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I’m a bit of a subgenre magpie. As both a reader and a writer, I’m at my happiest when surrounded by lots of different types of stories. Of course, there’s a point at which debating or worrying about subgenre labels takes time away from the important stuff — actually reading and writing! But anyone who loves stories also knows that there’s also immense power in names. And I love the promise inherent in the -punk suffix.
It isn’t a promise of purely aesthetics, much as I love the chance lunarpunk gives me to drench everything in moonlight (always a joy for a lifelong Sailor Moon fan like myself!)
It’s a promise about pushing back. About imagining variations on the way things are. About facing systems that look to harm, or divide, and saying “No.”
(Also, while we’re fighting back, we do get to revel in glorious aesthetics, because we deserve nice things.)
Over the last decade, as I first encountered the terms solarpunk, lunarpunk, and tidalpunk, there were a series of clicks in my mind. These take the promise of -punk and entwine it with settings where the natural world is deeply, dearly essential. Instead of a world where, regrettably, the environment is often ignored if not actively harmed, we’re going to do something different.
I started splashing around in these subgenre pools, clinging to that promise, and I haven’t stopped since.
I love getting to lean into the endless possibilities of the ocean with all its gorgeous and terrifying inhabitants, while imagining new ways for us to blur the boundaries between humans and ocean life. Creating sunlit settings where, regardless of whatever kind of utopia is being worked toward, people still screw up and have to do the work of cultivating healthy friendships.
Writing tales of luminous moonlight, while also exploring mental health and the connections between people and plants. An entire setting full of moon witches, saved by a dying planet by sentient citrus trees, and now working to heal the world left behind — their adventures have taken the form of several stories and poems, some in this collection (Sting of the Shore) and some yet to appear.
Even some scary pieces of vampires affected by moonlight and hungry things from ocean depths coming onto land.
Also? I adore the research. These pieces have given me the chance to wallow in fascinating research rabbit holes about moths, coral, jellyfish, pteropods, and many other inhabitants of the natural world. It’s also, unsurprisingly, a research that can be harrowing to the heart. But here’s the thing — every time we learn about our environment, every time we write about what it looks like to build healthier systems, we’re remembering that -punk promise.
Not every piece in this collection fits snugly beneath one of these particular -punk parasols (subgenre magpie, remember) but it did serve as a guiding principle as I assembled the book. I hope it brings some joy, some distraction, and perhaps some impetus to look at harmful systems in the real world, and believe we can make change.
—
Devan Barlow is the author of the Curses & Curtains series of fairy tales-meet-musicals fantasy novels, the standalone Honey and Harm, and three collections of short fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. She reads voraciously, and can often be found hanging out with her dog, drinking tea, and thinking about sea monsters. Find her at devanbarlow.com or on Bluesky @devanbarlow.bsky.social
It is a rare and wonderful thing to play in a D&D campaign from start to finish. Even more rare to play from Level 1 to Level 20. Over Memorial Day weekend, the Infinity & Beyond crew completed the Eberron campaign, Oracle of War. From start to finish, we played this game on Arvan Eleron’s Twitch channel.
All of our characters grew and changed over the course of the campaign. Though, relationships remained steadfast. My character, Neesiana D’Jorasco, a halfling healer from the house of healing is one of my favorite characters to date. Between her unwavering faith in Eberron (the dragon) and her sister, Merimee Hawksmoor (played by the incomparable Marie Bilodeau), Neesiana managed some things I didn’t think I could: she remained joyful despite the pains of war and loss. I even “won D&D” once by having a Divine Intervention go off in the middle of a tense combat. One of many moments I won’t forget.
The entire crew was memorable. John’s Starforged, Elerian; Tren’s Artificer, Miatantin with his goodest of boys, Spanner; Brandon’s insanity with his wild magic Sorcerer, Rowan, Marie’s College of Sword Bard always ready with a witty repartee, and, of course, our GM, Greg, who played all of the beloved NPCs and hated enemies.
