Hello all! 

I hope you've been enjoying the sunshine we've been having in the UK this week (alternatively, I hope you've had good weather wherever you are).

I've been a little quiet here as I've been sorting out things over at the publisher I co-run 3 of Cups Press, as we were crowdfunding for a book over there as well at the same time! Despite that, I've been doing quite a lot of Stim bits and bobs behind the scenes. We've had over 30 pitches for the rest of the book, which is wonderful.

In the meantime, I thought I'd better introduce you properly to our contributors. I did a thread over on Twitter but here's all their details. I hope you're as excited as I am to read their work.

Grace Au (them/they) is a part time jewellery-maker, part time writer, part time jack-of-all-trades. They have a degree in Design from Goldsmiths, University of London and are currently studying Architecture at Newcastle University. They spend their days thinking about memes, mental health, horror fiction, politics and using design to make life more accessible to everyone. Their writing is featured in On Anxiety from 3 of Cups Press. You can buy their zines and jewellery here. Grace will be contributing a short story about a small girl and a hungry ghost.

Nell Brown edits other people’s words for a living but is getting into writing her own. She works in an art gallery, making sure it publishes information about its paintings that you don’t need an Art History PhD to understand. Before that, she ran a blog for an archive, getting people to tell her about the (sometimes weird) stuff they found in the stacks. She’s prone to over-enthusiastic sharing about whatever about book, podcast, sci fi show or documentary she’s come across that week; follow her on Twitter @theneliad. Nell will be exploring the bounds of special interests for Stim.

Laura James is a journalist, author and columnist whose work has appeared in many national and international newspapers and magazines. She is the author of nine books. The latest, Odd Girl Out, is a memoir on being autistic. She campaigns for autism awareness, lives in Norfolk and has four children. Laura will be writing about emotions and alixithimia.

Katherine Kingsford is an actor, playwright and potter who lives in the West Country. She was diagnosed as autistic when she was 32 though she was first referred for psychiatric evaluation when she was seven and has spent many years struggling with how she fit into the world due to her lack of diagnosis. Writing and telling stories have been a constant source of joy in her life. Her book, Asperger's and Asparagus, co-written with her sister Julia, about their life growing up with her undiagnosed autism will be published by Bluebird Books in May 2019.

Rachael Lucas is an author, coach and freelance writer. Her first young adult novel State of Grace featured an autistic protagonist and has been nominated for the 2018 Carnegie awards. She has also written three romantic comedies – Sealed with a Kiss, Coming Up Roses, and Wildflower Bay. She is a regular speaker at book festivals and conferences in the UK, talking about everything from self esteem in autistic women and girls to building your author platform to the power of blogging to change lives. She is also a certified coach and mindfulness and meditation teacher. Rachael will be exploring parenting autistic children while being autistic.

Aisja Mahmood is currently a mature Social Anthropology student at the University of Cambridge, full time mom to eleven cats, and committed to decolonising understandings of health, disability, and wellness. Aisja writes about navigating life as a neurodivergent brown working class woman, and with several years experience of working in the third sector, often reflects on the importance of cultural practise and ancestral wisdom in both personal and community development. She began writing in 2017 after returning to academia, and has since contributed to publications such as gal-dem and Blueprint. Aisja will be writing about the intersections of being an autistic person of colour.

Cornelia Prior is a writer,  editor, & digital producer. They write about art, literature, film, queerness, & water. They have written for Art Quarterly, PYLOT, The Leopard, and more. They are also a non-fiction editor with 3 of Cups Press, whose first book came out in February 2018. Cornelia's essay will focus on queer friendship and queer heritage.

Megan Rhiannon is an autistic illustrator currently studying in Cambridge, though she was born in South Wales and raised in London. Her work is inspired by her day-to-day life and experiences, as well as her obscure interests and enthusiasm for learning and adventuring. Alongside her illustrative work, she is an avid photographer, video-maker and planner enthusiast. She is keen on detail and in creating work to document and express. Her work can be seen here.

Martha Rose Saunders is a Psychology and Sociology student researching gender & the history of autism. In her spare time she loves talking, writing & tweeting about pop culture, mental health & horror films. Martha will be focussing in on sex and romance in her essay for Stim.

Robert Shepherd has always found the world confusing, and writes to try and help it make more sense to himself and others. He lives in a tiny slice of time inside a billions-year-old universe, and is horribly aware of that fact. You can find more of his writing here. Robert's short fiction will follow a selkie navigating the human world.

And that's it for now. I'm excited to commission more people to fill out Stim, and will be able to announce that over the next few months!

In the meantime, please keep sharing the pledge page with your friends and family. We're finally 1/3rd of the way there but we have a lot of preorders to raise in order to meet our target. Those declarations of why a project matters to you make a huge difference to us -- not only does it boost our moods but they also often turn into pledges! 

Thank you so much for your support thus far, and for joining us on this journey. 

Lizzie.