It's been a minute! But we're back, with News to report! First, I've had a couple of pieces up on Bloodletter, a gorgeously-made and written magazine for horror and the weird: a short, experimental review of the short, experimental film Barlebas, and an also-experimental story, "Such Hunger As Ours."
(How much do you love the art for that story? The whole issue's art, by Michelle Perez, is incredible!)
As it happens, "Such Hunger As Ours" is the inside-out, guts-first mirrorverse twin to "Many Hands," a story included in the third volume of Weirdpunk Books' zine series Profane Sorcery. If you're interested in a copy, act fast; these zines always sell out!
Next, I have a chapbook available for preorder with the great Bottlecap Press! haunt / ology is short and bittersweet, with a touch of the psychogeographic. Bottlecap Features are lovely handmade chapbooks, and you might find some in bookstores or coffee shops around you. Check out the book page here!
Finally: I'll have a historical sapphic novella out with NineStar Press sometime next year! The Mermaid's Purse features Joan, a mermaid performer who's forced to reconsider her stances on respectability and putting business first when her aunt gets into illicit-abortions hot water and her long-distance cowgirl flame comes back into town. This book is set in the same weird Florida as Little Nothing, but is otherwise unrelated--and centers on a different sort of weird Floridian being... one also born from water.
Cover reveal, release timeline, and ARC info to come!
A bit of late news to round out the year: my story collection Something in the Trees is on the long-list for Santa Fe Writers Project's annual award! This was such a nice surprise. Best wishes to all the manuscripts and their authors!
Slightly hilarious news: aforementioned story collection also a finalist for this year's Press 53 Award. Congratulations to winner Ann Landi and the other finalists!
Some of my little books among the other little books in the cool boutique downtown! I adore this shop; they stock all kinds of things, from art supplies to home goods, but the book selection is especially off the wall and they love to support local.
Grab your own copy of Lost Coast (digital), Profane Sorcery, or haunt / ology!
A bit of late news to round out the year: my story collection Something in the Trees is on the long-list for Santa Fe Writers Project's annual award! This was such a nice surprise. Best wishes to all the manuscripts and their authors!
Another year on the books, perhaps some awards consideration? Why not??
Every year since the COVID19 pandemic began has been a little different in terms of how I've approached my writing practice. 2025 had more Hustle than the previous years, with some pay-off; I've put more work in the world this year, through my own means and through presses and publishers, than in quite some time. But as we crumble toward year-end, I can feel myself ready to try yet another new mode in 2026--one that prioritizes experimenting with or improving my craft and relishing the joys of being a reader.
Not quite time for that yet. First, let's see where we've been. If you're unfamiliar with awards season for speculative fiction, this SFWA article remains a good explanation. And this year, for the first time ever, I've taken the opportunity to nominate my own story "Mama Had a Baby and Her Head Popped Off" for the Bram Stoker Awards and Tenebrous Press's annual New Weird best-of anthology.
DIS/MEMBER: I took over writing and soliciting work for D/M's literary arm in 2025 and had a busy year! You can find all of it in my profile here, but a few favorites were the ongoing Exorcist retrospective column, my Sinners reading list, and a review of Split Scream vol. 7.
infinite yield (DIY, March 2025)
"Pantoum for Miami Vice (2006)" (Islandia Journal, June 2025)
"ACAB Includes Lighthouse Keepers" (Ancillary Review of Books, July 2025)
"Desire Path" (Mythic Circle vol. 47, July 2025)
Fugitive Color (DIY, July 2025)
"Mama Had a Baby and Her Head Popped Off" (Malarkey Books, September 2025)
"The Grotto" (The Pink Hydra, October 2025)
hallowzine vol. 4 (DIY, October 2025)
"The Blood Child" (Cosmic Daffodil, November 2025)
Poisoned Apples and Golden Chalices, a forthcoming zine in which I've got three constellation poems. Preorders are closed, but the Backerkit is worth taking a look at just to relish the goodies!
