Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

Short and Sweet

Mon, 18 May 2026 14:40:14 GMT

My poem Death of the Emperor's Nightingale is now live at Strange Horizons.

In other news, I've applied for residencies/fellowships in Iceland and Scotland.

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Waiting Game

Thu, 14 May 2026 16:52:28 GMT

I've been procrasti-writing. I held off on a paperwork task for over a week, filling the time with writing new stories. I wrote a bank robbery story and a weird time travel story when I should've been doing the paperwork.

When I finally sat down to do the paperwork, it took all of five minutes.

But now I have two more stories, too.

Sometimes executive dysfunction comes with fringe benefits.

In other news, my story The Butcher of Mazdin was recently released online. It caught the attention of an editor, and I was commissioned to write a bespoke sword and sorcery story for an upcoming collection. I'm working on a story about an elderly shaman and her young apprentice. I hope it scratches the editor's itch.

My story "Ethel's Bones" did not win The Temz Review's London Literary Prize, but I was a finalist. My story will be published in issue 35. I'm so glad this story found a home. I've been trying to place it for almost three years, and it stacked up an impressive amount of rejections despite going over very well at live readings.

I'm still waiting to find out how my story "Rich-People Houses" will fare at PRISM International's Jacob Zilber Prize. The anticipation is killing me!

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Publication day

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:08:17 GMT

A couple pieces of mine were published today:

Eclipse at Roses & Wildflowers Magazine.

"The Sick Fuck" at Monsterfck.

And I found out that I'm not shortlisted for just one fiction contest, but two!

"Rich-People Houses" is shortlisted for PRISM International's Jacob Zilber Short Fiction Prize.

And "Ethel's Bones," my stoner horror comedy story is shortlisted for The Temz Review's London Literary Prize.

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Stolen Words

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:05:53 GMT

It's rare that I read a short story and feel a deep need to study it intently. Ecdysis by Jess Koch is one of those stories. I love everything about this horror story. I love the pacing, the creeping dread, and the dawning realization that happens in this one. And the language, too. Delicious.

In case you're wondering where I lurk these days, it's mostly on BlueSky. A lot of authors hang out there, and I've discovered so many cool books and short stories through their posts.

However, it's not without its share of annoyances and things that make my Spidey senses tingle. The other day, I shared that I had finished a new short story called "Myrtle McKenzie's Angels." A few people congratulated me, which was lovely, but one person--someone I didn't know and had never posted anything on my account before--said they are available to beta read my story if I would love that.

Love that?

Spidey senses on high alert.

I'm not averse to beta readers. I have a strong collection of peers who exchange beta readings. But for this stranger, who appears to run some sort of book coaching business, to say they're available if I'd love it? Hmm. Makes me think they want my money. Or maybe they're a bot trying to scrape my story.

There's a lot of well-founded paranoia out there. Artists and writers routinely have their work stolen by LLMs and AI-trawlers. They're repackaging our plagiarized works and trying to sell it back to us with handy AI-powered tools that will write and rewrite stories for us, act as accountability buddies, etc. And because these bots are trained on our work, elements of our writing are now regarded as proof that our writing must have been generated by AI.

It's a vicious circle, especially when our work is being fed into AI-checkers by teachers and ill-informed editors. The AI-checkers then claim our work was probably AI-generated, whilst squirreling away that work into its library of stolen valour.

Thanks, tech bros. I hate it.

In other news, my story "Rich-People Houses" was just shortlisted for an award. I think I'll be finding out pretty soon if I've won or not.

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Read it and Weep

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:34:28 GMT

Two new poems of mine went live today. You can read "Cyanotype of a Burning World" and "Weeds" at ALOCASIA.

The remarkable long essay The Cuddled Little Vice, an interrogation of Neil Gaiman and Sandman is up for a Hugo award. I binge-read it yesterday. I was a huge fan of Gaiman's works for years, and for a time in the 90s-00s, considered him a friend. I used to lament that we'd never met in person, but realize now that I dodged a bullet. This essay was cathartic for me, and I hope it wins the award.

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Dink Lump

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:48:21 GMT

I haven't done a link dump in years. My open tabs have taken over my computer. Time for a cull. I'll share them with you, because you too may find them interesting.

Queer Horror with David Demchuk: An interesting talk about the history of queer horror.

Cut and Shuffle Exercise: A tutorial on poem generation.

Inuit Myth: a listing of Inuit gods and goddesses.

Rachel Attituq Qitsualik: A collection of amazing Inuit stories and lore by a master storyteller.

