Arisia 2021: Online! Because of a Plague!

Guess what's next weekend? Arisia 2021! And I'm on programming! Which you can see from the vantage point of Zoom!

Here's my schedule:

 

Hold Your Enthusiasm: Problematic Things - Communities, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 5:30pm Friday

In recent years, J.K. Rowling made clear her transphobia. This year, The Flash fired its Ralph Dibney, actor Hartley Sawyer, after several racist, mysoginist, and homophobic tweets resurfaced. Knowing that these people and many others have said and will continue to say incredibly problematic and harmful things, can we continue to enjoy their work? Or is everything they’ve ever done cancelled? If we do continue to enjoy these works, how can we do so in a way that doesn’t harm others?

Arthur Chu (m), Reuben Baron, Rob Cameron, Gillian Daniels, Lee C. Hillman (Gwendolyn Grace)

Writing in the Age of COVID - Writing, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 7:00pm Friday

Speculative fiction writers have imagined all manner of plagues, pandemics, and post-apocalyptic scenarios. Having lived with COVID-19 for the better part of a year, how did speculative fiction writers do? What did they get right and what did they get wrong? This panel will discuss how writers can draw from this collective disaster to make plague fiction more relevant or realistic in the future.

Laurence Raphael Brothers (m), Gillian Daniels, Julie C. Day, Suzanne Palmer, Ken Schneyer

The Octavia Butler future is now - Literature, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 1, 4:00pm Saturday
In her Earthseed series, Octavia Butler gave us a vision of the 2020s that is disturbingly close to our reality, including storms, and droughts brought on by climate change; escapism through addictive pharmaceuticals and games, and perhaps most chillingly a far-right US President backed by extremist evangelical Christians. This panel will review the highlights of these books and discuss the influences on Butler’s writing as well as the influence these novels have had since their publication.
Gillian Daniels (m), Bunnificent, Rob Cameron, Andrea Hairston, Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert, Sam Schreiber 

 
Go Team Venture! (and close the door behind you) - Media, Panel - 55min - Zoom Room 2, 11:30am Sunday
Growing quickly from its start as a spoof of 60s Hanna-Barbera action cartoons, The Venture Bros. built a full universe populated by complex characters with intertwined story arcs that kept us coming back for 7 seasons released over the span of 16 years. Many hearts broke when it was abruptly announced the show was not getting a season 8. Why did we love this show so much, how did it change over the long term, and what might have happened with The Monarch and Dr. Venture next?
Gillian Daniels (m), Lyndsay Ely, Eve Leonard, David G. Shaw, Hildy Silverman

Sunday Afternoon Readings 1 - Literature, Reading - 55min - Zoom Room 4, 4:00pm Sunday
Join some of Arisia’s wonderful authors, while they read from their own work.

Laurence Raphael Brothers, Gillian Daniels, Ruthanna Emrys, Sonya Taaffe

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.

Speculative Boston Rides Again

Courtesy of  Speculative Boston and WGBH, here's a video of me discussing fiction with eminent authors, Nina MacLaughlin, Sonya Taaffe, and C.S.E. Cooney at Trident Booksellers.

It was a lovely evening. I know Sonya and Claire separately from genre conventions and Boston gatherings. They are luminous, wonderful people to know. I met Nina for the first time that day and she was a wonderful addition to the readings and the discussion. I was also happy to be a part of a full house with a deeply engaged, thoughtful audience.

Maybe the shelter-in-place/quarantine is getting to me, but this night was SO GOOD. I'm so pleased Andrea Martinez Corbin continues to give me the opportunity to host some fine, talented people.