If you've read anything of mine this year, please know my gratitude is without limit. We write to connect, nothing more and nothing less. A few spots to keep up with what I'm doing are on Bluesky, in my monthly newsletter, and through my carrd. See you in 2026!
Suggestions for awards consideration:
Nebula, Hugo short fiction: "Desire Path," "The Grotto"
Shirley Jackson short fiction: "Mama Had a Baby and Her Head Popped Off"
A femme-focused mythological fantasy collaborative anthology exploring how feminine figures are portrayed in myths, legends, and folklore th
This myth-themed collab zine is almost 200% backed, but there's still plenty of time to join in, grab early-bird goodies, and unlock ever more stretch rewards! I'm contributing three constellation-themed poems, one with an amazing illustration by the very talented artist mariibyrd. I'm so excited to see the final product!
**PREORDER**Profane Sorcery is back with a new installment. You like weird sword & sorcery? Well you should.Featuring new stories from D
Pre-orders are live for Profane Sorcery volume 3, a cool sword & sorcery zine series put out by Weirdpunk Books! This one includes a post-apocalyptic Gnostic horror-flavored weird tale from me (with bonus snake worshipers)--a limited print run, so grab yours now!
What's going on in horror-story land? Quite a bit!
(No, not national and world news; horror stories we read for fun, not ones we experience by dint of being alive)
Katherine Silva's next book, Vulpine Curse, is out next month and we offered a first peek at the cover.
there's quite a bit of heavy metal-flavored horror around lately--here's a listicle of some of our favorites.
Tenebrous Press delivers vol. 7 of Split Scream next week; read our slightly-spoilery review and get hype!
get indie press Ghost Orchid on your radar if they aren't already.
Trying more new stuff in coming months, including a guest column from author Saskia Nislow! Subscribing to D/M's newsletter is a great way to stay on top of spooky news.
News, exclusive work, and bimonthly missives from inside the writing life. Published by Dee Holloway.
Throughout March, the archive is open! Now that I've got several newsletters of various Types under my belt, I'd love for people to take a look--and maybe subscribe if you like what you read.
Catalina had, by her own admission, not fled the burning of St. Augustine ahead of the French barbarians, but been put ashore the year before from the Sea Holly, a Bermuda sloop whose letters of marque had been revoked and whose crew were cutting their losses. She made known with some pride that the Sea Holly’s men had whispered dark things of her, that she had been responsible for the governor’s revocation, a freak hurricane, and some seamen’s deaths besides...
A short ghostly tale I wrote for the Queen of Swords Patreon is now free for all readers! If you resent our northeastern weather and wish it were still the winter holidays or that you could travel to warmer climes, this one's for you.
An annual LGBTQ+ Literary Festival which spotlights the creativity, knowledge and expertise of LGBTQ+ authors through panel discussions, a k
Hey Floridians! I'll be visiting my home turf in lovely Gulfport next month for ReadOUT, the annual book festival of OUT Arts and Culture. Swing through on Valentine weekend for a host of great panels, keynote speakers, readings & signings, and of course, book-buying.
I'm excited to be in sunny FL during February, for one thing, proud to be part of this excellent initiative in an embattled state, and especially excited to participate in one of Saturday's panels: "Queer Art as Resistance," with authors J.R. Dawson, Sheree L. Greer, Sandra Lambert, and Sarah Greenman.
If you're around central Florida, come share the love!
Another rotation in the books, somehow! From a publishing perspective, I didn't have the most interesting year--but as I look back on 2024, I'm finding I did have an interesting year in writing.
For one thing, I took two workshops with Lindsay Merbaum, an author I admire and an excellent workshop facilitator. I recommend checking out the Study Coven for some truly cool themed classes coming up; the syllabi for Smutty Study and Witches III were full of fun and provocative reading, and the work itself yielded two short stories, plus multiple poems and journal entries. I put together a collection of weird short stories and did intensive research on spots to submit it, a project that's still ongoing and will get fresh attention in the new year.
I also drafted a novella that's "in-universe" to Little Nothing, the first brand-new long-form project I'd completed in years. It's true what they say: every book is a different writing experience. Every book teaches you how to write all over again. More news on this front to come, I hope!
