Greetings and welcome to a Reviews That Burn blog post by Robin, part of Books That Burn. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout.
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I have a few updates for everyone! They're all good things and have been a long time coming.
First, I now have a new microphone which is the correct type for the kind of recording I do! Previously I had a microphone which was ideal for recording two people's audio in the same physical space (despite that never being how I've recorded), now I have a microphone meant to just pick up one person's audio. This is exciting for several reasons, not the least of which is that it's now much faster for me to edit the audio whenever I record a blog post or essay, which lets me provide audio versions of posts more easily, and might mean I double-post more content as both audio and text.
Second, I'm excited to announce that I've joined the Creator Accountability Network. CAN is a nonprofit dedicated to reducing harassment and abuse through ethical education and a system of restorative accountability. I joined because I care about the safety and well being of my community members. If you feel my behavior or content has harmed someone, please report it to CAN, either via the reporting form on their website, CreatorAccountabilityNetwork.org, or via their hotline at (617) 249-4255. They’ll help me make it right, and avoid repeating that mistake in the future. CAN also needs volunteers from our communities to help with their work, so if you have skills you think would be helpful, or time and a desire to help, please visit their website to find out how you can volunteer. Most importantly, get the word out to other creators who you think would be interested in getting credentialed. Help us build safer communities together.
Third, the series review essays have been going well (at least from my perspective). Because of dysgraphia, it's easier for me to remember specifics and get them into an essay if there's more text to work from, and reviewing multiple books in a series is turning out to be a great way to do that. Plus, there are lots of reviewers discussing one book at a time, so I like filling this different niche that aligns more with my skills and limitations. I will continue to do some individual book reviews, especially of indie books and ARCs, but if I come across a finished series I'll probably just review the whole thing (with appropriate spoiler markings as needed).
Finally, some miscellaneous thoughts and updates:
If any of you have been wondering "what happened to Nicole", nothing bad happened within the podcast. She got overwhelmed with life stuff a couple of years ago and wasn't able to devote the same time to audio editing and recording, so as a stopgap I started recording essays... and here we are two years later and the stopgap has become an alternate format for the podcast. While we hope to resume providing the original style of episode, we aren't able to promise any kind of timetable for that.
You might have noticed fewer posts lately, that's because I'm a queer person in the U.S. and it's been more stressful to do, well, everything. I appreciate you bearing with me, and I want you to know that if I'm not talking about the horrors it's not that I'm uncaring or unaffected, but because I know the value of having spaces that aren't always about that, and this space was meant from the start as a way to discuss how fiction lets us process real-world stress without sticking to real-world details. I've also been pouring more time and energy into my local community, which leaves a little less time for reading new books. I have my next two series reviews mostly drafted, and will be finalizing and recording those shortly, now that I have a better microphone.
Fiction is one pathway to understanding through recognition, and I grew up watching a show that, while imperfect, helped me process all three of these ideas and many more. It's remained a touchstone for me, even though television isn't my medium of choice. That show was Babylon 5, and discussing everything I learned from it would both require a whole series of essays and be the wrong medium to discuss at length in this space. The point is that I hope the various essays and podcast episodes can help you find resonance in fiction, either by seeing yourself represented in other people's worlds, or by realizing parallels which change how you approach understanding the people and situations around you.
In case there was any doubt as to my stances from the way I've approached content until now or if you haven't followed me on other social media over the years: Black lives matter, Trans lives matter, and what is happening in Gaza is a genocide.
Thank you for your attention, I'll be back next time with a review.
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Reviews That Burn is a review blog which accompanies the Books That Burn podcast. Books That Burn is a member of the Certain Point of View podcast network. Essays, blog posts, and reviews are by Robin. All music was composed by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission.
This content is CAN credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse, or other harm on their hotline at (617) 249-4255, or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.
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