The two mottos of our game were: “It’s the best bad idea we’ve ever had.” and “I had a great time. I hated every minute of it!”
The other thing I really appreciated was how we could argue IC or discuss things OOC and trust each other to keep up, to listen, to respect each other. Because of all that, I dedicated my latest Shadowrun novel, Imre Grey, to this gaming group.
This one is dedicated to my “Infinity & Beyond” Eberron crew:
Marie, John, Tren, Brandon, and Greg.
Though we live far from one another, gaming with all of you online over the last five years (up to L20!) has been a balm to my soul when life has gotten complicated. You have always given me something fun to look forward to. Thank you. I can’t wait to see what we get up to next.
Yes, I will miss Neesiana. A lot. But she had a lovely wrap up. I am looking forward to our next adventure. It will be a low level Dragonlance game, right after the cataclysm. Just watch and see what mischief we cause with a bunch of brand new characters.
One Foot in Each World…
Imre Dahl, the manager of Shades, Snohomish’s most elite members-only club, has a problem. Actually, he has many problems, the biggest one that he’s been strongarmed into hosting a political dinner for Mayor Feddersen. Nothing good ever comes from something like this.
Complicating things further, Imre’s long exile from Rabat is almost at an end. All he needs to do is endure one last meeting with the powerful and mercurial Mademoiselle Beaumont. At the same time, his personal bodyguards have been called away to pay a debt, and the timing couldn’t be worse.
If he worked only in the shadows, many of Imre’s problems could be solved by a bullet, but now that he works in the light, he’s forced to play nice with big fishes in small ponds. Of course, even in the light, nothing is as it seems, and forces are conspiring against Imre to make his life hell, and possibly destroy Shades in the bargain.
The biggest question of all is can he stop the plots he can’t see, but knows are coming, while pulling off the political event of the year?
This is the third book in my unofficial Shadowrun “colors quartet” series. (As in, it didn’t start as a series but became one.) While each book is a “one-off” and can be read in order, they share characters. An enemy of one book could be the protagonist in another or a side character. However, I do recommend you read in order of publication: Makeda Red then Elfin Black then Imre Grey (UBL link). The final novel in the series, Elf in White, is scheduled to be released in June 2027.
The cover art is by Peter Tikos.
I am a busy bee this time of year. Except, this time I have added plot twists!
I think that’s it. Busy-busy me is still thinking of you.
Truly: Sheryl and I met a couple decades ago, while writing X-Files fan fiction. That later led us to working on a vampire-centric spin-off story that we both fell in love with. Many, many chapters later, it was hard to let the characters go. Then, one night, I had a detailed dream. The set up was so similar to the story we’d previously written that it would make a great original manuscript. I excitedly wrote Sheryl an email, pitching the idea.
Sheryl: The timing was perfect. I had sent off my latest novel for edits when I got Truly’s email. As much as I wanted to clean the fanfic up for publishing, it had so many structural problems that we never bothered. This was the perfect chance to create something new. I immediately said yes, and we started building characters, plot, and settings.
Truly: Living in separate states makes writing a challenge. It helps that we are both on the west coast, but coordinating our schedules took time. There were days when one or both of us was too tired to work and we had to be patient with each other. We also had to learn not only our own characters, but also how to write responses, in character, for each other’s part. For example, I mainly wrote Emma and Sheryl mainly wrote Micah, but we took turns writing the chapters from each point of view. It was messy at first, but became second nature.
Sheryl: Part of the reason that we decided on Seattle for a setting is that Truly lives in the area. I had visited a few times and had a feel for the location. She had more familiarity with both the layout of the city and the history of it. It made it easier for her to point out parts the setting would play.
Truly: Sheryl was published before, but this was my first ever serious attempt at creating a novel. To our delight, our natural rhythm came back instantly. Once we figured out the plot, the first draft sort of flew by.
Sheryl: That’s not to say we didn’t have our disagreements. There were times where we would argue about the next plot point, if what was said was in character, and other bumps-in-the-road that any project has. When things started to get heated, we would call it off for the night, agreeing that we’d discuss it the next day. Usually that followed by me waking up at 2:00 AM thinking “Damnit! Truly’s right!” and shooting off an apology.
