Hey there!

I’ve been on the road this past week, visiting family back in the Old Country: the Netherlands. Windmills, tulips, and bicycles galore.

Yes, Kwak is a Dutch name!

(Though it’s a much more common Korean last name, so you’d be justified if you were wondering if that’s my provenance.)

A year or so ago, I asked my ocularist to make me a Delft Blue eye as a nod to my heritage, and this week I got to wear that eye at the Royal Delft Museum.

I grew up with Delft Blue dishes all around me. Decorative plates at my grandma’s house, little painted shoes on my parents’ cabinet, spoons and other trinkets relatives brought as gifts when they came to visit us in the New Country.

I even have a set of vases and a sugar bowl on my nightstand, which used to belong to my Grandma Kwak.

It was fascinating to learn the history of the art form. According to the Royal Delft museum, it started out when the Dutch captured a Portuguese ship carrying a bunch of Chinese porcelain dishes. Those were sold in the Netherlands, and people went crazy for them.

Dutch potters, ready to capitalize on a trend, eventually figured out how to make the fine porcelain dishes and painted them in the Chinese style.

Europe went wild for the cheap Dutch knockoffs, and eventually the style began to shift to the traditional Dutch scenes you think of today.

It’s a continually evolving style, with some very cool modern interpretations currently available. I wish I had unlimited funds to collect—and unlimited space in my suitcase for fragile souvenirs…

​I posted a bunch more photos on my Instagram here.

Along with this one, which my friend (and fellow sci-fi writer) Wade Peterson called a Delft Dalek.

It’s actually a Proud Mary figure, which is a limited edition release to celebrate Amsterdam’s 750th birthday.

OK! Enough pottery.

I also have a book recommendation for you today: Grendel & Beowulf by C. Gockel.

I know, I know — fantasy isn't always your thing. But hear me out.

You've shown up again and again for C. Gockel's sci-fi, which tells me you appreciate a story with heart, humor, and characters who feel completely real even when the world around them isn't.

And Grendel & Beowulf has all of that — just with a little more magic and a vampire who is, frankly, hilarious.

If that doesn't make you at least a little curious, I don't know what to tell you.

While this book is in a series, it's more of a collection and Grendel & Beowulf is a standalone adventure — no commitment to a whole series, no catching up required. Just a brilliant, witty, completely unexpected story that I think you're going to love.

Don't just take my word for it, here are a few reviews from other readers:

"I truly love how Ms. Gockel takes a story we all know and turns it on its side. In many cases, you find a character that you should not like to be the one you really love. It is great to watch the characters grow both intelligently and morally. Grendel thinks of herself as a monster and you watch her slowly come into one of those characters you love." - Jan Niblock's 5-Star Review

"I love the dry humor and snarkiness between Grendel & Beowulf. The story delves into "racism" & preconceived notions/unlearning what you've always believed. Great story! Can't wait to start the next book in the series!" - Kindle customer's 5-Star Review

More For Your TBR

Here are a few other books I think you might like, and bonus; they're free!

The Lattice Scheme by A. L. Lieske zure Prescott, a low-level agent with quiet ambitions, suddenly finds herself at the forefront of a classified experiment: sanctioned access to enter and interrogate through the dreams of others. Her first assignment thrusts her into an international operation, unraveling the disappearance of an Italian intelligence agent and the secrets he was chasing. Soon, her path collides with a charismatic External detective, leading her into an unsanctioned inquiry that touches her own mentor and a buried, ignominious record. Undercover marriages, criminal networks, illicit neurotechnology, and revenants from the past all begin to converge, turning each recovered memory into a fragment of a far greater deception. As investigations spiral beyond control, Azure must navigate a web of conspiracy that stretches across borders and consciousness itself, threatening not only the intelligence system she serves but the very stability of identity and reality. Get My Copy!

The Black Circle by Parker Vale Two murders. One framed suspect. And a conspiracy that’s been silencing witnesses for generations. Dr. Sarah Black sees patterns other people miss—and this one is deeply flawed. The evidence against a volatile bartender seems perfect. Too perfect. The crime scenes point to ritual. To staging. To a signature looping back a century. Then she speaks the forbidden name in open court: The Order of the Circle. The Circle doesn’t just silence witnesses. They are the witnesses. The judges. The system itself. Every institution she trusted is compromised. Yet someone powerful is keeping her alive. She just doesn’t know who—or for how long. Get My Copy!

Happy reading,

Jessie