Wendy N. Wagner's Blog

Amazing quote from RUE MORGUE!

If you’re a horror fan, you have a soft spot in your heart for the legendary horror magazine, Rue Morgue. They interviewed me about Girl in the Creek, which was thrilling. It’s so exciting to see my book cover up on their front page:

Even more amazing was the writer’s kind words about the novel:
“GIRL IN THE CREEK is an outstanding book, proving that Wagner is a horror writer at the top of her game, with a refined, assured voice deftly executing exactly what she aims to do.”

Hooray!!! I’m going to be happy-dancing the rest of the day.

Tampa Bay Comic Con!

Tomorrow morning I fly out to the Tampa Bay Comic Con! I’m so excited about the event, and I’m glad that while I’ve got something going on every day, I don’t have too packed of a schedule. Here’s where I’ll be each day:

FRIDAY, 8/1

4:00 pm – Wendy N. Wagner Book Signing Session :: Booth 1441

6:00 pm – Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox: Writing in IP :: Room 115

Stephanie Carr, Dan DiDio, Clayton Sandell, Wendy Wagner, G. Willow Wilson

SATURDAY, 8/2

11:00 am – Wendy N. Wagner Book Signing Session :: Booth 1441

2:00 pm – Battle of the Tropes :: Room 115

Stephanie Carr, JP Roth, Gretchen Schreiber, Wendy Wagner, G. Willow Wilson

4:00 pm – Screamworthy Scenes: Horror on page and screen :: Room 113

Chris Alexander, Jeffrey Reddick, Wendy Wagner

SUNDAY, 8/3

12:00 pm – Oh! The Horror! :: Room 113

Chris Alexander, Barb Jones, Wendy Wagner

1:00 pm – Wendy N. Wagner Book Signing Session :: Booth 1441

I can’t believe all the cool people who I’ll be on panels with! I am trying not to get too anxious. But I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and getting to encounter lots of great horror folks. I hope I’ll see you there!

The GITC Book Tour!

7/15: 6:30 pm – Barnes & Noble, Clackamas Town Center (in conversation with Caitlin Starling)

7/16: 5:30 pm – Tattered Cover, Denver (in conversation with Matthew Lyons)

7/17: 6:00 pm – Underbrush Books, Rogers, AR (in conversation with John Hornor Jacobs)

7/18: 7:00 pm – Milkweed Books, Minneapolis (in conversation with Donyae Coles)

7/19: 7:00 pm – Towne Book Center, Collegeville, PA (with M.E. Mullins)

7/21: 7:00 pm – Third Place Books, Bothell, WA (in conversation with Isabel Cañas)

7/25: 6:30 pm – White Rabbit Books, Oregon City, OR

Some of these events DO require an RSVP, so click on the link to see just what the venue has to say.

I am so excited to get to meet readers from all across the country. I hope you can join me at one of these awesome events.

Good news!!

Some pretty exciting updates have happened in the past month. For one, I’ve learned I’m a finalist for the Locus award for Best Editor! I’m so proud of the work I do at Nightmare Magazine, so it’s fantastic to be recognized.

Another amazing thing: Girl in the Creek was given a STARRED REVIEW in the Library Journal!!! The reviewer called it “A tightly written master class in horror, this is a short, well-paced novel where every detail matters.” You can check out the full review here.

I admit I saved that clipping to read and re-read. I saw a review at a different publication (no names, but its initials might be PW) definitely missed the point of the novel. I know this book won’t be for everyone, but I’m so happy one reviewer loved it!

It’s awards season!!

Everyone in science fiction, fantasy, and horror is talking about award nominations. The Hugos have opened for nominations. The Nebulas are wrapping up their award nomination period. The Locus award has opened for votes. For creative folks working in these spaces, it’s the time to frantically promote your work while feeling bad you either aren’t doing enough to promote your work or that you’re doing too much self-promotion.

I’m proud of the work I did last year, but because I didn’t have any books or short stories released (or at least no short stories that came out in a major venue), I get to spend this season loafing around and being relaxed. Of course I’m very proud of the work Nightmare Magazine did — we have two stories on the Locus Recommended Reading List and a handful of works on the Stoker Long List — but since the magazine itself doesn’t qualify for any awards, I’m not sweating it.

I guess I do qualify in the Locus and Hugo’s editorial categories! For both of those awards, those are categories that tend to get overlooked, and the few people who do nominate tend to just write in the most famous editors in the industry. I’d love to see more recognition for editors like E. Catherine Tobler (The Deadlands), Danai Christopoulou (khōréō), DaVaun Sanders (Fiyah), Scott Andrews (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) and Alex Hofelich (PseudoPod)!

I guess what I’m saying is that if you read a short story in 2024 and you loved it, you should nominate the person who edited the magazine. There are a ton of great folks making short fiction awesome right now, and it would fill them with joy to be nominated for one of the few awards that recognize editors.

