Adriana Kantcheva

Author of speculative fiction.

Hello, , and welcome to another installment of my newsletter.

Let's dig in!

What I've been up to

beta-reading a friend’s manuscript
gathering my thoughts about a new manuscript of my own I’m about to start
putting the last editing touches on a novella I wrote a couple of years ago

Latest blog post

2024 in the rearview.

Each year, as December comes around, I look back at the year that is about to finish and take stock of how I feel about it.

Am I left bewildered by how time has slipped between my fingers so? Or does it feel like I’ve taken my time to live through each day fully? Well, perhaps not each day. But I’ve learned that how time passes is a function of one’s will and focus.

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Today's excerpt

Athia didn’t move, though her limbs shook like a laundry line in a gust. She twisted to look at Nella, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Let him pass,” the other woman said.

Athia planted her feet. “No. I know what he’s come for. I never knew you cut deals using your children.”

“Don’t overreact,” Harl rumbled from within his broad chest. “It’s just a little blood from the baby’s heel.”

(From something yet unpublished.)

Today's picture

Sometimes, opposites are the perfect combination.

Books and music

Reading: Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Wave in the Mind is astoundingly perceptive, honest, and kind. Le Guin discusses the rhythm of language in prose and poetry, women's rights, racial injustices, the process of idea generation, and much more. I would read this collection of essays again, and this, I don’t say often. (I've been listening to the audiobook. I can't imagine anybody else but Christima Moore narrate this book.)

Music: I went to Zurich's opera house for a performance of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. With my cheap ticket, I was hidden behind a pillar. Perhaps that’s why I listened with utter focus. I have always been somewhat at odds with Wagners brash, dramatic style, but The Flying Dutchman is equal parts romantic and melodious (yes, also dramatic). The singers sang with their hearts and souls. Next up is a performance of Verdi’s A Masked Ball.