Ash Vale Updates: June 2025
goodbye Pride, hello WRATH
Man, it’s getting harder to gatekeep-gaslight-girlboss my way through writing these newsletter intros, but here we are.
For a small win here in my province, the provincial court has granted a temporary injunction against an anti-trans bill that our shitfuck government passed a little while ago! While it’s not a permanent win, it does give some hope that the court case might rule in favour of trans kids getting care they deserve. Happy pride (for now).
Also, because I’m so proud and can’t shut up about it, here’s a picture of my raised bed in all its glory! My partner said “this is what happens when you don’t just garden on vibes” and I took that personally, but it does seem to be correct, damn it.
this is my raised garden bed this year! tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, squash, melon (maybe) and carrots.
Writing
Out Now
My first bit of published poetry ever is free to read online now at Moist Poetry Journal!!! This was for their “Summer Riot” theme which I love, and this one felt very fitting.
In Progress
I’ve cracked 35k words on novel draft 2, which in theory was my halfway point, but on my reverse outline I’m only about 2/5 of the way through so the whole thing will likely be closer to 80k than I first envisioned. That’s okay though! There are some scenes that badly needed re-writing, and also spots where I changed something important so there needed to be more context. More words is good until I ruthlessly destroy them later 😋
My Recs
Books
I’m clutching this book in my hands, trying to catch your eye on the train, trying to make you take our your airpod so that I can proselytise to you about Metal from Heaven by august clarke. This isn’t the best book I’ve ever read; it has pacing issues, and enough content that it could have been a trilogy but is instead a standalone. But the thing is, I don’t care, because I’ll be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. The prose borders on purple but it’s delicious and toothy. The story is a wild, fever dream trek that starts with union-busting violence, careens headlong into lesbian train bandits and anti-imperialist treachery, and ends with a possibly-environmentalist takedown of capitalism as a whole. This is the gay, bloody, painful fantasy western of my dreams.
Short Stories/Poems
Just two recs this month, it’s been a busy one!
Bone-Eater Earth by Emma Burnett (Uncharted magazine) is a delightfully weird and gross little story. The 1% are experiencing a new illness of the wealth—Mother Earth starts eating their bones right out of their bodies. The narrator details how they’re trying to spend all their money and organise the tech bros into solving the issue, but nothing is quite as persistent as Nature when you’ve royally pissed it off.
Come F*** Yourself, by Sylvie Althoff (Inner Worlds magazine) is a what-if sci-fi story of what might happen if Grindr was replaced by getting to make an actual clone of yourself that you, um…well, it’s in the title. What sounds like pure comedy is actually a darker examination of humanity and AI, and corporate dealings in both topics.
Something Extra
No one is illegal on stolen land. Fuck ICE, borders are imaginary, and ACAB, always ❤️ (and thank you to my friend Taylor who posted this on her IG!)