Caribou shooting in Newfoundland; with a history of England's oldest colony from 1001 to 1895: by Samuel T. Davis, 1838-1908. I used information from this for some essays I wrote.

the birth of Newfoundland archaeology, and the
end of history: A talk about the "first Newfoundland archaeologist" and the Beothuk

Fourth-Person Point of View. I hate that this is full of AI slop art, but I found the write-up informative.

Imaro: what may have been the first foray into the swords and sorcery genre by a Black author.

Photos from my trip to Newfoundland last year: Some gorgeous shots in here.

A Smurfy Tale: Papa Smurf Meets the Jehovah's Witnesses: This may very well be ground zero of the Jehovah's Witness urban legend about demonized Smurfs.

A Brief History of Killer Smurfs

Fabulous Animals, by David Attenborough. This is a documentary on cryptozoology that came out in 1975. Was missing for decades.

The Short List: Publishers who take stories up to 2500 words.

Anthony Casteel’s Account of Scalping Proclamations in Colonial Nova Scotia: Firsthand account of Englishmen held hostage by Mi'kmaq warriors.

Kishotenketsu - a plot structure without conflict: a four-act structure common in Asian storytelling.

Erika Krouse’s Ranking of 500-ish Literary Magazines for Short Fiction: Ranked according to circulation, reach, pay, and prestige.

How to Play a Jaw Harp: I want to work my way through these exercises and unlearn the poor technique I came up with without instruction.

Eskimo Folktales: Collected by Knud Rasmussen, these are a treasure.

A Discussion of the Inuit Artist Osuitok Ipeelee’s Sedna, Mother of the Sea Beasts

Ululijarnak: The Inuit Disembowelling Goddess: She used her knife to help people give birth and poop.

Sermerssuaq: The strongest, strangest Inuit woman ever: the Hercules of the Inuit world, and she had a giant clitoris.

The Not-Deer and Weird Appalachian Lore: Deer that don't act the way deer should.

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March Marched On

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:35:16 GMT

Oops! I didn't update anything last month. That was not because I wasn't getting published. I was. It's because I was recovering from a followup to the colposcopy that left me very low in energy. I'm finally on the mend. I hope I never ever ever require another LEEP. Two more colposcopies to go over the next year and a half, though. BAH!

(For what it's worth, BlueSky censored my link to the LEEP procedure saying that it was sexual content. I swear to you that it is the opposite of sexual content. In fact, you're not supposed to have sex until the electrocuted, mangled cervix is healed, and in the meantime, what looks like cigarette butts are tumbling out of your cooch. SO NOT SEXY.)

I had a few publications in the interim:

I won Narratively's First Kiss contest with Running Around in Prepubescent Lust. These are the sordid details of my very first kiss, when I was six years old.

My story "The Grave of Robert Kirk" was published in Once Upon a Moonless Night: Tales of Betrayal, Revenge, and Redemption. If you're gonna get it, opt for the ebook because the print prices are absolutely bonkers.

My poem "I am Canadian" (which isn't the slightest bit patriotic) has been published in Canada is Our Poem.

Preorders are open for Monsterfck, which contains the absolute filthiest story I've ever written. I can't imagine how I could surpass this.

Despite ridiculous propaganda articles stating that most authors use AI, I guarantee that none of my writing comes from the slopmeister plagiarism machine. All my words are homegrown and freerange.

I've also applied for more writing grants and residencies. I had the sinking realization that even if I get a $10,000 grant, that still works out to about 1/3 of minimum wage for the year. In the meanwhile, professional rates for stories are $0.08/word, which means I might make a couple hundred bucks for a story that took me weeks to write. If it sells.

Gotta write faster. Gotta write better.

Gotta get universal basic income.

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I Am Rumplestiltskin

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:29:58 GMT

What a week.

On Sunday, I woke up to the news that a publisher wants my short story collection Land's Sake. It is scheduled for publication in December of 2027. More details when everything is ironed out.

And this morning, I found out I've received a second creation grant for my new short story collection, Every Tear From Their Eyes. Many thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for their funding, and to Augur Society for recommending my work.

I am so grateful that people are seeing worth in what I do.

I've had over one hundred rejections so far this year, but including the grants, I've had fifteen acceptances. My hard work in the word mines is paying off.

Yesterday, I wrote a flash memoir piece about my first kiss called "Kissing-Tag." I've already sent it out to a publisher. Let's see if they like it.

