I had two short stories come out this fall, both very fun projects that I’m very excited to finally get to share.

Encounter at Ákroterra

The first needs some explaining: it’s part of the Proxima Kosmos Life Otherwise project, spearheaded by Dr. Claire Webb at the Berggruen Institute. In that project, a number of scientists from a wide variety of backgrounds were asked to envision strange and extreme planets where it’s still possible that intelligent life could exist– even (especially!) life so strange we wouldn’t recognize it.

They then paired these scientists with science fiction writers to write stories set in those worlds, trying to bring their ideas to life. I was paired with Dr. Penny Boston of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute, who came up with Ákroterra: a frozen world with liquid methane and a radioactive core, in which… well, I won’t spoil it.

You can find the story here to read for free by scrolling down through the absolutely gorgeous artists’ renditions of the planet, alongside detailed scientific discussions of how it all could plausibly work.

When you’re done reading mine, there’s lots of great stuff there: scientific discussions and speculates by talented and creative scientists, alongside stories by SB Divya, Caroline Yoachim, Mary Robinette Kowal, Alex Shvartsman, and Fran Wilde (with more coming!)

Excerpts from The Unauthorized Autobiography of Benjamin Brick

I also had a story come out in the weekly science fiction magazine Sunday Morning Transport last month, with a title that’s a bit of a mouthful: Excerpts from The Unauthorized Autobiography of Benjamin Brick. It’s a short near-future piece about the intersection of artists and AI. If you’ve ever heard science fiction fans enthuse about the possibilities of being uploaded into a computer and thought, eh, that’s not for me? This story is for you.

SMT is for subscribers only, I’m afraid, but if you sign up for a 7-day trial, you can read as many stories as you like, including mine. Seriously, their catalog goes back a long ways and is full of great stories perfect for reading in a single sitting.

More coming?

I’ve got a few more irons in the fire, don’t worry: one more short story slated for early next year, and a novel draft getting close to completion.