Hadestown: The Musical

I saw the live capture of "Hadestown: The Musical" Sunday during what was initially going to be a 5 day run in theaters. It has now been extended.  Since I reviewed the live show, I'm just going to make a list of things I like and didn't here. 

Love: Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page (on a ruptured achilles, shout out to the costume designer for that sparkly leg brace), Amber Gray, Andre De Shields, Reeve Carney, and the West End Fates. Also the workers and band were all great. 

Dislike: A few of the photography/editing choices I was less a fan of. Overall, you can see what you need to see. But some moments where they zoom in, you lose the things the rest of the cast is doing. 

Love: Being able to see it again, you catch so many little things. It is a delight. 

Love: Also, there are a few great photography choices, including panning to the audience in key moments. There's one bit where Persephone scoffs at the audience and the audience reacting to that was delightful. 

Love: a pro shot. Is it as good as seeing it live? No. Is it cheaper and simpler if you live somewhere that is not one of the few places currently running a live performance right now? Absolutely. Will it help you decide if "Hadestown" is your jam? Absolutely. Can you go in knowing nothing about the show? Yes. (I would maybe recommend skimming the wiki summary of the Orpheus and Eurydice story. But you do you.)

I'm not sure this is a dislike, so much as an I want even more. I would love a live capture of the original London cast. I know that's greedy. 

Romance Book Blast

Hello there! Today (July 28th, 2026 in case you are reading this on a different day) is Romance Book Blast. Over 950 authors have made their romances free in ebook forms. Including my Repeated Burn which you can find on the short reads page.

If you need a few or a few hundred more romances, there are lots of choices. Go forth and get ready to read! www.romancebooklovers.com Also, as of early this morning Amazon was still working on the price match, so please double check that if Amazon is your purveyor of choice.

Now vs. Later

Some days it's really tough to think long term.  Right now I have a trip coming up and I want to take a new knitting project on the trip with me.  Except, I haven't finished the last three projects I'm working on.  Two are sweaters that are bulky and not great travel projects.  Though both would be super helpful in my cold cold office. One is a sock weight shawl where I've finished the colorwork, though it is lace.  

But I want to start a new thing.  Except then I'd have four unfinished projects.  Sometimes it's hard to figure out how much I'm being distracted by startitis.  Projects are always shiny and new when you haven't started.  

And I don't really have a need for two new sweaters right now.  But also if I don't finish them I won't have them when there is more sweater weather in the forecast.  One of my stalwart sweaters is getting raggedy from how much I wear it, so some more in the rotation would be good.  I seem to wear out my cardigans faster, so need more of those in my closet.  But also, this shawl I want to start is so cute.  

I've often said knitting is a fun hobby for me.  Except for gifts I try not to attach deadlines to it.  It was one of the reasons I stopped test knitting.  Getting to see new patterns early was fun, but it also made knitting work.  And I have work.  I have lots of work.  I needed fun.  

But even my fun has limits.  Having too many projects going makes it feel like work again, weighing down on me.  

And sometimes I have to think big picture.  If I pick an in progress project to finish then it will be done, and starting another will feel fun. Even if I have to put off that fun for a little.

We Need to Talk About AI

I don't use AI to write. AI has in fact illegally used me to write. Sure, sometimes the entitity hosting my words have permission, but I haven't and they are my words. For me drafting is fun. I love the surprise when a few stray plot bits coalesce. I love when characters says things I didn't consciously know they were going to say. But if I wanted to read something someone else wrote, there are literally already more books out there than I could read in this lifetime. 

People keep saying things like well it's too late, the technology exists. And sure. And look, we've bundled just about all code together under that AI umbrella. But can I think of uses for AI? Sure? Are any of them have a computer report news for me or write stories for me instead of actual people with the ability to create context and nuance? No.

It's interesting because we've been using a version of what we are now calling AI to closed caption live TV. To caption videos on social media. And for a while it sucked. And then it got so good. And now it sucks again. It's almost like claiming the software needs no human intervention has made it worse. 

