Introducing Book Smugglers Publishing’s summer 2017 season of Gods & Monsters short stories!
PROUDLY PRESENTS
Six Short Stories for the enlightened reader
Once upon a time (three years ago, to be precise), there was the season of Subversive Fairy Tales. These resellings were followed by Tales of First Contact–wondrous and strange stories of initial encounters. Last year, The Book Smugglers brought you the Year of the Superhero. And now, in 2017, it’s time for Gods & Monsters!
For this year’s short story season, we went with something a little bit different: a dual thematic call for short fiction, open to different types of interpretation. Gods and Monsters, Gods versus Monsters, Gods or Monsters–this is a classic dichotomy, a little more nuanced than mere concepts of good and evil. We hoped for an exciting batch of stories in response to the call. What we didn’t expect was a record-breaking number of submissions: we received over 1200 stories! And, after months of reading, editorial meetings, and an agonizing decision process, we are proud to announce our lineup for 2017.
We present you with six brand new short stories for the summer, and one bonus story chosen for the upcoming Quarterly Almanac.
One short story blends traditional science fiction elements, in which a Goddess of Thrift meets a thief, but the goddess is not all that she seems. There is a fantasy story of adopted twin sisters who could not be more different–but whose parents love them, just the same. One tale is a sharp, sci-fi take on Egyptian mythology, followed by a tale of a monster that stalks its prey, through dreams and over generations (because what’s a Gods & Monsters season without a little horror). Then, there’s the hilarious examination of how the son of a supreme god would perform in a regular (read: mortal) kindergarten classroom. And closing out the roster is a YA romance, featuring two transgender boys and one exasperated but ultimately kind demon.
But wait, there’s more! The story we selected for the Book Smugglers’ Almanac Volume 4 (April edition) is by Yukimi Ogawa. “Nini” is a far-future science fiction tale, tinged with horror, about an AI who discovers a hungry, almost-forgotten goddess.
Each of these authors accomplished something very special with their writing: they’ve twisted tropes, subverted genres, and have provided us with stories that are entertaining and thought-provoking, sometimes scary, sometimes funny–but always fantastic.
And so, with that introduction made–without further ado, behold the official Gods & Monsters lineup from Book Smugglers Publishing!
Beauty, Glory, Thrift
Written by Alison Tam
Available June 2017
Alison Tam is trying to make the quintile-life crisis into a thing. She likes weird genre mashups, girls kissing and telling things from the alien point of view. Currently a Californian, Alison can only really live somewhere that has at least one boba place. You can find her at storytam.tumblr.com or on Twitter as @TheTamSlam.
The Sea Witch of Winter Street
Written by Jessi Cole Jackson
Available June 2017
Jessi Cole Jackson lives in the prettiest part of New Jersey (but she’s not from there). By day she builds costumes for a Tony Award-winning theatre, by night she works toward an MFA in Children’s Literature at Hollins University. Somewhere in between, she writes. Her previous work can be found in Hidden Youth: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, InterGalactic Medicine Show, and Cast of Wonders, among others. You can read more about her sometimes exciting (but mostly just normal) life at jessicolejackson.com.
A Question of Faith
Written by Tonya Liburd
Available July 2017
Tonya Liburd shares a birthday with Simeon Daniel and Ray Bradbury, which may tell you a little something about her; and while she has an enviable collection of vintage dust bunnies to her credit, her passions are music (someday!) and of course, words. Her poetry has been nominated for the Rhsling award, and her fiction has been longlisted in the 2015 Carter V. Cooper(Vanderbilt)/Exile Short Fiction Competition. Her story “The Ace of Knives” is in the anthology Postscripts to Darkness 6, and is used in Nisi Shawl’s workshops as an example of ‘code switching’. She is the Associate Editor of Abyss & Apex magazine. You can find her blogging at http://Spiderlilly.com or on Twitter at @somesillywowzer.
Nightmare Stalker
Written by Samantha Lienhard
Available July 2017
Samantha has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association. Her other publications include a horror/comedy novella called The Zombie Mishap, a Lovecraftian serial called The Book at Dernier, and a short horror story inspired by Japanese mythology called “Rokurokubi.” When she isn’t working on her stories, she can usually be found playing video games—and writing video game scripts.
Duck Duck God
Written by José Iriarte
Available August 2017
José Iriarte is a Cuban-American writer, high school math teacher, and father of two. He lives in EPCOT with his spouse Lisa. His fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Terraform, and other venues. Learn more at his website: http://www.labyrinthrat.com.
Avi Cantor has Six Months to Live
Written by Sacha Lamb
Available August 2017
Sacha Lamb is a part-time librarian, part-time goat-herder, and part-time writer of queer Jewish magic realism for teens. As a teenager, Sacha loved YA fantasy, but never felt represented in it as a gay, transgender reader. Now a graduate student in library science, Sacha is dedicated to creating stories for other kids who need to know that they are magic. Sacha can be found online @mosslamb on Twitter.
And there you have it! Our Gods & Monsters Season kicks off in June and we cannot wait to share these stories with you.
1 Comment
Strange Horizons - Beauty, Glory, Thrift by Alison Tam By Iori Kusano
October 7, 2017 at 8:19 am[…] The Book Smugglers have put out some high-quality works so far, and this one, from their Gods and Monsters series, is no exception. Beauty, Glory, Thrift is a fast read that left me with what I can only […]