Tag: writing

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

Posted on

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.

Read “The Annual Conference of the Ladies in White”

Posted on

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”

Posted on

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.

First 2022 Book Preview

Posted on

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.

Fall Online Class: Novel Bootcamp

Posted on

This October, I’m bringing back my four-week “Structure Your Novel” boot camp, via Catapult. Through reading assignments, exercises, and discussion, you’ll find your story’s central conflict, establish a satisfying arc, and expand your outline. The course is designed for writers in both the drafting and revision stages. We’ll meet Thursday evenings over Zoom.

Read more and sign up here and/or ask me a question.

People are natural storytellers, yet writing a compelling story isn’t always intuitive. This four-week course recognizes that a good story requires technical skill, but that finding that organic and individual story also requires reflection, practice, and conversation.

This course—open to those who have yet to start writing, and those who are revising full-length drafts—guides you in developing a complete story structure for your novel. It provides tools for outlining new projects and finding fresh insight into stalled projects.

In this course, we will use written guides, writing exercises, assigned stories, and discussions to move from premise to detailed synopsis, identifying universal principles that will make your distinct story a satisfying read. Writers will leave with outlines for their works-in-progress and a toolkit of strategies for future projects.

 

“The Staircase” Available Now

Posted on

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

Posted on

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!

Interview with From the Earth to the Stars

Posted on

I recently spoke to From the Earth and the Stars, the Asimov’s Science Fiction blog, about my new story “The Albatwitch Chorus.” I confessed to things like:

This idea, like most of my ideas, came both quickly and slowly. When I learned about the albatwitch, a kind of mini-Sasquatch from Pennsylvania folklore, I knew I wanted to write about it. I like cryptids and have a weirdly specific phobia of uncanny, humanoid tricksters.

Read the whole interview here.

“The Albatwitch Chorus” Out Now

Posted on

You can find my newest short story, “The Albatwitch Chorus,” in the Sept./Oct. issue of Asimov’s. It’s about a witch going through a midlife crisis, her ex-husband, her teenage intern, and the cryptids in her backyard:

“Possum?” I asked, but the wind shifted, revealing the body was too big. Curled hands and pointed black ears of a raccoon, but sparse fur and no tail. I had never seen one before, but I knew.

“Albatwitch,” Jonas said, his eyes still fixed on the creature. “Go call animal control.”

Very little scared me, yet I nodded mutely, hurried through the kitchen door, and stood at the window with a phone in hand. Albatwitches carried disease. They attracted predators. And they had mysterious funerary rites one did not want to interrupt. They mostly kept to themselves, but they were quick to retaliate, and usually as a chorus—that was the name for a group—at least, before the 1979 Treaty of Half Moon Rock, sealed with an exchange of apples (from us) and a mound of empty soda cans, a few nuggets of raw garnet, and a deer carcass (from them).

You can order print and digital subscriptions, purchase an eBook copy, or find the issue on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, and a million other stores.