anthologies and "queering solarpunk"

Happy Halloween month, everyone! Three small bits of belated news:

  1. The Kickstarter for the 4th edition of "The Long List Anthology: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List" is live, and closes in 5 days (on October 8). It will include “Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics”, the novelette Sara Saab and I co-wrote, which originally appeared in Clarkesworld. The Kickstarter is fully funded, but you can still back it if you want a copy of the anthology when it comes out!

  2. That same novelette also appears in “The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-fifth Annual Collection”, which is now available for purchase. This is the last edition of the collection to be edited by the much-missed Gardner Dozois, and I’m really honored to be included in it.

  3. Shelley Streeby, author of “Imagining the Future of Climate Change: Worldmaking through Science Fiction and Activism” and director of the Clarion Writing Workshop, recently posted an essay on her blog entitled “Queer Solarpunk: Imagining The Future Of Climate Change From Beirut To Appalachia To Oceanside, California”. It’s a reflection on the Solarpunk genre, and it features a lot of discussion of “Pan-Humanism” as well as two of my other stories, “Lanny Boykin Rises up Singing” and “You and Me and the Deep Dark Sea”. It’s a super fascinating read, and I’m extremely flattered that a brilliant scholar like Shelley did such a deep dive into my work. Definitely check it out!

2017 publications & awards eligibility

I know we've all beaten the "2017 was a trashfire" drum into the ground by now, but boy, 2017 sure was a trashfire, huh? In spite of spending the whole year feeling like the world was slowly tilting off its axis I managed to publish four (4!) pieces of short fiction, which is basically unbelievable considering my usual glacial writing pace. In fact, I increased my oeuvre of published original fiction by 200%, which I am dang proud of. Here's what I put out into the world in 2017. (Please note that all of these are eligible for awards such as the Hugos and the Nebulas in their respective categories, if you are nominating and so inclined!)

  • "Pan-Humanism: Hope and Pragmatics" (novelette, available free online) with Sara Saab in Clarkesworld. If you were to read/consider only one of my pieces of 2017 fiction, I'd humbly request it be this one. A story about a future where things are maybe a little fucked up but everyone does their best to work together and make it better. As Sara succinctly describes it: "urban design, sexy showering, Beirut, polyamory, water scarcity, Nantes, copious intellectual sparring." (You can also read our essay about the co-writing process on Medium.)
     
  • "Lanny Boykin Rises up Singing" (novelette) in Reckoning. About lake monsters, coal, and growing up in southern Appalachia. One of my heart stories; one of the more personal things I've written. This issue of Reckoning came out fairly recently (December 21), so I'm still a little nervous/anticipatory to hear what people think. I hope y'all like it. :)
     
  • "Maybe Look Up" (short story, available free online) in Lightspeed. Brief, quiet, second person piece about time travel and regrets. Pairs well with Sara Saab's flash piece Immortal Still and/or the song "Maybe Sprout Wings" by The Mountain Goats, both of which helped unlock its existence.
     
  • "You and Me and the Deep Dark Sea" (short story) in Sunvault. Eco-terrorists, deep-water drilling, making a home after the end of the world. Like a post-script for The Monkey Wrench Gang, but gayer.

And that's it! Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my fiction. May your 2018 be gentle, and filled with wonderful stories.