedules

I can hardly believe 2025 is already here, which means we are only a few weeks away from Arisia, the “big tent” science fiction/fantasy fan convention in Boston. Well, this year in Cambridge! And in early February I’ll be in Chicago for Capricon, as well. Arisia has relocated from their longtime home on the Boston…

Continue reading →

Cranberry Nut Bread “Fruitcake” Recipe

So I’m blogging this recipe so I don’t forget all the changes I made to this recipe, because there were enough of them that it was significant, and yet the overall vibe of the result was the same, I think? Jane Friedman had linked to the King Arthur “Orange-Cranberry Fruitcake” recipe in one of her…

Continue reading →

Writing and career news

Finally getting around to posting this update. I’ve been so busy with so much writing-related stuff, but not much actual writing… ! The biggest writing news this month is that I finally launched the Vanished Chronicles via Patreon. That’s right, after nearly 10 years of hearing me talk about it, and after the whole saga…

Continue reading →

Not my usual monthly update… (got married)

Yeah, so… biggest news of the week is that corwin and I got married. You might be surprised to find that, given all the romance I’ve written, I considered myself “anti-marriage.” I’ve never been anti-love, of course. I’ve always been a fan of soulmates finding each other. It was just “marriage” that made me itch….

Continue reading →

Duck Day 2024 Wrap-up & Picspam!

Bright colored booklets that say Duck Day 2024 with a small brass key dangling from each one.

Duck Day 2024: Foods & Dishes You Can’t Get Anymore Here we go, our annual Thanksgiving gourmet cooking extravaganza, in which we make no turkey, but do make duck. Each year with a different theme. This entire menu came about because when we sat down to plan this year’s theme and looked into our notes…

Continue reading →

Let’s Talk About Fear (and erotica)

Thinky Thoughts: Let’s Talk About Fear Welcome to the spookiest month of the year! I figure this is a great time for some thinky thoughts about fear—specifically how crucial fear is in erotic fiction. For me, at least. I was a fraidy cat as a child. I was one of those kids who would see…

Continue reading →

Now Available: The Blossoms of Summer erotic steampunk

Available for purchase almost anywhere books are sold, including: Porter Square Books (my local indie bookstore!) Powell’s! Amazon (ebook and paperback) Bookshop (paperback only) Barnes & Noble (ebook and paperback) Goodreads (to rate and review) The Blossoms of Summer by Cecilia Tan An erotic steampunk adventure novella, told in epistolary fashion, through letters and diary entries. A botanist…

Continue reading →