Requiem for Spooky Season: A Mega Round-Up of Fiction, Theater, YouTube, Game Writing, and Things I've Been Doing

October is in the rearview mirror, now, but for me, spooky season is forever.

On November 24th, Wicked Women: An Anthology of New England Horror Writers dropped. It was edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge and Scott T. Goudsward with a cover by Lynne Hansen. The writers in it, among many, include Jane Yolen, Hillary Monahan, and myself. I'm ecstatic to be in such company.

I wrote the short story that was accepted to the collection, "Eyes Like Silver Dollars," some years ago. It was wonderful to edit it under the guidance of Trisha Wooldridge. I spoke about it at length with her as well as fellow writers Lola J. Clemente and Christine Lajewski, and the cover artist, Lynne Hansen, for the Wicked Women panel we recorded for Salem Horror Fest 2020.

You can find the specific "Wicked Women" panel here and other programming here! 

Please take a look. It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of this online convention, especially during the isolation of the pandemic.

If that's not enough for you, I did a reading for the fest, as well! 

It's actually from the beginning of "Bobbie and Her Father," my other short story published this year.

This story has garnered some delightful praise, which you bet I'm linking here for my own edification:

The father in the thought-provoking “Bobbie and Her Father” by Gillian Daniels is a modern Victor Frankenstein, and Bobbie is his creation. [...] [O]ne is left pondering many of the themes of Mary Wollstonecraft’s original: the consequences of one’s actions, the ramifications of playing god and/or trying to conquer mortality, and the fact that monsters are not born monsters.

- Paula Guran, Locus Magazine

The story is by turns heartbreaking and frightening, and while it is not without its death and gore, at its heart, it is a story of monstrous loneliness rather than monstrous rage.

- A.C. Wise, Shiny Shorts: Monster Summer 

The horror here builds nicely.

- Sam Tomaino, SFRevu

Oh my gosh. THIS STORY. It is a wrenching, horror-ifically funny, and devastating take on Frankenstein, all set in modern-day suburbia, and featuring the regular kinds of people that probably maybe live on any given street. Daniels's story twists and turns through unsettling scifi, to horror and dark comedy, into something that is almost (but only almost) heartwarming.

- Maria Haskins, My Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Short Fiction Roundup - August 2020 

 

Thank you. I'm so moved. I was so nervous when The Dark Magazine agreed to publish this story, but I should have realized the audience for it was there and waiting.

Speaking of readings, the YouTube channel TheDevilsInterval did a reading of my short story, "Older Sister." It was originally published in The Dawnline RPG with Voidspiral Entertainment in 2018. 

The narration is amazing. You should totally check out his channel and the other stories he's read and produced.

Last but far from least, I wrote a piece of theater/teleplay which premiered in October. It's called, "Let Slip the Dogs of RAWR XD" for our Catalyze Open House. It was a crash course in learning how to edit video, too, which was enormous fun.

Sienna is Kitty Drexel, an actress and my editor over at The New England Theatre Geek. Shawn is played by the excellent Joshua Berkowitz-Geller and Baby, the dog, is the esteemed Jenny Gutbezahl.

I wrote this with Catalyze Playwriting Group, which we premiered in the Catalyze Open House which I helped design, another learning experience that was fascinating and rewarding. 

I absolutely recommend clicking through to find the many Easter eggs my fellow playwrights and I hid throughout. One is a Twine game I made in the basement!

This is all to say, I've been busy and doing my best to take care. 

I hope you're taking care, too.

2019 Writing Recap

StraAinsel
A short story in The Dawnline: Feral States, additional material for the post-apocalyptic vampire nomad game that was fully fully funded through Kickstarter in October 2018 with Voidspiral Entertainment! After I sold my short story, Older Sister, to them as bonus content for their succesful campaign, I sent in a follow-up that appeared this year in Feral States.
Brigid Was Hung By Her Hair from the Second Story Window
A short story about immigration, goddesses, and songs published in The Dark Magazine, September 2019. It earned me some kind reviews!