And of course it's proponents always want to toss to the side the water needed. As if we hadn't already learned that sucking up all the water from various places had terrible effects. 

But the other thing that's happening is, it's made me think harder about blogging. I love chatting with the internet. I love telling stories. But I am more and more aware that I am feeding the LLM machines every time I do. That no matter what copyright notices, or do not copy texts I put on my site, it's all feeding the machine. And while I like talking on the internet too much to stop, I may have to really think hard about where to dedicate my energy. 

7 Things About Staying Cool When It's Stupid Hot

I like heat. I even like humidity. (Dry air send my throat, eyes, nasal passages into a panic.) I also like watching tennis which around here happens in the dead heat of summer. My favorite social media comment ever was a guy yelling at the tournament account that they shouldn't hold tennis tournaments when it's going to rain. And well, we really need that rain when the heat index is triple digits. 

1. Be in the AC is the obvious option. But sure you might need to run errands, watch a sporting match of some sort, mow the lawn, or have an outdoor job. 

2. Hydrate. I know. Everyone says this. But all the extra things your body needs to do during extreme weather need liquid.

3. Be a shade seeker. Know where the shade is, whether it's the shadier side of the street to walk down, the shadiest spot to leave your car, the shadiest spot to wait for the bus, find the shade. You can also carry an umbrella or wear a large brim hat and create some of your own shade. If you do, be mindful of others. Being poked when it's stupid hot is harder to handle. 

4. Take breaks. You may have a great vantage that just happens to be in full sun right now. Plan out a break that takes you to a cool spot. Sip water, snack, watch from the concourse a bit. If you are out running errands and the stores you are hitting are not sufficiently cool, stop in at a cooling center or library (or combo cooling center library). Know where these things are along your route.

5. Natural fibers are really breathable. Athletic type clothes may also have sweat wicking capabilities. If you are somewhere you cannot alter your clothes, just keep this in mind and plan for breaks as much as you can. 

6. Know the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/

Dizzy is bad and means you need to take steps now. Heart racing is bad and means you may need medical attention. Don't worry about being embarrassed, I promise if you pass out you will be more embarrassed. 

7. Think of heat like staying up all night. You can do it, but it takes effort. Small breaks help if you can't get longer breaks. And missing some of the fun is worth it to avoid missing the rest because you had to go to the ER instead. 

Bid on Me (and other things)!

It is the Romancing the Vote auction, raising funds for voting rights here in the US and I have two items I am going to get a little long winded about, even though they already have descriptions. 

First, I love quotes. I used to have a box of index cards, just with quotes from various books I loved on them. And last auction I felt bad about not being able to offer international shipping, so tried to think of a thing I could make that would be easily transportable. And so I came up with ten quotes, from various different books, and doodled a little something to go along with it and put it on a postcard. You can send them to your friends, mail them to yourself, hoard them for the hard days, or decorate your fridge. 

Also, I may roll out some incentives on Bluesky to pump up the bidding since this is all for such a good cause. Like maybe a winner's choice postcard added. 

The second option is a stack of three books - a bridesmaid book bundle. One is by me, it's Undercover Bridesmaid. One is by Susie Dumond who also happens to be a DC based author, and one is by Katy Birchall. I have read both and I love them. And these three books are all set in different cities with very different characters but they all feature a secret professional bridesmaid. I think it's such a cool example of how different authors can take the same thing and create three totally different stories. They are all romances, so I can promise each has a happy ending even if their are varying degrees of heartache in them. Also, I can obviously sign and/or personalized my book, if the winner chooses. That one I am sticking to US because sorry, shipping sucks. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo Suggestions

Note: I am, of course, going to include my books in this.  I skipped a few I don't have suggestions for. 

Character smells like fresh cut grass

Song Lyrics:  Oh hello, both I Belong to You and Presented with Love would work for this.  

