Boskone: Now With(out) Censorship!

Instead of four program items for this upcoming Boskone, I'm happy to say I'll now be on five! I volunteered to be on the Censorship & How to Fight It panel. In not just our current national moment, but every moment, this is an important subject. I hope I can do it justice as a panelist.

Censorship & How to Fight It Harbor III Program Panel Sun 11:30 AM Duration: 01:00  

For the first time in ages, our government has spoken out in favor of censorship.  Has that impacted your writing (or reading or viewing)?  What are some of the effective ways to counter censorship?

Michael A. Ventrella (mod), Kevin McLaughlin,  Melinda M. Snodgrass, Gillian Daniels

Boskone 2026: Body Horror, Garbage, and Poetry!

This year, I'm on four programming items for Boskone, February 13-15, 2026! Do swing by if you like body horror, garbage (first drafts), poetry, or all of the above.

Body Horror in Fiction & Media Harbor III Fri 7:00 PM Duration: 01:00  

Body horror gets under your skin. Is it being embodied as inherently upsetting? How can body horror portray liberating transformation/acceptance of that horror?  The term "body horror" didn't seem common in public until 2024--how long has it really been around?

Justin C. Key, Bracken MacLeod, Gillian Daniels, Rebecca Rowland, RJ Taylor, Nicholas Kaufmann


How to Keep Writing When Your First Draft Is Garbage Harbor III Sat 1:00 PM Duration: 01:00  

Sometimes you write a draft that either you (or your writers' group) decides it's no good.  So what do you do?  Do you trash the draft?  Do you start something new?  Or do you decide to revise again?  How do you decide?

Charles Oberndorf, Christine Taylor-Butler, Jeanne Cavelos, Lyndsay Ely, Gillian Daniels


Reading: Gillian Daniels Independence Sat 4:00 PM Duration: 00:25


Poetry Slam Carlton Sun 1:00 PM Duration: 01:00  

Listen to poetry from some of Boskone's writers.

Romie Stott, Rob Cameron, Gillian Daniels, Courtney Floyd, Theodora Goss, Michael McAfee, Julia Rios

Arisia 2026

Arisia 2026 is upon us! This weekend, you can find me on programming. As a note, "Harvard Square," "Kendall Square," and "Porter Square" refers to conference rooms in the hotel, not the actual squares in the Greater Boston area.

I'm looking forward to seeing folks this weekend. Please say "hi!" I'd love to talk about the novel process and everything that goes with it.

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Ask The Toastmaster: House of Toast
3:00 PM
Harvard Square

Gillian Daniels (moderator), Joseph Andelman, Lyndsay Ely, Sam Smith

It's Arisia's favorite snack party, the House of Toast! How did this delicious event come to be? Hear from the Toastmaster General and his assistants and get all your sticky, crumbly questions answered. Toast not included.


1% Nightmares
4:15 PM
Kendall Square

Gillian Daniels (moderator), Kid Coraller, Moriko

The wealth inequality in the United States continues to expand ever year, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Like many other social issues, the horror genre has commented on this matter. From The People Under the Stairs to Ready or Not, the affluent aren't meant to be envied but feared. Panelists will discuss how scary pop culture has critiqued the ultra wealthy.


Saturday Readings
5:30 PM
Kendall Square

Andrea Hairston, BH Pierce, Gillian Daniels, Greer Gilman, Katie Hallahan



Sunday, January 18, 2026


Beasts In Books: Mythological, Cryptid, and More
4:15 PM
Porter Square A

Gillian Daniels (moderator), Kevin Turausky, Liz "Khaaaaaan" Salazar, Siobhan Flanagan

Creatures that are magical, mysterious, and creepy abound in speculative fiction. Find out how the representation of these beings has changed over time and with an increasing awareness of nonhuman animals' intellectual, social, and emotional capacities.


The Twisted History of Body Horror
8:00 PM
Porter Square A

Gillian Daniels (moderator), Kristina Spinney, Timothy Luz

Between the recent critical and financial successes of The Substance and Together, body horror is having a moment. But if one looks further back, this subgenre where bodies undergo disturbing changes is nothing new. From Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to The Fly to The Ugly Stepsister, our panel will break down body horror over time, and why it is having a resurgence now.

I Sold a Novel!

It happened. 

After years of sending out novels to agents, I'm finally getting one published: JENNY WILL EAT YOU NOW.

After I signed on with my (wonderful, capable, not to mention charming) agent Jenna early this year, we started to polish up my novel, then titled JENNY GREENTEETH. I had had fellow writers read and give comments on it over the past couple years, so with their help, it was almost ready! A few edits later, and after Jenna constructed a great submission letter, it was done. Within a couple weeks of becoming her client, my agents and I sent the novel out on submission.

The initial reactions were instantaneous and glowing. I was shocked. I expected months of silence! Jenna shared with me comments from editors who had been "looking for just this kind of thing" and claimed it sounded awesome, cool, and a good mix of "heartwarming and gruesome." That was exactly what I wanted to hear! 

And the process kept moving along. The MS got considered and rejected in short order. The compliments were wonderful, regardless, and affirmed to me that, if nothing else, we were on the right track. Publishers don't have to say nice things if they don't want to!

