It was a quiet writing year for me, recovering from burnout and a world set aflame, reconnecting with my pen and looking for ways to fill the empty jars lining my inner sanctum.
Still, there is spellwork at hand, for three is a magical number in fairy tales. It establishes a pattern, bringing words power, like bright threads pulled into a tight, memorable weave. This year I had three original short stories, three reprints, and three poems published.
And there is light ahead. I’ve been working on a poetry collection and a novella (more news to come on these projects in future days, I hope, even as my coyote familiar, Doubt, pads softly in my shadow).
Fiction
Matriarch BAFFLING MAGAZINE — Issue 17, October 2024 (dark fantasy, 500 words). This story is set in the same world as Daughter of the Great Whales (published in Haven Spec’s Issue 6). A tale of those who bore, reborn.
Beyond the islands we protected, the sea was emptier than it should be, the waters left to blacken and waste.
Cover Art by Vincent Cecil
Moth Girl HEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — This Year’s Best Arthropod Short Fiction Volume 1, July 2024 (dark sci-fi, 600 words). Originally published in UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION. A story that explores the possible fears and hopes after making first contact.
Her kind came to us from behind the moon, weary-footed and haunted, and they tried to blend into the shadows, far from whatever nightmare they’d fled.
Cover Design and Layout by JW Stebner
Grown From an Alder Wolf’s Skull LUNA STATION QUARTERLY — Issue 058, June 2024 (fantasy, 3100 words). A story about sisterhood, magic, green thumbs, and a wolf’s skull capable of hunting love as if it were prey.
Men were especially wary of her kind, for magic was a gift cultivated by womenfolk alone.
Cover Art by Bauxxi
Mooncalf SHACKLEBOUND BOOKS — Wyrms 2: An Anthology of Dragon Drabbles, April 2024 (fantasy, 100 words). Originally published in ZOOSCAPE ZINE — Issue 15, August 2022. A story of a dragon and her egg.
I fear you’ll be born a fool, like me. A mooncalf hatchling, or a shining new dawn?
Crown Harvest SHACKLEBOUND BOOKS — Drabbledark III: An Anthology of Dark Drabbles, April 2024 (ddark fantasy, 100 words). A little tale about ribbons and silver shears and sacrifice.
A girl offers little use to her father, but this — at least this fleeting beauty — she can provide.
Wings of Light PERENNIAL PRESS — Arthropoda, February 2024 (fantasy, 4000 words). Originally published in HEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Issue 4, March 2021.
It was dark, humid, the scents of earth a familiar shackle. Ochre crept through a drainage tunnel. Her squad followed behind her, the Nyla emblem visible on each of their left shoulder guards.
Cover Design by Stephanie Lane Gage
Poetry
This Forest That Never Dies CROW & CROSS KEYS — September 2024 (23 lines). It’s about bookshelves and the secrets they collect (one book at a time) about their keepers.
Her shelf whispers her truest name.
Sharp-Eared Potion EYE TO THE TELESCOPE — Issue 53: Strange Mixology, July 2024 (37 lines). While brainstorming for this call, I asked myself: If I had a potion gifted to me, what would I most wish for? This poem is about imposter syndrome and finding confidence.
“Some potions must be / filled rather than emptied / to cure what ails.”
The Rain Fell Between Us SMALL WONDERS — Issue 10, April 2024 (39 lines). About a rain lord summoned by a prayer skein.
when I look at him / I remember a summer harvest / parched by an ungiving sky
Picking Daisies FLASH POINT SF, December 2023 (sci-fi, 1000 words). A story of growing things, mothers, daughters, and harsh frontiers.
The rainy season signals the return of the Daisies. A homecoming as deep-rooted and scarred as the colony itself.
Illustration by Kevin Pabst
Two Wings ALL WORLDS WAYFARER: ISSUE 17, December 2023 (fantasy, 2600 words). Go visit the rowan tree that’s grown on the western border through many reigns. Up high its leaves are shadowed by cornflower blue wings.
Bits of broken fairy wings stuck to his fingers where his blood dripped, the wet red mingling with the blue, and he imagined his heart looked the same.
Made of Glass HAVEN SPECULATIVE MAGAZINE — Issue 12, December 2023 (poem, 22 lines). A poem about yesterdays and dreams and shedding memories.
the world shatters a child as easily as colored glass and only what doesn’t break remains
Cover Art by Aleena Sharif
The Rules of Voiding APEX MAGAZINE — Strange Machines: An Anthology of Dark User Manuals, October 2023 (sci-fi, 300 words). Ten rules for dolls that highlight ingrained, time-old prejudices against women. (A Kickstarter exclusive anthology, but it will be available for purchase on future campaigns.)
Nothing enticing should be discernable in the voided—no wire, naked hardware, bisque-colored skin, or scent.
Cover Art by Sean Peacock
Moth Girl UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION, October 2023 (sci-fi, 600 words). A story that explores the possible fears and hopes after making first contact.
