little lights in the darkness

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/03/sunset-10-3-25/

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It’s been a while since I’ve put one of these up here, so, here you go. It’s a doozy. I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/03/sunset-10-3-25/

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Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/02/the-big-idea-seamus-sullivan/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=57589

Greek mythology is a mythos that is full of despair, anguish, and characters that can’t seem to a catch a break. Author Seamus Sullivan brings us some of these familiar ancient characters in his debut novel, Daedalus is Dead. Follow along to see how Sullivan’s relationship to his son contributed to the inspiration of this classic myth retelling.

SEAMUS SULLIVAN:

Years ago, when I first tried to write about Daedalus in the form of a ponderous and contraction-free short story, Maria Dahvana Headley gave me some characteristically thoughtful line edits, and one note in particular stayed with me. She had gone back into my draft and added contractions, explaining that a lot of writers instinctively reach for “I am” rather than “I’m” when writing something set in antiquity, but at the expense of distancing the story from the reader. Contractions allow for intimacy, and intimacy is what the story demands.

Years later, I tried to write about Daedalus again. I had become a parent, and the first year of my son’s life overlapped with the first year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a brutal police crackdown on protests, the January 6th insurrection, and other delights. I was deeply angry with men, with a society built to accommodate the worst impulses of men, and with myself for being part of it. With Headley’s note at the back of my mind, I framed the story as Daedalus’s direct address to his late son, Icarus. I’d worked in this mode before, a parent directly addressing their child. There was an assumption in there somewhere that any kid born in the present day would, before long, start observing the world and demanding that the adults explain themselves.

For me, Greek mythology’s appeal has always had something to do with grandeur, with the glory and tragedy of an imagined past, sure, but also with scale and awe and durability. Maybe that’s just how it feels when you read the stuff as a kid. Writing in the Mary Renault style wouldn’t work for me – I didn’t have the skill or the eye for anthropological detail to pull that off, and anyway there was no point in pretending I wasn’t doing the literary equivalent of shaking my fist at the world immediately outside my window. So most of my narration’s intimacy came from my own day-to-day, which largely consisted of carrying an inquisitive baby around and explaining things to him, and for the grandeur I went back to Homer.

Emily Wilson’s Odyssey translation had been out for a few years by then, so I went over passages from that and from my older, Stanley Lombardo Iliad translation. Those helped with the details of how royal households worked (slave labor and all), what funeral rites were like, and a general idea of how to convey that sense of grandeur in vernacular-friendly language that would pull readers into this imagined version of a bronze age society. Wilson’s Odyssey introduction was a great resource for social context and for how composition and performance of Homeric verse might have worked. In the spring of last year I got to see Wilson perform the opening lines of The Iliad for a packed New York Public Library audience, in the original Greek, with enviable gusto; I came away with a deeper appreciation for the artistry and energy that kept these texts alive, in performance and print, for millennia.

Magpie-like, I accumulated images and ideas from other sources. Much of the opening chapter, describing the escape from Crete and the fall of Icarus, comes from Ovid. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, an intensely affecting depiction of a mother’s search for her child, has a haunting image of an older woman seeking work at the village well as a nursemaid, and this influenced my back story for Naucrate, Daedalus’s wife and Icarus’s mother. (Naucrate has a name and a job description, household slave, in Pseudo-Apollodorus, but we don’t have much surviving information on her character beyond that.) I learned about an old tradition of reluctance to mention the king of the underworld by name, referring to him only through indirect titles, and worked that into the book as well. While Daedalus, the character, has an extremely dry sense of humor, I did my best to put some jokes in, because there are jokes and boasts and coarse insults in Homer, and because I find people do crack jokes when they’re under constant stress.

All this research made the book genuinely fun to write, even though it’s a book about things in the world that make me intensely sad and angry. I did my best to make the book fun to read as well. Only an egomaniac would seriously entertain the hope that his work will stick around as long as Homeric verse, but I do like to think about the comfort and collective enjoyment that audiences would have found in hearing very old myths performed and retold centuries ago, including the many, many versions of those myths that haven’t survived into the present day. If my own version can provide some of that enjoyment for you, if we can both shake our heads, together, at the terror and grotesquerie and grandeur of the world we inhabit right now, I’ll feel like I did my job. 

Daedalus is Dead: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Books-a-Million|Powell’s

Read an excerpt.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/02/the-big-idea-seamus-sullivan/

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Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/01/the-big-idea-beth-cato-7/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=57574

You can’t judge a house by its paint job. Or by the nefarious things that have gone on inside said house in the past. Author Beth Cato takes us for a tour in the Big Idea for her newest novel, A House Between Sea and Sky. Follow along to see what lore this house holds.

