Scariest USA Today Ever

This is WILD. I got to talk about horror books in USA Today along with nine other authors! We each weighed in on the scariest book ever.

Darker Times Debut List

Over at Darker Times, I have some esteemed literary company on 10 2026 Horror Debuts to Treat Yourself this Spooky Season! I'm a subscriber and was THRILLED to see the list pop into my inbox.

Love in the Time of Galleys

Please enjoy this very kind newsletter update, Falling In Love with a Book, from my literary agent, Jenna Satterthwaite. I certainly did! Jenna recounts finding my book, now known as Jenny Will Eat You Now, in her slush pile during Christmas. Once I signed with her, she sold it about two weeks after it went out on submission. She also helped me get a film coagent.

Jenna's a powerhouse agent. I'm so happy she found me. 

Want to read the book yourself? For those who are signed up for NetGalley, good news! You can grab an early copy here. 

Cowboys and Cannibal Brides!

I'm completely bowled over. In early July, I quickly wrote and sent a submission to Flame Tree Fiction's newsletter flash fiction challenge, Hungry Cannibals. Thursday, I got an acceptance for the story.

Today? My horror flash fiction piece, “A Bride from the Hill Folk,” went out in the newsletter! It has cowboys, a post-apocalyptic landscape,  and, yes, cannibals. All in 1000 words!

I'm shocked and pleased by the quick turnaround time. The story will appear on the website in a month. I'm also very proud of it and think it's one of the creepiest things I've managed to publish. I can't wait to share the perma-link with everybody.

Wolf House and A Fine Time for Romance (Fiction)

My new short story, House of Wolves, is up in the new issue of Kaleidotrope! Please enjoy it, the other stories of the Summer 2021 edition, and this devastating art by Cindy Fan.

In other news, I spoke with book critic Peter Berard at Melendy Avenue Review about a passion of mine that woke up a couple years ago: reading romance fiction. The discussion includes a brief overview of pioneering force in historical romance Georgette Heyer, romance fans as early adapters of ereader technology, the importance of escapism, and, of course, the difference between "closed door" and "open door" romance! (Hint: it's sex.)

It was fun to do. Getting to talk to people about my specific interests is always a delight. Because I largely move in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genre circles, this was a really unique opportunity. Thanks to Peter for asking thoughtful questions and his willingness to engage over different literature!

Merry Grinchmas!

I was recently featured on a podcast by Julia Rios, who has edited my work in such places as Strange Horizons and Fireside Magazine, and Geoffrey Pelton. This is Why We're Like This is a childhood nostalgia comedy podcast where guests revisit media from their youth. As someone who invested a lot of time in watching television as a kid and loves talking about media these days, I was deeply pleased to be a part of two episodes of this podcast!

On A Rugrats Chanukah, talking about growing up Jewish in the American Midwest and the awfulness of Angelica Pickles!

Yesterday, they released the episode for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). What was supposed to be a short episode grew into a buck wild conversation that touches on everything from WWII propaganda racism to the Onceler fandom. Content warning for, well, everything!

Enjoy! I certainly did!

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.

Wicked Women, Bobbie, and Her Father

I'm so, so happy The Dark Magazine has published another of my short stories for publication, Bobbie and Her Father! This one means a lot to me. It's about family, growing up with a difficult body, and trying to be the best person you can when there are holes in your knowledge of what "good" looks like. Charles Payseur writes in his lovely review, "The result is visceral, an exploration of how these acts, these violences [...] come in cycles."

I'm very proud of it.

Because I guess I'm a horror writer now, I have another story coming out later this year in an anthology of female horror writers, Wicked Women! The table of contents is available here and includes special guests Jane Yolen and Hillary Monahan. I'm grateful to Scott T. Goudward and Trisha J. Wooldridge at New England Horror Writers Press for their hard work in curating and editing the collection.  

I'll, of course, be linking the hell out of it when it's available.

***

Lock down continues. I live in Massachusetts where the virus isn't as bad as many parts of the U.S., but I don't expect to return to the office or to eat in restaurants again until some time after the vaccine is available. The federal government, by the way, is just awful.