I Hate Everyone But You: Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

National Park:  Hello again, I Belong to You fits here as well, with Rock Creek Park.  Of Kings and Queens also mentions the Mall. 

Heatwave: Hot Earl Summer by Erica Ridley

Dual Timeline: Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare

Canoe: Flirting With Disaster by Naina Kumar

TRB Summer 2026 Author: Shirlene Obuobi's Between Friends and Lovers would work this, or you could wait til July for the new one. 

Florist: Hello, both Aloha to You and Of Kings and Queens have brief appearances of the same florist.  

Middle child: 

Cover has an old house on it: Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeepig by Sangu Mandanna

Soccer/World Cup: I confess, I have not read a lot of recent soccer romance, but I did enjoy Rebecca Crowley's Crossing Hearts. 

Rodeo:  Huge fan of Kari Lynn Dell here, especially Tangled in Texas.  

Podcaster - Back After This by Linda Holmes is really more women's fiction, but does have a pro podcaster.  Same with Regina Black's August Lane. 

Wedding Party:  Hello again, we have Undercover Bridesmaid. 

Royal Title in the Title - Oh hello, we have Of Kings and Queens

Don't Fall in Love with Me - Andrea Tang's To The Death would work well here. 

End of summer deadline - Jodi McAlister's An Academic Affair has multiple deadlines, but as they are academics, end of summer, is definitely part of it.  Also, Get Over it April Avans by Ashley Herring Blake.  

Single Parent - One in a Million by Beverley Kendall

Happy reading!

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your work hours, feel free to hold off response until work hours.

"A Fine Madness" from Wooly Mammoth at the Hamiltonian

Content note: discussions of pandemics 

"A Fine Madness" in being staged in multiple locations across DC. I saw it at the Hamiltonian Gallery on U Street. 

"A Fine Madness" is technically a one person show, although it is interactive, so the audience is part of the show, to the extent they wish. 

The show is a few things. It's a little bit autobiographical. It's a little bit reflective. It's a little bit nerdy as it talks about space and ties that together with reflections on viruses and pandemics. It's basically an amazing night. They handed us a pencil to fill out some things. (Sidenote as a super reader, watching a bunch of adults be handed a paper that says fill this part out now, fill this part out later, and seeing who follows directions can be it's own fun.)

I ended up using my pencil to write down a few lines that spoke to me. 

The show I saw was in the Hamiltonion, a long narrow space. The lighting and sound were helpful. At one point I realized that Weaks had altered his outfit and I was amazed because I hadn't noticed when it had happened. 

I went alone and had a great time, but I think it's also a great show to see with a friend or two so you can talk about it later. 

Two Sales

Happy Kings bad, but Lei pretty day, or as it is more commonly known, King Kamehameha Day. As newsletter subscribers already know, my two books that mention King Kamehameha Day are on sale. Aloha to You has a very brief mention as Adriana does a whirlwind of lei making. 

Of Kings and Queens has much of the action taking place on King Kamehameha Day. 

Aloha to You is a little bit snarky dude, anxious but sunshiny girl. And Of Kings and Queens is more of a jump into bed fast, figure out they have an uncomfortable connection later type situation. 

Universal links:

Aloha to You Link: https://books2read.com/u/4XZnd6 

Of Kings and Queens link: https://books2read.com/u/bQAPVv 

Print is not on sale, but links here:

And in print: https://bookshop.org/books/aloha-to-you/9781393545323 and https://bit.ly/3MoW0pT. 

It is an Honor

The Tony's were last night, and not all my faves won. Sure, very many of my faves were up against each other. One could also argue that I have too many faves for someone who has not yet seen these particular shows. 

But in the end, just being nominated is an honor. There were only six eligible musicals this year and the nominations don't even fully reflect that. 

Don't get me wrong winning is cool of course. But also, if you think too hard about how the best play doesn't have any of the best actors, well, it's a bit of a brain teaser. 

