Rhymes With Camera: Bring on Shadow Summer
Watch me celebrate darkness in the bright light of day. I am comfy living in these contradictions.
My new collection of dark tales from Washington state, Rain Shadows, gets a soft launch in about 10 days in Stamford CT at the world’s premiere horror event, StokerCon.
It’s going to be warm and muggy, and yet I’m packing black because, cliche as that sounds, it’s the uniform of the horror community (black tee, black jeans, black shoes).
But all is not as doom and gloom as it might sound.
In the bright light of summer, hanging out with horror creatives (writers, artists, performers) strikes me as a great time.
These folks are “shadow engineers,” after all. They mine the dark matter of their narratives, and that means mining their own shadows… something that they’re not afraid of. Not like most “ordinary” people.
No, the so-called “Halloween people” have spent some time “in the basement,” so much so that they know their way around even in the dark without a flashlight.
Yeah, that’s all metaphor. Lean into it with me.
MUCH ADO ABOUT SUNSHINE
Don’t get me wrong. My co-creator Clay Vermulm and I dig the sunshine. In fact, here in the PNW, we experience “sunny day guilt”: when you experience grim remorse when stuck inside when the sun comes out.
And yes, the bluest skies you’ve ever seen ARE in Seattle… I will fall on that sword.
As I write this, it’s overcast, so I feel better about sitting in front of the blue spectrum light beaming off my laptop for a little while, after which I’ll go for a hike, because vitamin D does an MS girl good.
These dualities of light and dark that are part of our physical world are one of the cornerstone’s of any work of Pacific Northwest Gothic narrative.
Not a term I coined, it might have first been used by The Seattle Times, but I’m owning it, all the same.
All humans walk through multiple landscapes: geographical, social, emotional, physical. These landscapes shape who we are, indelibly.
Because it’s so dark for so long in the PNW, our region has an (earned) reputation for high deaths by suicide.
This goes way back to pioneering days when homesteaders couldn’t tolerate living under the shade of cedars and the omnipresent overcast that the clouds, fog, and rain bring.
So yeah, darkness is something we live and die by around here, because it’s also likely the reason why so much art is made and so many books are written and so much music is composed.
SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND, DUALITY
Which makes the title of our new collection, Rain Shadows, and interesting dichotomy.
Rain shadows are not just an idea, but an environmental phenomenon.
Every coastal mountain range has a rain shadow… that dry patch just beyond the places where the clouds dump huge amounts of rain.
The emptied clouds keep scudding past, gathering the vapor rising off the marine layer beyond until dumping more rain again—many miles past the mountains.
This unusually dry area between these “rainyside” parcels is called the rain shadow.
Very little rain happens in the rain shadow, but neither is it sunny, at least not any more than anywhere else.
The clouds still roiling and stream past and over the valleys, the overcast they bring bright enough to warrant wearing polarized sunglasses year round to bounce back their migraine-inducing glare.
WE KNOW ABOUT WEATHERING STORMS
Our story collection, Rain Shadows, definitely includes weather as a defining element. It may even warrant acknowledgment as a secondary character, one might argue, albeit in the form of:
thundersnow (“Meow Meow” by moi)
perpetual apocalyptic storms (“Colors of the Sea” by Clay)
wildfire season (“Leave No Trace” by moi)
predatory fog (“Momnesia” by Clay)
rainforest drizzle (“Nurse Log” by moi)
The weather brings with it so many shadows….
…but light as well.
A story from Clay (“Tiger—Tiger!”) set in the Olympic range rain shadow brings a kind of “exposure,” in a sense. Sunlight—real or metaphoric—does nothing if not reveal what was concealed before. And let’s face it: humanity can’t experience shadows without some kind of light.
Another metaphor, perhaps best applied to current events in the US, a fable for another time.
I envision the summer of 2025 as Shadow Summer: a reminder of the value of darkness persisting in the plain light of day.
