Some Highlights from 2023.
I have been consistently publishing this newsletter every month for five years. One of the things I’ve learned from starting this newsletter and keeping up my website is just how much we forget. It’s been nice to look back each month and take stock of the things I’ve accomplished. It’s also created a sense of structure to my creative work and helped me manage and maintain goals. Now, with the way many social media companies are imploding, it’s more important than ever to carve out a space of one’s own on the internet. No matter what happens I have this website as a record of the work I’ve done. Of course there are still many other places to follow me online.
I’ve been writing poetry based on a mastodon community of writers who share haiku prompts everyday. Everything I posted in 2023 can be found here along with other poems I wrote throughout the year.
I created illustrations of a different bird for each month this year. Check out all the illustrations I did in 2023. Here are all the abstract sketchbook illustrations I created in 2023.
I produced podcasts for both MIWarren and The Detroit Socialist this year. Those podcast episodes can be found here. I am always interested in editing, producing, and writing transcripts for podcasts. Reach out if you are interested.
I published one fiction zine this year. Print out a free copy here. Read the short story here.
As always, I published zines of all the work I created in 2023. Print them out for free and learn how to fold them here.
If you’d like to support me on a continuous regular basis you can set up a monthly donation to my art supply fund. There are levels of regular donation you can contribute, everything over a dollar comes with rewards. If you’d like to make a one-time contribution go here.
All of my original artwork, writing, and music are available for purchase and for licensing. I am available for other creative services as well. See them here. If interested please contact me here.
2023 in Lists
Books I Read in 2023
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood illustrated by Zoe Thorogood
Dracula Bram Stoker
Begin the World Over by Kung Li Sun
Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
Fart School by Mel Stringer illustrated by Mel Stringer
The Darkening Age Catherine Nixey
American Cult: A Graphic History of Religious Cults in America from the Colonial Era to Today various artists
Rememberings by Sinéad O’Connor read by Sinéad O’Connor
Maroons Adrienne Maree Brown
Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right about Why You Hate Your Job Gavin Mueller
Several People Are Typing: A Novel Kasulke, Calvin
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire Edited by Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Mike Merryman-Lotze
Short Stories in French for Intermediate Learners Richards, Olly
Information Desk: An Epic Schiff, Robyn
Weird Fishes Mariz, Rae
The Luminous Dead: A Novel Starling, Caitlin
The Keeper by Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes illustrated by Marco Finnegan
A Fire Story by Brian Fies illustrated by Brian Fies
At The Mouth Of The River Of Bees Kij Johnson
Fruiting Bodies by Ashley Robin Franklin illustrated by Ashley Robin Franklin
I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You, and Other Stories Julianna Baggott
Taaqtumi Aviaq Johnston, Richard Van Camp, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley
The Hard Switch Owen D. Pomery
Accidental Czar By Andrew S Weiss Illustrated by Brain Box Brown
The He-Man Effect Brian Box Brown
Ducks Kate Beaton
Cannabis The Illegalization of Weed in America Brian Box Brown
The Bus Paul Kirchner
Helpmeet Naben Ruthnum
Everyone on the moon is essential personnel Julian K Jarboe
Short Fiction I read in 2023
The Creature
Rachel Handley
https://365tomorrows.com/2022/01/15/the-creature/
Sister, Silkie, Siren, Shark
By: Ariel Marken Jack
http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/sister-silkie-siren-shark/
The Wolf and the Wedding
by Svetlana Ilyinykh and Rachelle Desimone
https://www.tumblr.com/brideofsevenless/706369310081384449/i-found-it-its-called-the-wolf-and-the-wedding
TRYST
Despy Boutris
https://fracturedlit.com/tryst/
A Brief Catalog of Humans, as Observed by the Cryptids of Encante
by Ruth Joffre
https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/a-brief-catalog-of-humans-as-observed-by-the-cryptids-of-encante/
Everything So Different and the Same
K.C. Mead-Brewer
