Christmas Surprises

So, I've been working on a bit of a surprise for you guys. Check back on December 1st to find out what it is :) I'll give you a hint: it has to do with writing. I hope you'll like it!

An Ice-cold Story

The latest issue of Portti magazine is out, and my story "Kylmempi kuin jää" (Colder than ice) with it

Check out the illustrations, pretty cool, right? (Pun intended :))

A Letter From Santa

I just have to share this. The Finnish postal service is offering something special this year: a letter from Santa Claus. Best of all, you can order it from anywhere in the world. Here's the info from the Posti online store:

 

A letter from Santa Claus - What a great gift! 

Receiving a personal letter is a special occasion for any child. If the letter should come from Santa Claus himself, it will obviously be extra special. 

Santa Claus writes his letters at Santa Claus’ Post office. Each letter is sealed with a Christmas stamp and with the Arctic Circle postmark. 

With each letter, Santa Claus will enclose a certificate of niceness and a postcard to colour in. 

The letters are available in 13 different languages, so you can surprise children or friends all over the world. The letter is personalised, addressing the recipient by his/her first name. 

Place your orders to European countries by December 7th and other countries as early as December 1st. Orders to Finland can be placed by December 14th. 

The language options for the letter are Finnish, Swedish, English, German, Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Dutch and recently also in Portuguese and Polish!

How cool is that? This will make quite a few little ones very happy.

Blade Runner 2049

I took a break from baby stuff to see the new Blade Runner movie. Considering that Blade Runner is one of my all time favourites, I was a bit apprehensive about the new film, but I loved it! The movie captures the strange, dreamlike feel of the original but still feels fresh. So many movies nowadays are chock full of action and incomprehensible plot twists just for the sake of having them, no matter if they fit the story or not. This movie has An Actual Plot with Actual Complex Characters and it takes the time to tell the story, lets it breathe. There are enough nods to the original Blade Runner to keep the fans happy, but you could enjoy the film even if you haven't seen the original. And I love the fact that this is actually an independent sequel, not a remake, or a remake masquerading as a sequel (Star Wars, I'm looking at you. How many times can you blow up a Death Star anyway?).

So, great movie. Definitely go see it if you like the original. 

Greetings From Babyland

The coolest baby gift of all time: a Cthulhu puppet! You can stick your fingers into the tentacles and make them move. 

Yep, still alive, though it's been awhile since I had the energy to write a blog post. The Babe is finally sleeping for more than a few hours at a time, which means I'm no longer in survival mode. (You know Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? There's a reason why sleep is one of the essentials.) We're settling into a routine and I'm trying to get an hour of writing time a day, because I'm getting that antsy feeling that happens when I go for too long without it. Apart from the constant freakouts about keeping the baby alive (Is she still breathing? She's isn't sleeping? OMG, is she sick?/She's STILL sleeping? Now she must be sick! What does whooping cough sound like? Is baby poop supposed to be green?) this stay-at-home-mom gig isn't too bad: lots of Netflix marathons and reading in addition to feeding the baby and changing diapers. 

And what about writing? Well, I didn't get much done over the summer, mostly because my focus was on the baby and I was pretty tired towards the end. I did enter a few stories in the Nova competition, but they didn't make the cut. (I'm not surprised, they weren't my best work, not original enough.) The story I wrote for the Portti competition is still in the rough draft stage, so I didn't enter this year at all. For Writers of the Future, I missed the June deadline, but I managed to edit the story I was supposed to enter then for the last quarter. Oh, and I got the certificate for the Silver Honourable Mention in the mail from a previous quarter, yay!  

The English Cosmos Pen issue  turned out really nice and came out at Worldcon, and the Varjojen lumo anthology is also out. I learned a lot from the editing process and really enjoyed participating in this project.

The online writing courses I was supposed to participate in during the summer also fell by the wayside. I was just too tired. But maybe it's better to know your limits rather than try to do too much. There will be other courses, and I can always go back and watch the lectures if I have the energy. On the other hand I participated in a one-day writing course in Tampere in the spring, and I'm happy I got to do that. 

Even if this year turns out to be a dry spell writing-wise, life's pretty great right now. Long walks in the crisp autumn air with The Babe sleeping in her stroller, a new Blade Runner movie and the new season of Stranger Things to look forwards to, and artisanal breads from the very hipster-y new bakery that opened just around the corner from where I live, what's not to love? And I'm no longer pregnant. I can have brie again. And sushi, and a gin and tonic once in a while. And Finnish salt liquorice, salmiakki. Oh salmiakki, I missed you most of all!

The blog will probably be a bit quiet, but I'll try to check in once in a while. 

Okay, The Babe is making her pooping face again, and I have to go change her. See you guys later!

Varjojen Lumo is Out!

The Varjojen lumo anthology, including my story "Kun nokkoset kukkivat," is out, just in time for Halloween :) I got my contributor copies a few weeks ago and I love the cover! 

If you want to check it out, the book is available here: http://www.vaskikirjat.fi/varjojenlumo.html

The Tiny Alien Has Landed

Yep, she's finally here! Turns out giving birth is a lot like the chestburster scene from Alien, except that when you're done they wipe off the gore and expect you to take the little critter home with you. (John Hurt could probably have used an epidural, am I right?)

Gotta go, the little one is screaming for her mothership.

The milk must flow.