February: What's Going On?
"Do not rely on February . . . The sun in this month begets a headache like an angel slapping you in the face." ―Anne Sexton
Happy February! However yours is going, I hope it's more pleasant than Anne Sexton's apparently was.
While Lucy's cat might still be unemployed, I, happily, am not. In fact, one of the animated shows I'm working on that was non-union is in the process of getting covered by The Animation Guild (TAG), also known as IATSE Local 839. This is exciting for me (yay, health and pension contributions!) and makes it even more personally relevant that TAG returns to the bargaining table with the studios today (February 14th). These talks are a continuation of negotiations that began last year, but failed to reach either an impasse or a mutually agreeable conclusion before scheduled negotiation dates ended.
Slightly inside baseball aside: You might remember there was national news in late 2021 about IATSE labor negotiations, and the first nation-wide strike authorization vote in the union's history. You might also recall that those negotiations concluded without a strike. So what gives with TAG? Well, while the general IATSE basic agreement does affect TAG, there are enough animation-specific concerns (and enough animation workers, nearly 5,000 represented by the union!) that TAG has their own negotiations.
Among the big issues this cycle that are near and dear to my heart is that animation writers get paid less than $0.50 on the dollar compared to their live-action counterparts. This gets all the more nonsensical when you look at how many writers (like me) work in both live action and animation.
If you're curious to learn more about what TAG is fighting for, or want to support the creatives behind your favorite animated shows, check out and amplify @tagwriters and @animationguild on Twitter or search #newdeal4animation, #payanimationwriters, or #equalpay4equalpaint.
Other than that, it's been a quiet month so far. I took a virtual pastry class through a Paris cooking school and successfully made a Tarte Tatin. I have the dough for a second one in the freezer, but I'm waiting for some of the caramel to clear out of my system before I embark on that odyssey again.
From my Desk
Since the table of contents isn't public yet, I'll be coy about the title, but I have a short story appearing in Uncanny #45, coming out March 1!
My class "Demystifying Outlines" for The Cat Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers still has open slots available! March 26, 9:30am PT.
Maria Haskins had kind words for "L'hiver est assis sur un banc" in the Strange Horizons Quarterly Short Fiction Roundup. "Dunlap reeled me in from the first line, and kept me hooked until the end, chilling me to the bone, just like winter should."
What I'm Reading and Watching
Have I talked about Infinity Train here yet? I haven't, and that seems like a tragic oversight. Infinity Train is an animated anthology series where each season follows a different human passenger (or passengers) aboard the titular train. The train speeds through a hostile wasteland and is made up of an infinite number of cars, each one of which is a self-contained world filled with strange and occasionally friendly creatures. Passengers have to figure out how to traverse each car and work through their own personal baggage that landed them on the train in the first place. Also, Kate Mulgrew has a recurring role as the voice of the cat.
The show is as least as surreal as that description makes it sound, and season three made me cry more than once. Currently streaming in the US on HBO Max, and available for purchase on other streaming platforms.
From the Cutting Room Floor of the Duolingo Dystopia
This month, Duolingo French warns us of the coming robot apocalypse.
Caption: Falstaff The Bear says: "The robots made by the humans are crazy!" in English and French.
Clearly, we have created them in our own image. But it does beg the question: what about the robots that weren't made by humans?
And That's the Nearly Monthly News!
What will next month bring? Who knows? If you have questions or comments, feel free to drop me a line. Otherwise, I'll see you in March!