Anaxagology for December 2023

The soundtrack for this month’s newsletter is Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas,” a plea for peace and an end to war:

WIP Update

I'm currently deep into writing my next middle grade novel (43,000+ words so far), a modern-day seaside mystery adventure with a touch of supernatural. I’m on track to finish the first draft in January. It will then get a quick going-over before I send it to my agent for notes. Because I’m lazy and have limited patience, I hate doing major heavy-lifting when rewriting. Instead, I do detailed planning and pre-writing before I start the first draft so that my first draft is usually pretty solid.

I can’t give away too many of the details just yet, but as a way to set the mood and share my excitement about the project, I put together a mood board representing some of the most important and exciting plot elements in the novel.

There may (or may not) be a majestic blue whale, a classic (yellow) submarine, an ominous sea cave full of secrets, and fantastical sea beasts. Oh, and tentacles. Big ones.

It’s quite an adventure.

New SF Short Fiction Coming Next Month

My new science fiction short story, “We Shall Not Be Bitter at the End of the World,” will be published this January (just a couple weeks away!).

As the reality-bending cosmic menace Wormwood hurtles toward Earth, a 12-year-old boy celebrates his final birthday, finding hope among an unlikely collection of unusual friends and fantastical creatures.

I wrote this story as an act of self-comfort in the end times. It’s also a love-letter to my paranormal-pop-culture infused 1970s childhood.

Here’s a sneak peek of the opening:

Check out the rest of the story plus my author interview next month in Lightspeed.

Recommended Reading - Holiday Edition

I love Lauren Ring’s short fiction, and here’s her poignant tale of a young girl who finds herself suddenly alone and stranded on a failing moon colony. With limited ingredients and air running out, she sets out to make latkes to celebrate Hanukkah by herself. It’s perfect holiday reading and a much-needed story of hope and perseverance.

Wrapping Up

And that’s it for 2023. I deeply appreciate every one of you. Thank you for subscribing to and reading this newsletter.

Lastly, I still have a handful of Bluesky invite codes available, so if you’d like to join me there, just ask (reply to this email). I’m happy to hand them out so don’t be shy about asking.

Happy New Year.

ICYMI

If you’re just joining the party, here’s a rundown of what I’ve been up to and where you can find my work.

I will be a guest on the Shining Moon podcast after the new year, discussing YA and middle grade fiction.

My short SF story, “We Shall Not Be Bitter at the End of the World,” will be published in the January 2024 issue of Lightspeed. My SF flash fiction “Under a Star, Bright as Morning” is also forthcoming at Lightspeed. Consider subscribing to get great science fiction and fantasy stories every month.

My most recent published short fiction, “The Boy Who Ran from His Faerie Heart” is free to read at Lightspeed. Visit my Bibliography for a full list of works and links.

I wrote for Nickelodeon’s Glitch Techs, an animated sci-fi adventure about teens who hunt video game monsters that have broken out into the real world. I also created and co-executive produced Amazon Studio’s first live-action kids and family series, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, about three kids whose life is anything but normal.

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About this Newsletter

Anaxagology is a free monthly(ish) newsletter from TV writer, SFF author and novelist David Anaxagoras. Subscribe now! You can find more about Dave at his website, or follow him on Bluesky.