This morning, I went over revisions with the editor of Sad Ghost Ink. I have a short story called "Ghost Honey" coming out in the SolarPunk Conflicts anthology.

I also okayed the proofs for my story "The Old Woman Who Became a Bear." It will be published in The Fiddlehead this summer.

Now I want to get back to work on the newest story for Every Tear From Their Eyes: a story tentatively called "Blood God."

On the not-so-great side, I've been going through a few excruciating medical procedures lately. The last one was awful, and I mined my pain to write an article on what it is like to endure a colposcopy (not to be confused with a colonoscopy). I'm still looking for a place to publish that personal essay. I think it's a good one. Will I write something after my next invasive procedure? We shall see. Writing about it helped me deal with the physical pain.

I am Rumplestiltskin. I weave pain into gold.

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I Have Much To Report

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:21:41 GMT

I have a plethora of publications this year. Here's what came out so far!

Things No One Ever Told Me About the Change of Life. Breath & Shadow. February 17, 2026
Sibyl Has a Heart of Gold. Rat Bag. February 14, 2026
"We, Medusa" and "Prayer to Dorn Ridge." The Malahat Review: INHALE/EXHALE: Contemporary Indigenous Storytelling. February 9, 2026.
I Am Pretty Sure Those are the Same Cops I Saw Dragging a Disabled Woman Across the Pavement By Her Dislocated Arm A Few Years Ago. Wordflower Poetry. February 8, 2026
"He'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain When He Comes." Cosmic Horror Monthly. Issue 68. February 2, 2026.
The Ghosts of Forests Past. Ecological Design Collective: Litter Journal. February 2, 2026
What Could Be. Lucky Jefferson. January 25, 2026.
"Sirens Don't Sing Underwater." Aothen Magazine. January 25, 2026

Yesterday was my last day at the McCormack Writing Center's winter workshop. I workshopped excerpts from my memoir-in-progress: Leaving Armageddon. Feedback was encouraging. I shared a hybrid collection of personal essays and poetry, and the takeaway is that readers want more. More. MOAR. I used my fellow workshoppees' feedback as writing prompts. Looks like I need to write more specifically about Armageddon, and what it meant to me as a kid. Funny that, especially considering the working title I gave the project.

I am also working on a collection of short stories called Every Tear From Their Eyes. This is related to my memoir as it is based on the premise of Jehovah's Witness teachings/prophecies being literally true. I've already written a cosmic horror flash called "The Good News," a short story called "Rich-People Houses," and another called "No Happy Endings." The latter was commissioned for an upcoming anthology in The Asylum of Terror series. Feedback from my weekly horror group has been positive, and just today, I received notification that my collection has been awarded a creation grant from the Ontario Arts Council through the recommendation of House of Anansi Press. I am grateful for their support. It's good to know that people want to read my stories.

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Biting Off More Than I Can Chew

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 22:17:47 GMT

Not sure how this happened, but I'm enrolled in several writing classes/workshops at the same time. Almost all my time is spent reading/writing. Here's what I'm taking:

The McCormack Writing Center Winter Workshop. I'm workshopping an excerpt from my memoirs tentatively titled Leaving Armageddon. It's about my childhood as a Jehovah's Witness kid.
GrubStreet's Short Story Collection Builder: I've begun work on a new short story collection tentatively called Every Tear From Their Eyes. In it, I imagine what a world would look like if Jehovah's Witness teachings were literally true. It's bonkers.
Alex Davis's Horror-Writing School. Each week, new lectures and workshops by Nina Oram, Charlotte Baker, JS Barnes, Gemma Amor, Daniel Carpenter, and Val Nolan.
The Loft's Gender is Our Playground: An exploration of gender in storytelling.
The Fairytale Sessions: On occasional Sundays, I do generative writing workshops focused on classic fairytales.

Good lord.

I think I have six different publications coming out in January. I'll share them as they pop up.

I've had five acceptances for my writing so far this month. Crikey. That's a record for me.

I've had two editors request bespoke stories from me, too. I just finished writing one. I need to figure out what I'll do for the other.

I've also had a request to revise and resubmit my novella The Temperance Ridge Runaways. I'm feeling much closer to getting a book out there in the world.

My hard work is paying off.

Now to plug someone else. I keep coming back to Adam Nevill's wonderful story Hippocampus. It's a horror story with no characters in it at all. I'm obsessed. I want to try my hand at writing a characterless short story, too. This story has the best description I've ever read of a ship in heavy seas.

