Lab Report: The Bardo Is Spreading

Attn: Alchemists and Scoundrels

The quarterly laboratory reports are in. Here are the highlights.

BETTER LIVING THROUGH ALCHEMY is one of five finalists for the Endeavour Award. This accolade recognizes distinguished science fiction and fantasy written by an author of the Pacific Northwest. We thank the council of judges for advancing us.

The novel is also a semifinalist for the Small Spec Book Awards, which are "[H]onoring & spotlighting superb spec fic from small & indie press authors.” We thank the assembly for recognizing the quality of our work.

Evan will appear on September 20 & 21 at the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon in Portland, Oregon. Fellow guest degenerates will include Cassandra Khaw, Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito, Adam Scott Glancy, Cody Goodfellow, and an Empty Man. Evan contributes to this year’s convention anthology, Tales from the Emma, which is a deviation from the traditional, round-robin style Challenge From Beyond collection. Evan will read from Better Living Through Alchemy and give two additional talks: “Queering Lovecraft: We Dare Not Speak Its Name” and “Reanimate THIS: Reclaiming the Mythos.” The latter was a smash hit at WorldCon Seattle 2025.

POSTHUMAN, this year’s magnum opus, will appear on or near the December solstice. Interactive fiction and text RPG publisher Choice of Games will once again handle distribution. You will create your own superhuman avatar with a wide variety of possible mutant posthuman powers. Possible teammates include Vogue, a trans woman with the power to read all body language and mimic any physical movement or style; Pi, a young progressive Muslim super-supergenius who lost her mother in the posthuman war; and Moxie, a Korean-American temperature-bender named after moxibustion. Temple Laboratories is proud to once again collaborate with Choice of Games on this experiment in free will.

Lastly, some auspicious news. At some point, Evan and his elusive Greco-Sicilian paramour were married in a small private ceremony that involved fire, water, and an exchange of gold. A honeymoon period has followed, culminating in site visits to several ancient Pagan nodes of power in Western Europe. Should a pregnancy result, Evan will withdraw from the puplic eye until parturition is completed. Temple Laboratories appreciates the public’s patience and discretion during the cambion’s gestationary period.

Regards,

S. Martinetti, C.Æ.O.

Temple Laboratories