Not that I’m gloomy or gothic in my worldview; I’m actually weirdly optimistic and currently leaning into -punk genres these days—hopepunk, solarpunk, lunarpunk—as a reader, and sometimes as a writer, because the shadows of human existence are inextricably defined by the shape of our collective light (if we allow it to be so).
EMBRACE YOUR SHADOWS
I’ve always felt a little cozy around the uncomfortable… maybe it was a childhood of watching The Twilight Zone and reading Ray Bradbury, of moving to 12 different houses in 12 different towns by the time I was 12 years old…
…or maybe it was simply living in a climate steeped in shadows caused by, or in spite of, the weather.
Here in the PNW, we joke about having webbed feet and supernatural nighttime vision and moss for skin. But are we joking… really?
Yes, I go through my SAD (seasonal depression) from New Year’s to the day the chorus frogs start singing again, but 60 years in, that’s just how it goes to live up here in the upper left corner of the US.
As soon as that first herp croaks outside my window, I’m back to the business of living, watching the light gradually expand the days, redefining the shadows.
On those first sunny days, we can all be found staring out at the sun, blinking through our light sensitivity, hands opened like satellite dishes to collect all that solar energy to refuel our cells.
BRING ON SHADOW SUMMER
We are now in the PNW’s “light season,” from June through August, when the sky lightens before 5am and doesn’t fade until after 10pm.
It’s something that I, as a gardener, will never not notice: the changing shape of the world under this new and life-giving light, the way the shadows, even at noon, do not recede, but provide welcome shade.
See? Shadows are not all bad.
Rain Shadows is a labor of love about a place that for some is kinda hard to love. But Clay and I do, and we’re happy to nest inside its dichotomies, exploring the underbelly of this region through our stories, reveal what’s not easily seen otherwise… in other words, “engineer the shadows.”
We’re earning some ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐reviews these days, so I know we’re not alone on this journey.
That’s why literature (written by and for actual humans) is important
in times made dark by politics and environmental calamity.
Stories can serve as a kind of roadmap for articulating emotions, ideas, and…
believe it or not… visions for a hopeful future. We can learn to own our fears through narratives like those in Rain Shadows, and once we do that,
there’s nothing to stop us from pushing back at the dark tendrils
reaching for us from centers of power we ought to trust, but no longer can.
The weather nerds are promising a hot, dry summer again this year in Washington state. We are already in a bit of a drought.
Rain, rain, please don’t go away (you read that right). I realize it’s a contradiction, but please… let rain and our Rain Shadows illuminate the way this season.
Folks… believe me when I tell you… the light always wins.
Be the light this Shadow Summer.
SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL
Want a free signed print copy of Rain Shadows?
To honor and thank my subscribers here in Substack, I’m drawing a random subscriber’s name on the last day of each month starting in June (ending in November). That subscriber* will win a free signed print copy of Rain Shadows as well as a locally handmade travel candle featuring a classic PNW scent.
If you’re reading this newsletter and you’re not a subscriber, simply subscribe and you’ll qualify for the drawing! It’s a win-win for you, as my Rhymes With Camera monthly Substack newsletter is free to subscribe to!
*With apologies to my international subscribers, but postal rates make this offer cost prohibitive, so only subscribers based in the US qualify for this monthly drawing.
Note: Each winner is removed from the monthly drawing to ensure six different subscribers receive copies. Subscribers are not obligated to accept the prize and may decline. Value of this giveaway, including shipping and handling, is more than $40!
Book updates
Rain Shadows: Preorders can be made at our new Patreon! You can also read our BTRS Patreon for free to receive updates on Rain Shadows as the book tour unfolds through 2025. Becoming a member gets you privileges that include some fun interactions with the BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW podcast coming in 2026. Hope you’ll join us there!
Cul de Sac Stories: This dark and quirky speculative fiction collection almost sold out at Crypticon. I guess folks are in the mood for feminist-themed stories! I have restocked with more copies for sales and signing! I plan to bring them to some of my upcoming events, but I can also sell them direct to you here.
