Awards, Stories, and a Cool Italian Cover

First, some really exciting news! The Courtmartial of the Renegat Renegades is a finalist for the Asimov’s Readers Choice Awards in the novella category, and “Rocket Girls,” is up for best novelette! I’m really thrilled. (And super thrilled about Rocket Girls, since it’s a personal favorite). The other writers in my category are amazing, from Rick Wilber, Sean Monaghan, and Nick Wolven in the novella category, and Suzanne Palmer, Eleanor Arnason, Will McIntosh, Greg Egan, and Alastair Reynolds in the novelette category. The short story category has some wonderful writers as well, including my Clarion Writers Workshop classmate, Geoffrey A. Landis. (Not to mention one of my Clarion instructors, Joe Haldeman, is up for best poem.) If you click on this link, you can see all of the finalists, and (bonus!) read all of the stories.  Congrats all! I’m honored to be in your company!

Those are 2022 stories. I have two stories out already in the digests in 2023. I wrote “Drinking in the Afternoon” in February 0f 2021 after the vaccines became available, but before I could even get one. “Drinking” is one of the few stories I vividly remember writing, because I simply had to get it out of my system. It’s a sly mystery, with crimes that sneak up on you, which is why it’s in the March/April edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I share the table of contents with incredible writers, from Joyce Carol Oates and Doug Allyn to Brendan DuBois and K.L. Abrahamson. I haven’t read their stories yet, but believe me, I will, since all four writers are personal favorites. Order a copy here.

I also have a story in the March/April edition of Asimovs. “The Nameless Dead” is not part of any series. The story actually came to me in a (very dark) dream, with the opening lines being spoken angrily in my head. I had to get up and write them down. Our point of view character is not a nice woman and she knows it. But she’s useful, and that can sometimes be the entire point. You can order your copy here.

And, finally, here’s something absolutely beautiful. The cover of Robot issue 96. It has my story “The Retrieval Artist” in Italian. I’m not sure how many of you read Italian, but for those of you who do, here’s the link to get your copy