Summer Round-Up
June has come (and almost gone), despite my best efforts. In personal news, since we last spoke, I acquired a cat, attended too many weddings, and hurt my leg running for the third time because I still fundamentally do not believe in warm-ups and refuse to participate in them. I might have then also hurt it again climbing through a window to watch a sunset.
In other news, I have probably more updates to share today than I ever will again? I’m up to 10 stories releasing this year, somehow — possibly rising to 11, pending one new Clarkesworld that I suspect will slip into 2027.
And look, I can absolutely confirm that I will not be keeping this up. In 2025 I wrote a story a month for almost the whole year, and I’m targeting one every two months for 2026. I am hoping that will be more sustainable in future and will maybe lessen the crushing guilt I experience whenever I do literally any activity other than writing a dark science-fiction novelette. I’m meant to be writing one right now. It’s in the corner, waiting for me to be done.
New stories
I have two new stories out this month! Or Forever Hold Your Peace is available now to subscribers at Trollbreath Magazine, and will be free to access on their site for all from July 17. It’s about true love and tall buildings and it’s a bit lighter than some of my recent stuff, so enjoy!
A Candle for Her Tireless Dead is now available in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. It’s about sinister rainbows and a pilgrim in a strange land and look actually this one is a bit darker than some of my recent stuff, so, uh, consider yourself warned.
My next story for the year — yes, it’s a lot of stories — comes out in Kaleidotrope in July. Hark the Herald was accepted back in 2024 and was written in 2023, so it’s a bit of a time capsule. It’s partly inspired by The First Fossil Hunters by Adrienne Mayor, which is a fascinating look at the intersection of Classics and palaeontology, and which I will never ever shut up about.
My May story for Clarkesworld was listed by Tarvolon as a monthly favourite! I’m really pleased with the reception this one has had — more news on it below!
This month I also sold an eighth piece to Clarkesworld. Five Bottles in Memory of the Winemaker Petronius Finch is a story I’ll be talking a lot more about closer to release. It’s entirely structured as a wine tasting and it gets properly Horrible.
Translations
I’ve signed contracts for two upcoming translations — and yes, I will soon be slipping ‘published in three languages’ into everyday conversation, and then feeling adequate shame.
A translation of The Profitable Sentience of Household Goods in simplified Chinese is coming out in Science Fiction World this July. I’m very excited to see the finished issue and will share more when I know it!
A translation of Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins into Italian will be released by the small press Zona 42 as part of their Nodi series. This won’t be out for some time so I’ll not say more just yet — but again, excitement.
Anthologies
My horror story MALO MALO MALO MALO (published by The Dark Magazine last year) will be featured in ECO25: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction, releasing this November. My big goal this year was to get a story into an anthology book, so getting into a year’s best is really above and beyond.
And, actually, my horror story MALO MALO MALO MALO will also be featured in the Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 2, also releasing this autumn. So yeah, doubly above and beyond. Horribly, terrifyingly beyond, like floating in the outer atmosphere, alone in diamond cold, and clawing for air. In a good way.
My thanks to the editors of both volumes, as well as Sean from The Dark who first gave this very strange story a chance!
Eugie Award
Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins is a finalist for the Eugie Foster Memorial Award for Short Fiction! I am really very excited about this and I will probably be shouting about it a lot. It’s an honour to be included on such a strong slate, and in memory of a wonderful writer.
Honestly, there will not be this many updates next time.