I’ve long failed the challenges involved in keeping up with the latest speculative fiction, but I’ll make the extra effort to hunt down and give a shout out to the likes of Cody Goodfellow with his latest, The Flying None. A writer who is not only difficult to define, he has actually concocted a body of literature all its own independent of horror, science fiction, Bizarro, etc. Such an immense imagination and talent is hard to confine to the written word, so Betty Rocksteady‘s unsettling whimsical retro art accompanies this one. Her art is what happens when Al Colombia has a nightmare about Betty Boop who tears her face off to reveal Camille Rose Garcia, though that only approximates the images Rocksteady creates. She’s also a fantastic writer of the odd and uncanny in her own right. Greatly anticipating this one.

Very cool to see that S.L. Edwards and Scott Nicolay have new books on the way from Word Horde. Edwards’ collection Monsters of the Sea and Sky was exceptional and deserved far more attention. His ability to convey the horrors of colonialism and the traumatic spectres of history is second to none. Edwards has also selflessly supported small press unknowns like myself, and I cannot thank him enough for that. Looking forward to his debut novel In the Devil’s Cradle. And Scott Nicolay’s Ana Kai Tangata remains one of my favorite debut collections, so his sophomore collection And at My Back I Always Hear is bound to be outstanding. Congratulations to both. Word Horde has posted that these new releases should be available in March and April of 2022.

Christi Nogle‘s debut novel Beulah is scheduled to be released in early 2022 from Cemetery Gates Media. I’ve read Nogle’s stories in Nightscript, Three-Lobed Burning Eye, SYNTH, and Vastarien: A Literary Journal, though her stories have appeared in several other places as well. I’m very much looking forward to her novel, as her writing has been consistently excellent and captivating. Definitely an author to keep an eye on. Her previous publications are evidence enough that she possesses a unique and exciting voice.