News

March 29: Write the Vote PHL

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Note: Postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Date in fall 2020 TBA.

On Sunday, March 29, writers across the country will hold literary readings dedicated to voter awareness, access, and rights. Here in Philly, the Central Library (1901 Vine St.) will host the flagship event, Write the Vote PHL.

Twenty-four (and counting!) Philadelphia luminaries will assemble to read works from and inspired by Toni Morrison, who inspired generations of writer-activists. Readers include Anthea Butler, Emma Eisenberg, John R. Keene, Carmen Maria Machado, Amanda Marcotte, and Trapeta Mayson. They will be joined by representatives from voter advocacy groups Fair Districts PA, HeadCount, and the League of Women Voters, as well as from the Colored Girls Museum, which “honors the stories, experiences, and history” of girls from the African diaspora.

My 2019 Awards-Eligible Stories

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This past year saw the release of two stories eligible for awards consideration:

“The Children’s Cabinet”
Shirley Magazine, Issue 13 (spring 2019)
730 words / short story

“The Albatwitch Chorus”
Asimov’s Science Fiction, September/October 2019
8,000 words / novelette

Read in the SFWA forums. (Log in required.)

I was also pleased to discuss the story with the Asimov’s blog, From the Earth to the Stars.

Thank you for reading!

Nov. 10: Reading with Emma Sloley

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I’m thrilled to help welcome Emma Sloley, author of the wonderful new novel Disaster’s Children, to Philly, and to appear at Philly’s newest indie book store, A Novel Idea. Join us for a reading and conversation.

Sunday, November 10, 5pm
A Novel Idea
1726 E. Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia, PA

 

 

Interview with From the Earth to the Stars

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I recently spoke to From the Earth and the Stars, the Asimov’s Science Fiction blog, about my new story “The Albatwitch Chorus.” I confessed to things like:

This idea, like most of my ideas, came both quickly and slowly. When I learned about the albatwitch, a kind of mini-Sasquatch from Pennsylvania folklore, I knew I wanted to write about it. I like cryptids and have a weirdly specific phobia of uncanny, humanoid tricksters.

Read the whole interview here.

“The Albatwitch Chorus” Out Now

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You can find my newest short story, “The Albatwitch Chorus,” in the Sept./Oct. issue of Asimov’s. It’s about a witch going through a midlife crisis, her ex-husband, her teenage intern, and the cryptids in her backyard:

“Possum?” I asked, but the wind shifted, revealing the body was too big. Curled hands and pointed black ears of a raccoon, but sparse fur and no tail. I had never seen one before, but I knew.

“Albatwitch,” Jonas said, his eyes still fixed on the creature. “Go call animal control.”

Very little scared me, yet I nodded mutely, hurried through the kitchen door, and stood at the window with a phone in hand. Albatwitches carried disease. They attracted predators. And they had mysterious funerary rites one did not want to interrupt. They mostly kept to themselves, but they were quick to retaliate, and usually as a chorus—that was the name for a group—at least, before the 1979 Treaty of Half Moon Rock, sealed with an exchange of apples (from us) and a mound of empty soda cans, a few nuggets of raw garnet, and a deer carcass (from them).

You can order print and digital subscriptions, purchase an eBook copy, or find the issue on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, and a million other stores.

4-Week Novel Boot Camp in July

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I’m excited to be teaching this course for the second time with Catapult. In four weeks, you will develop a complete and story structure for your novel–the novel you’re struggling to revise or the novel you want to start writing.

We will use written guides, writing exercises, assigned stories, and discussions to move from premise to detailed synopsis, identifying universal principles that will make your distinct story a satisfying read. You will leave with an outline for your work-in-progress and a toolkit of strategies for future projects.

Click here to read more and sign up.

“The Children’s Cabinet” Now Online

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The baby — well, she’s no longer a baby. She stands at the cabinet door, only wobbles a little as it swings back. The baby — the youngest and the last, forever the baby — has inherited the amusements of three older siblings. To you, the cabinet is an archive of ten years of raising children, but to the baby, it contains the future.

Read my new flash story “The Children’s Cabinet” in Shirley Magazine.

My 2018 Awards-Eligible Stories

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This past year saw the release of two stories eligible for awards consideration:

“The Barrens”
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May/June 2018
11,100 words / novelette

Read in the SFWA forums. (Log in required.)

In one of his best of 2018 round-ups, Jason Sanford says, “A group of teenagers follow a pirate radio station’s signal into a dark forest — and the woods are hungry. This new take on a familiar horror trope is a beautifully haunting story.”

I also talked about the story in this interview and was thrilled to receive this review from the B&N SciFi & Fantasy blog.

“The Witch of Osborne Park”
Asimov’s, September/October 2018
3,700 words / short fiction

Read in the SFWA forums. (Log in required.)

 

Thank you for reading!

Eight Inspirations for “The Witch of Osborne Park”

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On the Asimov’s blog, I listed eight little weirdnesses that inspired my new horror story about motherhood. Here’s number two:

In mammals, fetal cells migrate into the mother’s body. The maternal immune system eliminates many of these cells, but some integrate into the host tissue, where they may remain for decades, or even permanently. This makes mothers “micro chimeras,” organisms with distinct sets of genetic material. Little is known about the impact on mothers, or the evolutionary value of such a phenomenon.

More over at From Earth to the Stars. You can find the story itself in the September/October issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction.