Episodes
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I think that's a wrap...
Dear Reader, I have loved sharing and connecting with you through this epistolary project. It gave me a much-needed creative outlet during a very weird time in my life, and it helped me explore my queer identity and engage with some really challenging topics in a disarmingly whimsical sort of...
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I have a cold, and We Could Be So Good
Dear Reader, I’ve come down with some kind of summer cold, so I hope you’ll bear with me if I start wandering off into fever dream territory. I’m feeling a little loopy. M and I were at Electric Forest last weekend, which was its own kind of fever dream experience but all in a good way. Even the...
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It's another happy April, and an artist recommendation
Dear Reader, I took the title of this letter from a Greg Brown song, Sleeper, with no deeper significance intended beyond being a reference to April, and also I happened to recently be giving that album a re-listen. (If there was a way to read exposure to song lyrics via brain scan, I bet my...
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A little love and a little rage, civil rights and a unicorn
Dear Reader, I’ve been in my new place about two weeks now, and it’s all starting to feel a little more settled. I’ve got art on my walls. I know where to find the eggs and cream and Ezekiel bread at my neighborhood grocery store. My cat has mapped out the coziest napping spots for each part of…
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On what grounds us, Rebel Kings, and Leather & Chrome
Dear Reader, One of the convenient things about writing this letter electronically is ease of editing. Normally. But I’m finding that this particular letter is a little unruly. Something of a weird ramble. I thought about pulling it to pieces and starting over again, but you know what? Screw it....
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Another shooting; the importance of kindness; and Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots
Dear Reader, I’m sure you heard the news that last Saturday five people were killed and 17 were injured at ClubQ in Colorado Springs. If you visit ClubQ’s website, you’ll find a note that they’re closed until further notice, but you can also find their regular dinner menu. ClubQ has a menu…
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Writing progress and ramblings on gender
Dear Reader, It has been an odd couple of weeks. I wrapped up my old job at the start of this month and had a nice send-off lunch with my former coworkers. Now I’m working on getting used to being unemployed writing full time. So far the strangest thing about being unemployed writing full time is…
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On change, and the love of a good potato
Dear Reader, Just a short letter this time. This week I am marking a new chapter in my life. I am leaving my very stable, steady, conventional job to … well, to make art. To write and explore my creative brain, and wash off the thick dust of years of disuse. It’s exhilarating and a bit terrifying...
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Art and intention, and Necessary Evils
Dear Reader, I have a confession to make: I hate writing. I mean, I also love writing. It’s definitely a love-hate relationship. But as a creative person, writing was not my first love. Probably not even my ninth or tenth. As a kid, I loved to draw and paint and sew, to make art and weird crafty...
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Let's watch a movie, and At Home
Dear Reader, I just read a scene in a romance novel where one character invites the other back to his place, despite being very omg-first-time-with-a-man nervous, and the other character notices the nervousness and suggests that they watch a movie. And it suddenly occurred to me for the first…
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Who f--- who in the patriarchy, and some geek love
Dear Reader, I really wanted to send you another letter before the month was out, and now it’s the last day of August, and my thoughts are still pretty scattered. Oh well! I’ve been working on a cheeky and ambitious thesis that I like to call “Who Fucks Who In the Patriarchy.” I may return to…
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Meaning and luck and magic, and some vacation reading
Dear Reader, I was having a conversation with my mom the other day about how a cute house I’ve long admired just went up for sale, and she very sweetly said, “Ooh, do you want to buy it? Maybe it’s meant to be.” And I said, “I don’t believe in meant to be.” And then I flipped her the bird and…
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Slept on nettles again, and For Real
Dear Reader, Hope you’re well. Has it been hot where you are? Are you staying safe? Me, I’ve been on something of an unreasonably grumpy kick. For … well, a few years now, but with a particular resurgence in the last couple weeks. There are many things to be reasonably grumpy about, but then...
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On what we think we think, and consequences, and You & Me
Dear Reader, If you haven’t noticed, I’m an overthinker by nature. This has been a hell of a week for it. One thing I think about a lot is the way that we think about how we think about what we think we think about. That is, there’s what you actually think about, the whole mess of your…
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On Frederick Douglass; what we love; and The Love Study
Dear Reader, Happy Juneteenth to you. This week I was reading up a little on Frederick Douglass, and I want to share this quote, which I think is appropriate for the holiday and which also applies equally well in the context of Pride Month: Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did…
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On worst case scenarios, or not, and One Last Stop
Dear Reader, I was talking to a coworker last week about mental health in the workplace, managing personal ups and downs and how that affects being able to show up the way that you want to. They were talking about wanting to pursue new opportunities but also worrying about falling flat on their...