As I wrote in March, I'm journaling, reading, and jogging. The last I'm doing about five times a week for a minimum of three miles each time I'm out. I've added some weight training, too, though this is essentially cardio again. I've fallen off of yoga and meditation for the last few weeks and wonder if I should start again.

I really value the time I've spent with my roommates as well as the outings we've done and the movies we've watched together. 

Over on Twitter, I've spent a lot of time writing about the books and movies (lots of horror) I've been consuming. 

Down at my Patreon, I've been posting excerpts from the new novel I've been working on as well as some art. Shout out to Saint Gibson at Holy Roots Tarot for being a new backer! After a few days, many of my posts become public, so I recommend checking it out even if you don't want to send me dollars and cents. 

As a last thank you, I want to send a shout out to Judith Huang for performing her Ballad of Bloody Brigid at CoNZealand!

Comics, Conventions, and Compliments!

Readercon is THIS WEEK and my schedule is RIGHT HERE!

I'm now posting daily comics and artworks (example in this post) now on my Patreon and Tumblr! If you would like to support my Patreon for $2 a month (such as dear supporter Alan Danziger), you can see my comics and other content a couple days before anyone else!

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude to Quick Sip Reviews, where Charles Payseur reviewed my flash piece, "Beast of Breath," in Fireside Fiction! Many thanks.

Dailying and Patreoning

A collection of my sketches from unscanned artwork.

I updated my Patreon! Yay! The page is mostly a hope for a fail safe option should I begin to struggle with money (hurray, Late Stage Capitalism), but that situation has yet to happen.

Also, the creators I've been finding through it are fantastic.

If you want to kick a couple bucks my way there, cool! If not, that's also okay.

Since the 40 Days of Poems challenge, I've continued producing poems and flash pieces daily.

It's been awesome. So awesome, in fact, I decided to remove the monthly word counter from my blog. I had fallen behind using it, anyway (last update: February), and this seems to work a lot better for now. Hopefully, it continues!

Another place I've been updating a lot recently?

Instagram.

Enjoy some photos of my cat, selfies, and random graffiti! Or me with bed head! Hurray!

Readercon 2016

The Readercon program schedule is up! And I'm doing five panels and a reading! Because I believe in signing up for all the things.

Come up and see me this coming weekend!

Thursday, July 7th

9:00 PM 5 The Life and Times of Mary Sue. Gillian Daniels, Gemma Files, Ben Francisco, Barbara Krasnoff (moderator), Natalie Luhrs. New Republic senior editor Jeet Heer wrote, in a short Twitter essay about Mary Sues, "The popularity of the term 'Mary Sue' really says everything you need to know about sexism in fandom/nerdom." Instead of unpacking the concept of Mary Sue, we'd like to zero in on the troubled history of this term, why it's troubled, and how better to talk about "self-insertion" in fiction without the sexism.

Friday, July 8th

12:00 PM C The Works of Catherynne M. Valente. Jonathan Crowe, Gillian Daniels, Liz Gorinsky (leader), Kathleen Howard. Catherynne Valente has been a professional fortune teller, telemarketer, private tutor, librarian, waitress, bartender, actress, and statistician, but she is best known as a novelist and poet, having published over two dozen novels and poetry collections. She has been nominated for or won every major award in science fiction and fantasy: the Hugo (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014), the Nebula (2013, 2014), Locus (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), and the World Fantasy Award (2007, 2009, 2011, 2014). In the Night Garden (2006) won the James Tiptree Jr. Award; The Orphan's Tales (2006-2007) won the Mythopoeic Award; "The Seven Devils of Central California" won the Rhysling Award (2008); Palimpsest won the Lambda Award (2010). In 2010, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making became the first self-published work to win a major literary award, winning the Andre Norton Award. The sequel, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There, was listed by Time Magazine and NPR as one of the ten best books of 2012. The New York Times has called her "an incandescent young star." Join our panelists in a discussion of her work.

