Reclaiming Joy – A WriteHive Anthology

Welcome friend! Today, I am hosting the cover reveal for Reclaiming Joy, an upcoming anthology by Inked in Gray. All profits from this anthology go to the amazing WriteHive community which seeks to foster a safe, diverse community and provide free, inclusive events and resources for all writers, especially those from marginalized communities.. Let’s read together about the stories in the book and the authors!

About the Contributing Stories & Authors

The Chocolate Fairy by Sarina Dorie:

We all need a future full of joy. The Chocolate Fairy is about reclaiming joy through magical means. Who doesn’t need a fairy godmother who gifts the worthy with chocolate? Saoirse must clean in order to mitigate the building sensation of chaos in her life and restore balance to the universe—and to get a reward from the chocolate fairy.

Sarina Dorie has sold over 200 short stories to markets like Analog, Daily Science Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and F & SF. She has over eighty books up on Amazon, including her bestselling series, Womby’s School for Wayward Witches.

A few of her favorite things include: gluten-free brownies (not necessarily glutton-free), Star Trek, steampunk, fairies, Severus Snape, and Mr. Darcy.

You can also find Sarina on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

We Need Pretty Things by S. M. Fox:

We Need Pretty Things is set in a high stakes world, where sometimes a person can feel silly for finding little things important. But they are important. Pretty things, cultural roots, and new life, no matter how small, can grow and thrive even when we feel like it’s not enough.

S.M Fox writes myth-based fantasies. Her Arthurian inspired novel, The Seven Wives of Octavian, will be available on Amazon in spring, 2023. Follow her on Twitter @SMFoxAuthor.

Of Friends and Floating Orbs by Matt Bliss:

Of Friends and Floating Orbs captures adolescent joyfulness in the face of something otherworldly. It is often childhood optimism that is lost as we venture into adulthood, and with a future as uncertain as ever, sometimes the importance of fun and friendship is enough to see the world through another lens: that where happiness still exists despite fear’s attempt to rule.

Matt Bliss is a construction worker turned speculative fiction writer from Las Vegas, Nevada. He believes there’s no such thing as too much coffee and is the proud owner of too many pets. His short fiction has appeared in Metastellar, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and other magazines and anthologies. If you don’t find him haunting the used book aisle of your local thrift store, you can always find him on Twitter at @MattJBliss.

Scales by Emmeryn Palladino:

Scales is a story about the struggles of coming to terms with and accepting transitioning in a world that doesn’t want its normalcy threatened. Scales is about self-determination in the face of adversity; it is a future where we face the same struggles of self-identification, self-doubt and violence, and pursue it anyway. To do anything less is a disservice to yourself.

Emmeryn Palladino is an author and game designer with degrees from NYU and Manhattanville college. When she isn’t designing worlds she’s working on her debut novel and thinking about being a big lesbian, sometimes at the same time. Follow her writing Twitter at @Emmerynwrites or her personal Twitter @gamemakerm.

All Demons Great and Small by K. M. Veohongs:

All Demons Great and Small is a fabulist story about the tricks depression can play on us and how, for some, the path to understanding we deserve help is seeing others accept it.  

K.M. Veohongs is a mixed race Thai-American writer living in New England with her family. Her alter ego is a veterinarian whose superpower is charming goats, and her work is featured in Translunar Traveler’s Lounge and an upcoming anthology from Weird Little Worlds Press. You can find her on Twitter (for now) @kmveohongs and also on Mastodon @kmveohongs@wandering.shop posting pictures of her pets and cheerfully complaining about writing.

Before the Bloom by Kiera Alventosa:

Before the Bloom is about a Hispanic girl, Maria, and her family’s struggle against a futuristic, eco-fascist regime. Their oppression comes in the form of targeted food insecurity, and a government that places the value of technology above multiculturalism and diversity. In the face of this, Maria finds hope and joy through her community, her heritage, and through the act of planting a garden.

Kiera Alventosa is a Hispanic American woman from Long Island, New York. She is passionate about her heritage and uplifting the voices of her community, particularly through an environmental justice framework. Last year, she received a MA in Writing from the University of Warwick, focusing on environmental fiction, short stories, and poetry. This year, she is completing a MSc in Nature, Society, and Environmental Governance at the University of Oxford. She can be contacted at kiera.alventosa@gmail.com or through her website. She can be found on Instagram @kieralventosa or on LinkedIn.

The Welcoming Sky by Carter Lappin:

The Welcoming Sky is a science fiction story about looking forward to a better, brighter future.

Carter Lappin is a Californian author. Her works of fiction have appeared in publications such as Apparition Lit, Air and Nothingness Press, Dreadstone Press, Manawaker Studio, and WorldWeaver Press. You can find her on Twitter at @CarterLappin.

Seeing Turquoise by Arwen Spicer:

Seeing Turquoise is a fantasy exploration of how climate grief can lead to learning and hope through respectful coalition building between Indigenous and settler colonial people. It explores how we, as colonizers, can begin to reorient our relationship toward Indigenous people and our shared world in non-oppressive ways.

