Dog Days

They aren’t quite over, no matter what Florence and the Machine says, but as the summer begins to wane, I’m feeling more optimistic about so many more things than I was earlier this year. That shift has been on a lot of fronts both personally and professionally, and I’d be lying if that wasn’t also bolstered by the January 6th Committee’s hearings and the work across the nation to galvanize women voters after the Dobbs decision. The Inflation Reduction Act’s impact on climate change is also another point of optimism. While it is not enough, it is a much-needed start, and I can only hope we can build on from there. Plus it helps that the monsoon season here in Albuquerque has been amazing–I stopped taking rain for granted years ago when we first moved to New Mexico, and I still marvel when it torrents down, soaking the mountains and riding roughshod over the city as it makes its way to the river.

So some good things, even though that same river went dry earlier this year, even though a dear friend was killed last month by a motorist while on a family bike ride, even if I now officially need reading glasses after spending the overwhelming majority of my life with perfect vision, even though the daily grind continues always across multiple fronts. There is good with the bad, even if it can be fatiguing to search it out sometimes. So long as we keep looking for it with a weather eye on the horizon, we will be okay—that much I am certain of.

There have been some bright points this summer as well. For starters, I finally got my hands on my contributor copy of Chromophobia: A Strangehouse Anthology of Women in Horror. I’ve gone into more detail about my story in previous posts, but it was a great experience overall working with Sara and the creative team at Rooster Republic Press.

I also attended Armadillocon this summer. It was my first time back since lockdown, and while it felt a bit like ripping off a bandaid getting back into the swing of paneling, I had a great time reconnecting with the Austin area writers and readers. While it is so easy to feel forgotten in our field if you are for whatever reason unable to stay on the hamster wheel of publishing, my interactions with the con-goers showed that that’s not true, that those connections matter.

A good reminder, particularly with our local convention Bubonicon gearing up this weekend!

Finally I am excited to share that I’ve been asked to contribute a solarpunk short story to Solar Flare, one of four new anthologies that Zombies Need Brains will publish, so long as their Kickstarter campaign is successful. If you follow me on Twitter, I’m sure you’ve already seen me plugging the campaign. We’re more than halfway through, and I’m excited to dig into my story idea for the anthology. There are a lot of reward tiers for backers to contribute and three other anthologies chock-full of stories by some amazing creators. Please consider supporting if you are able.

That’s all for now. May the last days of summer treat you well!

Release Day for Chromophobia!

Rooster Republic Press surprised us with the early release for the trade paperback edition of Chromophobia: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror, edited by Sara Tantlinger, and featuring a story by moi, along with two dozen other lady horror writers!

Now Available!

While the pre-order window for the special hardcover edition has come and gone, you can still get your hands on the trade paperback version, rocking a brand new but no less intriguing cover for the amazing collection.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. In Kirkus’s review of the book, the anthology is described as

“a set of admirable stories featuring delicious twists, eerie creatures, and visceral imagery. They necessarily linger on assorted colors, befitting this anthology’s theme, but the prose throughout is vibrant in other ways. [..] It’s a fine sampling of an array of voices in the horror genre that will assuredly garner a bevy of new fans. Extraordinary tales of terror that are as grim as they are delightful.”

In the Editor’s Pick Booklife review, they say,

“An inventive anthology spotlighting women in horror and exploring the terror-inducing possibility of color, Chromophobia showcases the talents of new and veteran writers alike offering an eclectic mix of fresh horror stories as strange as they are inventive and unsettling.”

 

While the book will soon be rolling out to bookstores and other online platforms, you can get your copy now on Amazon. I can’t wait to get my hands on my own contributor copy. I hope you’ll enjoy my story “Gray Rock Method” as well as all the others within its pages!

August Convention Schedule

August is nearly here, and with it is the return to con season. While I’ve participated in my local con virtually the last two years, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and return to in-person conventions. This all made more sense when I put my name in for programming earlier in the year than it does now with the recent increase in Covid and monkeypox cases throughout the country, but since I’m vaxxed and boosted and plan to mask the entire time (even when paneling), I’m going to honor my commitments.

First up is Armadillocon in Austin, Texas, August 5th through the 7th.

Fri 5:00 PM – “Chek Lonescrum: The Art of Making Fantastical Character Names”

Sat 2:00 PM – “Cross-Genre Capers”

Sat 3:00 PM – “Are We Too Late for Climate Fiction”

Sat 5:00 PM – Reading

Sun 11:00 AM – Signing Session


Then at the end of the month, August 26-28, it is time once again for New Mexico’s Bubonicon.