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Stats and Stuff

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 17:57:23 GMT

I only started recording my writing submission rejections partway through last year. There was a time when I aimed for 100 rejections a year. In my six recorded months, I logged 283 rejections. I didn't record my submissions or acceptances, but have started doing that as of today. Last year, I had 29 publications.

How many of each will I get this year? Place your bets as to whether or not someone will make me an offer for one of my full-length manuscripts currently on submission. Oh yes, and are there any literary agents out there who would like to represent me? I sure could use the help.

My most recent publications of the year are a sound recording of -ocide in Eavesdrop Magazine and a reprint of "The Silent Madness of Whales" in Heathentide Orphans 2025.

A short story I've enjoyed recently is Why one small American town won’t stop stoning its residents to death by Anonymous. It's a modern-day followup to Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.

In non-writing news, I've been dealing with and recovering from frozen shoulder for the past year and a bit. My fitness goal for last year was to be able to do a dead hang from rings or a pull-up bar. I went from not being able to reach the bar at all to being able to hang for a total of ten seconds. For a one-time aerialist and competitive athlete, this is awful. But for someone recovering from adhesive capsulitis, it's fantastic. I can finally hold a shitty side plank on that side, too, which is a huge improvement from not being able to put any weight on that arm without agony.

I have never been one for New Year's resolutions, but I do try to set goals for myself. This year, I hope to recover enough to be able to do pull-ups and push-ups again. I also want to be able to open jars again, and to be able to put on and take off my bra without needing to twist it around to the front. My right arm/shoulder is the weakest it has ever been after a year of minimal use, but that will change.

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Time Under Duress

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 19:48:57 GMT

Can you believe we're almost 25% through this century? Time flies when we're under duress!

I have a new story out. This one was a departure for me: outer space sci-fi cowritten with four other authors (Terri Bruce, Joyce Reynolds-Ward, Jessica Turnbull, and Anne Keck. Our story is "The Guidance of Pigeons." The anthology is free, and it was published by Strong Women Strange Worlds.

I have another new story out: "The Menopause Chrysalis," about a two-spirit person's struggles with the medical system and the dream world. This weird little story is available in the Yay! All Queer Free and Queer anthology.

In other news, I have registered for GrubStreet's Short Story Collection Builder course and am looking forward to building a shiny new short story collection.

I am attending TinHouse's Winter Workshop and will be working on my almost-finished novella "The Development."

And because I am a writing machine, I am also registered for Alex Davis's Horror Writing School, featuring Nina Oram, Charlotte Baker, JS Barnes, Gemma Amor, Daniel Carpenter, and Val Nolan. I recommend Alex's courses. They're great!

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Red All Over

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 18:24:43 GMT

On Saturday, Strong Women Strange Worlds is hosting a day of writerly festivities. I'll be running a MadLibs session with one of my stories at 10:00 EST. It's free and fun. Come and play!

Saturday is also the launch date of the story “The Guidance of Pigeons.” I co-wrote that with Terri Bruce, Joyce Reynolds-Ward, Jessica Turnbull, and Anne Keck. It was my first time creating a story with so many other authors, and I think it's also my first foray into space sci-fi. It will also be launched at the Strong Women Strange Worlds holiday extravaganza.

But wait. There's more!

My gore-tastic story "The Butcher of Mazdin" has been published in the first issue of Slugger. Set in a Conan-style sword-and-sorcery world, it features a disabled and impoverished protagonist who's determined to make a difference.

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Queer Mad Art

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:27:03 GMT

Thank goodness for queer publishers. They buy the stories that I think are too strange for anyone to want to print.

So far this month, I have one new publication. My flash fiction "Before the Flood" has been published by The Storms in issue 5. You can also listen to me read it on their podcast: Eat the Storms. Everyone's work is well worth listening to. My narration begins at the 54-minute mark.

I have taken a temp position at an arts board. Rather than writing/submitting grant applications as usual, this time, I'll be adjudicating grant applications. I figure it's good experience, and will educational AF. I just hate that not everyone will get the money they need and deserve. I used to be on a scholarship committee, and it was the same hard thing.

Pre-orders are now up for an anthology I'm in: Up:Rising - A Collection of Rebellious Imaginings From Authors With Lived Experience of Mental Health & Addictions. My poems "Half Blood Line" and "To Live a Life More Full" are featured within.

In the meantime, I continue to work on my various writing projects. It never ends until I do.

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Short and Sweet

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 19:46:05 GMT

I'm busy, as usual.

