Nudity is Only Skin-Deep

I really should've posted about this sooner here, but today I will be reading at Waterloo BookFest. It's cold and yucky, and I'll be reading about a cold and yucky monster: The Qalupalik. My reading is the first one on the roster at 3:30, but there will be all sorts of local authors hanging out with their wares from 2-6:30 at Waterloo Square. Come see us! I'll probably be hanging out at the Indigenous Poets Society table for a bit, early on.

I was interviewed along with Sasha Brown by Masters Review about writers not writing. Here's what we had to say.

I've been keeping track of all my submissions, acceptances, and rejections this month as part of an exercise with the folks at Rachel Thompson's Writerly Love group. One point for each submission, two points for each rejection, and with every acceptance, you get reset to zero. I had to reset twice this month because of acceptances, but ended the month with 46 points. Not too shabby. I'm a busy beaver. One of those rejections was extra nice, from a magazine which has published me before. They remembered me, told me they loved the voice of my story, but that they'd like to see the language become more urgent by the ending. It's nice to get helpful feedback. I'll have to think on that and see how I can revise it.

I start two writing courses this week. I think there's still opportunity to join, if you're interested:

• Summer Scares 6-Week Horror Writing School. This is run by Alex Davis Events out of the UK. He puts together great courses and festivals, bringing in professional horror writers from North America and the UK.
  
• Intro to the Personal Essay. A bit pricey, but fortunately I scored a scholarship which helps defray some of the cost. I've never taken a course on this topic, and am looking forward to learning new approaches to something I've been doing for a long time.

My writing continues to blot the pages of magazines.

My poem "The Selkie" has been published by Welsh speculative magazine Gwyllion Magazine. This magazine is about Wales-related stories, and is by people with ties to Wales. My paternal great-grandfather was a Welsh lord, but I don't speak the language at all. You will find an echo of his terminology in the poem, though, with my use of the word "landwash" in place of "beach."

My poem "Doctrine of Prosperity" has been published by Rainy Weather Days, a defiant literary magazine. I took some cues from OuLiPo to write this one. I don't recall what my first rendition of this poem was, other than underwhelming. However, when I replaced nouns with words pulled randomly from the Book of Enoch, all of a sudden, my poem had much more oomph.

A few pieces were supposed to be published already, but due to who knows what, still have not made it to print. One anthology is awaiting cover art before it goes to print. Other magazines have had editors going through a variety of challenges. To paraphrase a certain chaos scientist from Jurassic Park, life finds a way ... to make things chaotic.

Speaking of which, although I meant to work on The Development (described by a recent workshopper as "beige gothic"), I ended up drafting a new personal essay about oral history, colonialism, and the extinction of the Great Auk. It's still a bit of a mess, but I think it is going to polish out into something interesting and thought-provoking. At the very least, it is provoking some thoughts in me. I'm dusting off recollections of things I overheard as a little kid while living on the Rock. It also inspired me to look for more writing about witchcraft in Newfoundland, and I ended up buying a copy of Making Witches: Newfoundland Traditions of Spells and Counterspells by Barbara Rieti. I've been reading a chapter on "Indian Witches," which discusses settlers' superstitious beliefs about Mi'kmaq. It seems similar to settler beliefs about Mi'kmaq on the mainland.

All of this is fodder for the historical writing I've been doing incorporating Maritime traditions.

I was recently a storyteller on a horror writers' reading, sponsored by author/editor Mae Murray. There was a good turnout and I think we all had fun. I read my as-yet-unpublished story "Ethel's Bones," which introduces some characters I plan on featuring in a novel I have not yet started to write. I need to finished The Development, first, and then I can get started on a new giant project.

In the meantime, I continue to write short stories. I recently completed a second draft of a new short story tentatively called "Rosalyn and the End of Everything." It's the most heavy-metal story I've ever written. I'm awaiting feedback from an editor before I start sending it off to different places.

I also recently completed a flash fiction about the Dungarvon Whooper, a ghost/cryptid from the Miramichi region of New Brunswick. I sent that story off to a couple of places already. It incorporates Chiac (NB French/English dialect) and Maritimes English vernacular.

So here I am at the first Banff Horror Writing Residency. It's absolutely gorgeous here and reminds me of when I lived in Valemount, BC as a kid. The big difference is that I lived in a travel trailer then, in campgrounds or squatting in someone's woodlot. Now I'm staying in a nice hotel room and hanging out with incredible writers from all over Turtle Island. My mentor is Jessica Johns.

My first day was a whirlwind. While I was getting a tour of the library, a fellow writer by the name of Rebecca asked me if I was the Shantell with a shortlisted story in Brave New Weird.

"Uh, I don't think so?" I remembered submitting something to Brave New Weird about a year ago, but it was rejected.

But then I looked it up, and yes, my story The Snow Hath No Queen is indeed on the Brave New Weird shortlist.

Cool!