6:00 PM 5 Author Trademark or Personal Cliché?. F. Brett Cox, Gillian Daniels, Karen Heuler (leader), Alex Jablokow, Bud Sparhawk. Most writers occasionally suspect that they are writing the same type of story over and over again. Some writers set out to do so. Is this a good thing or bad? Our panelists will examine which writers persistently revisit the same images, themes, characters, or situations, and discuss when and for whom this revisiting works and when and for whom it does not. The panelists will discuss how they handle this situation, when they realize the story they're writing seems too familiar. Should the story be discarded because it's already been written, or should a writer continue and try to discover the source of the weird power it holds for them? Panelists will discuss which writers they admire, and what distinctive features make them exceptional and unique. Panelists will also come up with a few strategies to help audience members (and perhaps each other) see their work in a new light, using everything from literary influences to music and movies to dreams and the unconscious.

7:00 PM 6 Sensuality and Exploitation. Gillian Daniels (moderator), Ben Francisco, Elaine Isaak, Nick Kaufmann, Vinnie Tesla. Sex in fiction, as in real life, is often fraught with questions. Our panelists will discuss sex in science fiction and fantasy and what they consider representative or exploitative. Where and when do you draw the line? Is someone's trashy beach read someone else's master's thesis in 20th- and 21st century courtship?

Saturday, July 9th

1:00 PM 5 If Thor Can Hang Out with Iron Man, Why Can't Harry Dresden Use a Computer? . Gillian Daniels, Elaine Isaak, Andrea Phillips, Alex Shvartsman, E.J. Stevens. In a series of tweets in 2015, Jared Axelrod pondered "the inherent weirdness of a superhero universe... where magic and science hold hands, where monsters stride over cities." This is only weird from the perspective of fantasy stories that set up magic and technology as incompatible, an opposition that parallels Western cultural splits between religion and science and between nature and industry. Harry Dresden's inability to touch a computer without damaging it is a direct descendant of the Ents destroying the "pits and forges" of Isengard, and a far cry from Thor, Iron Man, and the Scarlet Witch keeping company. What are the story benefits of setting up magic/nature/religion and technology/industry/science as either conflicting or complementary? What cultural anxieties are addressed by each choice? How are these elements handled in stories from various cultures and eras?

Sunday, July 10th

1:00 PM A Reading: Gillian Daniels reads a short story

Federation of !@#$% Writers!

Warren Lapine, editor for Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, kicked some bucks my way over on Patreon! Thanks, Warren!

***

Since last year, I've been competing under a secret persona with The Federation of Belligerent Writers!

We’re a bracketed style, masked writing tournament. It was an initially luchador wrestling-inspired contest that began as a mid-week open mic challenge at Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester. 

Writers, using a persona, have three to five minutes to write or create an improv routine with that character. Audience members are invited to throw things at participants, drink, and dance. 

It's a damn good time.

I wrote more about it here  at length on The New England Theatre Geek to promote Sindependence Day, Saturday, July 16th, at 9pm, Davis Square Theatre in Somerville.

If you're in Boston or the Somerville area, come and party with us!

Heavy Heart

Bad news. My day job has been re-structured. I'll be out after this Friday, June 3rd. It's not great! 

While "exploring career opportunities," I hope to get through some books I've put off, exercise more frequently, and focus on projects. This includes writing, podcasting, and drawing.

I polished up my Patreon page in preparation for the departure and time out of work. I don't visualize a life where I can live off the funds, though that would be cool, but if you have the urge to chip in, go ahead.

Hourlies 2016 and Other Sketches

Back on February 1st, I did some hourly comics. They seemed pretty boring compared to last year's. Now I think they look like a nice snapshot of my life in 2016. Also, falling in love with a podcast.

The last comic is about coffee.

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #32

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #32

Shortly after I discovered the phenomenal work of Kelly Link, I found out about the zine she and Gavin Grant run. Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet is my go-to recommendation for speculative fiction fans thirsty for innovative, surreal, and beautiful work. It's inspired and challenged me for many years and has been enormously formative to my work.

One of my poems, "The Virgin Regiment," is in the newest issue. I'm still a bit shocked. Reading this issue has been delightful and I can't overstate how happy I am to be a part of it.

It's available for both hard copy and ebook purchase.  I tend to get my copies from Porter Square Books, so local retailers carry it, too! You should definitely check it out.

"Everybody Plays the Fool" or Eternal Childhood and the Works of James Gunn

The Fool in The Tarot

[This post contains plot spoilers and discussion of explicit content!]

