Worldcon Schedule, December 15-19th

It's my first Worldcon as a Hugo finalist! This is such an honor, and I wish I could be there in person. But at least I can participate virtually. I have a few program items which will be available to all virtual and attending members, before the Hugo Awards themselves on Saturday night.


Social Media: Making Enemies & Alienating People
Thursday, December 16
10:00 pm EST
Area: Congressional On-Site Viewing (Virtual)
Social media can be an excellent place to find online community, especially during a pandemic, but it can also be a fraught world of vicious gossip, lip service activism, and whatever the Algorithm is. The panel will explore ways of using different forms of social media to connect with like-minded people, while providing tips to avoid falling prey to such platform’s worst aspects.


Kaffeeklatsch with John Wiswell
Friday, December 17
4:00 pm EST
Area: Harris
Online small group conversation with John Wiswell. Come for a small group conversation about John's life, works, and advice. Advance sign-ups required.


Social Dynamics and Superpowers
Saturday, December 18, 2021
4:00 pm EST
Area: Older (Virtual), 4:00 pm EST Available Online
Superheroes can mean something very different to members of marginalized communities than they do to members of a dominant culture. How do the dynamics of a superpower fantasy change when the hero is a member of an oppressed group?


See you there?

Awards Eligibility Post 2021

2021 is almost in the record books! I can't say it was an easy year, but it was a busy one. I published nearly as many stories and essays this year and as last year, and I'm hard at work on stories for 2022. 

If you're catching up on work for awards, I've collected links to all of my fiction and non-fiction right here in this post. Where possible I've included the categories, lengths, and dates of publication. See anything you like?

NOVELETTES

"That Story Isn't The Story" at Uncanny Magazine Issue #43,

9033 words, November 1st, Fantasy/Horror 

Direct Link

Anton has long been a familiar for the abusive Mr. Bird. He finally attempts escape with the help of the last friends he has, and tries to break his bond with Mr. Bird through therapy and healing rather than magic. But Mr. Bird isn't done with him.

SHORT STORIES

"For Lack of a Bed" at Diabolical Plots,

2724 words, April 16th, Fantasy 

Direct Link

Noemi has suffered from chronic pain for years, but she's found a cure: the most comfortable sofa in the world. The trouble? It might be alive - and eating her.

"We Are Not Phoenixes" at Fireside Magazine,

817 words, March 1st, Fantasy 

Direct Link

Pyromancers seek to entertain and bring some last comforts to the patients in hospice - a place all pyromancers will one day wind up.

"Gender Reveal Box, $16.95" at Fireside Magazine,

755 words, June 1st, Fantasy/Horror

Direct Link.

So what if gender reveal parties are actually cosmic horror events? With this hot new product, you'll have the *best* gender nightmare possible.

"Guidelines for Appeasing Kim of the Hundred Hands" at Fireside Magazine,

552 words, August 1st, Fantasy

Direct Link.

A list fiction about problems with the wish-granting statue at a local university, told via all the rules students have been breaking about her.

 

"Godfather Death, in His Own Words" at Fireside Magazine,

964 words, November 9th, Fantasy

Direct Link.

Death himself drops by to give the account of his godson, and how Death's plan to help him get ahead in life backfired.

"The Tyrant Lizard (and Her Plus One)" at Drabblecast,

2617 words, August 2nd, Science Fiction

Direct Link.

 A deaf security guard realizes that the tyrannosaurus that's been attacking her settlement might also be disabled. Could this be the beginnings of a buddy comedy?

"The Best Part" in the Curtains: Concert Visions to Benefit #SaveOurStages,

540 words, February 1st, LitFic

A grip working to set up stages for touring bands has slowly gone deaf over his career. He hasn't heard a note in years. This story follows one day in his life, and what he still loves about music.

 

NON-FICTION

Weird Plagues: How Fear of Disease Mutated into a Subgenre at Uncanny Magazine Issue #38,

1322 words, January 1st 

Direct Link.


Arnold is a Survivor Girl: Why Predator is a Slasher Movie at Nightmare Magazine, 

1331 words, June 1st

Direct Link.

