Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

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.

Now that it's up on their page, I can officially announce it now. My poem "Angakkuq" is a finalist for the Aurora Awards. This is my first time as a finalist there. I've been sitting on this knowledge for over a week. I'm so excited I could barf.

In other news, my interview with Moonlit Getaway went live today, too.

I'm still in Banff, still writing daily. I don't know that I'll finish the first draft of my novella while I'm here, but it is possible. I'm making headway.

I don't make very much as a writer. I'm incredibly lucky that I don't have to rely on these paltry earnings to stay alive. Much of my payment comes to me through PayPal. PayPal is not a bank. Money sitting in there can vanish for arbitrary reasons. And since I don't have my PayPal account attached to a bank account, that means I have to use it right away.

I've been sending that money off to folks in dire situations. My writing literally helps feed starving people. It's wholly unfair that the greatest harms are caused by the richest people in the world. It's wholly unfair that the poorest of us are left taking care of one another.

My poem "The Selkie" just sold. It will be published in Gwyllion Magazine this spring. The tiny bit of money made from it may have helped keep a starving family in Gaza alive for another day.

In less distressing news, my reading on Friday went over very well. Fifty people showed up and heard my story "The Last Trench." It went over very well. The next day, its publisher, Horns and Rattle Press, told me that they've nominated it as one of the best speculative eco-fiction stories of the year.

A recording of my reading will be going up on the Strong Women Strange World's YouTube channel in a week or so.

I have another reading coming up. I've graduated from GrubStreet's Novel Immersive for LGBTQ+ Writers, and we will be reading from our works on Tuesday, March 18 at 6:00 pm Eastern time. Won't you come check us out? I'm reading a chapter from The Everwhen: a scene featuring Enki, a mergoat fertility god who creates rivers via ejaculation. It's a funny scene, and topical. You can register here.

January has started with a bang.

My poem "Pony" has come in third place in ZO Magazine's Decennalia Contest.

And, for the first time ever, I was awarded a Literary Creation Grant by the Ontario Arts Council. This grant money will be used for the development of a collection of short stories tentatively titled Breath Sea Earth Flesh.

Part of that is allocated towards travel, and I have already booked a trip to Newfoundland. I lived there as a little kid and haven't been back since 1981. I've written quite a bit about my life in Newfoundland, so it will be interesting to see how the rock has changed, and how well my memories match up. I didn't realize how homesick I was for Newfoundland until I realized I am now able to finance a trip.

I hope to use more of the grant money for trips back to the Maritimes as well as some research trips within Ontario. I'm so grateful for this cash infusion. It lets me realize my work is valued by more than just my tiny circle of readers and friends.

I'm finishing up my stint at GrubStreet. The LGBTQ+ Novel Immersive has been very work-intensive. I sometimes have over 100 pages of close reading to do in a week for this course alone, let alone what I'm also doing for my other writing circles. I had applied for a speculative fiction novel workshop through Clarion West, but I didn't get in. This rejection is a merry-go-sorrow. Yes, I was looking forward to it, but not being in another intensive right away means I get some breathing space. And I need that.

I just went through the first round of edits for a couple of poems which are being anthologized this year. More information on that when I get publication details.

Next week, I am back to horror-writing school with Alex Davis Events. It runs on Tuesdays for six weeks, and you can still sign up, if you're interested. I recommend his workshops, classes, and seminars. They're top-notch with a lot of terrific guest speakers/instructors.

I'm continuing to revise my novel The Everwhen, but my work on the novella The Development has stalled. Hopefully, I'll be able to resume work on it by the end of February, when my work with GrubStreet finally wraps.

Life gave me mouldy lemons to go with all this delicious lemonade, though. I was recently diagnosed with frozen shoulder, and have a year and a half or so of a new disability to contend with. I'm hoping it won't interfere with my writing, though it definitely interferes with pretty much everything else. Today I realized I can no longer put underarm deoderant on, so I guess I'm gonna stink for a while. Yay.

I'm gonna share a bunch of my writing resources with you. These are things I check frequently, and have helped me with my publications.

The Submission Grinder: I find this one a little tricky to use, but it's very helpful for looking up magazines by pay rate, genre, etc.

Submittable: Invaluable resource. I track my submissions here. Membership is free, and you can find all sorts of calls for submissions, contests, fellowships, and more. The downside is there is no way to search for paying magazines only, and there are no ways to filter out magazines you don't want to see.

Chill Subs: A lot of people swear by this resource, and the folks running it seem like good people doing this as a passion project. They also have a mailing list which includes special calls for submissions as well as writing workshops.

Authortunities: You can sign up for the mailing list to get a curated list of magazines/anthologies seeking submissions. The free version is all you need. The paid version shows a bit more stuff from the next month, but that will show up in the next free email. Friendly community, too.

Moksha: A list of magazines and anthologies seeking submissions. Primarily speculative fiction/poetry. I've had several pieces published through this.

The Horror Tree: Not just horror. Covers speculative fiction in general. Has craft essays, calls for submissions, writing prompts, book reviews, and more.

