2018 was a year!
As is traditional, I’ve collected descriptions of and links to the stories I’ve published this year below. Since a lot of my time goes into editing for sub-Q Magazine, I’ve also included a run-down of what we’ve accomplished there in 2018.
If any of the below is new to you, I hope you enjoy it! :)
Short Stories
I had four original stories published this year (as well as a smattering of reprints). Here are the originals:
“Memorial Park”
Constellary Tales, November 2018 (1000 words; content warning: child death)
A woman tries to come to terms with her young daughter’s death—and her own guilt over not being there enough throughout her life.
Read “Memorial Park” online at Constellary Tales
“Words I’ve Redefined Since Your Dinosaurs Invaded My Lunar Lair”
Flash Fiction Online, October 1, 2018 (1ooo words)
Can a Supervillain please just get a break? Doctress Doom confronts her nemesis — and calls into question the good-vs-evil nature of superheroics. Plus: Dinosaurs.
Read “Words I’ve Redefined…” at Flash Fiction Online
“Failsafes”
Nature Futures, September 5, 2018 (950 words)
A scavenger in a post-apocalyptic future finds a hidden cache with long-lost technology that just might make people’s lives better — and discovers something more important about the nature of community.
Read “Failsafes” at Nature
“The City, Like Time”
Kasma SF, April 2018 (4500 words)
Jeron returns to her home city after a lifetime of living in the wastes. Will her old friend Ameren remember the pact they made together?
Read “The City, Like Time” at Kasma SF
Editing
In addition to writing my own stories, I’m editor-in-chief of sub-Q Magazine.
sub-Q is, to my knowledge, the only magazine which focuses exclusively on interactive fiction: stories told in the browser (or with other technology) that require interaction of some kind from the reader in order to complete. We’ve published a game a month since I took over last November, and I’m very pleased with the submissions we’ve had and the games we’ve published.
If interactive fiction sounds like fun, check out the magazine at: https://sub-q.com. And if you’re an author and want to write some, check out our ongoing game jam and themed submission window, which both run until December 15th. (We’ll re-open to general submissions some time next year.)
SFWA
Beyond writing and editing, I’ve been active on a couple of SFWA committees over the past year (Game Writing and Short Fiction).
The biggest visible outcome of all this has been the announcement of the new Nebula for Game Writing, which I’m excited about!
If you’re nominating things for the Nebulas this year, don’t forget to add any games you’ve played that you thought were outstanding—and “games” means any type of game with a narrative element, whether it’s a video game, tabletop RPG, card game, or strange, unclassifiable thing. There are also no wordcount requirements: fellow Game Writing Committee members Andrew G Schneider, Monica Valentinelli, and Andrew Plotkin and I worked hard to make the new award as inclusive as possible.
If you’re a game writer or designer and have questions about the new award, or want to share your work with SFWA members, the best person to contact is the Nebula Award Commissioner, Jim Hosek, at nac@sfwa.org. You can also see the full Nebula rules on the Nebula website here: https://nebulas.sfwa.org/about-the-nebulas/nebula-rules/