Ariel Marken Jack

I don’t know how this keeps happening, but once again we find ourselves in the season for writing and reading awards eligibility posts. I have complicated feelings about awards, but I did publish three original short stories this year that are, technically, eligible for the usual assortment of speculative and horror fiction awards—Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Aurora, Ignyte, Stoker, Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy, Eugie, Otherwise, and possibly others I am forgetting—and I would be absolutely thrilled if anyone who is reading for those awards would consider at least reading my stories. As all three were published behind paywalls, please reach out to me if you would like a .pdf copy for awards reading purposes:

“Tattered Places” (2,499 words) appeared in March in the “Old Friends”-themed Issue #35 of NonBinary Review.

“The Bread Boy” (5,846 words) appeared in February in the winter issue of Fictionable.

“The Lady of the House on Legs” (3,998 words) appeared in January in the Brigid’s Gate Press anthology of stories about sapphic villains, Scissor Sisters.

Somehow it is once again the season for awards eligibility posts. I had a few short stories out this year that ought to be eligible for the usual assortment of speculative and horror fiction awards—Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Aurora, Ignyte, Stoker, Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy, Eugie, Otherwise, and possibly others I am forgetting—and I would be absolutely thrilled if anyone who is reading for those awards would consider my stories. This is also my second—and final—year of eligibility for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Most of my fiction publications this year, with the exception of the story I published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, appeared behind paywalls. If you are reading for award nomination or voting purposes, I am more than happy to send you a .pdf or three of whichever of the following stories interests you:

“Cire Perdue” (4,459 words), a surreal queer body horror story about sexual harassment, assault, and pressure in the workplace appeared in June in the Cursed Morsels Press anthology of “polite” horror stories, No Trouble At All.

“Two for Tea” (2,164 words), a surreal horror story about what it really takes to find a good boyfriend appeared in April in The New Quarterly.

“Work Orders”* (3,929 words), a queer platonic fantasy story about friendship, environmentalist witchcraft, and letting go of expectations appeared in January in the Microcosm Press anthology Bicycles & Broomsticks.

“What Is Owed and What Can Never Be” (6,105 words), a sapphic fantasy story about life, death, and escaping exploitation appeared in January in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

*“Work Orders” appeared under my old pen name, M. A. Blanchard

I believe some of my other work might also be eligible for some of the awards that have categories for nonfiction and work related in some way to SF and horror.

My Psychopomp.com column “Eating Endings,” which has had five 2023 instalments to date, engages with short stories by other SF/F/H writers.

My short fiction review and recommendation column “From the Archives” had five 2023 instalments in Fusion Fragment.

I also published three 2023 interviews with SF/F/H writers I greatly admire in Interzone Digital, and if nothing else I would be delighted if more people read those because they are such an interesting group of writers.