Arwen Spicer is a science fiction writer from Sonoma Mountain, California and has a scholarly background in Utopia Studies. Following the burning of her home in 2017, she has explored climate grief in both fiction and non-fiction. Her recent fiction has been published in the Ursula K Le Guin-inspired collection, Dispatches from Anarres, and Fabled Collective’s Women of the Woods. Arwen lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner, two very teenage teenagers, and their feline household deity. You may also find Arwen through her blog (labingi.dreamwidth.org).

The Third Place by Emma Sloley:

The Third Place is a story about negotiating the brutality of daily life on a blight-ravaged planet but also about cooperation, compassion, and the pursuit of joy. 

Emma Sloley’s fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in Catapult, Literary Hub, Yemassee journal, Joyland, The Common, Structo, and the Masters Review Anthology, among many others. Emma is also a MacDowell fellow and a Bread Loaf scholar, and her debut novel, DISASTER’S CHILDREN, was published by Little A books in 2019. Born in Australia, she now divides her time between the US and the city of Mérida, Mexico. You can find Emma on Twitter @Emma_Sloley and www.emmasloley.com

After the War by Valerie Hunter:

After the War is a story about the struggles people face after tragedy and how regaining a sense of hope and joy can be difficult. Despite these struggles, we can always keep trying. We are never alone. 

Valerie Hunter teaches high school English and has an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her stories have appeared in publications including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Cicada, The Wax Paper, Colp, and Inaccurate Realities, as well as anthologies such as What Remains (Inked in Gray), Runs Like Clockwork (Wyldblood Press), Water: Selkies, Sirens, and Sea Monsters (Tyche Press), and Because That’s Where Your Heart Is (Sans Press). You can find her on Instagram @somanystories_solittletime.

The Starling by Lindsay Mansfield:

The Starling is about a young girl named Cadence, who forms a bond with a starling after the suicide of her mother. While the story is dark, it shows that even during someone’s darkest hour, hope and empowerment can be found.

Lindsay Mansfield writes horror and speculative fiction – or whatever has captured her attention for the month. When she is not writing, she can be found yelling (loudly) at video games. Connect on her website and Twitter.

In Tandem by Karl El-Koura:

In Tandem is about a married couple who’ve become complacent. The story follows the couple as they gain insight into each other’s creativity and are reminded of their partner’s mystery, wonder, and complexity. The world needs everyone’s voices and stories because we need to be constantly reminded of the wonder and complexity that is each human being.

Karl El-Koura lives with his family in Canada’s capital city, holds a second-degree black belt in Okinawan Goju Ryu karate, and works a regular job in daylight while writing fiction at night. Visit www.ootersplace.com to learn more about his work, and find him on Twitter @KarlElKoura.

The Voluntolds of America by R. Jean Mathieu:

The Voluntolds of America is about a Lebanese-American woman, trapped in student-debt-bondage via a backbreaking agricultural labor “job”. When a “coworker,” one of her good friends, dies, she tries to coordinate a memorial. In honor of Hope, she reclaims joy in the form of a very public art installation (with the help of her fellow Voluntolds) that helps everyone still trapped in the system.

A franco-californien armed with a wok and a word processor, R. Jean Mathieu has hauled sail, served tea, hung beef, sold cell phones, and once even used his own coat as a zip-line sixteen stories above the streets of Hong Kong. He writes every flavor of fiction under a variety of noms de plume. He and his wife, Melissa, keep a good table when not writing side-by-side or chasing trains to the next adventure. You can find Mathieu’s award-winning stories in Ecopunk!, Blood on the Floor, RJeanMathieu.com, and Amazon.com.

Tea and Treasures by Raven J. Demers:

Tea and Treasures is a fantasy story about a family breaking apart told through two perspectives. First: a middle aged mother facing her parents’ death without closure and a recent divorce who rediscovers her childhood imaginary friend, who isn’t so imaginary. Second: her adult, non-binary child who faces increasing bigotry for their refusal to hide who they are. Amidst their struggles, what seems to be pulling them apart, will ultimately help reunite this broken family, and find new, joyous purpose.

Raven J. Demers writes speculative fiction and is the author of Perdition and The Corvid and the Calico and co-author of the Amakai series. Xe earned a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington and is a member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association. Raven lives in a forest near Seattle, WA with xyr family and believes the answer to xyr farming obsession might be ducks. More information can be found at: satyrsgarden.com or @neversremedy on Twitter

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Thank you so much for reading this post. Inked in Gray is a small agency of marginalized editors and creators building a platform to highlight previously-excluded authors and creators. Find Inked on Twitter, Facebook, and website. Sign up for their newsletter here. Inked in Gray is sponsoring this anthology by WriteHive community and all profits will go to them! Check out WriteHive on their website, Twitter, Instagram and Discord.

Which story are you most excited to dive into?

Preorder the anthology using this link. Happy reading!