Wishing everyone a very happy new year!

I had a couple of short stories published in December. They are:

1. In The Beginning, All Our Hands Are Cold in Syntax & Salt.

This story won Editor’s Choice for the issue and is free to read online. It’s about five children who grow up without hands and then later choose their own.

It was vaguely inspired by the book title ‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth,’ which I was disappointed to learn was about zombies and not literally a forest of hands (unlike my story, which is literally about a forest full of hands.)

2. Little Freedoms in Shoreline of Infinity.

This story chronicles a deadly competition inside a futuristic women’s prison. I adore women’s prison stories (particularly Wentworth, which is my favourite TV show and the closest I’ve come to seeing my understanding of the world reflected back at me through media). The very first version of this story started its life as a unfinished stage play about 9 years ago; I like this prose version much better.

The artwork in Shoreline of Infinity for this piece is absolutely beautiful, and I feel very lucky indeed.

I also have a novella and a short story collection coming out later this year, which I’m sure I’ll discuss here closer to their publication dates.