It’s been an honor to participate in this free sci-fi and dystopian collection of 12 brand new stories. I’m so excited that shortly after release, When All That’s Left Are Stories climbed the ranks of Amazon up to #1 in science-fiction anthologies. I’m sure this ranking will be temporary with new books coming out all the time, but for now I’m very happy.

The editor described our collection like this: 

Twelve writers from around the world bring their unique visions of the future to these pages. This dystopian and sci-fi collection allows readers to explore new worlds, new technology, and new traditions, while holding fast to the hope that makes us human.

A short summary of my story “Ancillary Nonsense” is, “Haunted by happy memories turned painful, a young wife finds her place in a post-plague world.” It was inspired by a nightmare I had during my second pregnancy (during the beginning of the pandemic). I’ve been told the vibe is a bit like The Walking Dead season with the farm, but this story has no zombies or gore in it.

Reading the other pieces in When All That’s Left Are Stories was an enjoyable reprieve for me with a lot of stress lately, especially “Facing Caligula’s Disease in the Red Eyes of a Death Machine” by Dewi Hargreaves and “We Used to Fly by” Lauren Cipollo.

I would be honored if you picked up your free copy: When All That’s Left Are Stories.

Circling back to my story being inspired by a nightmare, just last night, I was dreaming that I was a ghost from our time who could sometimes be corporeal and who faked being alive by working over Zoom. Somehow, the ghost was transported back into Salem witch era and was stuck as corporeal and about to be burnt at the stake for being a witch.

Do you have any odd dreams you’d like to tell me about? I’d love to hear them.

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P.S. My dream last night, I think, was inspired because after looking at laundry tags yesterday, I recalled in Dark Shadows Revival that Victoria Winters being able to decipher laundry tags was considered rune work and she was going to be burned at the stake for witchcraft. Here’s a nonsensical legend of laundry symbols that I thought was funny and maybe you will too.