The October issue of Worlds of Possibility is out. You will find a new story by me inside. To quote editor Julio Rios Night Mare looks at “… mother-daughter relationships, and the ways that magic and the supernatural affect them.”
The issue is available to buy here.
My latest story is out in Nature Futures as of today! Nature stories are free to read for a limited time after they’re published, so if you want to read it do it sooner than later.
Sometimes technology is frustrating and sometimes it is less frustrating if I think of it as an easily distracted toddler.
UPDATE! Nature allows the author of their stories to share them for free via PDF. So If you can no longer read the story at the link above it is available here. Dad and Ick PDF
Looking over the blog, it looks like I forgot to post another story that came out last year. So here is a bonus, very short story for you. https://flashinaflash.tumblr.com/post/698104361357819904/do-not-ignore-this-plea-the-mother-spider-is
Another new story is out today. It can be read on Flash Fiction Online. If you have a problem with Flying insects you may want to skip this one. Can Anyone Tell Me What Kind of Moth This Is?
My latest story is out today in If There’s Anyone Left Volume 3. The ebook is available here
Which World Ending Nightmare are You? is the story in the form of a test you never knew you needed. If what you needed is to find out what kind of apocalypse you embody that is.
I have a story out in the latest issue of Translunar Traveller’s Lounge.
If Shakespearian characters griping about their fates sounds like a good time to you, go check it out.
I have a drabble (100 word story) in issue 19 of Fairfield Scribes. This is probably the nerdiest thing I’ve ever written, being both a send up of Shakespeare and P.G. Wodehouse.
My story, Guard of the Crossing, went live this week on Manawaker Studio’s Flash Fiction Podcast.
This story was previously published on SIc Semper Serpent’s Patreon page, so this is its first public outing. And its first audio publication. I really enjoy hearing my stories read by voices other than my own. I think the narrator hit it out of the park.
Here we are again. Another year, another wrap-up post.
I’ll cut to the chase. Last year saw three new stories published and one reprint.
That is a new record for story sales for me. Fingers crossed I can beat it this year.
Other highlights for the year include: getting vaccinated, a promotion at work, getting to have in-person outdoor critique meetings with my awesome critique group. At least until the weather and Covid numbers sent us back to Zoom.
I also learned to crochet. You can see what I’ve been working on over at Instagram.
I also took part in the Codex Weekend Warrior Challenge for the first time. Every weekend January hundreds of members of the Codex Writer’s Forum participate in a challenge that requires writing a brand new 750-word maximum story based on a set of prompts that are released on Friday. By Sunday the story has to be uploaded. I found it a great motivator to crank out a story in a short amount of time. In the end I had five new flash stories. Some which stayed as flash and others that got expanded. Most are making the rounds with markets while others need some additional revising before I’m happy with them.While this wasn’t the only writing I did in 2021, it was definitely a highlight. I’m doing the challenge again this year.
Finally, this twitter thread might be my favorite bit of writing from the whole year, just because musical theater and the MCU are two of my happy places. So please enjoy (and please ignore the rampant typos).
On to the numbers!
Last year I read a total of 64 books. 29 print books, 25 ebooks, 10 audiobooks.
Of those:
45 were comics/graphic novels
4 Nonfiction or memoir
13 YA
7 Short Story Collections or Novella
8 borrowed from a friend
3 Borrowed from the library
Favorites!
How the King Of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black, Illustrated by
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater
Oh Human Star Volume 3 by Blue Delliquanti
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell
You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey
Loki Agent of Asgard Vollumes 1,2,3 by Al Ewing
Favorite authers read by the numbers:
Niki Dolson1
Becky Chambers 1
Maggie Stiefvater 1
Karen Osborne 1
Rainbow Rowell 2
Alison Bechdel 1
Brian K. Vaughan 1
Matt Fraction 3
Kelly Thompson 3
Valerie Valdes 1
Blue Delliquanti 1
N.K. Jemisin 4
Holly Black 1
Neil Gaiman 1
Jane Yolen 1
Jason Aaron 10
Also John Wiswell doesn’t currently have a book in print but his short stories consistently surprise and delight.
My third story of the year is out now.
https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/alternate-history/susan-taitel/date-and-time
The idea for this one started out with me noticing that one of my favorite speculative genres is when a mythical or historical figure gets transplanted into mundane settings and scenarios often without much explanation for how they got there. Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry is a good example of one such story. So I’ve had in the back of my mind that I wanted to try my hand at it. But first I had to come up with both a figure to use and a situation to put them in. I don’t remember how I decided on Lady Jane Grey goes on a blind date, but once I did I knew it should be a good date. Her real story is such a sad one, it was cathartic to show a fictional Jane a good time.
The park they go to is a real park in Minneapolis that does host a holiday fair most weekends leading up to Christmas, though not these last two years because panini.
I have a story out in Baffling magazine today. It might feel familiar to fans of The Little Mermaid.
But more familiar if you know the original Hans Christian Andersen story.
https://www.bafflingmag.com/issue-four/2021/7/1/choosing
And while you’re there check out the rest of the issue! Baffling is a relatively new magazine and they are putting out incredibly compelling work. I hope they develop a good following.