Sat 10:00 AM – “Hell or High Water: The Rise of Climate Fiction”

Sat 1:30 PM – “Cheese Magnet Tribute: What I learned from John Jos. Miller”

Sat 3:00 PM – “Practical Telepathy: The Science and Appeal of Mind-to-Mind Communication”

Sat 4:25 PM – Mass Autographing Session

If you choose to come out in Austin or Albuquerque, I’d love the chance to say hi. Stay cool and stay safe out there!

Release Day for After the Gold Rush!

It’s release day for After the Gold Rush, the latest installment in Third Flatiron‘s anthology series, and it features my short story “The Front of the Pack.”

From the back jacket copy:

Twenty-two authors explore themes related to complications of booms and bubbles, including effects of accelerated culture; ecological consequences caused by human over-expansion, such as climate disasters; and economics (for example, monopolies on resources and commodities). 

Table of Contents:

  • Past the Projections by James Tager
  • Down on the Klondike by David Cleden
  • Sunrunner by Robert Bagnall
  • Moving On by Andrew Wright
  • To Vanquish Other Blooms by Tim Borella
  • Showdown at Sueño Hueco by Wulf Moon
  • Reassessed Value by David Hankins
  • Amphibios by Julie Biegner
  • Earth’s Last Immortals by Erin Cullen
  • Last Light in the Dark by Shannon Fox
  • Live from the Troll Factory by Edward Barnfield
  • The Front of the Pack by Lauren C. Teffeau
  • Last Bite at the Klondike by Liam Hogan
  • All Our Signs Align by Eve Morton
  • Facing Reality by Yelena Crane
  • Unwinding the Clock by Brandon Case
  • The Last of the Gen Xers by Angelique Fawns
  • Currency Change Announcement by Elizabeth Davis
  • Amore for Life by Cray Dimensional
  • Genie in a PET Bottle by Daniel M. Cojocaru
  • Goldberry by Tom Easton and Jeff Hecht

I wrote “The Front of the Pack” for a flash challenge a couple years back and could never quite figure out what to do with a story depicting a tense exchange between a government agent and a man running a clearinghouse for illegal research that the political climate has all but condemned, to society’s detriment. This was around the same time I was writing Implanted, so the story is flavored with espionage tropes as well as some of my hang-ups from working as an academic researcher for a number of years. Let’s just say it’s a story that could only be at home in this collection, and I’m so glad that editor Juliana Rew and the rest of the team at Third Flatiron agreed as well!

Be sure to check out my Pinterest board for more of my story inspiration.

You can purchase the whole anthology from Amazon.

https://pin.it/2KbPCKH

Strange Religion Anthology Released!

I’m happy to announce I have a story reprinted in the latest volume of tdotspec‘s series Strange Concepts: Big Ideas Explored through Speculative Fiction. tdotspec is a Canadian publisher of speculative fiction and were great to work with. Strange Religion: Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, & Practice is now available on Amazon in print and ebook for your reading pleasure.

My story “The Life that Comes After” was originally published in the now-defunct The Ginger Collect magazine, and I’m glad the story has found another home in this anthology. In some ways the story is very personal, in others not so much, but it means a lot to have it included in this anthology. To get a sense of the vibe of this story, you can check out my inspiration board on Pinterest.

Here are the other contributors, and I’m looking forward to reading them all:

  • “Al-Muftiyah,” by Jibril Stevenson
  • “Samsara,” by J. A. Legg
  • “Shattered Vessels,” by Robert B. Finegold and Kary English
  • “The Gods Also Duel,” by Andrew Majors
  • “Father Jake’s Teen Demon Prevention Lesson,” by Brenna Harvey
  • “They Smile,” by Nicki Vardon
  • “Jizo Rides the Bus,” by Karl Dandenell
  • “Irwin and Roskwin Make a Discovery of Universal Importance,” by Terryl M. Asla
  • “The Rebbetzin Speaks,” by Daniel M. Kimmel
  • “The Devil is a Shape in the Brain,” by Joachim Glage
  • “The Man Who Misused His Manhood,” by Chukwu Sunday Abel
  • “Bio-Mass,” by Mike Adamson
  • “Deep Play,” by Andy Dibble
  • “The Life That Comes After,” by Lauren C. Teffeau
  • “Fate and Other Variables,” by Alex Shvartsman
  • “The Other War on Terror,” by Michael H. Hanson
  • “Dying Rivers and Broken Hearts,” by Gabriella Buba
  • “*lr*d,” by Doug Hawley
  • “The Fireflies of Todaji,” by Russell Hemmell
  • “Before the Evolution Comes the Smoke,” by Terri Bruce

Be sure to check it out, and happy reading!