March is getting busy!

March kicks off with a very fun event at the West Linn public library: the Read Local Author Fair! Looks like about fourteen writers from around the Portland area will be there. Please stop by and talk to us about how we got into the writing business and what we’re reading and writing right now! I know I’ll also be selling books. (Saturday, 3/1, 12 pm, West Linn public library)

I’ll be joining legends Seanan McGuire and Chuck Tingle to talk about horror fiction at Emerald City Comic Con! Our panel is called “Books to Keep You Up at Night” and will also feature Tor Nightfire authors KC Jones and Matthew Lyons. After the panel, join us at the Third Place Books booth where we’ll be signing books and chatting with folks! (Thursday, 3/6; panel at 4pm in Room 343; signing at 5 pm)

I’m nervous and delighted to say I’ve been invited by the Library Foundation of Hillsboro to interview N.K. Jemisin (YES, THAT N.K. JEMISIN) for their big fundraising event of the year! N.K. Jemisin will be attending via Zoom, but you can join me and the library foundation crew LIVE for a terrific time. Get your tickets here. (Saturday, 3/8, ticketed event.)

I’m really looking forward to meeting folks at all these great events!

First blurb and personalized copies

The very first blurb for Girl in the Creek has arrived, and it’s a wonderful one!

Gwendolyn Kiste is a horror writer I greatly admire, so my head started spinning when I saw her very kind words.

I’m also delighted to share that I’ve partnered with Portland’s own Broadway Books to handle preordered, signed copies of Girl in the Creek. Broadway Books is a Portland institution — I can remember shopping there when I was a young college student just beginning to explore the town. It’s owned by women and a constant support to its neighborhood. If you’re ready to order your personalized copy of Girl in the Creek, head over to https://www.broadwaybooks.net/book/9781250908643.

Saying goodbye to an inspiration

Before the ’90s, the Pacific Northwest just wasn’t culturally relevant. When my sister studied abroad during college, other Americans not only didn’t know how to pronounce the word “Oregon,” they made fun of her for living in a cultural backwater (one particularly nasty jerk joked: “Aren’t you all still fighting the Indians out there?”).

Twin Peaks changed all of this. It’s the reason why so many horror novels, movies, and video games are set in the Pacific Northwest. It created an entire aesthetic that’s wet and green and weird.

Because of who I am and what matters to me in the world, most of my work has fallen squarely into that aesthetic. I think whatever small success I’ve had has been due to that label. An Oath of Dogs was described as “Twin Peaks in Space.” In Tor Nightfire’s announcement about buying Girl in the Creek, my editor used the words “eerie Twin Peaks vibes.”

I am endlessly grateful for him for building that place for my work.

I did write more about David Lynch and how I feel about him in a free post over on my Patreon, if you want to hear more.

Happy New Year!!!

2024 was a tough year — both of my parents died (Mom in March, Dad in November), which swallowed up a very great amount of my world. But I had a lot of help and support from my fantastic friends and family, which made a huge difference.

I wrote very little short fiction last year. I had one new story released (“From the Bowl of the Gods,” which appeared the William Hodgson tribute anthology Where the Silent Ones Watch), which I actually wrote in 2023. I wrote a story about a werewolf that is forthcoming this year (hopefully).

I did finish one novel, which is currently waiting to be revised, and drafted another. I hope to get both books out on submission this year — keep your fingers crossed for me.

My novel Girl in the Creek was pushed back to release in mid-July this year, but luckily people are still excited about reading it. It made Goodreads’ Readers’ Most Anticipated Horror Novels for 2025 list! If you’re over there, go ahead and the book to your “want to read” shelf today.

Other delightful events in 2024 include a nice backpacking trip, seeing the northern lights, and finishing my first ultramarathon. I hope to do more of both in 2025, and I’m looking forward to getting to more fun author events — I’m already scheduled to present at Emerald City Comic Con, Crypticon Seattle, and Cascade Writers summer workshop!

Sending you all wishes for good health and happy reading in 2025! I hope we run into each other.

Sturgeon award nomination?!?!?

I am so amazed and grateful to announce that my story “An Infestation of Blue” (Analog, Nov/Dec 2023) has been nominated for the Theodore Sturgeon award! The Sturgeon award was established in 1987 to recognize that most outstanding SF short story of the year, and has showcased work by some of my biggest writing heroes, including Ursula K. LeGuin, Ted Chiang, Nancy Kress, and Ken Liu.

This year’s nominees include some of the most exciting writers working in the genre, and it’s absolutely surreal to see my name beside theirs. I am so grateful to the crew at Analog for putting this story out into the world, Ray Nayler for helping me revise the piece, and A.C. Wise for her support and encouragement.