As the year wraps up, I’m looking back at what I did in publishing this last year. I’m not going to lie, I had a couple of really tough years so the fact that I have this much stuff out in the world feels mildly miraculous. What’s changed? Some of it is that I realized that the chaos wasn’t going to stop and so started finding new ways to work around it and be kind to myself.
The biggest of those was probably starting the Make Me Write tier on Patreon, in which I have one two hour block a week, minimum, where I am committed to writing.
Anyway, here’s what I wrote last year and… for your convenience, the categories that things would be eligible for all the various award thingies that also happen at this time of year.
Novel
THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY
Tor Books
March 18, 2025
Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.—triggering an extinction-level global warming event—Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and the Moon.
The next step – Mars.
Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. The mission objective is more than just building the infrastructure of a habitat – they are trying to preserve the many cultures and nuances of life on Earth without importing the hate.
But from the moment she arrives, something is off.
Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt.
What you don’t know CAN harm you. And if the truth doesn’t come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth…
Series
LADY ASTRONAUT SERIES
Tor Books
2014-2025
The Lady Astronaut series follows Elma York, a pilot and mathematician, who strives to be the first Lady Astronaut in an alternate version of the 1950s and beyond.
The Calculating Stars, book one in the Lady Astronaut series, won the Hugo for Best Novel, Nebula for Best Novel, and Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
In The Calculating Stars, a huge meteorite falls to Earth in 2952 and obliterates much of the east coast of the United States. Against the backdrop of the ensuing climate cataclysm, which will soon render the planet inhospitable for humanity, Elma joins the International Aerospace Coalition (IAC) as a calculator. But her WASP pilot expertise and sheer ambition may pave the way to even greater heights: becoming the first Lady Astronaut.
With a colony established on the moon and the IAC looking toward Mars, The Fated Sky leads Elma to face life-altering decisions. Could she really leave behind her beloved husband and the chance to start a family to spend several years traveling to Mars? And with the Civil Rights movement taking hold all over Earth, will the astronaut pool ever be allowed to catch up, and will these brave men and women of all races be treated equitably when they get there?
As the political situation and climate on Earth approach a boiling point, The Relentless Moon follows the story of Lady Astronaut Nicole Wargin, a pioneering Moon colony inhabitant. While Nicole is thrilled to use her considerable flight and political skills to keep the Moon colony on track, she is less than happy that her husband, the Governor of Kansas, is considering a Presidential run.
In The Martian Contingency, Elma York lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. But the moment she arrives, soemthing is off. Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt. If the truth doesn’t come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth, in this final novel installment of the Lady Astronaut series.
The series also includes The Lady Astronaut of Mars, which one the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, and the short stories, “Articulated Restraint” and “In the Moon’s House.”
Novella
APPREHENSION
Saga Doubles
October 21, 2025
A family vacation arranged by Bonnyjean, a grieving mother, her son-in-law Jax, and her six-year-old grandson Tristan, quickly becomes disastrous as Tristan is kidnapped by a terrorist operation that is hoping to affect the planet’s upcoming elections between rival parties. They believe Bonnyjean was given a secret by the double agent who died in her arms.
However, not only is this a deadly misunderstanding, but it’s also a dangerous one as Bonnyjean was last on Nahatanau when she was a special forces operative. Unfortunately, that was over thirty years ago, but she won’t let the years nor her bad hip get in the way of rescuing her grandson.
Beloved Hugo Award–winning author Mary Robinette Kowal has crafted an intricate mystery of mistaken identity on an alien planet.
Delightfully, Apprehension is part of a Saga Doubles with Sam J. Miller’s Red Star Hustle, so you get two books in one.
Short Story
(This is probably my favorite of the short stories I published this year.)
“WITH HER SERPENT LOCKS” in Uncanny Magazine Issue Sixty-Two
Hey cuz! It’s been too long. Love to come out and see your digs.