Truly: Then came the part I was dreading—the edit. I’d written the first draft of a manuscript before, but the editing process was brand new to me and I wasn’t ready for the emotions that came with it. Sheryl was able to keep me sane when the editor’s comments came back, even if I did drive her nuts by whining during the corrections. It took forever to process all of the changes, and I was ready to give up more than once. Luckily we persevered.
Sheryl: While we waited for our edits, we did something we should have done earlier in the process. We made things official by writing up a contract. We talked during writing about the business side—were we self-publishing or looking for a small press or an agent? Who would be paying for what? How were we going to handle promotions? What would happen if one of us died, or worse, decided we would no longer be friends? We knew the answers already, but it was better to formalize them in a document instead of relying on emails, chat logs, and memory.
Truly: Things started to become real as soon as the second round of edits came back. We had a cover, a mostly finished product, and we decided on a release date. My nerves went haywire. As a person with social anxiety, I had to consider how to start marketing the book. Taking small steps outside of my comfort zone and doing my best to make connections in the romance world.
Sheryl: Meanwhile in the background I’m handling a lot of the administrative work—copyright, generating files, uploading for distribution—since I had that already in place for my solo novels. Now we are finally ready to share our story with you. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did writing it.
—
Sheryl R. Hayes (she/her) can be found untangling plot threads or the yarn her cat has been playing with. She is equally likely to be shooing one of them off the keyboard as she is working on her novels and short stories. In addition to writing, she is a cosplayer focusing on knit and crochet costumes. Her crafty creativity has earned her recognition BayCon, Westercon, Worldcon, and Costume-Con.
Truly Bellamy lives in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys all things paranormal, especially vampires. She is a Certified Peer Counselor in Washington State. When not writing, she can usually be found sipping a Bigfoot Java mocha and cuddled with her cats while watching X-Files, reading horror, or romance novels.
So much editing. So much writing. So much kitchen reno stuff. Have a Bubble & Squeek!
AANE – July 10, 2026. Neurodivergent Authors on Writing, Identity, and Visibility. I will be on a panel with 4 other authors.
Awards: Always nice when your publisher says nice things about you (Facebook link) because you were nominated for a major award.
Convention: I will be in the Authors Alcove at Origins Game Fair in June.
Convention: Here’s my Gen Con schedule (minus signings and meetings). Add my popular Project Management for Creatives to your wishlist.
Twitch: Memorial Day weekend is ArvCon, the annual charity to support the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. It is the finale of my long-running Eberron game, Oracle of War, all day on 24 May. Come support us and a worthy cause!
Support: As always… if you appreciate my work and would like to support me, I love coffee. I am made of caffeine. This is the quickest way to brighten my day.
I love the Hell House LLC franchise. The first irony of loving Hell House LLC as my favorite found footage film is that it does use the tropes of the found footage genre: a group goes into already proven haunted location, makes dumb choices, clearly Judeo-Christian influenced demonic forces are at play, etc…, but also twists them on their head.
About halfway through the film you realize in real time that the head guy in charge, Alex, has an ulterior motive to an already satisfying story, and the ending of the film reinforces the fact that no matter what you do, you are doomed to lose your body and soul to the hotel, and maybe always were. It’s both a liberating and terrifying treatise in equal measures. That is where Feats of Fright was born.
Much like its forebearers Ten Candles or Dread (for instance), Feats of Fright celebrates the actual doom of fighting against the inevitable. It reveals something about who we are as individuals and as a corporate species. Nobody that’s playtested the adventure has ever balked at the premise and, indeed, for seasoned TTRPG players, the doomed story itself is sometimes the draw.
The mechanics have a classic Outlast video game flavor where it’s less about creating weapons against bad guys to shoot your way to victory and more about telling a fatal story together. Feats of Fright is one of the most personable and intimate versions of the story of Hell House and it’s cult leader CEO hotelier, Andrew Tully. Given the timelines available in this first core book, it has consistently felt like a side adventure of the main film storyline, even without any of the main cast present.
