January is over! Here’s my annual New Year’s poem (full text at the end).
‘Happy New Year’ poem by Beatrice Winifred Iker, full text at the end of this newsletter
How was January, you ask? Sit back and let’s discuss 🍵
This month’s lesson was on the importance of physical media.
This month’s fragrances were lavender and black currant.
This month’s plant was an Epiphyllum pumilum (cactus) named Octopus.
This month’s writing was finally, finally romantic.
This month’s tarot card was Judgement.
Let’s start with physical media
At one point last year, I had Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, Disney+, Apple TV, HBO Max, Peacock, BritBox, Hallmark Plus (story for a future newsletter), Spotify, and Duolingo (mon Dieu!).
And there was still content behind additional paywalls, or that was just not streaming!
Though I admit some participation in the endless subscription model, it was becoming a sick nightmare from which I could not escape and had no control.
Enter: good ole DVDs.
I am old enough to remember feeling hesitant about DVDs (I was very happy with my VHSes), but now I herald them as Discs of Deliverance. Specifically, they are delivering me from cursing inside the streaming capitalist playground.
My favorites so far are Pretty Woman and Sinners. Two incredibly different movies, both beloved by me.
The DVD for Pretty Woman rests on a TV stand.
The DVD for Sinners rests on a TV stand.
This month’s fragrances were Lavender and Black Currant
Mixing lavender with orange blossom results in a lovely blend that's both soothing and invigorating. I’m truly enjoying trying out different fragrance combinations, embracing variety instead of sticking to just one scent family.
This month’s body oil, perfume oil, and lotion are pictured on a wooden dresser.
Body Lotion: Lavender Dreams by Jergens
Notes: Lavender, Night Jasmine, & Orange Flower
Body Oil: Lavender by Soothing House
Notes: Lavender
Perfume Oil: Currant & Orange by Sand + Fog
Notes: Black currant, Orange, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Petigrain, Green Leaves, Orange Blossom, Musk, Amber
This month’s plant was an Epiphyllum pumilum (cactus) named Octopus.
With spindly arms that snake between and around shelving in search of light, Octopus is ready for her main entrance.
A Tardis ornament is her best friend, but she would even betray it if it meant that she could receive more light.
Octopus is singularly focused. And good for her, ya know?
This month’s writing was finally, finally romantic.
I have finally returned to the romance I mentioned several newsletters ago. It is part romance, part family saga, and entirely speculative.
On a related note, I have partaken in Heated Rivalry (the tv show) and have been inspired by its feel-good fruits.
What was reinforced for me? There is power in softness. Beauty in the gently-explored. And sex can be a visceral tool for character growth.
I am taking these lessons with me as I continue writing my romance. I do want there to be an inherent softness in this world, but the difference between my writing and that of Heated Rivalry is not just Afrofuturism (!!), but in the themes I’m weaving in this story.
This story is my exploration of redemption.
My two main characters, and love interests, are men desperate for belonging in a (softly surreal) world where they must redeem themselves. One man seeks familial redemption. The other, religious.
Progress: This project is off to my agent! Now, she and I will go back and forth on revisions until we agree it’s ready to submit to editors at publishing houses. Hooray!
This month’s tarot card was Judgement.
For me, this month was about making decisions.
I made a plan for the next 10 books I will write, some contracted, some not. And this was a difficult decision because I’m aware that what I write isn't the most marketable, certainly not in the current political landscape.
I am a queer writer interested in exploring gender identity, racial politics, Black American religious fantacism, and underresearched Black American historical figures and periods.
But why write this now, when I know how hard it is to sell diverse books?
Well, that’s where the decision-making comes into play.
I honestly don’t believe there’s a right answer here. Anything I write is political, given my ethnicity, gender, and spiritual practices. My very presence is a protest.
And that was the decision I made: no more overthinking.
I wanna have gender fluid characters? Ancestor veneration? Mary Ellen Pleasant? The AME Zion Church? Well, I’ll do so. In my adult romance, middle-grade nonfiction, young adult horror, and picture-book folktales.
I don’t have to choose whether or not to write those books. Everything I write will be those books.
This is my lifelong artistic protest.
Next month, I’ll discuss my first essay collection!
In the meantime…
Bea’s Books Reminders
The cover for Charley’s Honky-Tonk Mission by Beatrice Winifred Iker and illustrated by Miguelina Milien features Charley Pride smiling and playing the guitar against a wind-swept, cloudy background.
CHARLEY’S HONKY-TONK MISSION is my picture book-in-verse about Charley Pride, America’s first Black country music superstar.
Out June 9, 2026, and you can pre-order here.
The cover for I'll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker features green, gnarled roots that form a skull underground, reaching up into a church in the woods under a blood red sky
My debut, a Southern Gothic horror novel set at an Appalachian HBCU, is called I’LL MAKE A SPECTACLE OF YOU and is out now!
Please request from your library, or order here.
Happy New Years
a poem by Beatrice Winifred Iker
I would never tell you
to forget your wounds
Stardust is many things
but it is not
un-wounded
we are not
storyless, challengeless, painless
We are stumbling miracles, and
lonely in
crowds, we are popular in
isolation
I cannot wish you a year
absent of suffering
i only wish you a year
where you pour poison-laced honey down the throats of your monsters
and reign over the monsters you cannot murder
Happy New Year
