If it’s one thing we do well at Autostraddle, it’s holding spooky season in our hearts well after Halloween. There’s nothing like a ghost story in December to add layers to the chill in the air, to make you question whether that draft on the back of your neck is because you’re afraid to turn the heat up or something less sinister, like the deathly breath of a poltergeist.

And this December, we’re going to kick off the third year of The13 Days of A+ (as defined as “like the 12 days of Christmas + the Devil” by Riese, but which is 13 days of saying THANK YOU to our members) with an A+ Read a Fucking Book Club Discord Q&A with our very own resident published horror author, Managing Editor Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya! She wrote lesbian ghost novelette, Helen House, which I was honored to interview her about and which Stef reviewed and which we are all just really excited by! Want to get into Kayla’s head? Want to tell her that the book appeared in your dreams? This is your chance!

The details:

How do I read Helen House?

You can buy it from Bookshop to support Autostraddle and indie bookstores! If you want bonus points (that you can exchange for hauntings), this is far enough in advance that you can request your library get a couple copies!

How do I get on the pop-up Discord?

First, you’ll need to make sure you’re an A+ member! A+ members support everything Autostraddle does, and they get all kinds of bonus content as thanks — now including access to the A+ Read a Fucking Book Club!

A post will re-appear on the day of the event, behind the A+ paywall, with the link and join widget, about fifteen minutes before it starts at 4:45pm PST, so that A+ members can join.

When is this again?

It’s taking place on Tuesday, December 13, so you have plenty of time to dig into the book! It’s happening from 5pm PST to 6:30pm PST. Times in some other zones are as follows:

• 8 – 9:30pm, Eastern Standard Time
• 1am – 2:30am, London, UK
• 2am – 3:30am, Berlin, Germany
• 8am – 9:30am, Tuesday, December 14, Hong Kong
• 9am – 10:30am, Tuesday, December 14, Australian Central Time

What if I can’t make it? The time doesn’t work for me :(

I’m sorry (especially if this is in the middle of the night where you are)! This is always so hard. We have to host most events within times that are reasonable for the team working them and the author participating. However, I will publish the transcript the following week behind the A+ paywall, so you will still be able to catch up on the chat! AND ALSO this is on the A+ pop-up discord which I am telling you right now is going to be up and running for the whole 13 Days of A+, so you’ll be able to read back in the channel where the book club happens and Kayla may pop back in to answer further questions, too!

P.S. If you’re in Europe (truly being hit the hardest by the time zone situation here) or anywhere else where this is straight up in the middle of the night for you, and you have a question you’d love to see asked, you can email me at nico[at]autostraddle.com with the subject line BOOK CLUB QUESTION and I’ll collect them all and ask them on your behalf, and then the transcript will be available the following week for you to check out! I know it’s not a perfect solution, but when it comes to events with live humans who go to sleep at night within their respective time zones, it’s the best we can do right now.

What will the event be like?

It will be a text-based Q&A within Discord. I (Nico) will be there to moderate / help with flow. Basically, read the book (or as much as you can), bring your questions for the author, and ask those questions in the chat! Kayla will be there to talk with everyone and can you tell I’m shaking with a combination of terror and excitement? I am shaking!

Accessibility

We want Autostraddle events to be as accessible as possible and we opted to go with a text-based chatting format via Discord in large part because it was one of the most accessible ways to hold this virtual event, not just in terms of audio/visual accessibility, but also because we know it can be hard to ask a question out loud or know when to jump into a conversation. We hope this helps things go as smoothly as is possible for a virtual event. That said, if there are accommodations that would make it easier for you to attend this event, please reach out to me at nico[at]autostraddle.com to let me know. Also, here’s a link to a guide on using Discord with a screen reader. 

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!