My drabble The Bison Return with the Prairie Grass is a winner of Augur Magazine's microfiction contest.

My story "The Grave of Robert Kirk," a folkloric tale of what happens when the aforementioned grave is robbed, is forthcoming in Once Upon a Moonless Night. The Kickstarter is live.

My story "The Menopause Chrysalis," a weird tale of an ageing two-spirit person dealing with the medical system and the dream world, is forthcoming in Yay! Free and Queer All Queer. The Kickstarter is live.

I'm continuing to work on a story tentatively called "We All Fall Down." It was supposed to be a short story, but so far, it's a novelette and may end up a novella. Oops. It's about a nonbinary tween in a small, desert town, and is set in the early 1980s. It's a puberty horror story, and I'm having fun writing a ritual scene, most recently.

I'm also making good headway on revisions of my novel The Everwhen. I hope a publisher jumps on this. I'm proud of it.

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Poem en oh pee

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:12:01 GMT

I've had two publications this week:

My poem "Stillborn" has been published by Nightmare Magazine as well as their podcast. You can read it or listen to it.

My poem "Angakkuq," which was an Aurora finalist, has been published in Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three.

If you patronize the A-Hole (my pet name for Amazon), you can follow my author page to find out what is being released there for sale.

One of my drabbles recently won a prize, but I can't officially announce which one or where. Yet.

I'm currently co-writing a science fiction story with several other authors. Can't say much other than it involves pigeons and astronaut ice cream. It's a fun project!

I have started keeping track of how many submissions/rejections/acceptances I get each month. It's the 17th of October, and my tally shows 54 submissions, 14 rejections, and 2 acceptances. I know most people are unable to spend that much time sending things out, and I am grateful and incredibly lucky to be in a position to do so.

It is wholly unfair that, unless you are Stephen King or the dread JK Rowling, it is pretty much impossible to live on your writing. Our capitalist society does not support arts and culture. I hate that even winners of multiple, top awards are unable to achieve a living wage from their writing, and that many authors are being forced to withdraw from their writing careers in order to eat and keep the lights on.

It doesn't help that their/our writing is being stolen wholesale by Large Language Models and repackaged via ChatGPT and the like. If you use ChatGPT, you are not only complicit in the theft of author's living wages, but also in the destruction of ecosystems. Data centres use more power and water than cities, and greenbelts, forests, and farmland are regularly being destroyed to erect even more.

Here is a human-written story I've read recently which resonates with me:

Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience by Rebecca Roanhorse. Written in the dreaded second-person (which I personally enjoy), this toothsome example of Indigenous Futurism shows what happens when new technology is used as a toe-hold for destructive cultural appropriation. It's a microcosm of what has happened and what continues to happen.

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Read It and Don't Weep

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 15:55:48 GMT

I've been trying to read at least one short story a day. It's better for the brain than doomscrolling, that's for sure. Here's some of what I've read lately:

The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link is a story about a bag of holding, and who or what might be within it.

Breaking Water by Indramit Das. After Krishna finds a woman's body in the river, the world changes forever.

On the Sidewalk Bleeding by Evan Hunter. This is a story about gang violence I first read in a junior high reader in the mid-80s. At the time, I thought it was incredible. Years later, I went back to reread it and thought it was too on-the-nose. But the story has never left me. I think that for that age group, on-the-nose is more impactful than a subtle approach.

Malak by Peter Watts. This is a chilling story about a nonhuman intelligence: one without empathy or emotion created specifically for war.

Not a short story, but a collection of "Eskimo Folktales" gathered by Knud Rasmussen over 100 years ago. I find them a rich source of inspiration.

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Debut and Debutante?

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 20:22:00 GMT

If you want to hear me read some of my new, unpublished work, you'll have an opportunity this Friday. I'm one of the readers for Flights of Foundry. This is a 100% free online speculative fiction convention with writers and readers from all over the world. My reading is on Friday at 1:00 EST.

I'm also on a panel about Indigenous Horror on Sunday at 5:00 with Shane Hawk and Johnnie Jae.

There are all sorts of readings, panels, fan chats, author chats, role playing games, and more all weekend. Sign up for free at Flights of Foundry.

The next anthology I'm in drops in two days, I think. I just got my copy the other day. Moonlit Getaway is publishing their first anthology: Harvest Moon. My flash fiction "Sirens Don't Sing Underwater," about what's going on with the sirens from The Odyssey, is featured within.