Intention Tremor: I still have a small number of copies of this book of poems and prose chronicling the five years after I learned I had MS. Happy to sign one for you! Makes a great gift for those dealing with a new chronic illness diagnosis. Proceeds benefit the Accelerated Cure Project; hat tip to MoonPath Press for making it happen! More info here.
True Stories: People keep asking me to tell this harrowing story about my solo hiking misadventure some years ago, but it’s actually written more eloquently than I can ever articulate in person. You can find my essay, “Outer Limits,” in the sixth edition of True Stories (Sidekick Press) among dozens of other amazing personal essays from my peers at The Narrative Project.
Lurking: If you’re into techno horror, this is the collection for you. My story, “Lather, Rinse, Repeat,” mines the dark matter concerning a cyberstalking incident through a dark, magical realist lens. This is one volume in a complete series of Dark Decades anthologies by Inky Bones Press that I highly recommend. I have copies to sign! Learn more here.
Crypticon Seattle anthology #2: My story, “Exfoliation”—a body horror piece, unusual for me!—appears in this fun collection of horror stories from local favorites like Gordon B. White and Josef B. Wilke. The contest also honors new voices and visions. You can buy it from Amazon right now, but I’ll get my own stash to sell direct (and sign) after StokerCon.
Podcast updates
FERMENTED FICTION: In case you missed it, I recently debated the highs and lows of the film, THE SUBSTANCE, with Clay Vermulm at his flagship podcast [listen here]
WE BLEED ORANGE AND BLACK: Clay and I had a fantastic chat with podcast host Jeff C. Carter, talking about more than just Rain Shadows, but the Seattle freeze, adventure sports, “own voices” representation, and more [listen here]
BENEATH THE RAIN SHADOW: While we are on hiatus for 2025, there will be a new season in 2026 with some improved formatting, new features, and other upgrades [catch up with season 1 from 2024 here]
BOOKSHOP LOCAL AUTHOR FOCUS FOR 2025
There are dozens of titles for you to check out at The Sellman Shelf in BookShop and I’m still adding new authors with direct ties to Kitsap county. Just last week I added the following:
John Davis (poetry)
Claire Dederer (nonfiction)
Judy Driscoll (nonfiction)
Jonathan Evison (fiction)
Jamie Ford (fiction)
David Guterson (fiction)
Mary Guterson (fiction)
Go to The Sellman Shelf
Have other titles to suggest? Send them my way!
Might you have already read and enjoyed these books? Why not give their authors a nice review in BookShop? It really helps them to be found and appreciated by readers.
Keeping things in perspective
May 15th was the twelfth anniversary of my MS diagnosis. Not a particularly auspicious number, but it gave me pause to see where I’ve been and where I’m headed.
In that time, I:
wrote and/or published three books
survived a global pandemic
graduated and launched two kids from high school and college
retired my contract work and medical credentials
produced a poetry film that’s been shown in six festivals worldwide and is still on the festival circuit
learned how to make book trailers
became a podcaster
experimented with, then dropped, MS meds because of side effects
started a juicy raised bed garden
lost three parents
got my first tattoes
learned how to kayak
returned to solo hiking
This is not a brag sheet, but a reminder that a chronic illness diagnosis is not a death sentence.
It’s amazing how much life happens when you’re not looking. One could gaze exclusively at their losses and forget that life goes on while they yet live and breathe.
Through it all, I’m still in remission, probably more disabled by my multiple arthritis aches and pains than anything.
Just last week somebody asked me what I would say to my younger, pre-diagnosis self. The answer is simple:
“Never forget why you’re here.”
Purpose is everything, and if you know it early on—I did, I knew my purpose at age 4—it’s a gift: an anchor, a ready spark, a means forward.
If you don’t know your purpose, then get busy.
Having a purpose is like having a weed-free, fertilized garden
just waiting to be planted. You really don’t want to let it go to waste.
You really do want to just GO FOR IT, failing and making mistakes
along the way… it’s the only way you’ll find out
who you are, what you’re made of, and why you’ve been given this life.
It’s a pretty good answer, I think. It also applies to one’s creative life.