Eat the Children and Other Poems of Monsters
An illustrated collection of my previously published fantasy and horror poetry!
How to Repair Creation: Despair and Activism
Diary comics around the idea of performing "tikkun olam," acts that better or repair the world.

Undertow: Grief for a Changing World
Diary comics about anxiety and climate change.

Enjoy, y'all!

Buhler Fritz Zuber "Distant Thoughts"

Straight from my Patreon, here's a list of what I've published this year that is available for your consumption:

"Ainsel" - A short story in The Dawnline: Feral States, additional material for the post-apocalyptic vampire nomad game that was fully fully funded through Kickstarter in October 2018 with Voidspiral Entertainment! After I sold my short story, Older Sister, to them as bonus content for their succesful campaign, I sent in a follow-up that appeared this year in Feral States.

"Brigid Was Hung By Her Hair from the Second Story Window" - A short story about immigration, goddesses, and songs published in The Dark Magazine, September 2019. It earned me some very kind reviews!

Eat the Children and Other Poems of Monsters - An illustrated collection of my previously published fantasy and horror poetry!

How to Repair Creation: Despair and Activism - Diary comics around the idea of performing "tikkun olam," acts that better or repair the world.

Undertow: Grief for a Changing World - Diary comics about anxiety and climate change.

Outside of publications, I've been doing a good chunk of writing. I did some daily writing challenges for Lent, Camp NaNoWriMo, and regular NaNoWriMo with mixed success, but words did, indeed, happen.

I did two revisions of my decopunk robot thriller novel, A Girl Named Doe, and am currently working on the third revision (draft 4). It's at about 82K at the moment!

You can also see the short plays I wrote with the Catalyze Playwrighting Group this year, The Widows Parkman and Webster and Real-Ass Space Explorers.

Overall, I sent out 45 poetry, short story, and novel query submissions, which translated to 34 rejections, 2 acceptances, and 9 pending responses! For contrast, I sent out 73 submissions in 2018 and got 1 acceptance. So...improvement! Hurray!

Exploring Satellite Futures

I did a short play about Plutonian colonization, cults, marijuana, and co-worker outings called, "Real-Ass Space Explorers"! Special thanks to David Olsen and Arianna Smith for reading it and the Catalyze Playwrighting Group for workshopping this nonsense with me for our show with Flat Earth Theatre, Satellite Futures.

Satellite Futures, November 2nd and November 7th!

On Saturday, November 2nd at 7pm, come to a series of free plays put on by Catalyze Playwriting Group at the Mosesian Center for the Arts! I've been a member of Catalyze these past couple years and it's been immensely rewarding as an experience.

These short plays include my 10+ minute piece, "Real-Ass Space Explorers." (Yes, that's the title.) The roles will be read by David Olsen and Arianna Smith!
 
After you see some sweet short plays, you should then go to Flat Earth Theatre's production of Alistair McDowall's X! I'm so grateful to them for giving us this opportunity.

Enjoy the poster I threw together for this show!

Play Reading for The Widows Parkman and Webster!

Hi all!

I wrote a short play called The Widows Parkman and Webster! It's about the 1849 murder of the landlord George Parkman by Professor John Webster. This is not about them, but their wives and the aftermath of a crime.

It was written with the series, CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Play Readings), as a part of the Catalyze Playwriting Group.

Special thanks to my actors for doing a wonderful reading. Noe Kamelamela, Katie Drexel, and Angela Davis, it was a pleasure to work with you!

 In April, the play was read in front of a live audience--and recorded! It's all available to view here for your enjoyment:

Radiant Reading

On Saturday, November 3rd, my ten minute play, "Radiant Bones," will be over at Central Square Theater for a Pre-Show Saturday Symposium before the evening showing of Frankenstein.

If you can, please join me there. The show is about such cheerful subjects as radiation poisoning, nihilism, and what you would give up for love.

Hooray!

Also, another story of mine will be available in Voidspiral Entertainment's Dawnline RPG, available next year. The short story is called Ainsel and is about as long as Older Sister, which is still up if you would like to read it!