As a viewer, I always like seeing multiple shows win. But in the end, the odds of even getting a show on Broadway are incredible. Getting nominated for a Tony is just icing on the cake. 

One Sentence Tony Descriptions

It is the Tony's this Sunday and so we revive the annual tradition of me describing Tony nominated plays and musicals in a single sentence, aka badly. It should be said, I tend to amuse myself describing them so succinctly you can't really tell what it's about. But these are great works, and trust that I have been scouring interviews with everyone, and and so excited to see more of what this season has to offer. 

The Balusters - Have you ever been to a neighborhood association meeting. It's like that but dramatic.

Giant - Ronald Dahl decides if he should apologize for seeming anti-Semitic. 

Liberation - A women reflects on her mother's feminism. 

Little Bear Ridge Road - Death cleaning but dramatic.

The Lost Boys - When you move to a new town and it turns out they have a lot of vampires. But now with singing!

Schmigadoon! - A couples retreat gets very real (or surreal) when the couple stumbles into a fictional town where people sing their feelings, and apparently they can't leave until they find their true love. 

Titaníque - What if Celine Dion decided to tell you what really happened on the Titanic. 

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)- The bride's sister has to pick up her future brother-in-law's estranged son at the airport on her way to get the wedding cake. 

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman - A sad salesman reflects on his life and then dies. (It's not a spoiler, it's in the title.)

Becky Shaw - A very terrible blind date. 

Every Brilliant Thing - Creating a list of things worth living for. 

Fallen Angels - Two women get very drunk waiting to see an ex neither of their husbands know about. 

Oedipus - Imagine Oedipus running for election except, he might have this teeny, tiny, secret. 

Cats: The Jellicle Ball - What if when they say cats they just mean cool people, and then they say ball, they mean ballroom..

Ragtime - The American Dream in the early 1900's has flaws.

Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show - Car trouble can lead you to the most fascinating discoveries. 

"Aguardiente" at Gala Hispanic Theater.

I am currently editing a novel that has taken much longer than expected to edit. So a musical about trying to finish a musical is both entirely on point, and perhaps something I am not in the best place to analyze. 

Aguardiente is primarily in Spanish. I do speak some Spanish, but not enough to keep up with a musical. There were captions, so I was following along quite well, but when a few people cracked up at one character's name, I realized I had missed something. (I figured it out.) All of this is to say I have thoughts about the show. But I am aware that things that didn't quite seem clear to me may well be a cultural skill issue on my part, and less a fault of the show. 

This is a lot of setup to say I had a great time. Aguardiente is about two writers trying to finish a show about Latinx people, dealing with funding issues, competing requests for time and story ideas. And in the shower within the show Azuquita and Anis eventually decide leave their small town for New York where they have different experiences, and ultimately make different choices about what the city has taught them. 

There are references to pop songs, to arts funding cuts, especially for shows about people speaking Spanish, and TikTok trends. There were a ton of songs, a huge number of costume changes (I counted six separate costumes for the ensemble and they charge into and out of them multiple times. The main characters had about four each.) The dancing was incredible. 

Sometimes with musicals there's a weird sense of time. When you spend three minutes on one big feeling in song, you skip through and jump cut ahead a lot to get through the rest of the plot. 

But I had a great time. And I loved the themes even if the themes of how hard it is to write in the current times was maybe very timely. 

Also, show out to the Dinner and a Show Newsletter that highlighted this show. It had fallen off my radar, despite being at my closest theater. 

Gaithersburg Book Festival

I went to the Gaithersburg Book Festival this weekend, and bought more books than I planned. (I always think I am less susceptible to paper books and then I remember I can give them as gifts and well, things escalate.)

I decided to not set an alarm. Well, Friday night me decided not to set an alarm. A prior me had set one, but put it at 8pm not 8am so it was not very helpful. But while there were people speaking at 10am I wanted to see there were also people speaking at 4pm I wanted to see. And so I went. Chatted with folks. Got food. Watched a panel. Bought books. Got some iced tea. Watched another panel. Took a look at the growing shuttle line to get back to metro and decided it was time to go home. It was a great day. 

