We’re just back from BayCon last week and my brain is still buzzing and not up for generating any BIG IDEAS for this week’s column, so I thought I’d do something I haven’t done in a bit, and share what I’m working on (personally and via Other Worlds Ink, our small press).
The Great North
First off is the rerelease of The Great North. It’s a future post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy loosely based on the Welsh “Valentine’s Day” legend of Dwynwen, but with a decidedly gay twist. The wonderful folks at Mischief Corner Books first published this in 2017, and I’m excited to share the second edition (with a sparkly new cover) later this month. This is the second of three novella rereleases from MCB that I’m doing this year.
Transform the World / Rehome Inc
On September 9th, the third book in the OWI “Writers Save the World” series will release. Transform the World is that “earth covered in solar panels and windmills” graphic personified. It’s all about how we might do things differently as a culture, as a government, as a world, in a way that would make things better. And I have a story in there called “Rehome Inc” that revisits the world of my Northwest Climate Triptych (in the Androids & Aliens collection) and some of its characters too.
The Gauntlet Runner
It’s almost here! The follow-up to The Dragon Eater releases on September 21st, and follows Raven, Aik and Silya as things get even weirder. This one focuses on Aik and the strange gauntlet he found among Raven’s things. Where did it come from, what does it want, and what is it doing to him? Thrilled to have this one finally coming out to continue the “Tharassas Cycle” series.
Rise
Tentatively scheduled for October, the 9th annual Queer Sci Fi flash fiction book (and the result of the tenth annual contest) will present the winners, along with 117 other really short works of queer speculative fiction.
Slow Thaw
What happens when a trans FTM scientist is forced to bunk with a cis gay man in a remote antarctic outpost? This is my final Mischief Corner Books novella rerelease, due in mid-November.
Love & Limitations
My fourth short story collection (and my first exclusively contemporary one) includes three MM tales – “Ten,” “I Only Want to Be With You” (an MCB reissue), “Translation,” and a never before published trans kid / gay couple story “Boy in the Band.”
Earth 2100
Scheduled for winter 2023-24, these are all sci-fi tales set on a future version of Earth. They were submitted for the Transform the World anthology, but didn’t quite fit. Nevertheless, they were all such amazing stories that I created a new anthology just for them. I’ll have a new story in here too, but I haven’t decided which one yet.
Works in Progress
I have a few of these on my plate. First are the three short stories I wrote earlier this year which are currently looking for a home among the SFF magazines: “The Summer Place” is a “queer only” world where what’s left of humanity sleeps away the hot summers in hibernation. “Airlock Justice” presents a court case on Mars. And my fave of the three, “Flawless,” is my first drag queen story. In space. Which is set in the Liminal Sky universe.
I’m also working on what I call the “middle trilogy,” the events on Forever after The Shoreless Sea and before Skythane.
And Kim Fielding and I are working on a semi-secret joint queer fantasy novel – details coming soon.
The Longer View
Next year will bring another flash fiction contest, theme TBD, as well as the publication of the final two books in the Tharassas Cycle – The Hencha Queen and The Death Bringer. I’m also hoping to write Coredivers, the sequel to Dropnauts. The ideas are swirling around in my head for it as we speak.
That’s it for now. Mark your calendars!