Despite it being a turbulent year politically, I was still able to accomplish quite a bit, writing-wise. I published five stories last year, four original, in Tor.com, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Mad Hatters and March Hares, and Hex Publishers. I’ve had two stories translated, one into French and one into Polish. I sold four stories, one of which I co-wrote with Mercurio D. Rivera and will be appearing in a future issue of Analog. And one of my stories has been selected for a special anthology that I’m super excited to announce, but can’t just quite yet.

I did quite a lot, non-fiction wise too. I appeared on a panel with astronaut Mike Massimino at the BRITE conference at Columbia University to speak about A.I., robotics, and how science fiction anticipates the future of human-machine interaction. And I wrote a bunch of articles, did a bunch of interviews, and participated in podcasts about Blade Runner 2049, including an appearance on Geeks Guide to the Galaxy, whose lede page introducing the podcast was shared almost 50,000 times.

Before I sat down to write this post I thought to myself, Boy, you didn’t really accomplish much last year. I guess that’s because when you are down in the trenches, so to speak, working on this and that, sales and successes seem irrelevant to just finishing the work. It’s only when you pause and look back that you can see how far you’ve actually gone. One thing I’ve learned in my long and winding career as a writer is that you just need to keep your head down and write. Everything else eventually works itself out.

Anyway, 2017 was a pretty good year, writing and life-wise, for me, and I’m hoping this year will be even better. I have a young-adult novel I’m nearly done with, and a few short stories in the pipe I hope to have out in the wild soon. Here’s wishing you and yours much success and happiness in 2018.

2017 Publications 

• “The Great Game at the End of the World.” Hex Publications. Ed. Josh Viola. February 1, 2017. Reprint.
• “The Last Novelist (or A Dead Lizard in the Yard).” Tor.com. Ed. Ellen Datlow. March 15, 2017
• “Love Engine Optimization.” Lightspeed Magazine 85. Ed. John Joseph Adams. June 27, 2017. 
• “Will You Meet Me There, Out Beyond the Bend?” Nightmare Magazine 63. Ed. John Joseph Adams. December 1, 2017.
• “In Memory of a Summer’s Day.” Mad Hatters and March Hares. Ed. Ellen Datlow. December 12, 2017.

2017 Translations

• “The Last Novelist (or A Dead Lizard in the Yard).” Bifrost. French language. Translated by Pierre-Paul Durastanti. October 26, 2017. Reprint. 
• “The Sounds of Old Earth.” Smokopolitan nr 10. Polish language. Translated by Magdalena Grajcar. December 23, 2017. Reprint.

2017 Sales

• “The Marsh of Camarina.” Shades Within Us. Eds. Susan Forest, Lucas K. Law. Laksa Media. Forthcoming.
• “The Words That Maketh Murder.” Tales to Terrify. Ed. Scott Silk. Forthcoming.
• “The Bricks of Gelecek.” Far Fetched Fables. Ed. Gary Dowell. Forthcoming. Reprint.
• “The Walk to Distant Suns.” Analog. Co-written with Mercurio D. Rivers.  Forthcoming. Reprint. 

2017 Accolades

• A career milestone, to be announced!

2017 Non-fiction

• Author Spotlight, Nightmare Magazine, December 20, 2017
• Episode 4: Love Engine Optimization with Brad Warner, Alan & Jeremy Vs. SF, December 5, 2017
• Hour of the Wolf Blade Runner Discussion, with host Jim Freund, WBAI 99.5 FM, November 2, 2017
• Blade Runner 2049: A Conversation, Movie Review, with Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, Hex Publishers, October 30, 2017
• Are Audiences Too Lazy to Appreciate Blade Runner 2049?, Wired.com presents Geeks Guide to the Galaxy, October 14, 2017
• What It Means to Be Human: Five Works of Fiction That Explore Blade Runner’s Core Themes, Tor.com, October 9, 2017
• Why Blade Runner is More Relevant Than Ever, Tor.com, September 20, 2017
• Sci-Fi Writer Matt Kressel Talks About the Singularity, Data Privacy, and Short Stories, Outer Places, February 21, 2017

I’m happy to announce some good news for the new year. Mercurio D. Rivera and I co-authored a story called “The Walk to Distant Suns” which has been sold to Analog Science Fiction & Fact. The premise: Shandi Pallai is a wormhole engineer who works aboard a space station, helping people migrate off the dying Earth to a new, better planet. She’s been saving up to migrate to the new world with her family and her sick, dying mother. But when the corporation raises the price of transit, Shandi decides to take things into her own hands.

The story will be out sometime later this year.

My story “The Sounds of Old Earth,” a Nebula Award Finalist, is out today in Polish in Smokopolitan nr 10. The story is translated by Translated by Magdalena Grajcar. I don’t read Polish (even though I live in a Polish neighborhood and should) but it appears the issue also contains translated works from Ann Leckie and Peter Watts.

Check it out here.

My story “Will You Meet Me There, Out Beyond the Bend?” is out today in Nightmare. A bright and cheery story just in time for the holidays! 😉 Here’s how it begins:

She stands on the side of the road in the dewy high grass and waits. She wanders among the tangled weeds heavy with crickets, and waits. She drifts among the gathering fireflies blinking their yellow-green light into the darkening forest. And waits, and waits, and waits. They will come, she knows. They will come and see her and take her away from this dreadful place. They will clothe her and feed her and wrap her in a warm blanket, and everything will be perfect again. She knows it’s only a matter of time.

Keep reading at Nightmare Magazine…

Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews says of my story “Will You Meet Me There, Out Beyond the Bend?” in this month’s Nightmare Magazine: :This is a haunting and slowly-unraveling story about ghosts and harm, hopes and waiting…It’s a difficult and heavy story that manages a palpable darkness and a stunning ending. A great read!” Charles also reviews the excellent story by Nino Cipri.

You can read the full review here.

I’ll be participating in two readings for Ellen Datlow’s new Mad Hatters and March Hares anthology, just out this week! The anthology includes my story “In Memory of a Summer’s Day.”

The first reading is this Saturday in Mystic, CT:

Where: Alice in the Village, 27 Coogan Blvd #26a, Mystic, CT 06355
When: Saturday, December 16th, 2pm
What: Editor Ellen Datlow and several contributing authors of MAD HATTERS AND MARCH HARES: ALL NEW STORIES FROM THE WORLD OF LEWIS CARROLL’S ALICE IN WONDERLAND will be driving down from New York City for a reading and signing at an Alice-themed tea house, Alice in the Village, in Mystic, Connecticut! Come join Ellen Datlow and authors Matthew Kressel, Genevieve Valentine, C. S. E. Cooney, Jane Yolen, Kris Dikeman, and Richard Bowes for an afternoon of fiction, poetry, and the bizarre stuff of Wonderland.

The second reading is at the KGB Bar in Manhattan:

Where: KGB Bar, 85 E 4th St, New York, New York 10003
When: Monday, December 18th, 7pm
What: Ellen Datlow presents: Mad Hatters and March Hares, with guests: Richard Bowes, Kris Dikeman, Matthew Kressel, Genevieve Valentine, Katherine Vaz, and Ysabeau Wilce.

Hope to see you at these events!