Ash Vale Updates: March 2025
New SFF magazine launching and a new story of mine to read for free!
As of today, I can officially announce - a new science fiction, fantasy and horror magazine is coming, and I’m one of the co-Editors in Chief!!
OTHERSIDE is a magazine of speculative fiction for 2SLGBTQIA+ writers and poets!
The best way to support us right now is to join our Patreon (for free if you want!) to get our monthly newsletters, or to follow us on social media: BlueSky, Twitter (X), or Instagram!
Our amazing staff so far includes myself, M. R. Robinson, V. M. Ayala, Angel Leal, Rukman Ragas, and Emily Yu.
In October we’ll be starting a Kickstarter to fund our first year of issues, and we’ll open for submissions in January 2026. I can’t wait and I’m happy to be able to share the excitement now! We have some more details on our socials, you can check it out here.
Writing
Out Now
I have a new story out at Dreamforge Anvil! This is the story of a young boy immigrating from Norway to Canada, who puts a troll in his pocket. The skogstroll tries to navigate his new life, stuck in this foreign place, where he’s alone and not understood by the people around him.
This story was loosely inspired by my dad’s own immigration to Canada as a kid, and the feeling he’s described to me of not speaking the language well and not quite fitting in, and how difficult that can be to handle, especially as a child. It meant a lot to me that it was published, and I’d love if you gave it a read!
In Progress
Reverse outline is done on my romance novel, and I’m about 7k words or 4 chapters into the second draft. What an interesting process—I’d consider myself a pantser, and an underwriter, which just means that I write less than I need to and flesh it all out later. The novel’s first draft was not “a thing you’d read as a novel”, so much as disparate but connected ideas. So the second draft is really fascinating to write, because I use all my notes from the first draft to make something much more novel-shaped. It’s flowing pretty well, I have to say! Hopefully next month I’ll be further along and have more updates.
My Recs
Books/TV
Book Rec - I read Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto and reaaaaally enjoyed it! This book is like if Ocean’s 8 was way less white and way less cis, and focused more on taking down a tech billionaire (something I only daydream of right now). It’s very family-focused and presents interesting characters, and the action of it was really well done. Highly recommend.
I watched a TV show, which for people who know me, is a huge deal. I barely watch TV. BUT I started watching The Pitt after seeing people talk about it and like. Holy shit it’s phenomenal. If you liked Grey’s Anatomy but didn’t like how absurd their storylines got (no Izzy it’s not okay that you’re having sex with your ghost husband), and you like some gritty realism and fast-paced action, you might like this show. The cast is all delightful (shoutout to Mel and Mohan, my loves) and it presents all kinds of real-world medical issues in a way that’s complex but kind. Anyway I love it!!
Short Stories/Poems
My first rec this month is a brilliant short story but also just so fitting for The Times We’re Experiencing. 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care at the End of Days by Samantha Mills in Uncanny Magazine is this beautiful dissection of apocalyptic multiverses where you might learn to bake sourdough, or play Yahtzee, or you might end up in a future where you fight so hard that it’s exhausting, or a future where you don’t fight at all and regret it. It’s uplifting in the tragic way that only the future can be.
Next is Against the Grain by Lindz McLeod, at Hex Literary. If you were a mammoth mortician, would you be good at your job? Would you take the grief of others into yourself and promise them only the best of care for their loved ones? Would you gently wash the paws of the dead, even when it’s difficult? A really stunning flash piece about humanity, experimentation, and ultimately, death.
Y’all are going to be so tired soon of me saying “this made me cry” because, here’s a secret: I cry a lot. I’m a crier. But I mean it when I say Emily Rinkema’s story Another Little Piece, at Wigleaf, made me cry. For anyone who has parented or been around toddlers, it’s just so believable and understandable to me that a 3-year old might find a dead squirrel and decide she needs to sleep with it. And do you, as a parent, say no to your wailing child holding a dead squirrel? And as a parent, do you sometimes do things that you regret immediately after? Anyway, you should read this.
Music
Last month I was like hey, here’s this super profound song by Pulitzer prize winner Kendrick Lamar! And this month I fully expect 95% of you won’t like this song and fair warning, it’s horny and kind of gross. Both things I love! Cain Culto raps, sings and plays the violin on this queer song.
Something Extra
This is my spot to put whatever I want I think and this month I’ve decided to just share with you this artist I found who makes prints of video game and movie flora and fauna!! Holly Sweet is based in England and does these gorgeous illustrations of plants and flowers from popular franchises, labelled like they’re in a museum display. I’m going to pick up a few prints so I wanted to share the love!
That’s all, friends, stay safe, and I’ll see you next month!