I’m excited to share that a new story is now online and free to read. It’s called “A Black Spot Among the Chaos” and it’s part of Beneath Ceaseless Skies’ science fantasy issue.

For those who don’t know, BCS is a fantasy magazine that specializes in stories set in imagined worlds (what’s often called secondary world fantasy). But every two years, they put out a special double issue of stories that blend science fiction, fantasy, and that other worldliness. Back in 2022, they published my story “A Record of Our Meeting with the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised” which was a huge experiment in voice and complexity.

This time around, I took some of the core set pieces of “A Record of Our Meeting” – space ships, spirits/faeries, and jumbled, chaotic places and challenged myself to write a story where everything in that world went sour, including the characters. It was also my first time attempting an omniscient-like point of view, which was quite a learning curve for me. It took a couple of drafts to get this story right.

My writing soundtrack through the drafts was Eluvium’s Phantasia Telephonics, which always felt a little too hopeful for the story’s mood, but whatever, it worked. The process of creating a story on a blank page is still a mystery to me, even after all these years.

As always, if you like this story and want to support myself and other writers, please consider subscribing or sending a few dollars to Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

My short story recommendation also comes from this issue: “Doctor Souvenir” by Elly Bangs.

Hope you enjoy!