BB Updates: May 4 - 10
Book Buddies: Hello my favorite writers. I hope your weathering the Mondays with grace if the Mondays are an affliction you suffer from. Whatever ails you today, you can fix at gen writing tomorrow. Speaking of — we had our first drop in at gen writing on Saturday which was super fun. If you know anyone who you think would like it and would maybe wanna try, let them know! Here’s the link to register: https://www.katesenecal.com/store/p/book-buddies-gen-writing-single-session-drop-in. It’s $25 for a single session.
Reminder: I’m moving book club back to Mondays! So this means our next one will be June 15th not the 16th. On the 15th, however, I’m on the hunt for a Gen Writing sub so that I can attend Heather Abel’s book launch at the Odyssey Bookshop. Are you interested in subbing? Send me an email if so. Are you interested in coming to see Heather with me? Let me know, and register using this link (it’s free!)
For this one we’re reading Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
I think it sounds rad and hope you read it.
Feedback Group Submission Schedules!
IRL Group Wednesdays @ beautyland 6:30-8:30: The next meeting is May 13 and Genna and Johanna will have floor time with pages due May 9.
Noon Crew Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: The next meeting is May 14 and Sara will have the floor, pages due May 7. Jill is up the following meeting with pages due on May 21, meeting on May 28.
Weirdlings Wednesdays 12pm - 1:30: We meet again on May 13 and Ed is up with pages due on May 6.
Kool Kids Thursdays at 7pm - 8:30: Our next meeting is is May 7. Kristin and Hilary have floor time with pages already in. The following meeting is May 21, and Rebecca and Morgan will have the floor. We can check in about this when we meet!
OG Crew Thursdays at 7:30pm - 9: The next meeting is on May 14. Malavika and Maia will have floor time with pages due on May 7.
Saturday besties 12:30pm - 2: The next meeting is May 9 and Helen and Nora have the floor. Pages due on May 2. Helen’salready sent pages!
Book Buddies Bulletin Board :)
Got an announcement? Wanna share a publication with the wider BB community? Are you looking for a beta reader or some other kind of lowkey support from each other? Email me and I’ll include your announcements and requests here!
Genna Sarnak has a bunch of poems out right now:
“Our Love” won the 100-word contest from PHIL LIT (December 2025)
“Chokehold” published in Scapegoat Review (Spring 2026)
“Hanging Out With Depression” published in PHIL LIT (Spring 2026) and the Subtack linkto vote for the poem.
“Riding the Bus Without a Destination” published in The Faoileánach Journal (Winter 2026)
"Bigfoot and Other Fallacies" published in Superpresent (Spring 2026)
Rebecca Tigerhas two stories out this week! “Shadow Dancing” in Pithead Chapel and “The Fool on the Hill” in Ghost Parachute
Casey Liston has a story out, “Pride and Provenance” in South 85 Journal
You all are so awesome I can barely stand it! Nice work! Keep going!
Gen writing Prompt for this week:
May 5 and 9, 2026
Few things make for a better story than someone being caught in a lie, someone having a longheld secret exposed, or someone getting caught doing something they really shouldn’t be doing. So let’s roll with that this week.
Begin a new piece in the genre of your choice by somehow, whether in scene or reflection or poetry, depicting the moment when someone (could be you, could be someone you know, could be someone you don’t know, could be someone you made up entirely) gets caught. Here are a few things they could be getting caught doing:
A young child gets caught literally with their hand in the cookie jar
A person gets caught robbing a bank
A person gets caught facilitating an internet based scam: phishing, identity theft, posting photos without consent, selling illegal goods
A person gets caught lying to someone they’re close to
A person gets caught lying to someone they are not close to, but the lie may affect their profession, their public reputation, the securing of a loan, etc.
A person gets caught doing an undercover job
A person gets caught doing something like talking trash about a friend behind their back or otherwise spreading gossip
A person gets caught hiding their addiction
A person gets caught cheating on a text
A person gets caught doing something on someone else’s property — planting weed plants, hiding a hive of deadly bees in a tree, not picking up their dog’s poop, sleeping in a tent hidden somewhere on the property
Questions for you: Lastly, I’m making moves booking a summer retreat and subsequent Book Buddies IRL meet up. The dates I’m looking at are Saturday August 8 for a day long retreat in Easthampton MA, and Sunday August 9 for some sort of celebration that I haven’t yet finished imagining. Some questions:
If you are not local to Western MA, are you interested in traveling here for a weekend of BB writing related fun? If so, email me and let me know! It will help me plan!
Do you have ideas for a location and set of activities for a IRL little party that’s a little different than the pot lock at the park we did last year (which I very well might repeat, but since we have a little run way of planning time, I thought I would ask for brainstorming help!)?
Your bestie -
Kate