Her kind came to us from behind the moon, weary-footed and haunted, and they tried to blend into the shadows, far from whatever nightmare they’d fled.
Borne on a Hundred Wings STAR*LINE — Issue 46.4, Fall 2023 (poem, 33 lines). About a fallen star, and where she’d bled her final light.
she was found cold her light bleeding across grass beneath alders and dwarf willows who stood vigil as tall, silent sisters
Cover Art by Austin Arthur Hart
Fishing Season PSEUDOPOD — Episode 874: Flash on the Borderlands, July 2023 (horror/dark fantasy, 500 words). Of a world where lures on strings fall from the sky each spring.
For every soul, there is a lure on a string. There are different shapes, sizes, and colors. What snares one soul won’t tempt another.
Broken Wing Syndrome WYLDBLOOD PRESS, March 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A little story with a big heart (and flying horses too).
The sale barn was massive. The scents of hay and manure and stale air jumbled together. Fates crisscrossed here.
Leaf and Smoke SHACKLEBOUND BOOKS — Dark Stars: Sci-Fi Horror Drabbles, March 2023 (sci-fi, 100 words). About a woman who sells dreams made by burning leaves.
She sold leaf-burned dreams as alternate realities, uploaded onto individual memory chips.
How To Rebloom After the Frost ORION’S BELT & UTOPIA SCIENCE FICTION — Special Issue, March 2023 (fantasy, 24 lines). A guide to something precious that’s taken root beyond the dawn’s trees. Nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
Shadow red stems of glittering wood-moss tearing skirt and bodice on clawing bark your ears honed to the tinkle of heirloom bells singing from a birch’s twiggy offshoots.
Rapture of the Deep APEX MAGAZINE — Strange Libations: Dark Cocktails, March 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A cocktail recipe for finding Euphoria. (A Kickstarter exclusive anthology, but it will be available for purchase on future campaigns.)
Fill a glass with the nitrous oxide, and pretend it’s ice. You’re good at pretending things.
Cover Art by Denis Graf
The Nettle Queens HEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Issue 12, March 2023 (poem, 32 lines). A warrior visits two queens who wear crowns of oak and thorns and barters a dowry for an alate. Nominated for the 2024 Best of the Net.
Liphyra is beautiful and dangerous as the dusk save for yellow, time-stained teeth her bite carrying a venom of stinging rain
Cover Art by Sean Peacock
Lady of the Dullahan DARK MATTER INK — Dark Matter Presents: Zero Dark Thirty, February 2023 (sci-fi, 4000 words). Originally published in DARK MATTER MAGAGINE — Special Halloween Issue, October 2021. A huntsman responds to a multiple homicide.
The crime scene was in the Vein, a ghetto-slash-mine built beneath the pretty glitter, sprawled out like hoary black roots over a large deposit of anthracite.
Plastic Heart CROW & CROSS KEYS, January 2023 (fantasy, 300 words). A wistful micro about this sometimes sad, forgotten, decaying world.
Her name is as old as lichen-encrusted rocks and shallow cliffs. Its meaning forgotten, withered like the yellow bush poppies that once bloomed to reveal a path to paradise.
Autumn has arrived, and it’s time to collect this years fiction like so many sunset-colored leaves. So far, I’ve had five flash, three short stories, and one reprint published.
I was also lucky to be the guest editor of Hexagon Magazine’s Ironwood MYRIAD zine, a collection of five flash stories with unique forests and all their silver-barked wonder.
Of Wood and Flame LUNA STATION QUARTERLY — Issue 052: The Tree Issue (fantasy, 4000 words)
Sometimes saplings asked to see her fire, crowding her, their stem-thin branches pointing to the flint swinging around her neck. Holly created sparks for them.
Their many eyes are imperceptible but hungry, never blinking twice at the morals of their caregiver.
Two Brothers, One Stone ETHEREA MAGAZINE — Reprint — Issue 14, September 2022 (fantasy, 4500 words).
Two dwarven brothers search for a fallen comet. Originally published in DREAMFORGE ANVIL — Issue 1, January 2021.
The starry oak was one of the rarest of the great trees, and it had a sizeable hollow—almost a perfect circle. It was too small a passage for an ordinary man. For a dwarf, though, even in armor, it was only a tight squeeze.
About a dreamless warrior whose body is held together by clawplate armor.
There were few souls who didn’t consider visiting the Night Moth in a desperate hour. Hers was a legend old as the moon, a light drawn from falling shadows.
A story with whale hearts and dead boats and battle-sisters. Included in Charles Payseur’s, Some Queer Short SFF.
The once great whales lurked beneath the sand, their metal skeletons hidden by the native palms, the cliff sides, and the plastic garbage of men that washed ashore each tide.
A story named after four light-born shapeshifters who navigate a polluted world. Reviewed in Maria Haskins’ Short Fiction Roundup.
