Tag Archives: Jules Verne

A Kraken Gets Shortlisted for a Hugo and Wins a British Award

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🦑 In recent good news, my 2023 short story How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub”—a tale of colonialism, sea monsters, and men of ambition—is a finalist for the Hugo award (wow!) and a few weeks ago, won for Best Short Fiction at the British Science Fiction Association Awards! (Whuuut?!) Back when it was featured in January 2023 by Uncanny Magazine, it was my first published new short story in three years. So, these acknowledgments have been some wonderful surprises. Didn’t know this short story had legs—or in this case, tentacles! Below is somewhat of a repost from what I wrote back in January 2023 on the story’s origins and inspiration, with some updates on recent events.🦑

Image: “Le Poulpe Colossal,” drawing by Pierre Denys-Montfort, engraved by Étienne Claude Voysard, 1801

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How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub- New Fiction for 2023

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It’s 2023, and my first new published short story in over a year appears in the double-sized Issue 50 of Uncanny Magazine, alongside a host of phenomenal authors. “How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub”—a tale of colonialism, sea monsters, and men of ambition.

Image: “Le Poulpe Colossal,” drawing by Pierre Denys-Montfort, engraved by Étienne Claude Voysard, 1801

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An Ode to the Anti-hero

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staggerlee_mIn 1900 a black laborer named Robert Charles set off a massive manhunt after an altercation with New Orleans police. Before all was done, Charles would shoot well over 20 whites sent to apprehend him, killing several. Altogether, 28 people (the exact number is truly unknown) would die in riots, including Charles, who made a last stand in a burning building. The violence that surrounded him continued to swirl and claim others even after his death. The last turbulent days of Charles life would make him a monster to many and a folk hero to others. For black musicians, he became one of the legendary “bad men”–those near mythic black anti-heroes of superhuman capabilities, whose acts of defiance were both celebratory, captivating and frightening.

painting: Cruel Old Stagger Lee, by Van Orno

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