Pre-orders are now open for the ebook version Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three. My Aurora-finalist poem "Angakkuq" (first published in On Spec is included. I'm pretty chuffed that I've finally snuck my way into this killer anthology series. I'm bookmates on here with some big names. The trade paperback pre-orders haven't begun yet. You can take a look at the table of contents here.

I recently placed a flash fiction with another anthology series. I won't say the name yet until I get all the details, but my story is "The Bird Husband." It's been shortlisted and longlisted for a few contests, but never made it to print. I'm glad it's finally getting its moment. What makes it particularly interesting to me is that not two minutes before getting an acceptance for it, it had received yet another rejection.

Taste is subjective.

My story The Snow Hath No Queen was rejected from many places but went on to win two awards, and my poem "Angakkuq" was rejected by several before it became an Aurora finalist. Go figure.

I recently completed a new short story called "The Old Woman Who Became a Bear." It is a retelling of Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother collected by Knud Rasmussen about a hundred years ago. I'm currently shopping that around.

Also working on another short story tentatively called "We All Fall Down." This one is a tale of puberty horror, and is pretty funny so far. It may end up a novelette, that most difficult of story lengths to home.

In other news, a week ago, I went to DreadCon. It was my first horror convention, and, over all, I had a good time. I ended up buying a whole wack of books to add to my stupendously-large To Be Read pile. I spoke with a bunch of authors, and also with a few editors. One of those editors has just requested the full manuscript for my novella The Temperance Ridge Runaways. I sure hope she likes it, because I would love to have my book debut with her.

Here are the short stories I've been reading:

Bears Discover Fire by Terry Bisson
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu

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Pointing With My Lips

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 21:16:51 GMT

Kwe!

That's one of the few Mi'kmaq words I know. It means "hello." I just started taking language lessons this week. It's gonna be a long road, but any word I learn is a huge level-up, considering I only knew two or three words to begin with.

I had a couple of acceptances yesterday, but I'm not going to count them because their acceptance letters were shady AF. Most of the letter was promotional material, urging me to buy multiple copies of the anthology ahead of time, plus stuffed toys, and, if I am lucky, I might win a prize. While I believe someone will get the prize money, the way this is being run is straight-up scam. Publishers ought not to get all their money and all their product from authors/artists. That is low. So no, I will not be sending more work to Polar Expressions Publishing, and I suggest you avoid it, too. I can see how this would win over someone new to publishing, but your work is worth more than this.

The erotic eco-horror anthology Silk and Foxglove launched yesterday and is available in e-book or trade paperback format. My story "All That Came From Our Lips Were Lilies" is within.

I want to share some of the stories I've been reading with you:

The Cost of Living by Jen Cornick. Creepy tale about the horrors of the working poor. I got to be a beta-reader for this, and it's delicious.

Proof By Induction by José Pablo Iriarte. A thought-provoking story about mathematical proofs, uploaded memories, and grief. This was a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award finalist.

Love is the Plan the Plan is Death by James Tiptree Jr. This is a surreal story from a unique POV. Who is speaking? WHAT is speaking? And what does it have to say about the nature of love?

And then there's this wonderful Inuit tall tale about Sermerssuaq, the strongest, strangest Inuk woman, ever.

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Booked

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 17:22:34 GMT

Happy September, everyone.

I've got a few pieces coming out this month, and there's even a fancy video trailer for one:

Silk and Foxglove: A BIPOC Eco-Erotic Horror Anthology drops on September 9. It includes my story "All That Came From Our Lips Were Lilies," one of the most experimental and lyrical stories I've ever written. It does not follow a traditional story structure, but something of a circular structure, and I'm proud of it. It's sexy, creepy, and draws upon fairytales, pagan goddesses, and witch trial history.

Tenebrous Press, publisher of Brave New Weird, is running a promotion right now. You can get all three Brave New Weird anthologies for cheap. My award-winning story "The Snow Hath No Queen" is in the third book, which makes me a certifiable weirdo.

Moonlit Getaway's anthology drops on September 23. My story "Sirens Don't Sing Underwater" is included. It's my take on one of Odysseus's side adventures. The anthology is called Harvest Moon: Volume One and you can pre-order it now.

My poems "Honey in the End Times" and "Raspberry Elegy" have been published by ALOCASIA in their special Indigenous authors' issue: Plantcestors. I wrote both of those poems while I was attending the Horror Writers Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in April.