BETH CATO:

Murder houses have feelings, too.

In the case of the titular House of my new cozy-literary fantasy A House Between Sea and Sky, those feelings include loneliness, anxiety, and some undeniable obsessive-compulsive tendencies. After all, it’s not easy to be a witch’s hut for centuries. One’s oven gets used for all sorts of sordid things.

But House has now been abandoned. For years it has lingered, essentially dozing in its precarious position on a cliff at the edge of a strange continent. But on this stormy night, it stirs awake as it recognizes something: a woman flavored by a magic even older than its own. House’s curiosity is piqued. It doesn’t try to hide itself from the woman’s eyes. It lets her come close. Even more, when the woman returns, dragging along a man limp with despair, House lets them both inside to take shelter from the raging rain and lightning.

As House describes the scene:

I am not their home, but I can be a refuge. I can, maybe, know the warmth of bodies and voices again, my hollowness less hollow.

I open my entry to them in invitation.

The year is 1926. The place: Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. The human point of view is that of the woman flavored by magic, forty-five-year-old Fayette Wynne. She is a scenarist for silent films. She’s struggling to catch up on her script-writing after the recent death of her beloved Ma. Fayette’s siblings are dead, too. Her grief is a boulder she can’t budge, though she truly does have one other family member left–the sentient sourdough starter dubbed Mother that her family has tended for decades. Mother’s divine healing powers were not adequate to heal Ma, though, and Fayette bristles with resentment.

Then there is the man Fayette rescues from the storm. Rex Hallstrom is a rising star in Hollywood, handsome and charismatic. But Rex has been forced to act through most every moment of the day, and the falseness of his life is eating away at him like acid. He needs help. He needs hope.

All of my other fantasy novels have been about high stakes: the world is in danger, the kingdom is in danger, that kind of thing. This is a different kind of book. The stakes are low and intimate. These people–and House is definitely a living soul and a person–need each other if they are to survive.

I invite you to step inside this world, too. You’ll find House to be the most accommodating of hosts. There will be a warm fire. Good, fresh sourdough bread. An incredible view. Perhaps some surprise company will arrive as well–after all, this is a witch’s house, and the unexpected should be expected. 

Just be sensitive about House’s feelings. It truly is striving to be more than a murder house of lore, but maaaaaybe it doesn’t always make the right choices. Just know that it is trying, just as we all attempt to get by, day to day. We all could use a little more care and compassion as we slog through this storm that we call life.

A House Between Sea and Sky: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Audible

Author socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/10/01/the-big-idea-beth-cato-7/

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Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/30/brunching-it-up-at-alcove-by-madtree-brewing/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=57534

Cincinnati is home to many breweries, and two of the most well-known are Rhinegeist and MadTree Brewing. I don’t drink beer, so I’ve never made it a point to visit any of these famed breweries. I always figured there was somewhere more in my wheelhouse to check out.

Two weeks ago, two of my friends from Wisconsin were coming to Cincinnati for a concert. Though it was a short trip for them, they had just enough time before they left to have brunch with me. While I definitely know a place or two for dinner and drinks in Cincy, I am much less versed in the ways of Cincy brunch locations. So, I had to ask one of my Cincy resident friends for a brunch recommendation, and she pointed me in the direction of Alcove.

I had never heard of Alcove before, and I never realized MadTree even had a restaurant at all. When I looked it up, I was immediately enticed by the well-lit, wide-open space, warm tones from all the wood furniture and flooring, and the wild amount of plants they had occupying the space. I loved the look of it, and after checking out their brunch menu, I was sold, and made us reservations.

Alcove is open every day of the week for lunch and dinner, as well as having their full brunch available from 10-3 on Saturday and Sunday. During the weekdays they still have their brunch but with a limited menu instead of the full version. Apparently this is a more recent change!

When my friends and I arrived, we were asked if we wanted to be seated in the main area, the patio, or the greenhouse. We were all intrigued by the sound of the greenhouse, so we picked that and were led to a room just off the main area that had floor-to-ceiling windows, vibrantly colored velvet furniture, even more plants, and its own bar. It was a really pretty space and we were glad we chose it.

After perusing the menu, we decided the best thing to start off with would be some of their spiked coffee options for a bit of a boozy brunch moment.

