New story day! My short story Men with Tails is now live at Uncanny Magazine and free to read online. This story was both tremendous fun to write and a catharsis of sorts. It is the first time I have written a character with the same long COVID symptoms that I have. I feel seen! By myself, lol. Seriously, though, I hope my fellow sufferers in the world of short speculative fiction do feel seen. Long COVID is not a homogenous disease. It presents differently in different people. No matter what your symptoms, I wish for you the same things that I wish for myself: that your periods of remission get longer, your symptoms milder, your life a little closer to ‘normal’ with every passing year.

Back to the story itself. I was interviewed by Caroline M. Yoachim in this issue, and she called it “a beautifully crafted tale of family, poetry, and monsters.” (Thank you, Caroline!) As I mention in the interview, it is the first time I have used a series of dated entries to write a story. I had a lot of fun with this structure. I earnestly ask that you do not miss the footnotes. They are an essential part of the story! In my eyes, at any rate. I also wish to draw attention to the second last entry. It is not gibberish, as it might seem, but a coded entry. I used a simple substitution cipher, followed by some manual substitutions of my own to make it more interesting. Anyone out there enjoy deciphering codes? That extra bit is for you.

Lastly, I want to point out that the mother in this story plays a starring role. My own mother has frequently complained about the lack of good maternal representation in my work – a valid criticism. I hope Men with Tails makes up for that lack.

Thank you Uncanny Magazine for giving a home to this story.