I spent most of 2021 working on novels, but I did have one (long) story published and it’s one of my favorites:

Anything Short of Death is Survivable

Science Fiction Novelette (8,373 words) published in Lightspeed Magazine #135 August 2021.

Indentured “space rat” Olive works for Grubb scavenging derelict battleships from a long forgotten war that shattered the universe. What she finds on her latest salvage might be the key to freeing herself from generations of accumulated debt—if she can manage to escape the eye of Grubb’s robot watchdog.

Olive feared she might vomit which would be a really dumb and dangerous thing to do since her mouth was sealed off (along with the rest of her skin) against the vacuum of space. Basically, her insides had nowhere to go. She swallowed hard. Only little kids got space sick and she wasn’t a little kid, she was fourteen. As soon as the hatch had opened and she went rushing out into the empty, Olive’s skin crystalized—just like it was supposed to.

⭐ A Tangent Online 2021 Recommended Reading List pick!

“A tense, action-packed story about the resilience of hope, and it’s a wonderful read!”
Charles Payseur, Quick Sip Reviews

“Full of action set in an imaginative future.”
Kevin P Hallett, Tangent

📖 Read Anything Short of Death is Survivable right now for free at Lightspeed.

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