The "man child" trope has a derisive name, but I don't think it's automatically a bad character within the realm of fiction. I go to books and movies because I want a satisfying story and stories usually need a character to learn something. With this trope, we tend to start with someone naive, which could mean anything from emotionally stunted to frighteningly optimistic, who needs to be kinder, better, or more self-aware. While rarer in popular entertainment, this "man child" has shown up as a female character (see: Amy Poehler in Baby Mama [2008], Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher [2011]). So if we're talking more classic, gender-neutral archetypes, this person would be closely related to The Fool, someone usually more clever than smart and unable to see the big picture.

I'm most interested when this character a) is a fictional entity with whom I don't have to interact with in reality if I choose not to and b) does immature things that have consequences.

Frank (Rainn Wilson) in Super (2010) gets to don a mask, defeat the bad guys, and save the girl, but he has to shed a great deal of blood in the process. Jimmy in James Gunn's first and only novel, "The Toy Collector" (2000), focuses on drugs and his collection of toy robots to the exclusion of family and friends. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) can play Han Solo as long as he wants, but he has to fight to put together a family that resembles the love and support he has before leaving Earth as a child. The through line of all these works is both the celebration and deconstruction of the eternal childhood. Director/writer James Gunn gives us characters who live the power fantasy problematized by real world outcomes.

Infinite Glass Slippers: Thoughts on Cinderella (2015)

Cinderella by Valentine Prinsep (1899)

I've embraced the newest film adaptation of Cinderella from Disney with more enthusiasm than I thought I would. Glossy frames, detailed sets, and expert editing can sell me on a whole lot in a visual medium. I embrace this Cinderella with hesitance, yes, but an eye toward the need for foundations.

The twist on this adaptation for Cinderella is that there is no twist. Lily James' turn on the character isn't Drew Barrymore's forward-thinking tomboy in Ever After. She's not the boastful, pixie-cut Leslie Caron in 1955's tongue-in-cheek, The Glass Slipper. She's not the flustered, conflicted heroine of Rossini's opera, La Cenerentola (1817).

Speaking of which, unlike the various adaptations of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, while Cinderella sings in the film's climactic reveal, there's no big production numbers featuring Whitney Houston.

Lily James is dewey-eyed and insurmountably uncomplicated. Her worst offense is earning the disdain of her stepsisters by chatting happily to mice when she doesn't see anyone else around.

Brandy
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)

Kenneth Branagh's re-write is a softening of the character in the broader scope of live action adaptations, dismissing much of the agency she's been endowed with in previous incarnations. Her role is so deeply passive, rather than be given the chance to get the prince's attention when he arrives at her house, she sings "Lavender's Blue" during the film's climax. She does so by accident; the prince's retinue don't hear her and see she's locked away until the mice open the window for her. Barrymore's Danielle unabashedly saves herself but James' Ella isn't given the same chance.

At least Branaugh adds more definition to her than Disney's 1950 animated Cinderella, the one with which this film claims kinship. The animated main character of that feature is perfectly likeable the way Daphne from the original 1969 Scooby-Doo is likeable. Both are capable and nice (or at least, as Jessica Rabbit would purr, "drawn that way") but neither are designed to express much opinion outside the demands of the plot. They're charitable and kind because we never see anything denoting the contrary. They're pretty designs with a negative space where a character would be. Lily James' take is more animated than her cartoon counterpart.

Arts, Stars, and Horseshoes

Approximation of @hownowgobbycow
for #BlackOut

Over on Twitter, I've been intermittently posting drawings since completing the hourly comics' challenge.

During Boskone, I met Jenna Kass who suggested trying to draw an hour a day for six months. I don't succeed in setting aside time every day, but I try to make it up when I don't.  I'm feeling a lot more confident about my sketches.  I'd say they're "pretty far from where I want them to be," but from years of following art blogs, I've confirmed this is a fairly common anxiety.  Regardless of experience, it seems like every other artist is embarrassed about their "lack" of drawing ability.

Also, Hugo-winner Ursula Vernon posted this adorable certificate that gives the bearer permission to "make as much really terrible BAD ART as they need to make and it'll be OKAY" because that's how you get better.

***

Want to help me raise money for 826 Boston, a non-profit tutoring writing center? Their 2015 Write-a-Thon is currently underway.  The team I'm on is called The Eternal Footmen (because yay literary references!) which has some pretty nifty people.  If you have some cash to give, please do!