I also want to share a couple of memoirs with you written by a beloved friend. Ms. Nova North wrote two short ebooks about her life as a gutterpunk and sex worker, and they are harrowing, quick reads. Larry: My Life on Autodestruct Book One and Meth Monsters: My Life on Autodestruct Book Two. I am sad that there will be no more, but Ms. Nova North has passed on, leaving these as her literary legacy. She will be missed.

I'm taking writing classes again this month. I'm currently taking How To Write Fairy Tale Retellings with Alicia King Anderson, Ph.D. Dr. Anderson's courses are always good, and I recommend them. You can check out her website: The Healing Power of Story.

On Saturday, I'll be attending the Writing the Occult: Belief virtual conference. Tickets are still available if you'd like to join me.

Next week, I'm back at horror-writing school with Autumn Frights. Each week, there will be lectures and workshops by different horror writers.

The week after, I begin with a short course on Historical Horror with Ally Wilkes. Looking forward to this. I've been writing a fair bit of historical horror lately, inspired by Inuit stories collected by Inuk ethnographer Knud Rasmussen.

And after several years of applying, I'm finally attending BIPOC Writers Connect in October based on the short story collection I've been developing. That collection is currently out on submission with a couple of different publishers. My goal for this year has been to get a full-length book published. Will I get a contract? We shall see.

In the meantime, I continue my revisions of my novel The Everwhen. I'm pleased with how it is turning out. Sometimes I read it and think it's brilliant, and then I remember that I'm the one who wrote it, and it kinda blows me away. I did that? Yes, I did. Go me.

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Black and White and Read All Over

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:11:52 GMT

I did not win the Aurora award, but I'm totally fine with that. Y.M. Pang's poem Cthulhu on the Shores of Osaka won, and deservedly so. Go give it a read. It's brilliant and fun.

My shortlisted poem "Angakkuq" might not have won, but it will be published in a best-of anthology. I can't say which one yet, but will share when that information is available!

I found out my personal essay "The Friday Plane," about drugs and my near miss with Pablo Escobar's cartel in the wilds of New Brunswick, has been longlisted for the Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest. Neat!

ALOCASIA has nominated my personal essay The Ghosts of Forests Past for the Best of the Net awards. I didn't make it to the final rounds, but it was nice to be nominated.

My story Sibyl Has a Heart of Gold has been nominated by The Temz Review for the Journey Prize for dark fiction.

Time to add some other fun stuff to this blog of mine, like what I'm reading and finding interesting.

I'm currently taking a course at Writing the Other with Henry Lien, author of Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird. It's a really interesting book on Eastern storytelling. I'm enjoying the readings for the course.

I just finished reading an essay for it called Shakespeare in the Bush wherein the author learns the true meaning of Hamlet from the Tiv of West Africa.

Unrelated to the course, but super-related to writing, here's the most useful craft essay I've ever read. It deals with the shape of story openings: The Wrong Shape for Your Opening by Vera Kurian.

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Winner? Gagnon?

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 18:45:41 GMT

The Aurora award ceremony is this weekend, and I'm a first-time finalist. I know a wack of other writers on the finalist list, too. Won't you celebrate speculative writing/art with us? 17:00 EST Sunday.

It's only the seventh day of the month, and I've submitted 18 pieces, had 10 rejections, and three acceptances.

This morning I had a Zoom meeting with the editor for an anthology I'll be published in early next year.

I had the loveliest rejection letter from a big lit mag. My personal essay "The Centaur Effect" doesn't work for their theme, but here is what they wrote:

"We appreciated reading your work. We are inspired by passages that were frankly, fearless and deeply wrought, as well as by the evocation of rural geography that we've rarely found in literary non fiction. To be sure, the entanglement of family and animal life, ecology and social history is impressive."

Personalized rejections are rare. To receive one this complimentary is almost unheard of.

Someone will want to print this essay eventually.

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Newfoundland or Bust

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 16:14:35 GMT

Sorry I made no posts last month! I was off adventuring in Newfoundland. I went on the Viking Tour, travelling along northwestern Newfoundland with a trip to Red Bay, Labrador, too. I haven't been to Newfoundland since I lived there forty-four years ago. I didn't expect to have that homecoming feeling, but I felt it surge in my chest as we approached by plane and I saw the bogs.

Things have changed, but some things are still the same. Hearing the outport accents brought me back to my childhood, and so did eating foods I haven't had in decades--things like partridgeberry, dewberry, bakeapples, cod with pork scrunchions, fish and brewis, and fried caplin.

Expect to read some stories inspired by my trip.