Then the novel got an offer from a publisher. Then it got TWO.

I am, and remain, completely stunned. I've labored on this novel for a while, unsure if it would find a home. JENNY is a story about love, loneliness, messy, monstrous desire, and being a swamp creature. The idea transfixed me. In selling it, though, it was hard to find anything like it to use as a "comp" title, at least until John Wiswell's SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN was published last year! But the market is unpredictable. At different steps in the process, I was sure I would have to eventually try my hand at the competitive world of self-publishing.

Instead, the book went to auction in March 2025. This involved a lot of email exchanges as opposed to anyone actually banging a gavel. (That I know of, anyway. The only gavel I'm aware of was in my heart.)

After a lot of back and forth, Jenna and I sold the novel to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. The process of drawing up and agreeing to the contract took several months. 

Working with my editor, Kimberly Laws, has been just wonderful. I had the good fortune to meet her in person at Stoker Con recently, as well! She's fun, funny, and, goddamn, does she believe in this novel. She was the one who texted to tell me that, now that it's been announced on Publisher's Marketplace, it ended up being the Deal of the Day on July 15:

After announcing the sale, I've been blown away by the warm words and congratulations I've received from friends, family, and colleagues. This has left me feeling triumphant. There's a lot about 2025 that's been difficult on the political stage, but this? This has been a gift.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Schedule is Out for Readercon 2025!

The schedule for Readercon 2025 is out! I'm on five items which includes moderating FOUR panels. Did I mention I enjoy moderating panels?🤣

Friday, July 18, 2025, 3:00 PM

Solo Reading: Gillian Daniels

Envision / Enliven, Duration: 30 mins

Saturday, July 19, 2025, 2:00 PM

Optimism in Horror

Salon I/J, Duration: 60 mins

F. Brett Cox, Gillian Daniels (moderator), Joey Zone, John Wiswell, Kit Mayquist

Conventional wisdom would presume that horror and optimism rarely if ever blend, but does this prove true in practice? Don't many major works of horror have happy—or, well, happy-ish—endings? Is survival enough of an uplifting conclusion, or does a happy ending require the triumph of the protagonist? Even when evil appears set to return for the sequel? What role does optimism play in underscoring but not undermining the unease that horror supplies?

Saturday, July 19, 2025, 6:00 PM

Erotica, Horror, and the Fear of Visceral Fiction

Salon G/H, Duration: 60 mins

Catherine Lundoff, Cecilia Tan, Gillian Daniels (moderator), Ian Muneshwar, Laura Antoniou

Erotica and horror: two genres guaranteed to make certain moms mad when they find the book hidden in your bedroom. Two genres that every other has tried (at least at times) to put down as shlock or trash. Why? What is it about literature that evokes strong visceral physical reactions from the reader that garners such opposition? (And is "paranormal romance" their love child?) 

Sunday, July 20, 2025, 12:00 PM

Content Warnings: Pros, Cons, and Purposes

Salon G/H, Duration: 60 mins

Claire Houck/Nina Waters, Gillian Daniels (moderator), Gwynne Garfinkle, Melissa Bobe, Romie Stott

Many romance novels have started including content notes or warnings, which advise readers of potentially sensitive plot elements or themes, such as grief, murder, and self-harm. Content notes appear far less frequently in SFF novels, whereas some venues for speculative short fiction have been including them for years. Panelists will share examples of particularly effective—or ineffective—content notes, while surveying the reasons for their rise in romance and the potential applicability of those reasons to long-form speculative fiction.

Sunday, July 20, 2025, 1:00 PM

Harry Potter and the Undeath of the Author

Create / Collaborate, Duration: 60 mins

Cecilia Tan, Gillian Daniels (moderator), Natalie Luhrs, Rob Cameron, William Alexander

"The death of the author" is a well-worn concept about who, author or audience, owns the meaning of an author's work. Such arguments take on a different valance, however, when the author is not only alive and well but using the funds and power accumulated by their creation as leverage to take extremely public and reactionary political action. When the price of engagement with a work is empowering its living author to publicly abuse others, how can we plausibly claim that the author is dead and our engagement is ours alone?

CaziCon and Paradigm!

This Sunday, June 1 I'll be at CaziCon 2025 at the Arts at the Armory! With my fellow authors, Lindsay Moore and Cat Scully, we'll be discussing MONSTERS OF THE MOMENT!

Monsters of the Moment
12:15-1:00pm
Every era has its own monsters, and the monsters of a particular period often reflect the concerns of the times - Dracula used vampire mythology to explore fears about immigration and otherness, for example. Current trends include ghosts, evil houses, and zombies - but with a fungal twist. What do these tropes tell us about our current social fears, and what do we think the future of horror will be?

*** 

Matt Snow from Paradigm Agency is now working with my agent at Storm Literary as a co-agent for film and TV rights of my work!

 

I’m pleased and baffled at the attention my writing is getting now. It’s wonderful! My thanks to my agent Jenna Satterthwaite for making contact with Matt and introducing us. I’m so, so happy and grateful.