In 2024, I prioritized listening to the muse, whether it drew me to trying out new poetic forms, writing fanfic of my own work, or keeping myself to clipped word counts. As autumn ended, I found that this follow-your-bliss practice had made me energized to take up a more disciplined practice of write-and-submit. As we approach the darkest parts of the year, I'm excited to write to intriguing prompts and not overthink things before submitting... and start work on a shelved manuscript.
Throughout the year, I did put published work into the world. I continued to write for horror media website DIS/MEMBER, revisiting the Exorcist TV series, interviewing cool authors, and reviewing a few movies. In 2025 I'll take on the role of Lit Editor for DIS/MEMBER, and we've got some cool new stuff lined up (think cover reveals, indie publisher spotlights, and more). I also published the third volume of what's become my Halloween tradition, a zine with a weird theme; this year, hallowzine vol. 3 was all about the hybrid and alien femininities of Ex Machina, Blade Runner 2049, Annihilation, and Under the Skin.
Most significantly, the two pieces of fiction I published were with magazines local to me and available only in print. Castle Jackal Magazine is full of horror art and writing, while Paper Moon's editions so far have focused on poetry and short fiction. I've always prioritized magazines with digital distribution, in order to theoretically reach the most readers. But in recent years I've begun to think that maybe what I really want is to reach the right readers. Hyper-local zines, music, and art are thick on the ground in my area, and I'm lucky to be connected with people making cool stuff. One of my favorite writing-related instances in 2024 was a zinefest at which I sold almost everything I brought, from print copies of my DIY zines and collections to Little Nothing, embroidered patches, and my partner's block prints. Speaking of Little Nothing, my publisher also made public a previously-subscribers-only Patreon post with a little dip into the world of limerunners and antebellum Florida!
Also in the hyper-local realm, I joined an in-person writing group. This is a new experience for me, and it's been a great one. Each of the participating writers is at a different point in their writing practice, has different goals for writing and publishing, and writes different in genres and formats. Yet what I value is that everyone seems to approach the group with the same level of seriousness. I've enjoyed engaging with the short fiction, poetry, and memoir pieces these writers bring, and practicing paying true attention to others' work. I also get to facilitate a teen writing club for my work; seeing the joy the teens take in their projects, and the skill they've already developed, is a real delight in my life.
Finally, in 2025 I'm venturing back into the world of newsletters. I'm growing weary (and wary) of my reliance on social media, when those platforms are increasingly unstable and untrustworthy. In order to cultivate engagement, stretch my essay muscles, and deliver news outside Meta's scope, I'll be trying out bimonthly letters--you can sign up now! My old newsletter, Readers Up, is now also archived on Buttondown.
Happy writing and happy reading, friends. I'll see you in the new year.
The one true religion is control, Sister Paxton says, a dutiful student to Mr. Reed’s exacting school-master. A method within high-control settings is to establish an in-group of those within the belief system, and then norms for how the in-group interacts with everyone else: an accepted narrative of struggle, an expectation of ostracism, mockery, and abuse. Yet the further atomization of the in-group’s members is necessary to maintain control...
I reviewed Heretic, relevant to my interests as a former Mormon, for DIS/MEMBER.
She's here! My third year of vaguely Halloween-themed zines is live. If you too are obsessed with drawing lines between Ex Machina, Under the Skin, Annihilation, and Blade Runner 2049, you might enjoy.
i love john brosio paintings bc theyll be an absolute gut punch that forces you to consider your own morality like two earthlings and they will also be Big Crab
I hadn’t seen the second one. You can just tell that guy is standing where his car should be. He’s too tired to worry about the crab directly, he’s just thinking about how this means he’s gotta call the insurance company and lord knows if giant crab attacks are covered. He’s looking off to the left because that’s where the bus stop is, he’s watching a bus pull up right now and thinking that while there’s a chance he could sprint for it and make it on he absolutely cannot bring himself to run right now - not from the crab, not to the bus, not for anything. Fuck the diet, though, he’s getting fast food tonight. Not like he can drive to the store now anyway.
