An Introduction & What I've Done This Year
(or, hello, I'm finally doing the thing)
First of all, thank you for subscribing to my newsletter!
If you’ve subscribed because you already know and enjoy my work, I appreciate your continuing interest and hope we can use this as a way to communicate as the social media sites we once relied upon crash and burn around us.
If you subscribed but don’t know me, hey—I’m glad you’re here! I write horror, dark sad fiction, and generally upsetting things. Here’s my official bio:
J.A.W. McCarthy is the Bram Stoker Award and Shirley Jackson Award nominated author of Sometimes We’re Cruel and Other Stories (Cemetery Gates Media, 2021) and Sleep Alone (Off Limits Press, 2023). Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Vastarien, PseudoPod, Split Scream Vol. 3, Apparition Lit, Tales to Terrify, and The Best Horror of the Year Vol 13 (ed. Ellen Datlow). She is Thai American and lives with her spouse and assistant cats in the Pacific Northwest. You can call her Jen on Twitter @JAWMcCarthy, and find out more at www.jawmccarthy.com
2023 in Review (aka Awards Eligibility)
If you’re a writer or reviewer, you know it’s that time again. I’m starting my first newsletter with a once-a-year wrap-up of everything I’ve had published in 2023 (not including reprints). Please note I’m listing eligibility categories specifically for the Bram Stoker Awards.
Long Fiction:
SLEEP ALONE (novella, Off Limits Press, March 2023)
For the past six years, Ronnie has worked selling merch for a perpetually touring band. Late nights, sweaty clubs, dingy motel rooms, endless roads—as rough as it’s been, there is no other way of life for this band of hungry succubi leaving bodies in their wake.
Until she meets the enigmatic Helene.
Helene is just as restless, just as lonely, and just as full of secrets. With Helene in tow, Ronnie and the band make their way across the Pacific Northwest, trying to outrun not only their mistakes, but the mysterious disease stalking the band, a disease that devours succubi from the inside out.
The hunger is as endless as the road, but maybe Ronnie doesn’t always want to sleep alone.
IMAGO EXPULSIO (THE RED ANIMAL OF OUR BLOOD) (Split Scream Vol 3, Dread Stone Press, July 2023)
Shauna’s infatuation with the enigmatic painter she meets at art school escalates into unwavering devotion when she learns about the mercilessly brutal cat and mouse game that has consumed Elise’s life. She vows to protect her, to keep her safe—but how far will she go to keep her promise? A self-portrait vomits viscera and the sinister secrets that lie at the heart of the decadently deranged “Imago Expulsio (The Red Animal of Our Blood),” where body parts and gore become fine art.
If you’re an HWA member and would like a PDF copy of either of these for consideration, please get in touch here.
Short Fiction:
RE: the hand (of god) - Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror (Crystal Lake Publishing, Dec 2023)
Meaningless Flesh - Open All Night (Atomic Carnival Books, Oct 2023)
Every Form of Person - The Canterbury Nightmares (Crossroad Press, Sept 2023)
All the Dead Astronauts - The First Five Minutes of the Apocalypse (Hungry Shadow Press, July 2023)
These Small Violences - No Trouble At All (Cursed Morsels Press, June 2023)
Consider This An Opportunity - Monstrous Futures (Dark Matter INK, April 2023)
Seldom Place - Mooncalves (NO Press, March 2023)
Short Non-Fiction:
Thai Spirits & Longing to Belong - Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror (Black Spot Books, February 2023)
I don’t have PDFs of the final version of all of these, but please contact me and I’ll do what I can to get you a copy for consideration.
That’s it for now!
Thanks for your time and interest. Don’t worry, I won’t spam your inbox. I will send out a newsletter only when I have news to share. In the meantime, I’m on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky @JAWMcCarthy
