Author name: Skiffy Fanty

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Month of Joy: Raspberry Curd by Sarah Gailey

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Thaw three-quarters of a bag of frozen raspberries. One quarter of that bag was used to infuse a little gin, because C had a hard day and it seemed like a nice idea to make them a cocktail with raspberry-infused gin. The cocktail was a hit, and you watched a movie together and laughed a lot at Al Pacino’s performance, and the dog snored softly throughout the entire thing. Wrap up the raspberries in cheesecloth and squeeze them out as hard as you can. The raspberry juice will be a deep beautiful fucshia, and it will run down your hands, and when you lick a drop of it from the side of your own wrist you will be stunned by how intense the flavor is.

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Month of Joy: Space Opera and Me by Cora Buhlert

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When I got the invitation to take part in this year’s Month of Joy project at the Skiffy and Fanty Show, I wondered what to write about. So I jotted down a list of things that bring me joy. One item immediately jumped out at me and that was space opera. I sometimes describe myself as a lifelong science fiction fan. Though technically, a lifelong space opera fan would be more correct, because all of my early science fiction influences, which ignited my love of the genre, were space opera.

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Month of Joy: The Little Things by Eden Royce

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Baby animals: Pictures, gifs, videos… It doesn’t matter! Kittens and big cat cubs are a given for me, especially pictures of my own little (not so much anymore – see below) guy, but the carefree innocence of baby animals playing is a sure way to get my mood back to good. Some of my faves are baby elephants, foxes, pandas, and goats (in pajamas!)

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Month of Joy: Pop Culture by Tansy Rayner Roberts

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So this is soppy, but something that brings me great joy year after year is sharing favourite pop culture, new and old, with my kids. I now have a 9-year-old and a nearly 14-year-old, and sharing stories or music or TV shows is one of the things that keeps us talking, spending time together, giving us something in common. It makes me happy. You can’t put a price on actually understanding what it is your teenager is flailing about, whether it be something you both hate-watched for pure rage (Paramount Heathers, I’m looking at you) or a beloved classic of modern television that has sparked some seriously intense conversations about relationships, mental illness and musical tastes (Crazy-Ex Girlfriend, we will miss you when you’re gone). While I’ve never quite managed to read enough of the web comic Gunnerkrigg Court to understand my teen’s ongoing love for the series, at least we have a mutual appreciation for Check! Please.

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Month of Joy: Fate/Grand Order by Chrysoula Tzavelas

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I thought hard about what I wanted to write about for the Month of Joy but eventually I knew what it had to be: the game called Fate/Grand Order. It’s a little silly, it’s a little weird, but oh my gosh, especially right now as the first major story arc closes out, it brings me so MUCH joy. Fate/Grand Order is nominally a mobile game from the Fate franchise. You know, that Japanese thing where King Arthur is a girl and very few of the characters are original? Perhaps when you first heard of it, like me, you rolled your eyes, completely uninterested in yet another bizarre Japanese harem idea. I totally did that! 

Mary Anne Mohanraj - Dried Marigold Petals
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Month of Joy: Maker Space by Mary Anne Mohanraj

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There was a moment in grad school. Kevin and I had split up and I was desperately broken-hearted. I’d been getting up at 4 a.m. every morning to an alarm because it was the best time for me to concentrate, when the world was dark and still, writing by the light of a candle. I’d gotten about halfway through drafting Bodies in Motion at that point; I had been working so hard, for so long. I loved the book, but I was otherwise very tired and very sad. I cried all the time. There came a day when I just couldn’t stare at the computer screen any longer. I found myself — and I honestly don’t even remember making the decision to go — at the art store, ringing up $200 of supplies (money I didn’t really have, but I just didn’t care). I came home and I made things — candles and collages mostly. They weren’t very good but I needed to do something that wasn’t just brain work, that didn’t require so much deliberate thought. I needed to use my hands. It helped. (My mother still has the candle I made her that year. She thinks it is too pretty to light it.)

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