The message hung in the air, glimmering in her Heads Up Display overlaid across the moss garden she was tending. The chill that swept over Euryale made the hair on her arms stand on end and her gut churn. Her cousin wanted to visit. The asshole favorite grandson who got away with rape and murder and incest and never had to pay any consequences.
She blinked the message off and stood up, looking into the sky at the ring that arced over her world. It glowed with the golden light of a sun that was a mere star back on Earth. The other two suns were still low in the sky, but her skin burned as if they were all overhead. Beneath her cap, her hair shifted in a reflection of her rage. How far would she have to go to escape the family drama?
If she didn’t respond to him, he would send someone to track her down. He always did.
She sent a message back, keeping it as short as she could.
Why?
With the lag to the relay station, then through the wormhole back to Earth, it would be a day and a half before she could get a reply from him. Euryale turned back to the garden, patting moss on the stone back of a man huddled on the ground.
January 7, 2025 > Read Here
“TO SPEAK IN SILENCE” in Uncanny Magazine Issue Sixty-Seven
The other chicken, a bright yellow affair, had a smaller chicken sitting on her back and four holes piercing her breast. Through those holes, Big Yellow’s voice emanated, “She is late.”
Red and Black’s glazed eye glinted with announce. “Quiet. She will be here in a moment.”
December 2, 2025 > Read Here
“WHILE IT LASTED” in Lesbians in Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before
anthology by Space Wizard Press
June 24, 2025
She let herself swing back into place and closed her eyes as she concentrated on the lock. God. The irony of needing more gravity to help shift the tumblers. She repositioned her tension wrench and felt for the tumbler with the pick.
Above her, fabric brushed against plasteel.
She opened her eyes, looking up. A dark shape leaned over the edge of the airshaft, silhouetted against the blue glow of the faux night. Something glinted in the light.
Shit. Long practice kept her from cursing out loud, but she grabbed for the ventilation grate. Her fingers locked hold of it. Her climbing line went slack.
The metal grate bit into her fingers through her gloves. As her climbing rope fell, it tangled around her.
The lock picks tinged as they dropped down the shaft, spinning away with the Coriolis effect.
Another rope fell to hang just out of reach on the other side of the grate. It hissed and shivered as a person rappelled down the side of the airshaft, speeding up as gravity tugged them with increasing urgency.
They slowed to a halt next to her, feet braced against the side of the airshaft. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to cede the field.”
“Forensics and Fallacies” in Grimoire: A Grim Oak Press Anthology For Seattle Worldcon 2025
Grim Oak Press
August 20, 2025
The stack of books that the librarian had recommended to Devin about Artificial Intelligence was awesome and heavy and came up to their chin as they were walking. The library was hushed, with light pouring in from the massive glass walls that surrounded the modern event space. But one of the things Devin loved about the library was that it was built around an old Carnegie library with all kinds of pillars and marble and shit. They always liked to grab one of the study desks next to the old marble part. It made them feel like they were a scholar from antiquity, like the 1900s or something instead of a junior in high school with a giant ass zit on their forehead.
Their foot slipped, scooting forward as something slid across the tile floor. Devin staggered, clutching the books to their chest. Weaving back and forth like a drunk person they tried to keep from dropping any of the books. Fetching up against a wall, the top book pressed into their throat and made them cough, but they dug in their chin and held on.
Letting out a breath, Devin straightened slowly, for once grateful that none of their debate teammates ever wanted to go to the library with them. They turned, looking for anyone who might have caught their clumsiness for social media. The coast was clear. Just them, tiled floors, and marble columns.
And a white dress shirt draped across the floor.
Fancast
WRITING EXCUSES PODCAST, SEASON 20
Writing Excuses is an informal but informed podcast conversation between creative colleagues and friends about the business and craft of writing. Intended for writers looking to make their first serious steps into the industry, but open to anyone who is interested in learning, the podcast delivers advice that is welcoming, actionable, and evergreen, inviting the listener into the conversation and leaving them with tools – not rules – that they can add to their own writers toolbox.