Issue 23: Kickstarters, comics, animation, and film fests!
Y’know what?
No, really, we’re asking because we don’t know.
Nothing makes sense in this world right now!
NEW STUFF
As you can see in the main image for this newsletter, one of the anthologies we’re in has been announced. Curiouser and Curiouser… Tales from Beyond is live on Kickstarter! It’s a prose collection of very adult short stories, most of them horror. Ours is a gentle little sci-fi piece called Finches, and it’s our very first published prose work. It’s got a lot of great creators involved, so back it and help make it happen!
And then tell us what you think of our story, hey?
The other upcoming comic anthology we’re in has also been announced! Witching Season is a horror comic collection stories about witches. We have a very trans story in it, with truly gorgeous art by the fabulous Rye Hickman.
We’ve hoped to someday work with them for a while, so it’s a total delight that we got paired together by the editor! This book is also absolutely jam packed with tons of amazing big names in comics, so you’re gonna get a great book. It’s not live yet, but its pre-launch page is up on Kickstarter, so sign up to be notified when it opens!
Thanks to everyone who came to our signing at the PRISM booth at Los Angeles Comic Con a couple weeks back! It’s always so lovely to meet folks who’re interested in our stuff and get to talk about it in person.
And thanks to everyone who came out to the “What can dystopian sci-fi tell us about our dystopian present?” panel! We had a really great discussion, and though our fellow panelists were lovely (two are close friends of ours!), the topic was heavy. But we examined things fairly well, we think, and found spots of hope in the darkness.
Art about the things we’re going through as a society right now is so important. It helps us examine how we got here, and can maybe show us the way out. That’s why, even in the dystopian fiction we write ourselves, it’s never grimdark. It’s never oppressive and bleak. It’s infused with humor and heart, and always with fighting for a better world we hope we can all create together.
Long Away played the Skate or Die Film Fest last weekend, where all the films were shown in a roller rink! We didn’t get sent any photos from attendees (were you there? do you have pics? let us know!) but someone did send this very nice comment about our short to Jewel Cavazos, who plays Leah!
![It just finished screening and I LOVED it. I love the setting and the symbolism of the ghost on the dads shirt and just everything about it. You were great in it too! Its my husbands favorite flick so far today. [three black heart emoji]](https://the-birdguest-broadcast.ghost.io/content/images/2025/10/CCE8C345-D6C6-4591-957D-AC0BC92F4339.jpeg)
Season two of Monster High is finally easily accessible on a screaming service! (that’s not a typo, the show is all about monstery puns. We know what we’re doing!) You can catch it on Paramount+!
We wrote six episodes for this season, “Two-riffic,” “Oh Rats,” and the hourlong Halloween special, “Monster Fest.” We’re super proud of them, so go watch!
“Monster Fest” is a superb way to celebrate Halloween, especially if you’ve got kids! And okay, yes, we’re biased.
But we’re also right! 😊
Oh! And, um…
Some mild spoilers spoilers spoilers for Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming issue 3...
Here’s the main cover!
Final order cutoff for this issue is October 13, so be sure you get those orders in to your local comic shop by then!
People had trouble finding copies of issue 1, which seem to have sold out quickly, so be sure you’ve got this one waiting for you!
Also that cover is only a mild spoiler, because… it’s not quite what you might think it is.
Do with that info what you will!
And for those of you who were following the fiasco of Amazon deplatforming and censoring Tilly’s book on the trans allegories of the Matrix films, the journalist who was looking into it released her article. It goes into all the different ways trans people are facing discrimination right now, and it’s an important read.
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
The IP we pitched on got picked up! It’s just a single one-shot story, but we get 30 pages so it’s like an issue and a half, which is nice! More when we can talk about it.
Still waiting to hear back on one original comic pitch an editor asked for (she asked for just a one page version, so we’re hoping it entices her enough to ask for the full pitch, we’d really love for one of our originals to finally get through somewhere).
And, sadly, one of our other original pitches that the editor asked for some revisions on… then got passed on by the same editor.
It suuuuuuuuucks, but that’s the business for you.
Still haven’t started scripting the new pilot yet, we’re still making more tweaks to the outline but… it’s imminent. No, really. It is.
Right after this new 30 page comic we have to outline and write.
We hope.
TRANS TUESDAY UPDATE
Recent Trans Tuesdays were about how difficult birthdays can be for trans people pre-transition, because it’s hard to celebrate being trapped in a waking death… and how weird it is when that all starts to change. This one includes a letter Tilly wrote to her younger self about what she went through as a kid. Podcast version here.
And then we talked about coming out for National Coming Out Day, and how it’s certainly celebratory but also can be incredibly scary and difficult, and nobody else gets to tell you how, when, or to whom you come out. Podcast version here.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Are you familiar with the October Daye books? No? Well let us tell you about them. They star the aforementioned October Daye, a changeling (half human, half fae) who is also a knight and who also solves crimes and also her magic involves a lot of bleeding. Like, everywhere and often. She heals fast though, don’t worry!
And this is the nineteenth book in the series. No, we’re not kidding. Seanan McGuire is a machine of a writer, which is a good thing, because that means more books, always more books, and yes we need more books please and thank you.
You can start with this book (someone actually did, and left a review on Amazon, and they said they were not lost!) but the first book is probably a better place to start, called Rosemary and Rue. The first two books are a little bit different than the rest as the book series finds its feet, but after that, it hits its stride. There’s a lot of good stuff about racism and classism and destiny and being who we want to be, and found family, and there are more queer relationships as the series goes along.
Also! If you’re a fan of audiobooks, Mary Robinette Kowal narrates almost all of them, and they are very comforting to listen to. Also also, the stuff about faerie is based in the actual mythology because the author is that kinda nerd, and now we know a lot of stuff we didn’t even realize we were learning. Recommended.
THE DIRTBAG DISPATCH
This dingus hates hates hates his eye medicine, and will run from us if he thinks it’s time for us to administer it. Even if we literally just put it in his eyes two minutes ago. Even if we’re just walking around innocently doing whatever, he’s become paranoid that it is medicine time.
So we started getting creative and referring to him as Meatball so he wouldn’t know we were talking about him, and despite his one braincell he’s now learned that means him. So he sort of chose that nickname for himself, but you know what? Apt.
Anyway, we’re having to get even more creative to fool him, because if a cat does not want to be caught, even in our tiny apartment, you are in for ten minutes of misery trying to catch them. We’re also trying to tell him he will get treats afterwards, because he definitely knows the word “treats.” And we have these off brand churu things that he really likes, so hopefully there will be some progress.
Izzy loves to sleep with us. A majority of nights she crawls under our blanket and spends the night alternating between snuggling with the two of us. Sometimes by our chest, or feet, or behind our knees. Sometimes she’ll be climbing over us and just fall back asleep mid climb, and will lay there draped over us, purring and snoozing. She’s such a little sweetheart.
Even little cat naps on the sofa are good by her, though she’s always happiest being under a blanket. In Los Angeles! In the hottest part of the year!
Girl is truly a California Cat.
WHAT’S IN THE BIG TIME?
Big Time issue 23 talks about being rewritten, and how in film, television, and animation, it’s part of the job by design. And that’s okay, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.
Sign up for it at birdguestbroadcast.com and help us pay rent and eat food and stuff!
THE END
This is the end of The Birdguest Broadcast issue 23.
Stop reading.
Well, after you read the links to our socials and follow us there. Then stop reading.
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