Six Hours to Go!

WE DID IT! 6 hrs left to go and the Nothing Without Us anthology and all its stretch goals, including an audiobook, an illustrated version, and enhanced author pay, have all been funded! Thanks so much for supporting this own voices project and the disabled authors and publishers trying to change the literary landscape one accurate depiction at a time. If you want to hear more about why this kind of project is so important, check out my author interview where I discuss disability rep, chronic illness narratives, why they both matter, how they impact the real world on a micro and macro level, and why I had to ragequit watching The Flash.

It’s the Last Midnight

Hey, all. For those of you who aren’t already aware from the constant reblogged author interviews, I have a short story in an upcoming own voices disability themed anthology called Nothing Without Us. What does own voices mean, you ask? In this case it means that all the stories in the anthology feature disabled, deaf, neurodiverse, mentally ill, and/or chronically ill main characters written by actual disabled, deaf, neurodiverse, mentally ill, and/or chronically ill authors! And this anthology is extra special in that it also has disabled publishers, so everyone involved in this project from beginning to end has the lived experience these stories are trying to accurately represent and explore. And not a bit of inspiration porn in sight!

Lessons from History (and a Midnight Research Rabbithole)

Some of you may be familiar with my horror short, “East of the Midnight Sun, West of the Full Moon”, which is told from the point of view of a young Alaskan woman named Senka. Senka’s grandmother came to America when her family fled Europe to escape the Holocaust and this legacy both haunts and drives Senka as she sees history begin to repeat itself. While writing this story, I went down a research rabbithole into everything from average winter temperatures in Barrow, Alaska to how to kill vampires in various cultures’ mythologies to the history of antiziganism. Oh, the eyebrow raises my search history and open tabs would get. 

Gate Night: The Veil Grows Thin

The fairies be out that night and they would take you away with them if you were out at that evil time. It is also said that the devil shakes his budges [fur] on the haws and turns them black and according to the old people if you eat a haw after Hallow Eve night you will have no luck (qtd in “Halloween in Irish Folklore”).

Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Society

It’s that time of year again. There’s a chill in the air, a draft in the house, and needles prickling at the back of your neck. So curl up with a good ghost story.

Persephone, Lara Rae, and Other Lost Girls of the Underworld

Much like Persephone from Greek mythology, Lara Rae Brecken, the main character of Beneath Blair Mountain, finds herself trapped in the underworld after wandering through a crack between worlds one cold October night. Irish mythology was at the forefront when I wrote this tale, but I consciously had Persephone and other analogous tales and figures in mind.

East of the Midnight Sun, West of the Full Moon

I am happy to announce that my horror story, “East of the Midnight Sun, West of the Full Moon” will be published in this year’s Wolf Warriors charity anthology. This year’s theme was light and shadow, so I had great fun playing with that imagery (and working in all manner of Easter eggs from vampire and werewolf lore and from Scandinavian fairy tale, “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”). Last year’s entry to the Wolf Warriors anthology was kid-friendly and upbeat, so I went darker and more overtly political this year. This is also the first year where I won’t have a single reference to “Little Red Riding Hood”. I suppose Red is finally passing the torch to a new fairy tale. 

National Tell a Fairytale Day

Apparently, it’s National Tell a Fairytale Day. I don’t know who decides these things, but Beneath Blair Mountain volunteers as tribute. While set in 1910s America, this book was inspired by Irish tales of the Sidhe and Icelandic tales of the elves/Huldufolk. At their roots, both of these traditions, like the fairytales canonized by the infamous Brothers Grimm, lean more horror than fantasy. Expect no Disney fare here.

Tales of the Banshee

Good news for fans of Beneath Blair Mountain and darker tales of magic, the paranormal, and the Emerald Isle. I’m participating in an author takeover/online book party.

Gate Night Storytime

“It was Gate Night, the night before All Hallows’ Eve. Distant memories of the old stories nagged at me. During All Hallows’ Eve the veil between the world of the living and the word beyond was lifted. Our world and their world all blurred together like ink running on a page in my old primer when we schoolgirls would try to run home in the rain, shrieking and splashing up mud all the way.” 

–Beneath Blair Mountain

A mix of folklore from the Old and New World, Beneath Blair Mountain makes a great read for Halloween, Samhain, or Día de Los Muertos. Find it on Amazon and Goodreads.