Write, Publish, Shine: Run by the wonderful, super-supportive editor Rachel Thompson, this is a writing community and publishing school. I took her Lit Mag Love course, and it's what really got me organized and turned into a publishing machine.

Submission Roundup: This hasn't been updated since the summer, but I keep checking back because it's a great list of speculative publishers in search of stories.

Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Calls for Submissions: A bit of a pig in a poke, really. I've found a few good things here, but it also includes magazines which charge you money in order for you to submit work, and it doesn't say if this is the case in the listings. A bit of a pain in the arse, in that regard.

Canadian Authors Awards and Competitions: Not just for Canadian authors. Listing is by deadline, and entry fees and prize amounts are shown prominently.

Publishing... and Other Forms of Insanity: Terrific resource with lists of paying markets, free competitions, residencies, and more.

Science Fiction Poetry Association: Lists paying magazines which do not charge you money to submit your speculative poetry.

Literary Outlets for Environmental Writing: Some of the places listed are no longer around, but still is the best (and only) list I've seen for this genre.

Aswiebe's Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Market Listings Online: A spreadsheet of speculative magazines listing word counts, pay rates, etc.

The Short List: Places which publish flash and micro fiction.

Not writing related, per se, but if you're sick of trying to read a story only to find it's behind a paywall, Paywall Reader will help you get around that.

My personal essay "Monsters" has been published by Ex-Puritan. It is a heavy read. An early version of this was shortlisted (but not published) for the Dreaming into Collective Futures contest by Textile Magazine.

My story "Wolf Mother," previously published by Augur Magazine, will be getting its first reprint through Inner Worlds next month.

My novel "The Everwhen" was up for consideration for a mentorship, but that did not happen. However, I have applied for Clarion West's Novel Writing Workshop in the hopes of polishing the manuscript up.

My writing has slowed a lot these past few weeks due to chronic pain issues. It's hard to write when my bones feel like they're made of rusty barbed wire. I'm hoping that the weather will settle down so that barometric pressure stops beathing the shit out of me. I did, however, manage to write a few new poems as well as get a little more done on my story "The Development."

And now I'm off to do some critiques for my writing groups.

I won't say which of the ten flash fictions listed here is mine because anonymous judging is ongoing, but rest assured, I wrote one of these stories: 2024 Forge Flash Fiction Longlist.

"In a future where the continents are gone, the oceans are dead, and humanity survives atop the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a man goes on a dreamquest to rediscover cold and snow." My story The Snow Hath No Queen has been reprinted by MetaStellar. I wish they hadn't used AI art to illustrate it, but I didn't have any say in the matter.

A collection of my poetry is currently going through the second round of consideration at Goose Lane Editions.

In other news, I am applying for yet another residency: Horror Writing Residency at Banff Centre For Arts and Creativity. That brings me to four separate residencies I'll have applied for in 2025. Eeek.

More publishing news! I've sold two more stories: "Scarred" (about intergenerational war trauma) and "If You Listen" (a cautionary tale about colonization and Inuit cosmology).

I've also had a couple of poems published by Eavesdrop Magazine. You can even listen to me read them there. "Saved" (about how I got baptized before I was born) and "Wrassling's Object Lesson" (about my childhood favourite wrestler: The Cuban Assassin). Check out my dulcet tones.

I'm getting closer to the next step for revising my novel, "The Everwhen." I finished the first draft in January, and I've been letting it sit for a while so I can revisit it with a fresh brain. I think my first task is to go through the entire thing and write a chapter-by-chapter outline.

Every week I meet with a horror critique group, and we've been going through my novella about the runaway girls. I love how invested in the story the other folks are--I must be doing something right. I look forward to them reading the next bit. I get great feedback from them, and it helps me make my writing even stronger.

My #LandBack vengeance story "The Tupilaq" is a finalist for the Iridescence Awards and will be published in an anthology later this year by Kinsman Quarterly.

My poetry collection "Poemuit" was shortlisted for the QTBIPOC Prize at Kelsey Street Press. I've revised the collection and entered it into another competition. Maybe it'll win this time. One can hope.

I am now a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

I've been taking horror writing classes and meet with fellow horror writers weekly for a critique group. I'm vibing well with them, and it is very motivating. I'm about 16,000 words into a novella (maybe even a short novel?) about runaway girls and their dog in 1970s rural New Brunswick. It's been a fun ride, and this story never wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the encouragement of my mentor, Gurjinder Basran.

It's invigorating to have a writing community. I find it hard to keep disciplined in my practice without having someone to share my work with, and it's also great to be able to return that favour.

My story "Words Unspoken" didn't make the cut, but I sold three poems to EVENT Magazine. They should be coming out soon.

I have two short stories coming out in the Mihko Kiskisiwin / Blood Memory anthology in January.

My micro fiction "The Redcoats are Coming" has been published in the Done in One Hundred Anthology. You can purchase the softcover book at the link, or read the entire thing through the preview online.

This is not something I wrote, but I've been contemplating it for weeks now. If you want to read a compelling horror short story with no characters, check out Hippocampus by Adam L. G. Nevill. I aspire to write environments this well.