Sign in Subscribe

A list of things for February 2024

By Jen Myers —
A bright pink orchid against long green leaves and a mossy wooden lattice

Every year, I promise myself that I'll defeat February, and, every year, February ends up at least mildly defeating me. I felt particularly overtaxed this past month— although largely for good reason, because I added to my regular load of job, parenting, and part-time school the process of buying a home, which is famously a super chill activity with little in the way of frustration or stress. It's going well, though. And I did some genuinely chill things, like going to look at orchids at the botanic garden, as illustrated above. And now February is done.

Here is a list of things from the month gone by.

  1. I posted one list of things I've recently read, watched, and/or listened to: Recently 16 February.
  2. My little horror film podcast released two episodes about folk horror films on a certain theme, unmentioned here for the sake of avoiding grievous spoilers: Robin Redbreast and Crone Wood.
  3. I have not yet published my customary list of horror writing markets for March, but it's coming.
  4. As I continue to read books about walking, I'm now into Rebecca Solnit's Wanderlust. She writes: “Many people nowadays live in a series of interiors—home, car, gym, office, shops—disconnected from each other. On foot everything stays connected, for while walking one occupies the spaces between those interiors in the same way one occupies those interiors. One lives in the whole world rather than in the interiors built up against it.”
  5. In case you missed it, I have a short story in the January issue of Black Petals, a dark, supernatural noir called "The Illustrated Woman." Perhaps you'll like reading it.
  6. Nick Cave's advice to those asking him about lack of inspiration to create: “These are perilous and urgent times. This is not the hour to sit around moaning about the condition of the world — leave that to the posturing inhabitants of that most morbidly neurotic of spaces, social media — and nor is it the moment to fruitlessly wait for inspiration to find us. It’s time to get to work, to reach up and tear the divine idea from its heavenly cradle and proffer it to the world.”

As I often do this time of year, I'm taking a brief social media break. If you want to catch up with me when I come back, I'll be over on Bluesky. You can reach me until then, and forever after, until the world and/or email ends, by email at [email protected].

Thank you for reading! I'm grateful for you. 🖤