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On lemonade, I guess, and the Will Darling Adventures
Dear Reader, I am writing to you on a rainy Wednesday evening. I had tuna casserole for dinner (affectionately known in my family as “tuna noodle glop”) and shared some tuna with my cat, who is small and kindly and very dumb, who I love very much. I am now drinking a modest glass of the…
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A little light music, but first, werewolves
Dear Reader, I have been a little too much in my own head with trying to come up with something clever for you. Part of my brain lately has been taken over by work stuff, which is mostly not that interesting unless you work on the same stuff. Another part of my brain has been preoccupied with...
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Uncanny beauty, and The Mystery of Nevermore
Dear Reader, I’ve been chasing around some related-unrelated thoughts around beauty culture and, like, performative beauty, and the cultural dialogues around those things. And before I wade in, it’s probably worth noting that this is all a foreign fucking land to me. I find it fascinating in the...
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A new chapter and A Room with a View
Dear Reader, In my regular work life, this past week marked our official return to the office. My workplace is one of those that’s trying out a partial in-office, partial work-from-home model. So I will be going into the office two days a week, and it’s a roll of the dice whether those two days...
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Love wins, and Looking for Group
Dear Reader, I have spent the last week processing a swell of primal rage over a comment tweeted by some right-wing asshat. This asshat was described as a business person who lost his recent campaign for public office, but I’ve forgotten his name and I’m not going to go looking for it because he...
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THE STEAMY: On joy and patience; An Unseen Attraction; and a bookbinding experiment
Dear Reader, As my corner of the world teeters on the brink of spring, and as I am yearning to start getting outside in the sunshine, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about bodily joy—that species of physical joy in movement, in sensation, in exertion, even in exhaustion. From a conventional...
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My reason is I love you, and A Little Light Mischief
Dear Reader, You ought to know that this is shaping up to be a more regular correspondence than I have managed to keep up in … well, ever. In fact I have a very long history of being a very poor pen pal, or returner of phone calls, or replier to emails. Also a very inconsistent blogger and a...
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THE STEAMY: What's whose name, how long does a charge last, and a not-review
Dear Reader, I don’t have a proper book review for you today, and I’ll tell you why. The short answer is, I found I didn’t really want to keep reading the book I was reading. But the long answer (because you know there’s gonna be a long answer) is really about my expectations as a romance reader,...
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Life as a romance novel, and The Forgotten Dead
Dear Reader, I started writing about burnout and self-care, and the more I wrote, the more I thought, “No, this is garbage, no one needs to read this.” So we’re not doing that this week. I really love that about writing. I like that about the process. I like that later I can go back, read what I...
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THE STEAMY: What is sex? and loving The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes [Explicit]
Dear Reader, I’m going to start by telling you a love story. It will sound familiar. Maybe I should say the love story. It goes like this: Boy meets girl. (Or, person meets person.) They find that they like each other. They kiss. They fall in love. This love is the most important thing in the...
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Strange journeys; and A Lady for a Duke, the queer historical romance of my dreams
Dear Reader, When I was in college, I studied abroad a semester in Finland. I packed two very large bags, one a soft-sided carry-on that converted to a backpack and the other a very large duffel bag. (They were brand new, chosen by me, and I had firmly rejected anything with wheels. I’d rather...
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Audio of THE STEAMY, Vol. 4 - On intimacy and butts, and a little love for Jay Hogan [Explicit]
This is an audio version of the original newsletter: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sapiosexualloveletter.substack.com
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Audio of Vol. 3 - Mmmmm brains... and a book with magicians and another with ghosts
This is an audio version of the original newsletter: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sapiosexualloveletter.substack.com
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Audio of THE STEAMY, Vol. 2.1 - New release from Charlie Novak, Finding Finn [Explicit]
This is an audio version of the original newsletter: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sapiosexualloveletter.substack.com
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Audio of Vol. 2 - This moment in the world; gay rocks; and reviewing (sort of) a new release and an old one
This is an audio version of the original newsletter: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sapiosexualloveletter.substack.com
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Audio of Vol. 1 - A Love Letter to My Grandmother, and in love with Husband Material
This is an audio version of the original newsletter: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sapiosexualloveletter.substack.com