In this episode of the Mind of Sai Marie, I dive into Rick Partlow’s compelling novel, Contact Front, a gripping adventure that thrusts humanity into its first, high-stakes encounter with alien civilizations.

With a career spanning dozens of novels, Rick has become a defining voice in modern sci-fi, successfully blending tactical realism with visionary speculation. We explore the fundamental elements that make his stories so immersive and resonant:

* The Craft of Immersive Worlds: Rick shares his process for building believable, complex worlds—from political structures to technological limits.

* Science Meets Imagination: We discuss the intersection where scientific plausibility fuels boundless creative speculation.

* The Enduring Power of Speculative Fiction: An exploration of how science fiction challenges our current perspectives and inspires us toward future possibilities.

Join us for a deep look into the courage required to face the unknown and the enduring power of storytelling to capture the future.

Follow Rick on Social Media:

Instagram: Rick Partlow

Pick up Contact Front: Contact Front

Sai’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In this episode of Out of the Encyclopedia of History, I unravel the stormy summer of 1816 that birthed Frankenstein and ignited a literary revolution. Through the lens of Mary Shelley’s radical feminism—not misandry—we explore her elopement with Percy Shelley, the infamous ghost story wager with Lord Byron, and the philosophical undercurrents of duality and monstrosity in Gothic literature.

I also draw parallels to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde, spotlighting how women like Mary Shelley and Fanny Stevenson shaped the moral architecture of horror.

With nods to Guillermo del Toro’s cinematic homage, this episode honors the legacy of literary rebels who dared to write the darkness within.

A living tribute by yours truly.

This is where we decolonize the narrative.

I explore what it means to be Mixed Native—not as dilution, but as a sacred, complex inheritance. Discusses ancestral echoes, insurgent storytelling, and the daily practice of restoring kinship and collective memory.

Mixed Natives Are Still Native

This Native American Heritage Month, I’m reclaiming space for the truths colonization tried to erase. I carry mixed Native ancestry—and so do my children. Our existence challenges the colonial tools of blood quantum, disenrollment, and phenotype policing. From Cherokee Freedmen to Mexican Indigenous lineages, from intertribal marriages to those severed from tribal rolls, our stories are not anomalies—they are the norm across Turtle Island.

This piece is a call to remember: Native identity is not defined by paperwork or pigment. It’s lived, inherited, and often reclaimed. While we must guard against appropriation, we must also resist the colonizer’s spell that says only some of us belong. The Rainbow Warriors prophecy asks us to rise together. That means making room for all our relations—especially those returning home.

This month, I want to speak not just as an advocate, but as a mother, a descendant, and a living witness to the complexity of Native identity. My own genetics and lineage carry the stories of mixed ancestry—proof that Native blood does not conform to colonizer-imposed boundaries. My children, born of me and their fathers, are living examples of what many Native Americans now embody: a tapestry of cultures, histories, and truths that imperial systems tried to unravel.

Let’s be clear: disenrolled Natives exist. Mixed blood quantum is not a measure of belonging—it’s a tool of division. The Dawes Rolls and blood quantum policies were designed to fracture us, to cast spells of separation that still linger. But we are waking up.

Cherokee Freedmen—descendants of Cherokee and Black ancestors—are part of this truth. So are Mexican and Mexican-American peoples, whose Indigenous roots span countless tribes and intermarriages across Turtle Island. The idea that only those who remain registered, untouched by disenrollment, are “real” Natives is a colonial illusion. It’s time we broke it.

The Rainbow Warriors prophecy speaks of a time when people of all colors and backgrounds would rise to heal the Earth. That prophecy cannot come true if we gatekeep identity based on phenotype or paperwork. Native, First Nations, and Indigenous peoples come in many diverse looks. That diversity is not a threat—it’s a strength.

Yes, there are dangers in appropriation. The “Pretendian” phenomenon is real and harmful. But weaponizing that fear against those genuinely seeking reconnection only furthers the colonizer’s goal: to keep us divided, disconnected, and disempowered.

Decolonization means reclaiming what was stolen—including identity, memory, and belonging. It means welcoming those who were lost to the system, who hear the call of their ancestors and seek to return. It means honoring culture without casting out those who carry it differently.

This month, and every month, I stand for the truth: Mixed Natives are Native. Our children are Native. Our ancestors are watching. And the roots are calling us home.

Before they were canonized, they were scandalous. In this episode, we journey into the windswept lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë—three sisters who defied Victorian norms with novels that burned through propriety and left a legacy of literary fire. Raised in the solitude of the Yorkshire moors, bound by grief and imagination, the Brontës wrote themselves into history with Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Sai’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We explore their miniature childhood books, their use of male pseudonyms, and the radical emotional truths embedded in their prose. With quotes that still echo across generations and a mythic bond that shaped their art, this episode is a love letter to the power of sisterhood, sorrow, and storytelling.

Featuring:

* Archival quotes from the Brontë novels

* A soundscape of moors, birds, and bound books

* Reflections on grief, gender, and literary rebellion

Listen if you love: Gothic fiction, feminist history, literary hauntings, and the ache of brilliance cut short.

That sounds great! A compelling description is key for attracting listeners on Substack.

Here is a ready-to-use description for this episode:

🖋️ Step into the dark heart of history with us as we uncover the astonishing and truly Gothic origins of Robert Louis Stevenson’s masterpiece, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Did you know Stevenson wrote the entire first draft in just three days while dying of tuberculosis? That his wife made him burn the whole manuscript? And that he rewrote the 30,000-word classic in six more days—possibly while medicated with cocaine?

Join me, Sai Marie, author and gothic enthusiast, as we explore the terrifying nightmare and the physical frenzy that gave birth to the ultimate story of human duality.

Plus: Stick around for a special Quick Read-Aloud—a piece of dark flash fiction called “Perpetua Black Tide”—to kick off your Saturday with a quick shot of November spooky!

Don’t miss the true story behind the horror that defined a genre.

In this deeply personal and philosophical reflection, I explore the cultural, theological, and psychological roots of why questioning God is often seen as taboo. From the fear of apostasy to the communal need for uniformity, I unpack the mechanisms that frame doubt as dangerous—and share how my own quiet rebellion led to spiritual clarity.

This piece is for anyone who’s ever whispered “but why?” and feared the consequences. It’s a meditation on faith, fear, and the transformative power of asking hard questions.