Obligatory 2023 Roundup Post!
(Okay, I really didn’t feel obligated to write this. I really wanted to!)
This year has been awful and awesome.
Awful because of multiple health issues turning into so many appointments, tests, and maintenance tasks that the weight of it all escalated to a point where I am now recovering from mental and physical burnout.
Awesome because… well check it out!
Iris and the Crew came to Earth!
Those who follow me on the socials have seen how much I have been promoting this book. But Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! is a work that means so much to me. Fed up of being an “Only” during the pandemic as in, only people like me who are chronically ill or disabled will die or get long-COVID, I needed to flee where disability is so accommodated, people don’t even know what a disabled person is. Iris and the Crew has that world-building. But it’s still a fun Cait Gordon space opera (and of course there are scenes with dessert).
Where to buyThe ultimate WTF moment at the Prix Aurora Awards
I did not have this on my 2023 Bingo Card. At. All. And it was so funny behind the scenes because Talia and I were in casual clothes. She was even wearing a T-shirt that said, I’m here, I’m Queer, and my pain is moderate to severe! I had just finished a panel earlier that day in my sleeveless top and jeans. We didn’t think we’d win, so we didn’t change for the award ceremony!
And then we won in an unprecedented tie with The Astronaut Always Rings Twice!
Where to buyI moderated a disability panel at Can-Con 2023!
It was my first time back at an in-person conference in four years, and I had the honour of moderating a panel I had proposed called Disability in SciFi and Fantasy: Worldbuilding for disabled heroes. Joining me as panelists were the amazing Ada Hoffman and Melissa Blair. Our discussion was fantastic and there were wonderful questions from the audience too.
Two anthologies included my stories!
For the first time ever, I wrote a foreword for a book! That was awesome. Mighty: An Anthology of Disabled Superheroes (edited by Jennifer Lee Rossman and Emily Gillespie) also includes my anti-ABA and pro-ABBA story, “Putting a Bee in Their Bonnet.” What happens with my autistic 50something superhero? All I can say is with great music comes great responsibility…
Where to buy
My flash fiction piece, “Alien,” is in There’s No Place, edited by H.E. Casson. I just love how H.E. is so inclusive about the spectrum of homelessness that they even include a glossary that defines the various diversity of homelessness experiences. I am thrilled to have a work in this collection!
Where to buyInterviews happened!I spoke with humans about my work and disability representation!
NOW with Dave Brown—November 7, 2023I was so thrilled to discuss Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! with Dave Brown on Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) TV!Speculating Canada, a discussion with host Derek Newman-Stille—November 5, 2023This was a great talk and nice to be part of the relaunch of Speculating Canada’s website!
Interview with Cait Gordon on Disability in Science fiction, Humour, and Space OperaThe Self Advocate: Summer Reading Episode with with Dev Ramsawakh and Cait Gordon, July 18, 2023
Disability advocate and CFRO 100.5 FM Vancouver Co-op Radio host Alison Klein interviews Dev Ramsawakh and me about our advocacy and literary works.
(There’s no transcript for this episode, but if you enable Live Captions on Google Crome, the captions should appear when you play this episode.)Cosplaying, at last!
The Squidblings are back! And now Nat is blue!
E.D. Bell, Melissa Yi, Eric Rockfort, and I are dressed in red capes as superheroes. We all have stories in the Mighty anthology!Another nomination!
I discovered two really cool organizations that support the works of indie and small-press authors: Indie Story Geek and WriteHive! Indie Story Geek has a website full of book listings you can peruse. WriteHive hosts the Indie Ink Awards and have cool events too!
And Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space is a nominee in the Writing the Future We Need: Disability Representation by a disabled author category! (Dec 31 is the last day to vote!) I would love for Iris and the Crew to make it to the finalist round, but I’m very happy I found out about these cool orgs!
What’s next for the rest of 2023?Well, food, of course! Bruce and I are making our annual Hogmanay meal and yes, WE WILL RELEASE THE CRANACHAN!!!
Have a safe New Year’s Eve, folks, and all the best for a great 2024! See you next year!
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre, disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us (a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist) and Nothing Without Us Too (a 2023 Prix Aurora Award winner).
Header image phot by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com
