The Stars Are Forever

Happy Pride Month readers!

This month's newsletter is primarily about updates: updates to my writing projects, and to my life and work situation. But first, I'm going to kick off Pride Month by sharing some of my very queer stories.

If you like light horror and Scandinavian folktale retellings with a queer twist, "Ghost Girl," published in Nightscript VIII, is for you. In this short story, Katja finds hope, love, and vengeance against the man who wrongs her, with help from her pissed-off ghost baby daughter. You can read an excerpt here and purchase the anthology here on Amazon. Content warnings for sexual assault and child death.

If you fancy a probing look into the later life of Lord Byron, plus his inappropriate relationship with the page boy Lukas, then you might check out "The Greek Boy" in Bosie Magazine Issue One. You can download the issue here for free on Gumroad. Content warnings for childhood sexual abuse (Lord B doesn’t assault anyone).

If you want something light, sexy, and healing, then take a look at "Bello," originally published in Foglifter Volume 5 Issue 2. It's about a one-night stand in the gorgeous city of Florence, Italy, that takes an unexpected and wonderful turn. You can read the entire story for free here on my website.

And lastly, if you want a dash of humor, listen to my audio play "And Ten More Years." The play follows Emery, James, and Ren, a thruple celebrating their ten year anniversary, though things are hardly idyllic (as life is wont to be).

Doesn't Mean It Has to Be that Hard

Now for some updates on my writing.

Right now I am still querying my first novel, The Weight of the Impossible, in hopes of securing agent representation, or, finding a small press to publish it. I'm currently revamping my query letter, because the current query has not been getting many -- if any -- responses from agents. Hopefully, once I get that letter rewritten (again) I can send the updated version out to agents and have some good news in the future regarding The Weight of the Impossible.

As for my second novel, Dancing Underneath You, I'm still plodding my way through it, though at a slower pace than I expected at this juncture. I've had to push back my deadline for the current draft due to some life changes, but I'm on track to finish it next year. Then it will be onto rewriting and revising the novel.

You can read more about these works-in-progress here on my website.

You Don't Want to Miss Your Ticket Out

The major reason I've had to push back the deadline for Dancing Underneath You is mostly to do with work. That is, I've finally secured a full-time teaching position. Starting in August of 2026, I will be an English and Humanities faculty member for a small community college. I'm thrilled that I'll be teaching writing and literature once more and that I’ll be at a community college, which is where I’ve always loved working. But, it does involve moving again -- maybe not to another country. Still -- it’s a change, and part of starting another new chapter in my life.

In light of these significant changes, I decided to give myself more time on my current novel, and I’ll be skipping the newsletter in August. My next newsletter will come out in October 2026.

Until then, you can find me on my website, BlueSky, and Facebook, and read past issues of Wellspring in the archives.

I hope you all have a lovely June and a great summer if you're in the northern hemisphere. If the southern hemisphere is home for you, have a nice winter.

PS. The title of this newsletter and the headers comes from "Leaving Town" by Dexter Freebish. You can listen to it here on Youtube and here on TIDAL.