What Are We Supposed To Be Afraid Of In Blair WitchProject? at Uncharted Magazine, 

1197 words, August 11th

Direct Link.

 

So, dear readers. See anything you liked?

New Fiction: "That Story Isn't The Story" in Uncanny Magazine

Hello my dear readers! I'm happy this month to bring you my first-ever novelette. It's the longest piece of fiction I've ever published, and tells the deepest story of someone psyche.

"That Story Isn't The Story" follows Anton, a familiar who seeks to break his connection to his abusive master. He runs away with the help of the last friends he hasn't been estranged from, still bearing the marks of his curse. But as he tries to rebuild himself and find how to tell the story of what's happened to him, the shadow of his master follows him.

You could say this is a Wiswellian Horror Story - foreboding, grim, and yet compassionate and hopeful. Survivors are believed; friends genuinely try to understand rather than going straight to conflict. The length of the story let me dig into what recovery looks like, especially when that recovery is threatened.

I couldn't ask for a better home for this story than Uncanny Magazine. They previously published my story "The Bottomless Martyr," as well as a few non-fiction pieces. I always enjoy working with them for how professional and respectful they are.

You can read the entire novelette for free on Uncanny's website right here.

Please enjoy it, and let me know what you think.

New Fiction: “The Tyrant Lizard (and Her Plus One)” at is live at Drabblecast

 I've got a new story for you today! It's about dinosaurs and disability. 

Ms. Plover (as she likes to be known) is a deaf security guard on an abandoned island colony. She's got no way off, and it just trying to stay safe and mentally well. She spends her days painting, distributing food to her fellow stranded expatriates, and fending off the dinosaurs.

Yeah, there's a bit of a dinosaur problem at her compound. Even giant herbivores are dangerous, especially when you can't hear them coming. And there's one critter in particular that is about to change her life - by stealing her painting supplies.

"The Tyrant Lizard (and Her Plus One)" is one of my weird relationship stories, when two figures you'd never expect to meet have to get along.

I'm also tickled that it's available in both text and audio. The Drabblecast is a zine I tried to get into for years back in the day. This is actually my debut there. Let me know what you think.

You can read (or listen to) "The Tyrant Lizard (and Her Plus One)" for free right here.

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is a World Fantasy Award Finalist!

I was quite a surprise the other day to scroll through the list of World Fantasy Award nominees and see my name. Yes, I've been blessed this year by kind receptions to my work. Yet I hadn't heard a peep from anyone about this. 

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is now a nominee for the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story, alongside four other excellent shorts. It is a ballot full of writers who I admire.

I am quite emotional right now. I'd like to unpack some of that emotion for you kind folks.

New Story in Fireside Magazine!

I'm kicking off June with a brand new story at Fireside Magazine.

"Gender Reveal Box, $16.95" is a Horror story told through an ad. Ad copy is a rich space to tell weird stories, since most don't read them in the first place. It'd been too long since I'd written a story in an unusual format. I missed what flash fiction can let you explore.

Here we're exploring a revolutionary new product: a box for gender reveals. It seems benign at first, but hints about what the product actually contains, and what it does to anyone who witnesses the revelation, start to clue you in that something's wrong here.

It's great to have this drop during Pride Month. It's definitely the most chaotic story about gender I've written.

You can read it for free right here.

Streaming Panel Schedule for Balticon

This coming weekend is Balticon. For the past couple years the pandemic has pushed this Baltimore, Maryland convention to shrug off the shackles of physical space and move to the internet. Anyone can come watch any readings and panels they watch over Zoom. It's totally free.

You can check out all the guests and programming at Balticon's website.

This will be my second year doing some programming with Balticon. I have a rich slate of panels, plus a reading. Anything look fun to you?

I'm a Hugo Finalist!

It's been a year of wonderful firsts. I got my first sale to a Year's Best anthology, and my first Locus and Nebula nominations. Now I'm thrilled to announce one more.

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

It's my first time being nominated for a Hugo Award. In fact, it's also the first time anything published in Diabolical Plots has been nominated.

What a wonderful first. And I have you all to thank for you. The outpouring for "Open House on Haunted Hill" is unlike anything I've experienced before in my career.

