Publication News! “Detours on the Way to Nothing” and “How the World Became Quiet”

I have two pieces of publication news that I wanted to put out through the blog! Of course, they’re both a couple of weeks late. ;)

Detours on the Way to Nothing

First, I am really pleased to say that one of my older stories, “Detours on the Way to Nothing,” has been reprinted in Lightspeed Magazine. It originally appeared in Weird Tales which was being edited by Ann Vandermeer at the time and I am *so glad* that I got to be part of her run. It was one of my first five or ten acceptances, and I was over the moon. I’m glad that the story is out there for more people to look at now.

Here’s a link and a taste:

Jude Griffin also interviewed me about the story. Another excerpt:

What was the genesis for “Detours On The Way To Nothing”?

I usually start writing stories with an idea, instead of an image, but for this one, it just started with an image.

How the World Became Quiet

Also, my short story, “How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth,” is going to be reprinted in John Joseph Adams’ anthology, WASTELANDS 2. You can see the cover here and the table of contents includes super cool people like Junot Diaz, Paolo Bacigalupi, Genevieve Valentine, Keffy Kehrli, Maria Dahvana Headley, and Nancy Kress.

“How the World Became Quiet” is the titular story from my Subterranean collection which came out this fall, HOW THE WORLD BECAME QUIET: MYTHS OF THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, which is sold out from the press but still available from some vendors like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story:

During the first million years of its existence, mankind survived five apocalypses without succumbing to extinction. It endured the Apocalypse of Steel, the Apocalypse of Hydrogen, the Apocalypse of Serotonin, and both Apocalypses of Water, the second of which occurred despite certain contracts to the contrary. Mankind also survived the Apocalypse of Grease, which wasn’t a true apocalypse, although it wiped out nearly half of humanity by clogging the gears that ran the densely-packed underwater cities of Lor, but that’s a tale for another time.

Humans laid the foundation for the sixth apocalypse in much the same way they’d triggered the previous ones.