FLAME TREE PRESS MEDUSA ANTHOLOGY
My Greek heart is so happy to be a part of a new, exciting Flame Tree Press anthology about Medusa!
Pegasus, first published in Icarus Zine and nominated for a Pushcart Prize, was the first short story I ever wrote and I’m thrilled that it now has a second home. Launching Flame Tree Press’s series of Myths, Gods & Immortals, the Medusa anthology explores this fascinating mythological figure and the various interpretations of her from ancient times to the present day. The anthology is out now!
AWARDS ELIGIBILITY 2023
This is my first awards eligibility post! If you’re reading for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus or Bram Stoker Awards, please find the links to my short stories published in 2023 below:
BRIDE OF THE GULF
Publication: January 2023. Publisher: khōréō, issue 2.4. Words: 2900. Genre: Fantasy
This is a story about remembering and forgetting—and about ancient myths living among us. It was reviewed in Strange Horizons by Maria Haskins who called it “a compelling tale that gave me goosebumps at the end.” The story has also been included in the (unofficial) Hugo Reading List compiled by Lady Business blog, featured in a BookRiot article about Greek myth retellings by Greek writers, and included in Lyndsie Manusos’s Best Fiction of 2023 roundup. If you’re a SFWA member, you can find this story in the official Nebula Reading List.
Link: https://www.khoreomag.com/fiction/bride-of-the-gulf/
PEGASUS
Publication: June 2023. Publisher: The Icarus Writing Collective, issue 01 Words: 996. Genre: Fantasy
Written from the perspective of Medusa’s child, Pegasus, this is a story about death and rebirth, about sacrifice and revenge, about motherly love and winged fury. I’m thrilled to say Pegasus has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize!
Link: https://www.icaruswritingcollective.com/the-sun-issue/pegasus
WHEN WE BECAME TREES
Publication: October 2023. Publisher: Hex Literary. Words: 690. Genre: Sci-fi/Horror
Written in 1st person plural, this is a story about burial pods gone wrong and sentient trees that are very, very hungry for company—and would like you to join them. I’m excited to say that When We Became Trees has been nominated for Best Small Fictions 2024!
Link: https://hexliterary.com/?p=1851
SUNSET WITH THE SIXTH
Publication: November 2023. Publisher: Fusion Fragment #19. Words: 2021. Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
Written in 2nd person from the POV of the Sixth Caryatid that is currently in the British Museum, this is a story about the Parthenon marbles’ repatriation (an issue very close to my heart) amid an apocalypse. The amazing cover art of Issue #19 by artist @carlydraws was inspired by this story. SUNSET WITH THE SIXTH appears on the Nebula Reading List.
Link to the Fusion Fragment issue: https://www.fusionfragment.com/issue-19/ (the PDF is free)
Check also Fusion Fragment’s official Awards Eligibility post (including SUNSET WITH THE SIXTH) here: https://www.fusionfragment.com/2023-awards-eligibility/
2023 SHORT STORY HIGHLIGHT: BRIDE OF THE GULF
Published in khōréō 2.4
A folk tale I was obsessed with as a kid, set in Thessaloniki, one of my favorite Greek cities. If stories about mermaids, music, memory and murder sound like your jam, do have a read, or listen to the amazing audio version narrated by Kat Kourbeti. It’s now available for free on the magazine’s website.
SHORT STORIES: 2022
While waiting to hear back from my novels, I started writing short stories to keep myself sane — and fell in love with short formats and how well they lend to experimenting with genre.
Below, are some of my shorts that were published in 2022.
THE MOON IS ALL WRONG HERE
Published in Haven Spec #7
Set in an exoplanet that become’s humanity’s second chance at living, this is a story about learning to belong in a world that’s very different to the one that made you who you are, and about finding new ways to re-awaken your magic.
THIRTEEN SHIPS FOR THE RISING WORLD
Co-written with Len Klapdor and A. J. Van Belle.
Published in Flourish Fiction.
“Finally, I can do something more than bury the dead. I can give a second chance to the living.”
Amidst a dying world, three generations of people (an activist, a scientist and an old woman on the brink of death) are doing their best to save the seeds of humanity.
STARDUST
Co-written with Len Klapdor.
Originally published in the Heads & Tales anthology, reprinted in Etherea Magazine #14.
Departing from the myth of Medusa and Perseus, this short story tells the shocking tale of two warring factions and their horrible weapons. Perseus hunts the monster that turned his home planet Argos into stone. But when he finds Medusa, his enemy’s pet scientist and creator of the abhorrent Petro-Virus, on a remote asteroid with her ship destroyed, he is confronted with truths that shake his beliefs to the core.
Is Medusa really the monster Perseus made her out to be? And what if they could still save Argos?