Happy AANHPI Month

It is Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage month here in the US.  I've been writing about this for years, and each year it gets a little easier to find titles to talk about.  I'm a big fan of reading diversely.  Different genres, sure, but different viewpoints and perspectives also.  No, that doesn't mean you need to read books by or about anyone who thinks you or the people you love shouldn't exist.  But authors of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, immigration statuses, continents of origin, these are all ways that change the frames we use to see the world.  

I shared a few titles with my newsletter folks, you can read (and even subscribe) here.  But let's talk where to find reads.  

Pacific Islanders in Publishing is a great resource.  

I also maintain a list of Hawaiian writers, which of course includes me.  

We Need Diverse Books has an incredible list of resources for finding diverse books of all kinds, including Asian American.  

And one of the things I think it's helpful to know is that diversifying your reading list is hard at first.  But as you find authors and stories you love, all your recommendations start to shift, and it gets easier.  So it's a little bit of work up front, but it gets easier.  

Scheduled: Nothing

As the weather gets warmer I get so excited about the increase of things to do an see that sometimes I forget to have a day or two where I can just be. Or play silly phone games. Hang with my cat. Knit. Read. Just kind of be. Where the plan is no plan.

Productivity is great but what if sometimes I didn't focus on that. Sometimes creatives call this filling the well, and yes, that too. But I think sometimes naming it a thing that ties it to being productive again, even in the future, sort of takes away from the relaxing and not being productive. Yes, rest is a key part of productivity. But also restung is not just the precursor to working again. Rest is also rest. 

Books!

This past weekend was Independent Bookstore Day and Local Yarn Store Day (the weekend before Maryland Sheep and Wool too, someone hates my wallet). I roped a friend into doing the DC Bookstore Crawl with me. I had, because I apparently like to stack a day, also planned a vet appointment for my cat. So we did that in the morning and then headed out around lunch for books and yarn. The DC area is really having an independent bookstore moment right now. I can remember when hitting six stores (the minimum for the book crawl prize) would have involved at least two suburbs. And I know friends elsewhere often still have to drive two hours to get to an indie, much less a romance and other genre friendly one. 

So we started with Bold Fork, the cookbook and food book store. They also has some ice cream and drinks from some partners outside, along with a deal where you could take your receipt to two other local businesses for a discount.

Then we went to Lost City, where the romance is upstairs. This day involved more stairs than I remembered. 

After Lost City we went to Looped Yarn Works which was not officially participating in LYS day, but they are my LYS, so got some yarn. 

Then we stopped in Second Story which continues to have a wide selection of used books. Fantom Comics is right nearby but also involves stairs. 

Then we took a brief tea break before heading to East City. We made a bad transit choice, going above ground forgetting there was an event of sorts in DC that evening so more people than usual downtown (even though the event was actually closer to where we'd been before, people are weird). But we made it. And shopped a little there. Stopped in at Labyrinth Games to admire some things. And then to Little City, which I had ridiculously not been to yet. Little City was our sixth stop, so in addition to the prize wheel, we also got our totes. (Many of the stores ran out of the official prize totes, but offered up another tote, which was fine by me.)

And then we ended at Loyalty, where I found a lonely looking Independent Bookstore Edition of a book along with some other goodies. 

It was a lot of fun, if a bit exhausting. I find in spring I always sort of walk around a bit more (though not usually quite this much) and remember all these cute places that I love visiting. It's also so great to see stores packed full of bookish people. I hope the booksellers are recovered. 

I also took advantage of Libro FM's audiobook sale, so my TBR is good for at least a few days. 

End of an Era?

It was an odd year to be a Caps fan. After they exceeded expectations last year, they of course got rewarded with higher expectations, and did not quite live up to them. There's a business adage about under promising and over delivering, and it's because if you say it will be done Friday, but deliver Thursday, people will be pleasantly surprised. They sort of never talk about how next time, they will just subtract a day from whatever you say, that you can only under promise so much, before people expect constant over delivering. 