https://fracturedlit.com/everything-so-different-and-the-same/
Spatchcock
Sarah Rosenthal
https://fracturedlit.com/spatchcock/
Outgrowth
Sonia Feldman
https://waxwingmag.org/items/issue28/51_Feldman-Outgrowth.php
A Girl Defines Herself
by Ruth Joffre
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/a-girl-defines-herself/
Non-Paternity Event
Stephanie King
https://www.invisiblecitylit.com/fiction/non-paternity-event/
Not Dad
Jake Symbol
http://thoughtportal.org/2023/03/18/not-dad/
How to Stay Married to Baba Yaga
M. Hallow
https://www.bafflingmag.com/issue-eleven/how-to-stay-married-to-baba-yaga
Silver Soul and Shining Wings
by Andrew Knighton
https://factorfourmag.com/silver-soul-and-shining-wings-by-andrew-knighton/
Dracula’s Guest
by Bram Stoker
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dracula%27s_Guest
Men Seeking Men by Will Howard
https://www.passagesnorth.com/passagesnorthcom/2021/2/5/men-seeking-men-by-will-howard?ref=short-reads.org
Climate fiction to imagine a better world
https://grist.org/climate-fiction/audiobook-2023-imagine-2200/
7 Flash Fiction Stories That Are Worth (a Tiny Amount of) Your Time
https://electricliterature.com/7-flash-fiction-stories-that-are-worth-a-tiny-amount-of-your-time/
17776 (also known as What Football Will Look Like in the Future)
Jon Bois
https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football/chapter-1
She is a small god
capsule_169
https://cohost.org/capsule-169/post/2087822-she-s-just-a-small-g
delicate circuitry degrades and hermetically sealed joints conspire to clog with dust.
Else, or close enough ✨
https://cohost.org/else/post/2090111-the-new-drive-is-a-b
I was cursed when expecting you
https://microsff.tumblr.com/post/725213848453480448/when-i-gathered-the-courage-to-tell-my-mother-that
Unhearable Music: A Sci-Fi Tale
Annalee Newitz
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/unhearable-music-science-fiction-1234770203/
It always amazes me how small a lost human is
capsule-169
https://www.tumblr.com/capsule-169/728822281909993472/a-pressure-suits-emergency-transponder-is-about
26 Monkeys, Also The Abyss
By Kij Johnson
https://kijjohnson.com/online-library/26-monkeys-also-the-abyss/
Names of Water
By Kij Johnson
http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2011/01/04/starshipsofa-no-170-jack-williamson-kij-johnson/
Story Kit
by Kij Johnson
https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/story-kit/
Sultana’s Dream
by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain
http://thoughtportal.org/2023/09/22/sultanas-dream/
Ponies
Kij Johnson
https://web.archive.org/web/20120107093000/http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/11/ponies
CANDYMAN (Audiobook) “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker – 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHwOcFAZ7Ms
Halloween Horrors 1977
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9TsHehltcQ
The Golden Arm
Joseph Jacobs
http://thoughtportal.org/2023/09/30/the-golden-arm/
What is your wish?
MicroSFF
https://microsff.tumblr.com/post/729804154238828544/what-is-your-wish-the-genie-said-that
I noticed a new god in the temple
https://twitter.com/WatsonDJJ/status/1709512545130729616
when a book is loved, it’s infused with a kind of soul that brings it into the spirit realm
MicroSFF
https://microsff.tumblr.com/post/730896485041979392/so-youre-dead-mm-the-ghost-said-must-be
A group of mysterious, hooded figures approached me
MicroSFF
https://microsff.tumblr.com/post/731430670002503680/a-group-of-mysterious-hooded-figures-approached
Strange Horizons Palestinian Special
http://strangehorizons.com/issue/29-march-2021/
The Green Ribbon
by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Dirk Zimmer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3PIkV2anqk
The Teeth
by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Dirk Zimmer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sOZvD_cqMM
The Night It Rained
by Alvin Schwartz and illustrated by Dirk Zimmer.
https://youtu.be/GGopj8gp2gE
the tiny church to our own personal god
http://thoughtportal.org/2023/12/05/the-tiny-church-to-our-own-personal-god/
The shadows that rush past : a collection of frightening Inuit folktales
by Qitsualik-Tinsley, Rachel
https://archive.org/details/shadowsthatrushp0000qits
Cat Pictures Please
by Naomi Kritzer
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15/
Mental Diplopia
By Julianna Baggott
https://reactormag.com/mental-diplopia/