January Flash Fiction Draw — “A Fairy Tale for the Little Acorn.”

Good morning! Today is the second Monday of January, which means today is the deadline for the Flash Fiction Draw challenge that Jeffrey Ricker drew a week ago. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can catch up here, but the short version is he used a deck of cards to randomly …

Sunday Shorts

Hello! I've still not 100% decided what I'll be doing this year with the blog re: short fiction, but a weekly check-in of some sort is in the cards, and so I'll start in that manner, at least. What I've Been Reading I've got a few anthologies and novellas on the go right now. I …

The Shoulder Check Problem

A couple of days ago, there was a discussion that sort of flashed past my timeline. An author of gay romance who is also a gay man was expressing the frustration over a sentiment in an m/m group that was posted—“women write the best m/m”—and how unwelcoming it can feel to gay men writing gay …

A Day (or Two) Ago

Every year for the past few years, I’ve re-written a holiday story through a queer lens, retelling it as a way to retroactively tell stories to my younger self that include people like me. The first year, I wrote “Dolph,” (a retelling of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). Then I wrote “Frost,” (a retelling of Frosty the Snow-Man), “Reflection,” (a retelling of …

Corey Alexander Interview

Yesterday, the world lost Corey Alexander/Xan West, and I'm reeling from it. Sometimes, I catch myself forgetting that friendships that are "just" online are often much more than that among marginalized communities, and this was a very painful reminder. I try to be someone who uses my words for a living, but I'm at a …

Squeezing the Tennis Ball

I Have No Words Before anything else, I'd like to start this post with a declaration: I've barely written anything aimed for publication in months, and that's okay. Before COVID, and before the dog blew the tendons in my arm and elbow (still not great, but getting better, and I've gotten to the point where …