It has been an incredibly eventful month so let’s jump straight in.
Firstly, ‘Back to the Molly House’ has been nominated for the 2025 Cóyotl Award for Best Short Story. It’s a real honour to appear on a shortlist with so many fantastic writers, but it would be a dream come true to win. If you are a member or associate member of the Furry Writers’ Guild, you can cast your vote between now and May 10. A vote for ‘Back to the Molly House’ would be very much appreciated.
In addition, two anthologies in which I have a story featured – The Wideness of the World and Wild Hearts – are in the running for the Best Anthology gong. A vote for either of these would be fantastic too.
I have also had two new short stories published this month.
The first, ‘La Fin de la Fée Verte’, appears in the Monsterf#ck anthology and features an erotic tryst with the Green Fairy.
The second, ‘The Dying Day Was Still’, is in The Howling Dead collection. Set in a post-pandemic world of zombie foxes, Bryning has to work out what’s happened to her husband before it’s too late. This one is less erotic, more horror (as you’d expect).
This month has also been Pascal Farful’s annual Go Fourth event. This has motivated me to write more and after a rocky start to the month, I have managed to complete and submit a few new stories.
On April 17, I also gave a talk about writing historical fiction in preparation for my ConFuzzled panel next month. Chatting with fellow writers and bouncing ideas off each other is always constructive and I’ve learnt a great deal through Go Fourth this year. Our sharing of primary and secondary sources, as well as areas of expertise, could also be very useful going forward.
I have been doing a lot of editing for Fenris Publishing in April, so I haven’t read as much as I would have liked outside of this. There were so many interesting releases at TFF in March and I’m looking forward to picking some of these up when I return to the UK in May for ConFuzzled. Now the weather is getting warmer, I’m more likely to be swapping my computer for a sun lounger so I’m hoping I can get more reading in.
Finally, my contract with my main freelance client ends at the end of May, so I’ll have more time for other projects. If you are looking for an experienced editor or proofreader for your stories, please get in touch.
April’s Reading
Plott Hound Magazine Volume 1 – Edited by Alison Thai