It started out as a silly little story about robot pirates. It didn’t end there, though.

In an environment like this, it’s hard to even imagine things getting better. Turning back the tide of climate disaster, ejecting the fascist goons from power and holding them accountable for their crimes—these are things that are possible to do, I understand, yet they just… aren’t happening.

Maybe they’re never going to. Maybe things aren’t going to get better.

But what would it look like if they did? Perhaps we could speculate! Fictionally!

Maybe keeping my head down has saved me from threats I’ll never know about. There’s sure a hell of a lot it hasn’t protected me from. I’m still breaking the law every time I use a women’s bathroom. I’m still tempting fate by existing as a trans person in public. I’m still living in a state that wants me gone, in a country that wants me dead.

So maybe I’m done keeping my head down.

“Hot Teeth” is my lightest, silliest story yet—and also the one that’s gotten the most professional recognition, I guess! Maybe people like silly. Maybe the fact that I had so much fun writing it led to people having fun reading it.

Maybe I could do worse than lingering in the sunshine a little longer.

Recently I read a passing mention to an author trying to rack up 100 rejections in a year. I figured that would be a good motivator for me, so I gave it a shot. I guess I vastly underestimated my capacity for rejection, because as of December 9th I’ve tallied 181 rejections. That works out to roughly one rejection every two days. That’s, uh…that’s a lot of rejection!

I’ve had six published stories in 2025! If you’ve enjoyed reading them, keep them in mind when submitting for this year’s awards season.