Happy May Day! Happy short story day! Hah. Yes, I have a new story out today and it is a truly special one for many reasons, which I will lovingly detail below. The Library of the Apocalypse is a science fantasy story set in a future dystopian Toronto, and is free to read online in Issue 224 of Clarkesworld Magazine. It’s a very Canadian story, and one I could not have imagined writing a year ago. If you like my work at all, you should read this one. And if you have never read my work, why then, this is an excellent place to start.

Now let me list all the ways in which this publication is special to me.

1. It’s Clarkesworld. This may not mean much to those who are not into science fiction short stories. But if you are, then you know that Clarkesworld, publishing continuously since 2006, is a multi-award winning magazine that has consistently produced excellent SFF for years. It is one of the magazines, along with Uncanny and BCS, that I read most frequently. And I have never been published by them before. My first submission to them was back in 2013, when I was just starting out. It has been – gasp – twelve years. What can I say? Never give up, never surrender!

2. The story itself channels Canadian anger and anxiety over recent events. All that trash spewing from Trump’s mouth about Canada becoming the 51st state? Never gonna happen. Over our dead fucking bodies. But he wasn’t trolling us. The demented orange shitgibbon is serious about annexation. So. If the worst happens, I pray for a library escape for all of us.

3. I only had one short story publication last year. And The Library of the Apocalypse is already my second publication this year! Now, this may not seem like much, but it is a 100% increase. Mayhap my long and terrible writers block is, if not crumbling, at least showing some signs of wear and tear? I can hope.

Well, I hope that’s sold you on reading the story. In fact, read the entire issue. You won’t be disappointed. And should you have money to spare and want to support an excellent science fiction magazine, consider subscribing.