I opted the for the espresso martini, which consisted of vanilla vodka, cold brew, hazelnut liqueur, vanilla simple, cocoa bitters, and came with a brûléed top. My friend Austin got their spiked coffee which comes with vanilla, amaretto, salted maple cream, and your choice of spirit. He went with bourbon, specifically Buffalo Trace (which was an upcharge). Mattea started off with an iced coffee which is what you see in the photo, but then later tried their Double Dirty Chai which is just vanilla infused bourbon, chai, espresso, and your choice of milk. I didn’t get a photo of that one but she was kind enough to let me try it and I thought it was quite good even though I don’t care for bourbon. Austin’s hot bourbon coffee was definitely too bourbony for me, though. Mattea and I agreed my espresso martini was super yummy.

For something to share, we settled on their charcuterie board. If you aren’t feeling the meat, you can make it just a cheese board for nine dollars cheaper. Here’s what we got:

On the menu the description is basically just “artisan meats and cheeses,” and I kind of thought that when the server brought it out she would tell us what all came on the board, but that didn’t end up happening so my friends and I just placed our bets on what was what. While I did like everything on the board, I do think it was just a little sparse. I would say this is better if it’s just you and one other person, rather than trying to share between three or four people.

For our mains, Mattea and I ordered the exact same thing: the Crispy Tofu and Couscous, as well as the Potato Gnocchi as a side. Austin went for a true brunch classic: Chicken and Waffles.

When our food came, Mattea and I were presented with something definitely different than what we ordered. Before us sat the Crispy Tofu Sandwich. It was a simple mix-up, and we both debated whether or not to say something or just eat the sandwich. Finally, we mustered the courage to say something, and our server let us keep the sandwiches on the house and brought out our correct item soon after. Hooray for free sandwiches!

Here was our Crispy Tofu and Couscous with broccolini, sun dried tomatoes, and red pepper puree:

All of the red pepper puree is at the bottom, so you can just barely see it in the photo, but once I got everything all mixed together it was a lot more evenly distributed over the couscous and whatnot. I didn’t get a picture of the gnocchi, but it came with a roasted garlic cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and asparagus. The gnocchi was really good, I ended up eating way more of that than my main dish, and had to get a box because I tore up my gnocchi.

And here was the chicken and waffles:

(Austin added an over-easy egg on top.)

We took this opportunity to order another round of drinks. Austin picked the mimosa flight, which came with orange juice, peach juice, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice.

Austin, Mattea, and I all agreed on a ranking of pineapple being the best, then cranberry, then orange, and finally peach.

And I got their Basil Rosé, which was gin, rosé, basil, lime, and simple:

This cocktail was so summery and light, very refreshing and perfectly sweetened.

While we were dining, a photographer came over and asked if he could take some pictures of us enjoying our meal and hanging out. We obliged, and in return he gave us each a ten dollar gift card to use towards our bill. That was so generous! He really did not have to do that, we were totally fine being a part of his photos for free, but that was really cool.

All in all, we really enjoyed our brunch at Alcove by MadTree Brewing. It’s an eclectic, beautiful space right in OTR, with tons of gluten-free and vegetarian options, good drinks, and good service. I definitely want to go back sometime, and I’m happy to now know of a good brunch place in Cincinnati.

After our experience at Alcove, I decided to look up MadTree and see what else I was missing out on. It turns out they have two other locations besides Alcove. They have a taproom over in Oakley, and a location they call “Parks & Rec” up in Blue Ash. All of their locations are open everyday of the week, and their Parks & Rec location even serves brunch all day, everyday!

Both the Oakley Taproom and Parks & Rec are dog-friendly and family-friendly, but the Parks & Rec location appears to really excel in the family-friendly aspect, with indoor and outdoor play areas for kids and recreation for all ages. Their Parks & Rec location is also designed with every type of family in mind, with their Branch Out initiative, which aims towards accessibility and inclusivity for all. You can read more about their efforts on that front here.

Aside from that, I was really interested to learn about MadTree’s commitment to the environment. I learned that they are the only certified B-Corp brewery in Ohio, and belong to a whopping 0.2% of B-Corp breweries overall. They are also a part of 1% For The Planet, 100% of their spent grain goes to feeding livestock, they plant or donate 5,000 trees a year, and even pay their employees for 16 volunteer hours a year. There’s even more to learn about their sustainability efforts and commitment to community if you want to check it out here and here.

Overall, MadTree seems like a super cool company with a lot to offer Cincinnati. I can’t believe I overlooked it before just because I don’t like beer! I would love to check out their other locations, and support them and their efforts towards making Cincinnati a healthier, happier place.

Do you like spiked coffee? Are you a brunch connoisseur? Have you tried MadTree Brewing before, or any of their locations? Let me know in the comments, be sure to check out MadTree Brewing, their Oakley Taproom, Parks & Rec, and Alcove on Instagram, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/30/brunching-it-up-at-alcove-by-madtree-brewing/

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