The gate was ancient. It had been built by the Shapers, made of metal and glass, as forbidding as the dusk and ungiving as winter.
Cover Art by Carol Wellart
A Daughter’s Aim HEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Year Two Anthology, June 2022 (science fantasy, 3200 words)
About a hunt for a wounded dragon in the desert. Originally published in HEXAGON MAGAZINE — Issue 5, June 2021. Reviewed in Charles Payseur’s Quick Sips.
Mom was there, and then she wasn’t, a great searing hole in the world as big as the endless sky.
I’ve had a great writing year. I had seven short stories (one co-written with Marie Croke), five flash, and two reprints published.
This is the second year that I’m eligible for the Astounding Award. For those looking to read at least one of mine, I recommend Wings of Light for fantasy readers and Lady of the Dullahan for sci-fi or horror. Both are free to read.
Here’s my list:
Wings of LightHEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Issue 4, March 2021 (fantasy, 4000 words) and reprinted in Hexagon Year One Anthology, July 2021. An insectoid warrior faces an unexpected battle. *Reviewed in Quick Sips.
It was dark, humid, the scents of earth a familiar shackle. Ochre crept through a drainage tunnel. Her squad followed behind her, the Nyla emblem visible on each of their left shoulder guards.
Issue 4 Cover Art by Matt Emmons – Hexagon Year One Anthology Cover Art by Andriy Lukin
Heart of IceZOOSCAPE ZINE — Issue 10: Coffee with Dolphins, March 2021 (fantasy, 1000 words). A story about the heart of a dragon.
Ashmoda had attacked any male foolish enough to advance since her hatchling’s death. Her old mate was no exception.
Madame of the VeinAPPARITION LITERARY MAGAZINE — Flash Fiction Contest, April 2021 (sci-fi, 1000 words). An underworld deal unfolds. A story based on Stephanie St. Clair.
The Vein, for all its flaws, never tried to pretend to be what it wasn’t.
A Daughter’s AimHEXAGON SF MAGAZINE — Issue 5, June 2021 (science fantasy, 3200 words). About a hunt for a wounded dragon in the desert. *Reviewed in Quick Sips.
Mom was there, and then she wasn’t, a great searing hole in the world as big as the endless sky.
Cover Art by Matt Emmons
WildflowerDARK MATTER MAGAZINE — Issue 004, July 2021 (dark sci-fi, 2900 words). A bounty hunter must earn back his surname before sunset.
Chase stared across the prairie of Aelous, a planet named for a long-forgotten god. Like any frontier, this place bred trouble.
Seeking an Omega male to serve our flock within the greater Manakin Village area. This is a nest like no other!
Two Brothers, One StoneDREAMFORGE ANVIL — Issue 1, January 2021 and reprinted in DREAMFOGE MAGAZINE — Issue 8, Summer 2021 (fantasy, 4500 words). Two dwarven brothers search for a fallen comet.
The starry oak was one of the rarest of the great trees, and it had a sizeable hollow—almost a perfect circle. It was too small a passage for an ordinary man. For a dwarf, though, even in armor, it was only a tight squeeze.
Lady of the DullahanDARK MATTER MAGAZINE — Special Halloween Issue, October 2021 (dark sci-fi/horror, 4000 words). A huntsman responds to a multiple homicide.
The crime scene was in the Vein, a ghetto-slash-mine built beneath the pretty glitter, sprawled out like hoary black roots over a large deposit of anthracite.
Cover Art by Sam Heimer
RootstockBARDS AND SAGES QUARTERLY — Volume XIII, Issue IIII, October 2021 (sci-fi, 2100 words). Humankind has left Earth, but life continues in their wake.
Humans had been like prey—no claws, soft hides—but they had acted like predators. They had worn their ferocity on the inside.
Cover Art by Fabio Lastrucci
Garden of the GodsORION’S BELT — October 2021 (fantasy, 1100 words). About mortality and identity, with wings and riddles and flower petals.
I am the desert, the call of the wind. I want to taste life, warm and finite and wet against my tongue.
Cover Art by Sherry Shahan
The Last PetalPODCASTLE — October 2021 (fantasy, 4000 words). Narrated by Eliza Chan. Originally published in DREAMFORGE MAGAZINE — Issue 4, December 2019. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Miss Lily Dale preferred hands to faces. Hands told a story that faces could hide.
Ten Poisons That Cannot Kill the Queen LACKINGTON’S — Issue 24, Fall 2021 (fantasy, 4400 words). Co-written with the talented Marie Croke. About a queen and her companion and the dangerous plants that come between them.
I botched the interview to be the queen’s companion on purpose. Told her that the colour of her dress did not suit her complexion.
7) An arbor with cracked supports found thrown into the store’s backside compost pile. An inscription across the latticing read: Made of Heartwood. Like all hearts, this one is easily broken.