***

I had my first poem of the year accepted for publication.  I'll say more later when stuff is signed/confirmed/etc.  I'm so happy!  It's in a market I've been wanting to get into for a long time.

For all those querying, sending out submissions, or just putting your writing out there, keep going.  It's a grim, slushy time of year.  Keep the hope strong and enjoy a gif.

***

Boskone 52  was pretty neat.  While there, I met and talked to a lot of writers who had braved the dire weather forecasts.  Then Boston's record-making snows happened.

And it was still pretty neat.

But wow, yes, February was hard.  Hope everyone has taken care of themselves.

Now that it's clearing up, I'm poking my head out once more to attend Vericon.  I'll be another attendee thumping around the halls of Harvard if you want to say hi or grab a drink at one of the many bars near campus!

Hourly Comics Day: Feb 1, 2015

After years of saying, "Hey, I should totally do hourly comics some time," I actually did some.  They were fun and reminded me that, yes, I do love drawing.  I posted these through out the day on Twitter, but why not have all these sketchy doodles in one place?

I posted the set I straight-up photographed from my sketchbook on Facebook, but I did a...little bit of clean up on these.  A little.

For more info on the store above, check out The Book Shop.

The Star Lord vs. Captain America Bowl 2015

Winter: Straeon and Arisia

This past December, M. David Blake's Straeon Quarterly debuted from Stupefying Stories.  In it, along with work by Anna Yeatts and Juliette Wade, is my short story, "The Art Teacher."  If you haven't already, please check it out!

I'm grateful the editors took a chance on the piece.  Very curious to see where the publication goes from here.

***

2014 was a great publishing year.  Looking back, I'm proud and still in shock.  I can only hope 2015 will be even a little bit as fantastic.

For poetry, special thanks to Adrienne Odasso for taking "The Liar's Charm" at Strange Horizons, Elise Matthesen at Apex Magazine for publishing my poem, "Sleep Lives Inside the Bed," and Shweta Narayan and Rose Lemberg at Stone Telling for giving "To the Creature" a lovely home.  To John Benson, thank you for accepting Death Defying Stunts to your wonderful Not One of Us. 

Also, as previously mentioned, I've begun my monthly New and Noteworthy Short Fiction column at Fantastic Stories with Warren Lapine, Jay O'Connell, and Robert Davis.

You all are fabulous to work with.

This year, I want to keep going and keep pushing forward.  You get nowhere without taking risks.

***

Arisia 2015 popped up fairly quickly this year, if feels like!  I've been busy with work and my social life at the holidays tends to become all-consuming.  

Below is my schedule, ending with a killer reading line-up with Sonya Taaffe, Adrienne Odasso (linked above, too), and myself on Sunday. Very exciting!

The Legend of Korra (Fri, 7pm) Marina 1

The third season of “The Legend of Korra” found the show finally starting to live up to its potential and expectations, with mature storylines and character development. It also saw Nickelodeon removing the show from the air and only streaming it online. We’ll discuss the changes on both fronts in this panel about one of the better and more diverse cartoons on the air.

Juliet Kahn, Donna Martinez, Rubi, James A. Wolf (m)

Speculative Fiction: The Year in Review (Fri, 10pm) Marina 2

What books, short stories, and poetry have we read this year? What trends and patterns have emerged in the genre?

Morgan Crooks, Tegan Mannino (I'm moderating!)

Marvel Cinematic (and TV) Universe, 2015 (Sat, 7pm) Marina 1

In 2014, we saw Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America: The Winter Soldier deal with global corruption, while Guardians of the Galaxy took on Thanos and Ronan. As this panel takes place, we’ll have Agent Carter on TV, with a Netflix Daredevil show hitting in May. We’ll talk about where this increasingly complex and connected universe goes from here, and how things are looking after the last year.

Kevin Cafferty, Ed Fuqua, Elektra Hammond, Shira Lipkin (m), Heather Urbanski

Poetry Reading: Gillian Daniels, Adrienne Odasso, Sonya Taaffe (Sun, 4pm) Bulfinch (3W)

If you can make it to the con this year, I hope to see you there!