Each season is of course it's own thing. And then a player or three gets injured. Folks leave in the summer. And the calendar provides a different number of matchups. Plus of course the Olympics meant that the calendar was hard this year. Less breaks, less rest all the way through. 

And, as happens when you are an athlete of a certain age, they started talking about Ovechkin as old, despite the numbers he was putting up. As a person of a certain age, I am aware that age will make itself felt in recovery, in rebound, in speed loss. 

And then at the trade deadline, the Caps traded away two key players. Clearly they were planning for future seasons, not the one we were still playing. And, as Ovie has said in interviews, as a player that's hard. If you have twenty games left to play, but management already thinks you can't win, it's hard to play hard. To risk your body for that. 

I know we are closer to the post-Ovie part of the Caps than not. I hope he gets to finish out however he would like. 

Relative Risk

Wikipedia has an entry on relative Risk that I find fascinating. We all, for very good historical and biological reasons, factor in our own experience when calculating risk. So sure, there's research and evidence, but you also are gonna say, nope, I got food poisoning last time I went there, so never again.

It also means when something happens near you, in a place you visit all the time, you discard it as an outlier. And when the same kind of thing happens somewhere you don't go, you assume you can personally avoid such risk by continuing to not go there. 

It does also mean that when talking with people who live three neighborhoods over, you are sometimes doing different calculations. And you find yourself trying convince them that your calculation is the correct one. 

But of course that's where the relative part comes in. If I have no contrary experience somewhere, the new article or that one time my friend went there, seems more objective.

And someone else trying to convince me something else seems less credible. But when it's my neighborhood, or one I frequent, I feel more certain of my own experience. But may have more trouble convincing folks who have only seen it on the news. 

Being a Fan

I went to a men's college basketball game earlier this year (My sports superstitions for basketball are basically non-existent unlike other sports.) It reminded me of a story.

I went to a family wedding up in Connecticut. As we arrived at the reception, the person next to me grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my God that's Geno. Look, it's Geno!"

I said, very sincerely, "I don't know who that is l,but I am very excited for you."

"I'm going to talk to him," he said.

"Go for it," I said. 

We later found out that a relative at the wedding, who worked at UConn, had been in conversation with Geno Auriemma who was helping a kid find a spot for their own wedding reception. So relative said, oh you can stop by our family's reception and see if you like the set up. Little did they know they made other guest's day and possibly even year. 

Being a fan of things is fun. Other people being fans of things, even when they are things I am not deeply into, is so much fun. Half the fun of all the "Heated Rivalry" discourse has been watching people go all in, comparing books to show, making fan edits, discussing their favorite scenes.

Being excited about things is great stuff. Being excited about books, or sports, and/or books about sports is so wonderful. 

Be a fan of things. 

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your work hours, feel free to hold off response until work hours.

The Power of No

There is a thing people say about how the word no is a complete sentence. As in, no I will not be doing that. Or no, if you do that, I will not be applauding you or supporting you. It of course doesn't mean you always get your way. There are moments when it is useful to be in brainstorm mode. To say, oh great idea but what if we did this instead. If everyone is trying to figure out where to eat dinner, then just saying no is not helpful. (Unless you are saying, no, I'm going home.) No to Chinese but yes to Mexican is helpful.

But there are times when the no itself is important. No, I do not approve that message. No, I am not okay with this. No I will not tell this person about your great idea. No. No. No.

No, of course, does not always mean you get your way. But showing up to say, no it still powerful and important. When we are taught history the focus is often on what the people with the most power did. And that sometimes elides the complicated discussions they were having, and the people outside the room who had thoughts and feelings too.

Even when the powers that be continue on with their choices, joining with others to say no is useful. It reminds them you are watching. It reminds others who though they were the only one who hated it, that they are not alone. And it can help move later decisions in different directions.