Over the last few years, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading, learning about, and writing short fiction, and I’ve been really happy to see 2023 start with some acceptances and publications in some dream markets and exciting anthologies. So far in 2023, I’ve published short stories and flash fiction in magazines like Shoreline of Infinity, Hexagon, The Maul, Seize the Press, Janus Literary, Tales to Terrify, and Crow & Cross Keys. (Find these and others here!)
I’ve been noticing some writing trends in my upcoming and recently written works. While last year, I was focussing a lot on Scottish folklore while I put together my Dark Scottish Folklore collection (soon to be on sub!) I’ve pivoted a little more into SF and horror stories lately. AI and robots are also featuring heavily in my recent work (a sign of the times?) and most of the stories below deal with tech in some way. Though there’s a majority of bad-tech-is-scary narratives, there are a couple of more hopeful ones, too. I think I might just about have enough dark SF stories to put together a collection, but that’s for the next project…for now, here’s what I have coming up so far over the next few months:
Short Stories
‘Hush, Little Sister’ in Obsolescence, from Shortwave Publishing (May 16th): I’m so excited to be in this book alongside such an amazing ToC. And, it’s absolutely stunning (look at the books to the left)! This story also sparked contact with my novelette publisher, so it’s extra cool. ‘Hush, Little Sister’ follows Izzy returning to her childhood home after her parents’ death, to sort out the estate. The catch: her twin sister, who died as a child, still haunts the hallways as an 8-year-old hologram.
‘The Medium’s Assistant’ in BFS Horizons #16 (May/June): This story was the 2nd Place Winner in the 2022 British Fantasy Society Short Story Competition and I’m excited to see it come out in BFS Horizons (a first publication there for me!) It’s told from the perspective of the AI hidden inside a fake Medium’s head, who analyses human signals and backgrounds on the spot to communicate to its “Great Master”. The tale, as with most of my Dark SF stories, takes a sinister tale as the lives of those that the Great Master has taken advantage of, catch up with him.
‘The Gathering’ – Shortwave Magazine (June 7th): This is a fun SF horror story that I definitely enjoyed writing! ‘The Gathering’ takes place in a world where ghosts need to be harvested from dying planets for wormhole-travelling spaceship fuel. One harvester finds they might be haunted after a particularly challenging gathering. (A slightly dark Ghostbusters in Space vibes!)
‘The Botanist of Sky City Celeste’ in The Dérive from Air & Nothingness Press (July/August): I was delighted to be invited to write a story for this cool anthology of stories inspired by psychogeography and “Dérive“, the idea of “unplanned journeys through landscapes” which is definitely simplifying it, but it’s a really cool idea for a project. My story takes place in Sky City Celeste, a Solarpunk-style dome built in the sky. It follows Gus, and his drone friend Fern, as they have been sent to make a delivery to The Botanist of the Great Garden. But, Gus decides he wants to explore the city first, as he may not get the chance again. Along the way, he challenges Fern to question its own Agency, and explores idea of artificial intelligence and ideals of communal vs individual living. It was fun to write, and slightly different than my usual stories. The story will be accompanied by a map of my fictional city of Celeste, which is exciting! I’m also looking forward to reading the other stories by Marie Croke, Cameron E. Quinn, and Ana Sun. (Thank you Todd at AAN Press for my first anthology invite!)
Flash Fiction
‘Crosswords and Coffee’ – Calliope Interactive (May/June): This is a cool one as it’s going to be animated for a new interactive fiction app, and I’m looking forward to seeing this format. The story follows a couple going about their daily routine of crosswords and coffee on a spaceship as they travel (what feels like endlessly) towards their next mission. This was also a finalist in the Escape Pod Flash Fiction Contest last year, so I’m glad it eventually found a home!
‘Rain Days in Biodome Three’ – National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2023 (June): This is a very short flash about a boy left behind alone in a biodome after a quarantine incident. He marks time (time is the theme of the anthology) by the scheduled artificial rain days. This one isn’t upbeat (sorry), but I’m glad to be in this year’s NFFD anthology! I’ll also have a reprint of a drabble about a sinister house coming out on National Flash Fiction Day online, on 24th June – they post stories regularly throughout the day.
‘To Catch the Dual-Sunrise’ – The Commuter, Electric Lit (5th July): Electric Lit is a dream venue, and I had to read this acceptance email a few times to believe they were going to publish my quiet SF tale! This story follows a robot who, while on a planetary exploration mission with their human crew, sneaks out of camp in search of the perfect place to watch the dual-sunrise. It’s hopefully a nice and wholesome one, to balance out the gloom and dread of some of my others!
I’ve a few more stories scheduled for end of the year, including with Wyldblood Press, Dark Matter INK, and World Weaver Press, but will do another post later in the year with those! For shorter but more regular updates, and eventual links when the stories publish, I post monthly details on my newsletter too. Sign up here!
* All images taken by me, created in Canva or from Pixel Free images.
LYNDSEY CROAL 