Author: Angelique Fawns

Lloyd Penney & Amazing Stories Magazine

By Angelique Fawns

Amazing Stories had its 97th birthday in April. This juggernaut of magazines credits itself as the very first science fiction magazine started in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback. Stephen King talks about receiving rejections from this publication at the beginning of his career. Lloyd Penney has taken over at the helm of Amazing Stories and would like to encourage authors to send him the hardest science fiction stories they can create. I sat down with this fellow Canadian editor to learn more. 

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Ai Jiang talks about being a Nebula Finalist

By Angelique Fawns

Ai Jiang’s short story “Give Me English” was announced as a Nebula Finalist this March. Her speculative short was published in the 5-6/22 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Jiang is one of six authors in the running for this prestigious award. This Canadian-Chinese writer has been taking the industry by storm with her work appearing in Uncanny, The Dark Magazine, Pseudopod, The Deadlands, and Dark Matter to name a few. Dark Matter magazine says, “Jiang is widely considered to be one of the most exciting young voices in science fiction, fantasy and horror.”

Jiang mixes the literary with speculative elements and I touched base with her to learn more about her amazing achievement.

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Kristi Petersen Schoonover from 34 Orchard

By Angelique Fawns

All is not dark in the world of Kristi Petersen Schoonover. Though this prolific creator in the world of horror publishes a “literary journal that delights in exploring what haunts us all,” her life has been full of positive happenings. She’s had several short stories of her own recently published, including “Let the Rain Settle It” in Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster, Stories Inspired by Stephen King and “When the Ghost Apples Blossom” in Monstorm: A Charity Anthology of Horror (100 percent of proceeds go to a food bank in the area that Hurricane Ian affected). She’s the editor for an anthology titled Wicked Sick, due to be released in April, for the New England Horror Writers, with a Foreword written by Stephen Mark Rainey. Finally, she’s been commissioned to write the screenplay for the second film in a horror movie franchise. In the Candlewood series, Candlewood: Jerusalem will focus on the urban legends surrounding a drowned town under the lake. 

Kristi Petersen Schoonover is one of those rare editors who takes the time to mentor new writers, and she has been instrumental in helping me sell several of my stories. I’ve submitted many times to her market, and even if she hasn’t bought a story, she has given me hints and edits that helped make them saleable. I’m thrilled to announce I finally wrote a story she accepted, and “The Unidentified Flying Object” will be appearing in a future issue of 34 Orchard. 

I sat down with Schoonover for a catch-up.

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Justine Norton-Kerston on Horror in Solarpunk

By Angelique Fawns

Justine Norton-Kertson (they/she/he) envisions a brighter future for all of us, but also embraces the dark side. They are the co-editor-in-chief of Solarpunk Magazine, a bi-monthly magazine of radically hopeful and optimistic science fiction, fantasy, and climate fiction. They recently edited the lunarpunk anthology Bioluminescent which was released this January in conjunction with Android Press. If the genre interests you, they also have a nonfiction book, Solarpunk Witchcraft due to be released by Microcosm Publishing in 2024.  I sat down with Justine to learn more about their vision and talk about the intersection of horror with solarpunk.

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Rebecca Treasure: A Walk on the Short Dark Side

By Angelique Fawns

I met Rebecca Treasure when I took her course this February, Keep it Short: Tips and Tricks for Writing Flash Fiction through the Reach Your Apex initiative from Apex Magazine. It was nothing “short” of amazing. Apex Magazine features dark speculative fiction, so I asked Rebecca if she could talk to us about her work for WIHM.  She has been published in Zooscape, Seize the Press, Galaxy’s Edge, Air & Nothingness Press, and The Dread Machine, to name a few. 

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Jason Sizemore talks about Apex’s Robotic Ambitions 

By Angelique Fawns

Apex Magazine is a venue for dark and spectacular science fiction, fantasy, and horror. They ask for short stories, “filled with marrow and passion. Works that are twisted, strange, and beautiful.” They’ve won multiple Hugos, Nebulas, and World Fantasy Awards. Jason Sizemore and Lesley Connor are co-editors and have provided a space for readers to experience some of the most mind-expanding tales being published today. They are also actively involved in helping authors learn their craft. I took a seminar with the Apex team at Fyrecon 2022 this November called “The Line Between Dark Fantasy/SciFi and Horror.” I couldn’t take notes fast enough.

Their latest project is an anthology called Robotic Ambitions. It’s currently live on Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apexpublications/robotic-ambitions

“Editors Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner are looking for stories that examine the concept of “robotic ambitions.” Using philosophical, moral, and practical points-of-view, what does it mean to be sentient and mechanical? What challenges will mechanical beings face from a fearful and chaotic world? What are their goals and ambitions?”

I asked Jason Sizemore, owner and editor-in-chief of Apex Magazine and the Apex Book Company, a few questions to learn more:

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Cameron Trost and Tales from the Ruin

By Angelique Fawns

Cameron Trost likes his tales quirky, atmospheric, and thought-provoking. He founded his own imprint, Black Beacon Books in 2013, and has published several anthologies and collections including A Hint of Hitchcock, Murder and Machinery, The Black Beacon Book of Mystery, Shelter from the Storm, Lighthouses, and Subtropical Suspense. 

Trost’s next offering, Tales from the Ruins has a release date of February 25, 2023 and is dedicated to post-apocalyptic fiction.  

“The big publishers are constantly rehashing the same stories—but that bores me. I need to be surprised. That doesn’t necessarily mean every story needs a twist, but I need a dose of originality.”

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