Published Fiction

Short Stories

“While Dragons Claim the Sky” (Fantasy novelette), FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, issue 10. (Get the issue here, and if you need any convincing, check out a couple amazing reviews folks wrote. Also, it made the 2019 Locus Recommended Reading List, and as of August 2020, it was shortlisted for an Ignyte Award in the “Best Novelette” category!)

When a breeze shook the reed curtains in mama’s salon, I thought it might be another dragon gliding low, stopping to drink from Lake Mritil. ‘Course, mama and I weren’t afraid; we loved watching them soar overhead, wings gusting hard enough to free cotton fibers and coffee cherries across Gyrixëan farms, so that croppers only had to scoop them up. So, you can imagine my disappointment when it wasn’t a dragon aloft, but a lanky huntress pushing into mama’s parlor. She burst through our straw door, letting in the noon sound of Gyrixëans haggling over pouches in the nearby spice house; testing winter tunics in the adjacent tailor’s gallery — but this wasn’t any old villager, like the rest of them. Her wolf-pelt cloak, engraved walking staff, and curved daggers marked her as a traveler. And instead of looking journey-weary, her umber skin practically glowed beneath the gauzy afternoon light.Update: As of July 2020, “While Dragons Claim the Sky” has been reprinted at PodCastle! It’s fantastically narrated; Part I and Part II are now free to listen (or read) on their site. Check out this lovely review of the audiobook version!