Last year, a similar post saw my hopes for the future. Today, I’m happy about the progress I’ve made, even if these past months have been difficult in ways unseen before. My first professionally sold stories went out into the world, and I’ve reached my goal of making everything I wrote queer in some way. I am nonbinary, asexual. I am Romanian. Here is my literary 2020.
Long works
In February, on the two-year anniversary of its release, Havesskadi reached the shelves again as a second edition with some fresh editing for better enjoyment (and under a different publisher). Havesskadi is a novel-length work (53k words) that received, in 2019, the Rainbow Award for Best Asexual Debut Book and came in second place in two other categories. With this re-release, Havesskadi emerges as the beginning story of the Dragon Souls series. Its sequels will see a world inspired by Dacian and Romanian mythology, magic shenanigans, other dragons, exploration of gender, love and friendship, and a continuing fight against the overreaching arm of a corrupt empire as the Danvian and Thjudinn nations struggle to maintain their freedom. For now, however, Havesskadi is eligible as a second edition high fantasy work, featuring an asexual character, a long journey, and a subversion of the beauty-and-the-beast trope.
Catch a Falling Snowflake is the fourth and last installment of the Snow Globes series. At 19k words, this novella is a contemporary story of an intercultural family making the best of their holidays. A trans man is one of the main characters in a story that challenges societal expectations around children, what family is, and what we are ready for in this daily adventure we call life.
Short works
The Confessionist is a short story (1.7k words) about high-tech sin eaters, their role in future society, and the trans activist who strives to change the world. It is a science fiction story based in mythology. The piece is part of the anthology Community of Magic Pens edited by E.D.E. Bell.
A Sudden Displacement of Matter is a short story (4.5k words) about an agender thief and the bounty hunter that goes after them, after the Gender Equality Monument had been stolen. This science fiction piece is part of the anthology Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers edited by Lydia Rogue.
Luz Beyond the Glass is a short story (2.6k words) re-imagining a future where artificial intelligence born out of human intelligence, literally, works to de-pollute the planet. A subversion of the Icarus myth, this science fiction piece is part of the anthology Vast: Stories of Mind, Soul and Consciousness in a Technological Age edited by C.R. Dudley.
Silence, Entwined is a horror flash piece with a WLW main character, part of Neon Horror: Queer Horror Anthology by Artemisia’s Axe and the Corpse’s Tongue.
Bound Ares is a fantasy flash piece with a transgender main character rooted in Greek mythology and part of the Innovation (Queer Sci Fi’s Seventh Annual Flash Fiction Contest) anthology.
Collections
My first collection unites twelve stories published throughout 2020. Aegis Alight 2020 Collection (11k words) features stories falling under science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They are queer stories, eight of them with transgender and nonbinary characters, several rooted in Romanian folklore and mythology.
Our journey continues. Please keep your hands, arms, tentacles and antennae inside the train at all times!