I was gone for ten days, and received ten rejections from magazines/anthologies. But just as I was waiting to board the plane to go home, I received an email that my short story "The Infective" has finally gone to print. I wrote that in October/November 2023, when I was laid low by my only known case of COVID (may there be no more). It's an uncanny tale of COVID anxiety, creepy AF, and you can read it in The Asylum of Terror: Vol. 2. It's a fun anthology with great illustrations. Recommended!

While I was there, I also got pre-order information for Silk and Foxglove: A BIPOC Erotic Eco-Horror Anthology. My experimental short story "All That Came From Our Lips Were Lilies" is featured within. An early reader compared it to the works of Angela Carter, and now I'm feeling all prideful.

Upon my return, I learned that my essay The Silent Madness of Whales has been reprinted by Zoetic Press and I won contributor of the month. The essay will be part of an anthology called Heathentide Orphans and will be published at the end of the year. I don't have pre-order information for that yet.

My personal essay Insides In and Outsides Out has been published in Breath & Shadow.

This month, I'm busy taking a course on Eastern storytelling with Henry Lien through Writing the Other. It's been pretty intense so far, with a lot of readings to do, movies to watch, and writing exercises to do. I hope I come out the other end a much stronger writer, with four-act storytelling structures as part of my toolbox. But in the meantime, it's kinda breaking my brain.

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A Belated Birthday Gift

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:01:44 GMT

For most of June, I received rejections from publishers pretty much daily. But yesterday, the day after my birthday, I received two acceptances in a row: one for a short story called "Ghost Honey," and the other for a poem called "Removed." I'll share the details of the publications once I get publication dates and contracts sorted out. It was a nice birthday surprise.

Pre-orders are now open for the Harvest Moon anthology published by Moonlit Getaway. My story "Sirens Don't Swim Underwater" is featured within. I think the release date is September 23, 2025.

Way back in March, I did a reading with Strong Women Strange Worlds. The video is now live. I'm the first reader with my story "The Last Trench," a tale about a haunted tree.

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Lose Some, Win Some

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:52:54 GMT

The reading at the Waterloo Bookfest was not my best. It was a cool and blustery day, and I read The Qalupalik from a printout on a single piece of paper. Normally, this would not have been a problem, but I was getting a lot of feedback from the microphone and had to grab the mic in one hand and hold the flapping piece of paper in the other while I moved further away from the stage monitor to get clear, unscreechy sound. Because I couldn't hold the paper in both hands, I got lost a few times during my reading. To top it off, there was a group of 12-year-old boys behind me being little shits. I was a little 12-year-old shit, once, too. It's a rite of passage, I think. They were roughhousing and once I finished my reading, one of them came up to the mic and made a big show of thanking everyone for clapping for him. All the while, he kept shooting looks at his friends to make sure they knew how cool he was. Oh, cringey tweens. You're only cool to one another. Hahah!

I have another reading coming up. I'm a featured performer at the Huron Multicultural Festival in Goderich, Ontario on June 28. I'll be taking the stage at 12:15 and this time, I will be prepared for cringey 12-year-olds, screechy feedback, and noisome gusts of wind. Prepare yourself for some spooky tales!

In other news, I've received dozens and dozens of rejections. For all the publications I get, folks are mostly unaware of how many things do NOT get published. I haven't done a specific count for a year, but I did count in May. I sent out 61 submissions. I had I had 23 rejections. I had three acceptances. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of years to hear back from any particular magazine/anthology. Sometimes they never respond at all. And sometimes, things will be accepted, and then they never get around to sending a contract or responding to any further communications. Publishing can be a very frustrating endeavour.

All that being said, I've had three rejections since last night, and a couple of publications so far this month.

Flash Flood published my tiny tale of terror Overdrawn.

Terrain.org has published my short story If You Listen, a cautionary tale from the POV of Sedna, mother of the sea.

As I mentioned before, my poem "Angakkuq," as published by On Spec Magazine, is a finalist for the Aurora Awards. Voting is now open to members of the CSFFA (Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. You do not need to be an author to be a member. Membership is only ten bucks, and for that low price, you get a voters' package which includes all of the finalists for the year. This includes full-length novels, short stories, poetry, illustrations, and more. You don't have to vote for me (although I won't complain if you do), but I'd love to have you read my poem as well as check out the amazing work by Canadian writers and illustrators. The money supports speculative fiction in Canada.

Tenebrous Press has shared a mini interview with me. My story "The Snow Hath No Queen" is a winner of their Brave New Weird award, and will be published later this month in their anthology. It looks fantastic! You can order it here.

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