Later on that day, I received another email notifying me that I'd been shortlisted for another prize. I'm not allowed to say which one (for now), but I'll announce it as soon as I can.

I had a difficult time sleeping that night.

Yesterday, my poem Pyrocene went live on Emerge Literary Journal. This is my fourth publication for the year.

So far at my residency, I've worked on my novella "The Development." I hope to finish the first draft here. I'm so close.

But I'm also working on other projects, so who knows? I put together a weird western called "He'll Be Coming Around the Mountain When He Comes." It comes from my novel "The Everwhen."

There are a lot of folks here writing about cannibals, and they inspired me to write another short story about man-eaters. I started work on that this afternoon. It features a group of wine moms. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

In other news, I was recently part of a women of horror panel. Here's The Villain Edition, Feminine Rage and Beyond, and Real-Life Horrors and Beyond.

And today, my poem "Stillborn" was accepted by Nightmare Magazine for publication.

My personal essay The Ghosts of Forests Past has been reprinted in ALOCASIA.

My poem Nuliajuk and the Birds has been published by Strange Horizons.

My flash fiction "The Qalupalik" will soon be viewable at Flash Fiction Online. You can purchase a copy of the magazine here.

My short story "All That Came From Our Lips Were Lilies" has been accepted by Hedone Books and will be published in the Silk and Foxglove - A BIPOC Erotic Eco-Horror Anthology edited by Z. K. Abraham. I'm unsure of the publication date.

Tonight I checked my email for a link I was expecting and discovered something else. I have been accepted into the Banff Centre For Arts and Creativity's Horror Residency! I'm so thrilled I might pee myself. I'll be working with Jessica Johns, author of Bad Cree (which has just jumped to the top of my To Be Read pile).

So grateful that I was accepted. I hear the competition was fierce.

In other news, my story "The Tupilaq," a tale of LandBack vengeance, has been published in Iridescence: Speculative Fiction and Poetry Featuring Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

I'm almost finished my novel immersive program at GrubStreet. I need to work on an elevator pitch for my novel The Everwhen. I'll be presenting it to an agent next week. I'm better with words on paper than I am with words coming out of my mouth, so I'll have to practice.

Today I took part in a workshop about openings for dark fiction. I came up with two potential beginnings for what may very well be my next novel, an ensemble piece about angels, alchemy, and other supernatural shenanigans in a dilapidated shopping mall.

A halo of smoke settled over Gracie’s head as Gnat hit the bong again. Gnat held her breath, coughed, and passed the lighter to Gracie. “Where did you put my runes?”

Gracie reached for the bong and lighter. “Which ones?”

“The bone ones.” Gnat flicked blue-black hair out of her face and sank back into the couch, waving the clouds of smoke away.

And then there's this:

An old soldier peddled red, plastic poppies by the mall entryway. Ed dropped a loonie in the donation box, affixed the flower to his lapel, and with a voice saturated in irony, he thanked the man for his service. The veteran side-eyed him, but Ed was already past, jauntily weaving his way between the old folks filling the mall. It was pension day and the olds were everywhere, their canes and walkers filling the air with asynchronous ticks. A few seniors sagged down onto uncomfortable wire benches to sip cheap coffee out of paper cups, and Ed grinned. Everything was coming along just as it should. He scratched at the itchy nub of one of his missing ears before jogging down the stairwell to the basement.

It was fun to work on something brand-new.

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.

A while back, I applied for a residency in Costa Rica. The Casa Uno Residency is a highly competitive artist residency, and I made the short list. I had an interview with the host yesterday and learned I am under consideration for placement in January/February.

I officially withdrew from consideration for the residency today. I graduate from the Queer Novel Immersive program at GrubStreet in February. If the residency were just a few weeks later, I would have been able to swing it. Womp womp.

The weird thing is, when I applied for the residency, I had a completely illogical feeling that I would get it. I have no idea why I was so certain, but I really was. Maybe I'm psychic.

I applied for several other residencies, but didn't have the same feeling about any of those. I wonder if I'll make it to the final rounds for any of them. One is in Alaska, one in Switzerland, one in Banff, and the other is online. Another writer I know is also applying for the Banff one. It would be fantastic if we both got it. I've been working with her online for over a year, and I'd love to meet her.

In other news, I recently completed edits for my personal essay "Monsters." It will be published in a special issue of Ex-Puritan. When I received my acceptance letter, the editor called my essay "fucking phenomenal." It's the only time I've ever had an F-bomb in an acceptance letter. An early version of the essay was shortlisted for the Dreaming into Collective Futures contest by Textile Magazine but was not published. I first began work on the piece while working in MT Space's Arts Exchange. "Monsters" is a personal essay showing the deleterious effects of settler colonialism on my life and the life of friends and family. It's a heavy read.

Also, although I did not win The Forge Literary Magazine's flash fiction contest, my story "The Bird Husband" made it to the longlist. Time to send it elsewhere. It is inspired by the story of Nuliajuk/Sedna from Inuit folklore.