Looking back doesn’t have to only be nostalgic; it can also be a reminder to stay focused on the lane you’re either already in or want to be in.
JUNE: WHAT’S HAPPENING
June 5: Spirits & Stories pre-book group social hour sponsored by the West Seattle Book Club. Clay Vermulm and I will unbox Rain Shadows, talk with curious readers, and sell/sign books! 4pm at Till Dawn/The Void in West Seattle [free and open to the public; link]
June 7: Kent Nerd Party brings books, games, food, and fanfare to the streets of Kent, WA in this nerdcentric open market event. I’ll be there with both the Seattle HWA and Cascade Writers from 2p-7p all around downtown (map and programming) [free and open to the public; link]
June 12-15: StokerCon 2025 is the world’s premiere horror convention. (details) [registration required] — Where you can find me:
JUN 12
3:30p: Open mic
5p: Opening ceremony
8p: The Monster Mash
JUN 13
1p: Mass author signing
3p: Nightfire happy hour
5p: Final Frame film festival and following reception
JUN 14
7p: Bram Stoker Awards®️after party
For updates, check out my detailed calendar
PNW GALLERY
Who will honor the tiny ones?
There are always so many tiny things to notice while gardening or hiking. Here are just a few of my shots taken with my iPhone while out in nature this spring.
[Top: Left to Right] Dogwood blossoms at the Bellevue Library; naturalized forget-me-nots in the neighborhood; coral mushroom on the Eglon trail
[Middle: Left to Right] Ladybug napping in my leek forest; sweetgrass seedhead off my back porch; cornflower looking like a pineapple
[Bottom: Left to Right] Fiddlehead fern along the Port Gamble Heritage trail; naturalized honeysuckle off Lindvog Road; junco eggs near my front porch
Four 10-minute Salad Dressings
My salad garden (red romaine, arugula, spinach, bibb lettuce, frisee, Little Gem romaine, speckled leaf lettuce) has exploded in the wake of a perfect cycle of rain to sunshine.
Rather than give you salad recipes, I’m going to make this one easy and suggest these four super-simple dressings that take hardly any time and really show off whatever greens you’ve got growing in your backyard.
Each of these makes about a cup worth of dressing, enough to use across the space of a week. I try never to buy bottled dressings anymore, because they’ve become rather spendy and they’re usually full of additives I’d rather not put into my body.
I cannot point to a favorite among these; they all work well.
Sweet Onion Vinaigrette: So good with toasted nuts and goat cheese. A family favorite inspired by a condiment my grandmother used to make. Can use any kind of onion you have on hand. Green onion gives you a green-hued dressing; red onion turns it pink; white or yellow onion makes it golden.
Green Goddess Dressing: Satisfying for sturdier greens and can be used as a veggie dip for crudite (mushrooms, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, radishes). This one’s a blast from my past; my family ate tons of Green Goddess over lettuce grown in the backyard garden every summer. Lean into the fresh herbs; this won’t be nearly as good if you use dried.
Creamy Asian Sesame Dressing & Dip: Super smooth and great with salads composed of noodles as well as on greens. It’s especially tasty with cucumbers and steamed chilled green beans on a veggie platter. You can also serve it as a dip for pieces of grilled, roasted, or sauteed boneless chicken.
Pomegranate Vinaigrette: I’ve always loved raspberry vinaigrette and balsamic vinaigrette, but this fruity version is sublime. I amplify mine using a pomegranate balsamic vinegar I picked up in Port Townsend, but you can use apple cider vinegar for good results. You can also substitute pomegranate molasses for the maple syrup if you have it!
Click here to access this recipe through the dedicated Garden to Table recipe page.
Maybe this newsletter is a reminder to us all: that life persists even when we think the walls are closing in, blocking the light and stifling the air. It’s June and there’s so much to celebrate even in the face of political menace. Let’s lean into joy this month, an act of rebellion in tumultuous times.
Happy June… Happy Pride🏳️🌈Month… and Happy Shadow Summer! ~ Tamara
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I am soooo excited for you!!! And all that glorious sun and gardening :)