Hi friends,
It’s hard to believe that 2025 is already drawing to an end. I spent this year slowly finding my footing in both a new city and a new job, both of which have been an absolute whirlwind and also incredibly rewarding.
In between moving and working, I published three new stories this year:
“Pandora’s Formula” in Strange Horizons: What if scientists discovered an extremely easy formula for ending the world?
“The Octopus Dreams of Personhood” in Diabolical Plots: What if an octopus asked to borrow your body and make all your decisions for you?
Plus, a bonus shoutout to a story from last year:
“Everything in the Garden Is Lovely” in Apex, about a woman who gets sentenced to transform into a garden, was a finalist for the 2025 World Fantasy Award. This was my first WFA nomination, and I was so surprised and delighted.
Fiction recommendations
So many people have published incredible short fiction this year. These are a few I’ve deeply enjoyed, in no particular order:
“When Eve Chose Us” by Tia Tashiro in Diabolical Plots: about a woman whose best friend chooses to join the hive mind
“Symbiotic” by Carolyn Zhao in Clarkesworld: about two people who are joined into a single body
“10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills in Uncanny: about ten potential apocalypses (which hits on a lot of the same existential angst that I’ve been grappling with as well)
“Wire Mother” by Isabel J. Kim in Clarkesworld: about a girl whose mother is a digital simulacrum instead of a meat person
Book recommendations:
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar: a short, lovely fairy tale that cherishes grammar in a way that touches my soul
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson: Is it a murder mystery? A tournament story? A high fantasy? Why not all of the above?
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett: Every year I need a new franchise to scratch my Sherlock Holmes itch, and this does that so well
Good Girl by Aria Aber: gorgeous prose that taught me a lot while also making me feel extremely seen
What have been your favorite reads of 2025? Send me your recs!
What I’m working on
A few weeks ago, I signed my second contract with Uncanny! “Immigrant Girl from the End of the World” is coming out sometime in 2026. A brief sneak peek:
Sometimes Miri hates how adaptable she is. Wishes, more than anything, that she could preserve herself the way she was the day she and Lise made their promises, angry and loyal and remembering.
But on the dance floor full of other freshmen, all of them crescendoing toward their own bright personal futures, she closes her eyes, and pretends she belongs here. And for a moment, she believes it.
I’m also in the process of drafting several longer projects, which I can’t wait to share with all of you. Keep an eye out for more updates soon!
Yours,
Hannah