Tor.com’s “30 Most Anticipated SFF Books”

Tor.com includes Saturnalia in its list of the “30 Most Anticipated SFF Books for the Rest of 2022!”

I love me a secret society, and honestly if I was invited to a club where the dress code was “blacker than the blackest black” I would be in so fast they’d barely have time to extend an actual invitation. The social clubs in Philadelphia are preparing for the Saturnalia carnival, a night of revelry and opulence. Nina is entering her old club, The Saturn Club, with a job to do—but it’s a job that’ll take her into the depraved depths of the Saturn Club and across the city on the longest night of the year. Saturnalia is part The Chosen & The Beautiful and part Eyes Wide Shut, wonderfully weird and chaotic and sexy and tinged with magic. It’s definitely a page-turner, and should be on the list for anyone who likes a little bit of romantic surrealism with their funhouse mirror dystopia.

I’m flattered to be on such an exciting list. Read the whole thing here.

Publishers Weekly Review

I’m pleased to share this first review for Saturnalia. Publishers Weekly says, among some other cool things

The story features moments of bizarre, distressing cruelty and occasional gore, but it’s grounded in themes of belonging, friendship, and the potential costs of ambition. Feldman brings impressive richness and depth to both Nina’s emotional evolution and the masterful worldbuilding. This is sure to win the author many fans.

Nice!

Read the whole review here.

 

SATURNALIA Cover Reveal!

Well, if you’re on this site, you’ve now seen it–and yet, still happy to thank Tor.com for being the first to share the beautiful cover for my new novel Saturnalia, designed by Jaya Nicely.

Tonight, Nina will put on a dress of blackest black, and attend the biggest party of the year. Before it’s over, she will discover secret societies battling for power in an increasingly precarious world…

Saturnalia is also now available for pre-order! You can order from your favorite local indie bookstore as well as from Unnamed Press, Barnes & Noble, and the other usual suspects.

Read “The Annual Conference of the Ladies in White”

I’ve been driving for six hours when a hotel appears on an otherwise empty stretch of road. It has turrets and a fussy gazebo, like an antique wedding cake preserved by moonlight, and a red sign promising “vacancy.” Whatever it costs, my emergency stash will have to cover it.

My flash ghost story “The Annual Conference of the Ladies in White” is now online at Flash Fiction Online. This one was so fun to write–you can learn more about my process via FFO’s Patreon interview series.

The story is free to read online and the complete issue is available as an e-book for purchase.

New Short Story: “The Boyfriend Trap”

I’m thrilled to start of 2022 with a new short story. “The Boyfriend Trap” is now available in the January/February issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.  Order the print or digital issue via the Asimov’s shop.

In the story, a young woman and her boyfriend visit a cabin to hash out their plans for the future. Instead, they discover the dark heart of their relationship–and their own secret desires.

“I felt guilty for reaching for him out of anxiety, not affection. Though they’re not so separate, maybe. Like reaching for your date when the monster appears on the screen. Who do you want to be close to when you’re feeling afraid?”

Read the full story.

Update: Read my reflection on the writing of this story on the Asimov’s blog.

“The Genius and the Devil” Now Online

This was what I agreed to: For exactly one night and one day, I would sit by her corpse, refusing entry to all visitors except Karla and the sister. In exchange, I would inherit enough money to buy a year of time, time all to myself, to paint. To—maybe, finally—paint my own masterwork.

“The Genius and the Devil,” my new story about friendship and envy, creativity and commerce, and the genius of wanting the right things is now online at Catapult Magazine.

woman paints birds

First 2022 Book Preview

It’s not news to horror fans that we’re living through a horror renaissance right now. The past few years have given us an embarrassment of riches when it comes to horror and gothic lit, and this particular train shows no sign of slowing down. 2022 is right around the corner, and with it, a huge and exciting slate of new books.

Tor/Nightfire included Saturnalia on their preview of “All the Horror Books We’re Excited about in 2022.” So excited to see all the great company I’m in for fall of next year.

“The Staircase” Available Now

In our town, there are two roads that cross on top of a hill. Go through the intersection and you’ll tip down toward the mall (east) or the turnpike ramp (west) or the high school (north) or the endless town-house developments (south). But everyone at school says there’s another tipping point there, a fifth cardinal direction.

Specifically, there is a staircase cut into a grassy hill: fifteen wooden planks, the final one inches above the asphalt. If you walk down them, if you take that last step, your foot will never hit the street.

You will disappear.

My new story “The Staircase”–about urban legends, gossip, and what we’ll do to keep our friends–is available now in the July/August 2020 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

You can now order individual paper copies (click the PayPal link) and e-books (all formats).

You can also subscribe! Order paper copy subscriptions from F&SF, a digital subscriptions (all formats) Weightless Books, or Kindle editions.

My 2019 Awards-Eligible Stories

This past year saw the release of two stories eligible for awards consideration:

“The Children’s Cabinet”
Shirley Magazine, Issue 13 (spring 2019)
730 words / short story

“The Albatwitch Chorus”
Asimov’s Science Fiction, September/October 2019
8,000 words / novelette

Read in the SFWA forums. (Log in required.)

I was also pleased to discuss the story with the Asimov’s blog, From the Earth to the Stars.

Thank you for reading!