At the same time, there’s a space for people that are spooky curious or maybe have played a Kids on Bikes or mafia/werewolf game at some point and want to do something a bit more adventurous. It isn’t a secret that nobody leaves the Hotel alive, and that’s certainly not shied away from in character creation. However, the secret in this particular bloody sauce is the journey of getting there.
In the playtests, I’ve captured the souls of indie rock bands, competitive game show crews, late night horror podcasters, and more. Even within these premises there’s so much room to tell the story in a symphony of ways, even if the ending will always be the “same.”
The job of the Host (GM) isn’t just about snatching bodies and murder. It’s about atmosphere. Crafting suspicion. Doubt. Even that classic devil’s bargain, if that’s the way the game pursues itself. I blame my love of Vincent Price movies for that part, but it’s in the Hell House films, too. Anyone could sell you out to try and save themselves, and anyone could go at any time.
That’s the beauty of Feats of Fright. The story is yours to tell, and its always going to end badly. It’s only a matter of (spooky) time.
—
John McDonald (he/they) is a queer playwright and TTRPG content creator telling intimate stories not just about connection but what happens when connection breaks both in human and supernatural ways. Currently in Chicago, IL, John is a baker of brownies, a devotee of Carole King’s Tapestry album, an ongoing Power Rangers GM and has had plays shown in both Rhino Fest and Fertile Ground indie play fests. In 2027, you’ll be able to see his work in the Leeds Theater Festival for the first time abroad in Cobblestone Kingdom, a new queer musical take on the Cinderella mythology.
Hello everyone. There’s a whole lot going on behind the scenes, but things, they are moving. For example, I have an insurance payment on the “sudden catastrophic waterline break” kitchen, and I might have my new kitchen in the next two months! I’m very excited about that. Really. It is a first world problem, but I will never look at my kitchen sink the same again. (Ditto with my dishwasher.)
So, this happened. I am a finalist for the Short Form Editor Hugo Award! Maybe third time’s the charm? I’m so pleased. While I admit, I had a calmer reaction than last year (The Second Nomination is the Best), I did get an adrenaline dump so big that I felt it hit the bottom of my feet. However, I will never not be thrilled at an award nomination. So, yes. I will see you at Worldcon in LA this year.
First, thank you to everyone who has already wished me congratulations. I sincerely appreciate it. Also, congratulations to the rest of the Short Form Editor finalists: Scott H. Andrews, Neil Clarke, Lee Harris, Michael Damian Thomas, and Sheila Williams!
What do you do when you get nominated for a major award? Cora Buhlert has a lovely and informative Open Letter to the Finalists that is worth reading. Also, Seanan McGuire has a really wonderful and uplifting thread on BlueSky on How to be a Hugo Nominee. My favorite part is “protect your joy.”
Do I want to win? Hell yes. It is an honor to be nominated, it really is, but I’d love a Hugo win. Just once. What happens if I win? As I promised Seanan long ago, if I ever won a Hugo, I’d let her put her mantises on me and take pictures. Her mantises are varied and large. Wouldn’t you want to see Seanan put mantises on my head? If you can help make that happen, I’d be ever so grateful. 😀
Last year, I went a little nuts and bought three different dresses and two different tiaras. This year, I’m holding off on the clothing. I have to figure out what to wear in LA in August. I did buy a couple of new puzzles to celebrate. You have to celebrate an achievement like this. Otherwise, what is the point?
Hopefully, I’ll have my new kitchen by the time I go to LA.
We go way back. Fun fact: Kerrie was the editor who gave me my third pro sale that qualified me to join SFWA back in 2009. (Good gravy, that’s 15 years ago!) She tells me all about the anthology series she edits with Jim Butcher and talks about how the themes came about.
