News! Updates! Something!

It’s been a minute! There’s been a lot going on since my last real update, including several publications, a number of gorgeous contributor hard copies, a couple of award nominations and one (1) entire WorldCon. And as things piled up and I kept neglecting to update this space, it just grew into a bigger and bigger Thing Looming in the Corner that I subconsciously ignored. So while I may talk about the other stuff in a year end post, I’m going to start clean here.

I’m suuuuper excited to share that I’m going to have a poem in the upcoming anthology The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread, from Neon Hemlock Press. I’ve always loved everything Neon Hemlock’s put out, so I was thrilled when dave ring reached out and asked if I had any poems that would fit the theme of “queer gothic depravity.”

Oh, friend, have you ever come to the right place 😀

Publication is currently slated for February 2024, with pre-orders open now. Link for both pre-orders and the amazing lineup of authors: https://www.neonhemlock.com/the-crawling-moon

Poetry Drop – Fireside Fiction!

Once again, I’ve given up trying to be timely with my updates and just feel accomplished that I remember to update at all. Last March I had a poem published in Fireside Fiction, acquired by guest editor Aigner Loren Wilson, copyedited by Chelle Parker. The full title is the longest one I’ve ever written at 15 words: “A Message From Her Feline Self, Unborn, to Her Cousin, Whose Ancestors Were Once Wolves” and is I think my favourite title to date. The poem itself contains dreams and futures and a bit of blood and a lot of fury. I feel strongly about almost everything I’ve published, but I am especially proud of this one.

Extra exciting, my poem was chosen to be the cover piece for the month’s issue, which means associated cover art! Jessica McCottrell created this absolutely gorgeous piece that captures so much of the poem’s essence and tone. I’m still blown away every time I see it. Full image at the artist’s website here.

Art by Jessica McCottrell, http://www.j-jacks.com

It’s somewhat bittersweet though, as this will be the last time my work appears in Fireside. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two poems published with them, (previously: “Mother Tongue” in 2019) but after ten years of publishing, the magazine will be closing in July of this year. Fireside has always been a force of fair pay and diversity in publishing, and I’m glad to have been even a small part of their legacy. They will be greatly missed.

Poetry Drop – Kaleidotrope!

New poem out in the world! “Grandmother Spider” can be found in the Spring 2021 issue of Kaleidotrope. This one is about heritage and stories and an ever-changing world and while it isn’t built entirely around my desire to incorporate the word “trochanter,” it isn’t…not, either.

Lots of good stuff in this issue (as always), so please do check it out!
https://kaleidotrope.net/spring-2021/grandmother-spider-by-jessica-cho/

Poetry Drop Day: Frozen Wavelets

It’s been a hot minute, but I have a new poem out in Frozen Wavelets issue 3! “Eclipse” is a short shot of haetae imagery and my second published poem featuring haetae, because I love them and I’m never going to stop.

I’m going to join a lot of people in saying that it feels real weird right now to be talking about words and poetry, especially speculative poetry, with everything else going on. But sometimes all I can do is continue to make art.

Direct link to the poem here: https://frozenwavelets.com/issue-2-2/eclipse-by-jessica-jo-horowitz/

Poetry Drop Day: Anathema!

Okay. Okay okay okay. I’m only four? days late this time. Whatever. Time is an illusion, and lunch time doubly so.

I’m super excited to be rounding off the end of National Poetry Month with two new poems up at Anathema: Spec from the Margins. Along with publishing consistently amazing work (and I say that entirely without bias), Anathema’s goal is to showcase fiction and poetry exclusively from queer, BIPOC writers and that endears them to me greatly. This is the second time I’ve placed poetry with them and can say that their team is great to work with and they’re open to subs year round, so if you meet the criteria, I would encourage you to submit.

(As an aside, providing an issue’s entire poetry section is a first for me, and hoo boy, not having someone else’s work to hide behind when the impostor syndrome hits is a whole new kind of stress. WHO KNEW.)

I wrote “Heart of the City” for my writing group’s poetry challenge, with a 20 line limit. The main piece of critique I received was to expand it, add more detail and context and I thought, okay, there’s my revision goal. But when the time came to revise, I realised I liked it vague. I preferred it vague. Because it’s not a poem that tells a story, it’s a poem that makes a promise. Read here: http://www.anathemamag.com/heart-of-the-city

“Pieces of Me” came from hitting a point where I was just DONE with being exoticised through food comparisons. It’s a personal piece and I still get a little squirmy seeing it out in the world, but…there it is. Read here: http://www.anathemamag.com/pieces-of-me

Poetry Drop Day: Apparition Lit

Look, I’m just going to admit that I’m real bad at these.

I have a new poem in the world, in Apparition Lit’s Transformation issue! The issue came out last week and the poem went live on the website back on Monday but really, who’s counting (not me, clearly).

It’s a small bit of Little Red Riding Hood retelling, in which Red steps outside her story and explores what it might be like to be more than a child, more than a granddaughter and more than either hero or helpless.

This is my second poem at Apparition and both times I’ve worked with them, they’ve been absolutely lovely. Good humans, good editors, good publication. I highly recommend them to anyone thinking of submitting. Their next submission window opens May 15th, to the theme of Redemption.

You can buy their current issue here: https://apparitionlit.com/issues/

Or read the poem online here: https://apparitionlit.com/stories/all-the-better/

Belated Story Drop Day: Daily Science Fiction

In true Jess fashion, I forgot to post about this when it actually happened. In my defense, there’s been a lot going on in the world and despite not leaving the apartment for any non-essential outing, my brain has been all over the place.

Anyway, “Prophecy” dropped back on March 18th over at Daily Science Fiction and has the distinction of either longest or shortest it’s ever taken me to write a story. I started incubating the thought about two years ago and while I liked the idea, I struggled to pin down the right form. Then late last year, the pieces suddenly fell into place and I spat it out whole in a couple of hours, in between stages of baking bread. Pretty sure there’s still flour in my laptop.

Growing up, I developed some strong feelings about prophecy stories and for the most part, I still don’t like them. I don’t like how they take away a character’s agency. I don’t like how the FATE OF EVERYTHING comes down to one person– that’s just bad math on the part of the Universe. I don’t like how the Chosen One trope often relies on line and lineage to make someone special (looking at you, J.J. Abrams).

So I took all my feelings about prophecies and Chosen Ones and fate and just stopping to think a minute, and kneaded them all together, shaped it into a gender non-specific form and baked up a story with a healthy side of hope and bucking expectations.

I don’t always like my work, but I’m very happy with how this one came out. Available to read for free, here: https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/medieval/jessica-jo-horowitz/prophecy_fantasy