What I Write

I write fantasy inspired by science and science-fiction inspired by folklore, along with the occasional other weirdness.

Short Fiction and Flash Fiction

  • “6 Must-Have Sentient Spellbooks (and How to Find Them)“ – An instructional list for avid spellbook readers. Published by Worlds of Possibility, May 7th 2023. About 850 words.
  • “We Have Always Loved” – A xenobiologist falls in love with an alien planet, and must negotiate with the planet’s reef-mind consciousness for the future of humanity. Published in Bioluminescent: A Lunarpunk Anthology from Android Press, January 24th, 2023. 1,900 words.
  • “Dear Joriah Kingsbane, It’s Me, Eviscerix the Sword of Destiny” – A letter from a sapient magic sword to its wielder saying: it’s over between us. Published in Diabolical Plots #90A, August 1st, 2022. 950 words.
  • “ApocaList: The Surprising Origins of 7 Everyday Words” – A list story using the etymology of 7 words to tell a tale of wild AI critters attacking people. Published by Daily Science Fiction, June 2nd, 2021. 850 words.
  • “Sacred Chords” – In a dieselpunk-ish world where music is both religion and weapon, a shell-shocked soldier is imprisoned for playing forbidden chords. Published in the anthology Recognize Fascism, from World Weaver Press, October 2020. 2,000 words.
  • “Rattlesnake Tears” – “Three years ago, when I was thirteen, my mother first showed me how to change into a snake.” Published in Hybrid Fiction, Issue 5, August 2020. 3,600 words.
  • “Four and Twenty Blackbirds” – A fairy-tale retelling: After their mother is executed for witchcraft, Marta and her brother Johan escape into the forest, only to run afoul of a very different witch. Published in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, July 1st, 2019. 3,700 words.
  • “How to Confront the Sphinx Haunting Your Garden” – “If you are consulting this guide, you live alone in the house at the end of the lane, and a sphinx has been haunting your overgrown garden.” Published in Flash Fiction Online, June 2019 issue. Podcast at Toasted Cake, August 2020. Reprinted in Paradoxical Pets, November 2022. 850 words.
  • “[Year Redacted]” – “I regret to inform you that the world will be ending sooner than expected.” Published in Cicada Vol. 17, No. 3; Jan/Feb 2015. 900 words.
  • “The Taemor” – A poem of childhood. Podcast in Tales to Terrify No. 69; May 3rd, 2013. 25 lines.
  • “The Bohemians” – In the near future, a young “artist” designs and sells temporary mental disorders, while lusting after a woman who’s own “art” is an extreme level of body-modification that may have carried her beyond human; written in “period vernacular,” if you creed what I’m phoning. Published in Ideomancer Vol. 11, Issue 3; Sept 1st, 2012. Podcast at The Overcast, March 2016. 2,600 words.
  • “Just Around the Corner” – A group of guys relaxing at a bar consider the question: What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen? Podcast in Tales to Terrify No. 21; June 1st, 2012. Printed in Tales to Terrify Volume 1; Oct 27th, 2012. Reprinted in Allegory E-zine Volume 27/54; May 1st, 2015. 1,600 words.

Current Projects

  • “A Catalog of My Exes, Scrawled on the Inside of an Exoplanet Environment Mecha-Suit” – An exoplanet explorer reflects. About 750 words, seeking publication.
  • “Ladyfingers” – A girl accompanies her mother into the forest to harvest ladyfinger flowers that grow from the hair of sleeping dryads. 3,000 words, seeking publication.
  • “Supermarket Music at the End of the World” – A young woman exploring the ruins of a drowned town finds a teen living in an abandoned supermarket. 2,100 words, seeking publication.
  • “A Heart of Porcelain, Laced in Gold” – Historical fantasy set during Japan’s feudal era; Natsumi is a “living statue” serving in the court of a powerful lord, where she meets a dark-skinned foreigner called Yasuke. 4,000 words, seeking publication.
  • “A Pearl for Her Brow” – In a Bronze Age fantasy world ruled by creatures called azra, a human girl adopted and raised by a wealthy azran family meets an urchin of her own kind. In progress.
  • “The Last God-King of Ossyr” – A fantasy adventure of Gladiator meets The Epic of Gilgamesh with a queer female protagonist. In progress.
  • “Another Word for Sky” – Prehistoric fantasy: Injured, mourning, and far from home, an aging hunter stranded on a mountaintop discovers a color she has no name for. 5,300 words, seeking publication.
  • And more…

Retired Projects

  • A Death in Oleander – A decopunk fantasy murder mystery. 17 chapters, complete, on StoryLoom.
  • ApocaList Quiz! Word Origins – Can you distract yourself from the ongoing AI apocalypse with this fun online quiz? 1 chapter, complete, on StoryLoom.
  • Red and Wolf – A cyberpunk twist on Little Red Riding Hood. 6 chapters, complete, on StoryLoom.
  • Majestria & MAGICK – A fun YA portal fantasy riff on RPG tropes. Unfinished, on StoryLoom
  • The Dream Quarry – Online collections of fiction by other authors.
  • The Stepping Stones – An epic fantasy novel about a young woman who challenges sacred tradition when she becomes the first female to manifest the signature powers of an all-male warrior elite.

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