Safe spaces, and a pasta recipe.

It's a fast red. (You got a fast red)

May 29, 2025

It’s almost Pride Month!

Dear Readers,

BUSINESS UP-TOP: have you signed up yet for the sapphic romcom book club I started with my friend Celia Laskey via Allstora? Look: it’s gonna be great! Think about it! Your first month is only $1 and a book is donated to an LGBTQ+ youth in a state affected by book bans!

I spent this weekend in Portland at Queers & Quills. It was my first all-queer convention in many years, and the first all-queer romance convention I’d ever gone to. There is a really great feeling in being at all-queer events sometimes, a big exhale that in the troubling af times of 2025 that we’re in a safe space together.

I love meeting readers so much — thank you to all the readers I met this past weekend! Your enthusiasm and support means the world not just to me but, I know, to all of the authors who were there.

It was truly a thrill for me to meet the authors, many of whom I’ve been internet friends with for years and years and had never met in person. There’s always something really special about getting together with your long-distance author friends and getting to spend time paneling and also just hanging out, and honestly I have to admit that there was something extra special about spending so much time this weekend with other writers of sapphic romance novels. At some festivals and conventions you can feel just how odd-one-out you are compared to most of the other writers, so it was just really nice to hang out with others doing literally the same job. A JOB I LOVE!!!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who was there! I still have more events coming up this year that I hope to see your cool faces at:

More info on:

And of course I’m in your inbox every week and NO I cannot be stopped!

xoxoAmy

There are few better things in life than a dog crossing her delicate paws

Consumption

I was going to share a recipe link with y’all, but then I realized I had to make so many changes to it to explain how I do it that perhaps it was really no longer that recipe anymore. I’d have to write it up for you.

This is not really a summer recipe; it’s pasta with red sauce. However, I like pasta all year round. Also this meat sauce comes together super fast on the stovetop, which is the best kind to make when it’s warm out and you still want a hearty pasta.

Pasta with Fast-ish Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (sub for whatever ground meat/fake meat you like)

1 onion, chopped

8-ish cloves of garlic, whole and smashed

8 ounces fusilli or rotini

28-ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes

6-ounce can of tomato paste

1/4-1/3 cup of any dry red wine

optional: 1 tsp soy sauce

optional: 1 tsp worcestershire sauce

tons of parmesan for serving

Instructions: Add olive oil to a dutch oven/medium pot on medium and saute the onion for about 5 minutes. Throw in the garlic and continue sauteeing until the onion is translucent and starting to brown in places.

Turn up heat to medium-high and add ground beef. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until some of the meat is browned but it’s not cooked all the way through. This is key for the excellent texture of the sauce!

Add can of tomato paste and stir in. (If you like spice this is a great time to add red pepper flakes.) Cook for another minute or so, then stir in 1/4-1/3 red wine (I admit I just stir in whatever I have handy, maybe it’s a splash and maybe it’s a half cup). I also like to add big splashes of worcestershire sauce and soy sauce for the additional umami and depth of flavor, but only do this if they’re in your fridge already.

Turn heat down to medium low and cook uncovered for 30-ish minutes. (I’ve eaten it at about 20-25, and have let it go longer, too. It’s pretty fool-proof.) At about the halfway mark, I take my big spoon and smash the whole tomatoes against the side of the pot so they’re all chunky and broken down.

In the meantime, boil heavily salted water and cook 8 ounces of fusilli or rotini (or literally whatever pasta you want, but I really like how curly noodles hold this chunky sauce). Drain pasta.

Taste sauce and season accordingly. Stir in the pasta. Dish into bowls and serve with a ton of grated parmesan. This pasta reheats well so I love making a big batch and having it for a few meals!

Links Roundup

Things I’ve read lately!

Why Is IMAX Suddenly Everywhere? — This is super interesting to me but to be fair I dayjob in film. (NYT gift link)
Fame and Frustration On the New Media Circuit — Another industry article but I think anyone trying to get publicity for um anything like um maybe books can relate to this