—
Jim and I started the anthology series in 2014/15. It was going to be a one book thing as a favor to me because I had an orphaned anthology and needed to sell it to a different publisher. The next thing I knew, Jim was my co-editor and we sold it to his publisher, Ace.
We renamed it from Fierce to Shadowed Souls, and I’m pleased to say it is still selling strong. In fact, it did so well it went into reprint, and we decided to do a second anthology, Heroic Hearts, which is also selling well. We seem to have hit on a good formula so we agreed to do a third, Paranormal Payback, which came out on April 14, 2026.
Why the dark title? I’ve been dreaming about getting payback through paranormal means since I was sixteen. Why? Because the patriarchy sucks, and I really like witchcraft. It’s the reason I started reading authors like Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and Patricia Briggs, among others. In many ways this volume is therapy. Who doesn’t want to hunt down the monsters and make them sorry they had the audacity to cross your path?
Jim feels the same, except he’s a bit more mellow than I am, sort of. We’re both urban fantasy curmudgeons. Anyway, we enjoy the anthologies. It gives us a chance to work with our favorite authors and share them with like-minded readers. It’s really all about having some fun while day-dreaming about possibilities, and revenge, tasty sweet revenge.
P.S. We are working on the next one, but the details are super-secret. In the meantime, if you like paranormal drama with cozy chaos check out my Great Lakes Grimoires on Amazon, there will be payback. Jim, of course, is continuing his Dresden Files series, and they seem to be enjoying a revival, especially the audio versions that are read by Spike from Buffy.
—
Kerrie L. Hughes is the author of a multi book universe of paranormal urban fantasy called the Great Lakes Grimoires. Her books are about witches, wizards, vampires, shifters, ghosts and the Fae. Her themes live in the realm of found family and cozy chaos with a dash of romantic drama. She also has an anthology series with Jim Butcher. She doesn’t do a lot of social media, but you can follow her on Facebook, Tertulia: GreatLakesGrimoire.com. The Grimoires are available on Amazon. The Butcher anthologies are everywhere.
I will be at Norwescon this year doing panels. It’s a pretty relaxed schedule for me. If I’m not in a panel, I’ll probably be in the hanging out with friends in public. Feel free to come say hello. I don’t have an official signing, but if you want something signed, just bring it to me.
Jennifer’s Norwescon 2026 Schedule
============Thursday============
Art Show Reception
8:00pm – 10:00pm @ Art Show
Thursday Night Pro Social
9:00pm – Midnight @ Presidential Suite 1360
============Friday============
Jennifer: Reading: Jennifer Brozek
9:30am – 10:00am @ Cascade 3
Jennifer Brozek (M)
Jennifer: Editing Anthologies
12:00pm – 1:00pm @ Cascade 7 & 8
Atlin Merrick (M), Jennifer Brozek, Peter Adrian Behravesh, Shannon Page, Lezli Robyn
Jennifer: Philip K. Dick Awards
7:00pm – 8:30pm in Grand 2
============Saturday============
Jennifer: How to interview Guests of Honor
10:00am – 11:00am @ Cascade 12
Marta Murvosh (M), John Godek, Jennifer Brozek, Dr. Jess Hebert, Tom Whitmore
Jennifer: Freelancing 201
4:00pm – 5:00pm @ Cascade 9
Jennifer Brozek (M), Luis Loza, John Godek, Erin Roberts, James L. Sutter
Jennifer: Darkness Thrives Where the Evergreens Never Die
5:00pm – 6:00pm @ Evergreen 3 & 4
Neena Viel (M), T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon, Jennifer Brozek, Clay Vermulm, Gwen Callahan, Josef B. Wilke
Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her YA tie-in novels, BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Shadowrun: Auditions, have both won Scribe Awards. Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and multiple Hugo Awards. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, Well World, and Predator.
Jennifer has been a full-time freelance author and editor for over seventeen years, and she has never been happier. She keeps a tight schedule on her writing and editing projects and somehow manages to find time to teach writing classes and volunteer for several professional writing organizations such as SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com or her social media accounts on LinkTree.