I am currently enrolled in a flash fiction course through Workman Arts. I think I'll read "The Bird Husband" to the class today. I hope I will generate even more good stories through the course.

Today I plan on writing the next chapter of my work-in-progress "The Development." It's my gothic tale of southwestern suburban sprawl.

In November, I will be getting caught up on my writing even more, taking a course on subgenres of horror through Alex Davis Events. There are still spaces available if you're interested. I recommend Alex's courses. They're very good, and reasonably priced.

I will also be helping develop a course on flash memoir with Rachel Thompson. I'll be "playtesting" the course to give feedback on it. I've enjoyed her classes, and recommend them. Her Lit Mag Love course is what got me organized and paved the way for my professional writing credits.

In case you're interested, here are my publications for the year, as well as my upcoming publications. The year isn't over yet. Maybe I'll get even more of my work published!

2025 “Half Blood Line” and “To Live a Life More Full.” Forthcoming poetry in Workman Arts Literary Anthology
2025 “If You Listen.” Forthcoming fiction in Terrain.org
2025 “The Qalupalik.” Forthcoming fiction in Flash Fiction Online.
2025 “The Ghosts of Forests Past.” Forthcoming CNF in ALOCASIA
2025 “The Tupilaq.” Forthcoming fiction in Iridescence anthology. January 2025
2025 “The Infective.” Forthcoming fiction in Asylum of Terror: Volume 2 anthology
2025 “The Stolen Language of My Ancestors.” Poetry in IHRAM Publishes: Indigenous Voices - Heart, Hope and Land
2024 “Wolf Mother.” Fiction in Inner Worlds.
2024 “Angakkuq.” Poetry in On Spec. December 2024.
2024 “The Yolk of the Moon.” Fiction in LSUA Flash Fiction Booklet and website.
2024 “The T-Bone.” CNF in The Masters Review
2024 “Daisy Chain.” Fiction in Against the Wall, Under the Armor anthology. December 2024.
2024 “Sirens Don’t Sing Underwater.” Fiction in Moonlit Getaway. December 2024.
2024 “Monsters.” CNF in Ex-Puritan. November 2024.
2024 “Scarred.” Fiction in Meetinghouse Magazine. October 2024.
2024 “The Snow Hath No Queen.” Fiction in MetaStellar. September 2024.
2024 Excerpt from “The Tupilaq.” Fiction in Kinsman Quarterly. September 2024
2024 “A Time For Dolls.” Play in Native Voices: A Literary Collection of Emerging Indigenous Writers.
2024 “The Last Trench.” Fiction in Bitter Become the Fields. Horns and Rattles Press. July 2024.
2024 “Exile of Nuliajuk.” Poetry in Heredity issue of NonBinary Review, June 2024
2024 “Keswick Valley Memorial, 1984,” “This is How to Not Give Up,” and “Salt Water Strider.” Poems in Event Poetry and Prose
2024 “Tom Thumb of the North'' & “Blubber Boy: A Traditional Inuit Tale Then and Now.” Fiction in Mihko Kiskisiwin/Blood Memory: An Anthology.
2024 “Saddles in the Kitchen.” Memoir in Redivider.
2024 “Hiding in Plain Sight: Life With and Without Masks.” Personal essay in Knee Brace Press.
2024 “Saved” and “Wrassling’s Object Lesson.” Poetry in Eavesdrop Magazine.
2024 “Thumbing to Sugar Daddy Oberon.” Short fiction in MetaStellar.
2024 “This is the Time Just Before Spider Woman Meets Kiviuq.” Poetry in West Trestle Review

I'm so boring these days. All I do is write. Thanks to long COVID (I finally caught COVID at the dentist office last October), I don't have the energy to do much more. Good thing I have an active imagination!

That being said, I had a public reading a couple of weekends ago for the Cabbagetown Festival in Toronto, and this weekend, I have a reading at the Multicultural Festival of Elmira (I'll be on around noon) and at the book launch for Mihko-Kiskisiwin--Blood Memory book launch at Idea Exchange in Cambridge (from 2-4). I'll be wearing a mask at the indoor reading because I do NOT want COVID again.

An excerpt from my award-winning story "The Tupilaq" has been published by Kinsman Quarterly.

Another award-winning story, "The Snow Hath No Queen," has been accepted for publication by MetaStellar and should be going live next week. I'll share the link once it's up.

My story "The Lupercal" was a runner-up in Louisiana State University Alexandria's flash fiction contest, and my story "The Yolk of the Moon" came in second place. The latter story will be published sometime soon. I'll share the link when it's available.

I was also longlisted for the diverse voices/diverse worlds grant sponsored by the Speculative Literature Foundation, but I didn't make it to the short list. Womp womp. This is my second time getting longlisted by them, so I must be doing something mostly right.

To top it all off, I applied for residencies in Alaska, Costa Rica, and Switzerland for next year. If I get them all, I'm in big trouble.