Yarn for spring, Eastercon, a 1st draft excerpt, women, women, women

Mar 12, 2026 3:21 pm

Adriana Kantcheva

Catching Words

Dispatches from a writer of speculative fiction.

Hello, ,

On Sunday, it was International Women's Day, so I've been having a lot of thoughts swirling in my head about the erasure of older women from society, about how women need to talk more to one another, about toxic masculinity (which is toxic to any gender), about how medicine still focuses mostly on men. Much has changed, and so much more needs changing. I'm grateful for the artists who keep putting these and other issues center-stage (which is reflected in today's expanded Music and Books section). Complacency and inertia are as dangerous as they are comfortable.

Welcome to another installment of Catching Words.

Eastercon

(image: a piece of paper with "come and say hi" written on it against wooden background)

This year, for the first time, I'll be at Eastercon in Birmingham. "Vedritsa of the River" (which, incidentally, has something to say about women's aging) is included in the second Milford anthology, so I'll hang around their table in between sessions. Come by and say "hi."

What I’ve been up to

My novel draft is still cooling (about to pick it up again).

In the meantime, I drafted a short story and have been focusing on some learning.

A blog post

The post below is not new, but I'd like to share it in the wake of International Women's Day. To me, it's as relevant as when I wrote it three years ago. I don't think it will ever lose its relevance in my life. Some wounds are hard to heal; some fears root so deeply that time can't wither them.

(CW: sexual assault)

A little healing in the forest...

(image: looking up at snowy pines against gray sky)

This post is not directly about writing, though writing it seems to signify to me I have come closer to healing and closure. The reason I will share something so sensitive is that, first, I don’t think such things should be kept secret and, second, I’d like to forge a bond with others out there who’ve experienced something like this. In connection, there is healing—let these words be the conduit for this connection to another injured soul out there.

Twenty years ago, a man attacked me. I was lucky enough to escape before the worst happened, but I’ve been afraid to walk alone in forests ever since, as this was the setting of the attack. When I now walk in nature... Click here to read more

Excerpt from unpublished work

Below is a paragraph from my newest short story. It's still a first draft, so these words might or might not survive, might or might not change (probably they will).

She guessed Anton would be bringing an extra set of clothes to school from now on. Why did he get to be a zmiac and she… herself? Even in her envy, though, she could not deny he looked flawless even as a large reptile. Anton had a knack of being above average, as much as Dana always sedimented below. Had circumstances been different, she might have succumbed to a crush on him, same as half the class—boys, girls, and perhaps a teacher or two included—but it was hard to muster the feeling when he didn’t even pay her enough attention to insult her—unlike the others.

A recent snapshot

On March 1st is the Bulgarian holiday of "Baba Marta" (Granny Marta). That's the day Bulgarians (and other nations on the Balkans) wear martenitsas made of red and white yarn. White is for longevity (may you have the time for your hair to grow white) and red for health (may you have the red cheeks of good health).

This tradition is pre-Christian and has roots in the balance between the feminine and masculine. It's about strength, fertility, and the welcoming of spring.

(image: talismans in the shape of small dolls made out of red and white yarn)

Reading and music

This week, I've compiled longer lists because, as I mentioned above, I've been thinking a lot about women's culture, roles, and heritage. While I was thinking, I was listening to and reading:

Reading:

Roar by Dr. Stacy Sims. This book is not only for women athletes. It's for any woman who'd like to know more about her physiology. Stacy Sim's newsletter is also a wealth of useful information. (Another newsletter I'm subscribed to is Lauren Ohayon's, which talks about the biomechanics of the female body.)

The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. This book was first published in 1991, but much of what it has to say remains relevant, considering that, in the past decade or so, not only women but anybody really is force-fed unattainable role-model images to aspire to. The book examines the historic, economic, and cultural origins of the beauty myth. Though Naomi Wolf has come under fire for factual inaccuracies with respect to the number of anorexia deaths she quotes, the core message of the book is no less valid.

Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick, among other things, is about the generational necklace of experiences women pass on to their daughters and other younger women. As a mother of daughters, I feel I have a special responsibility towards them to teach them things that nobody else can, to see them for who they are, to enable them to discover themselves in a world that might try to hinder them.

We Who Hunt Alexanders by Jason Sanford, which is about all the kinds of hate and love there are (also, it includes the most awesome Alexander-eating monsters).