So thank you everyone who's read my story. Thank you from myself, and from 133 Poisonwood.

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is a Nebula and Locus Awards Finalist!

"Open House on Haunted Hill" is one of my favorite short stories that I've ever written. It follows a haunted house that has been lonely for years and just wants someone to live in it. It won't harm you. It won't trap you. It wants to keep you warm and safe as your family grows. But can anyone get over its creepy vibe and stay?

It turns out that the world likes this story, too. This week it was announced that it will appear in Paula Guran's Years Best Dark Fantasy & Horror. This handsome collection will be out from Pyr books later this year, and includes works the likes of Caitlin Kiernan, Kelley Armstrong, and Victor LaValle.

The story is also now a finalist for two major industry awards.

On Monday night, the Science Fiction Writers Association announced "Open House on Haunted Hill" is a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. It is in the top six candidates, and will be voted on by members of the association. The winner will be announced later this year.

Earlier, Locus Magazine placed "Open House on Haunted Hill" on their 2020 Recommended Reading List, making it a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Short Story. This award has open voting for anyone who signs up at Locus's site. If you've enjoyed the story, I'd be grateful if you'd give it a vote.

All these accolades are humbling. It's wonderful to see my stories touching so many people - every week I get tweets from new people who've just read it and want to thank me. My best way of showing my gratitude is to write you all many more stories. I'm working at it every day.

Thanks for sending me over the moon, everybody. It's a thrilling time!

"We Are Not Phoenixes" - New Story live at Fireside Fiction!

Hello beloved readers! I have a new story for you today, and one that is quite personal. It's called "We Are Not Phoenixes," and it's in the new issue of Fireside Magazine.

It's a very short story about what pyromancers can do to show kindness and entertain patients in hospice. Magic is often used to damage or to heal. But magic has boundaries. When we're delicate and it's limited, how can we make meaning out of our actions? Even if they're magical?

The story was directly inspired by a blog post from Elephant's Child a few years ago. She posted about a visit to a hospice where alpacas were roaming around the compound. It turned out a local farm lent them to the patients for some gentle entertainment.

As someone who is chronically ill, and someone who has lost many friends to prolonged illness, this was powerful to me. I wondered: why doesn't Fantasy ever do that?

This story is my answer to that query. It's dedicated to many wonderful people who I won't see again, and who I am very glad to have known.

You can read the story for free at this link.

Live Reading this Wednesday, and Lots of Good News!

Being cooped up inside is tough, especially with March coming up again. For many of us it's an anniversary or quarantine. We readers miss our book stores and conventions.

That's why I'm happy to take part in the Ephemera reading series. On Wednesday, February 17th, Ephemera is summoning World Fantasy Award-winning short story writer G.V. Anderson, World Fantasy Award-winning novelist C.L. Polk, and... me! We're all bringing our favorite stories on the theme of Friendship.

The group reading begins at 7:00 PM US EST, and is free to everyone. It will stream live on their Youtube channel and will be archived for you after. The live chat is warm and welcoming to all comers, and there may be time for a Q&A with the audience.

So if you're frozen at home right now, drop by and say hello. I might have a story about a friendly tank for you.

In advance, I have two lovely pieces of news!

Firstly, my story "The Bottomless Martyr" got a groundswell of support from the readers of Uncanny Magazine. Today Uncanny announced the results of their reader's choice poll and "The Bottomless Martyr" ranked #3 out of everything they published in 2020. It's pretty wild for the first fiction piece I've ever published in Uncanny. It shares a list with incredible writers like Martha Wells, T. Kingfisher, and Eugenia Triantafyllou. I can't thank y'all enough.

Secondly, the Locus Recommended Reading List was announced and I've made it onto there for the first time in my career! "Open House on Haunted Hill" was listed in their Best Short Fiction category. That means it automatically qualifies for the Locus Award, as well, and if you're voting, I'd be honored if you'd consider 133 Poisonwood for your ballot.

Again, thanks to all my readers for their support. You're why I'm digging deep in the middle of a new novel right now. Come out Wednesday night and we'll celebrate together.