Jay Burrell

so so excited to work with Sunyi - 2026 is going to be great 😎

when your tattoo artist says "I think this might be my masterpiece" and then DOESN'T INCLUDE YOUR TATTOO IN THEIR YEAR-END ROUNDUP
😒😒😒

1. THE STARVING SAINTS by Caitlin Starling

flew thru this book and haven't stopped thinking about it since

three queer ladies all kissing and fighting each other AND one of them is a lady knight?? PLUS cannibalism and general creepiness?

ser voyne??? more like SER FOYNE

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang

I don't usually enjoy 1st person, but Kuang used it so well to give us an unreliable narrator who demonstrated the lengths people will go to to avoid being seen as harmful while still being extremely harmful

3. THE NIGHT GUEST by Hildur Knútsdóttir

I read this book in one night

still think about it regularly

4. THE KEEPER OF MAGICAL THINGS by Julie Leong

cute and cozy and magical and queer and funny

WITH A CATDRAGON (I grew up reading Catwings, this is very important to me)

5. PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir

I refused to read this book for a long time because I thought there was no way it could live up to the hype

especially since it was written by a cishet white man, which I generally avoid

folks...it lives up to the hype

top five favorite reads!!!

2025 reading stats 📚
Read: 26 (all ebook, as I generally borrow from the library then purchase if I think I'll read it again)
Purchased: 25 (15 physical, 11 ebook, 7 indie)
TBR (aka purchased but not read): 11 😅

a lotta horror 👻
a lotta romance 💞
a lotta gay 🌈

sometimes, writing challenges your own biases

male character: My wife...

me: hold on 🤔

male character: My HUSBAND

me: better

me: I'm going to finish the draft of this book by the end of the year!

narrator: she did in fact finish the draft, if we ignore the fact that the final ten chapters are just bullet points

A red rose blooms on December 26 in Utah

50 degrees in Salt Lake City and my rose bush is still going strong

snow where are you 😭

all that to say....
I think the worldbuilding + creature design + film technology make these movies a visual spectacle that should be seen in 3D + IMAX
(and then never again lol)

can I name any actors besides sigourney weaver and zoe saldana? no
will I ever watch one of these movies at home? no
are all the fight scenes 10x longer than they need to be? yes
am I annoyed by the cisheteronormativity? yes
do I want to see a butch lesbian blue person? OBVIOUSLY

my thoughts on the Avatar movies:
can I tell you the plot of any of the movies? no
can I name any of the characters? no
can I tell you why mr man is special to one group and wanted by the other? no
can I quote any line beyond "BRO!"? no
can I tell you how the whales got all pierced and tatted up? no

how are things going?

well, three indicator lights are currently on in my car, if that tells you anything

as my family says, it's easy to know things if you make them up

[X] sinister woke liberal

[ ] man
[ ] woman
[X] feminist marxist whore

every day I wage war against the machines (the automatic faucets and soap dispensers in my office)

filing this under my theory that most people believe sex doesn't count if there isn't a penis involved

IDK maybe straight women relate more to MM because all they've experienced is one and done?

me: FF romance has twice as much women's pleasure! possibly even more, I think it increases exponentially

straight women: the romance genre is important because it centers women's pleasure!

also straight women: I like MM romance because I like dick

also also straight women: I don't like FF romance because it's yucky

consumerism and IG ads got me good this week 😩

I bought:
- $200 pillow
- mason jar vacuum sealer
- fancy tens unit
- quilted velvet jacket

someone delete my credit card info from my password manager plzzz

me: I'm going to finish the first draft of this book by the end of November!

narrator: she did not finish the first draft by the end of November

I think I am one of the few people in Utah who LOVES when it snows in the valley

I live somewhere with 4 distinct seasons and I want to experience each season to the fullest, dammit!

the haircut I had
vs
the haircut I wanted
vs
the haircut I got

just learned that my 27yo coworker didn't know Wicked has anything to do with the Wizard of Oz...

AND he's also never seen the Wizard of Oz

Inversion over the Salt Lake valley

inversion season starting off strong