What the hay is Cait up to? — March 2025 Newsletter

Okay, I am finally making a monthly newsletter! WHOO! Yet another thing to distract me from *gestures at the Orange and his minions*. Still, newsletters can be fun, so let’s dive in!

What the hay am I watching these days?

Content note: mentions of drunk driving, mental illness

I have managed to get the Broose into Shrinking. I love this show so much. It has seamless diversity—intergenerational, racial, sexual orientation—and everyone in it just shines. There’s also seamless mental health representation and disability representation. My little disabled heart leaps for joy every time I watch it. Shrinking stars Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist grieving the loss of his wife, who was killed by a drunk driver. Jimmy’s a mess and basically has gone missing in action as a parent for a year. His 17-year-old daughter Alice (amazingly played by Lukita Maxwell) is not having his sudden turn-around to want to be in her life, especially since she’s had to rely on the next door neighbour for any kind of parental support since her mom died. Meanwhile, Jimmy is still practicing as a therapist in a small clinic run by the guff Dr. Paul Roades (Harrison Ford). Roades and fellow therapist Gaby (Jessica Williams is the best) steal every scene they are in while giving Jimmy their opinions. You would think this is a drama, and they don’t dispel hurt in this story, but it’s also a laugh-out-loud, intelligent comedy. Season Two’s finale was EVERYTHING! Learn more about Shrinking here! Five stars from this disabled crone!

What the hay am I reading?

So many books! Oh my gosh, my brain finally unlocked after the pandemic robbed it of the ability to read for pleasure. This year, I’ve read:

Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot Time and Tide by J.M. Frey Triad Magic by ’Nathan BurgoineI Don’t Do Disability and Other Lies I’ve Told Myself by Adelle Purdham The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

I’m currently reading

Disability Intimacy (edited by Alice Wong), for book club Alphabet Soup by Gregory A. Frankson, for a podcast interview Griffin and the Spurious Correlations by Krista Wallace

I know! I’ve gone from zero to “gimme all the books!” But I will be slowing my pace soon because I’m not a machine. It’s just really nice to casually read again. It’s way better than doomscrolling.

What the hay is happening with my writing?

I’m currently in production for my very first short story collection! It’s called Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain. It has fifteen tales, most of which have been published over the course of the last decade, but there are new ones, too!

A nonbinary Alice accidentally enters their own clubbing wonderland because of a smiley app and Bong Guy. An autistic writing instructor who hates ABA but loves ABBA becomes an unexpected hero. A “silent” mermaid-siren noted for keeping oceans safe from poachers is guided to one who might not be like the others. A disabled space pilot couriers precious cargo for the Network while trying to evade the eugenics-based brigade who wants to keep people like her “safe at home.” A descendant of Frankenstein’s monster is having her sweet sixteen party, but her mother’s gift stops the teen in her rollator’s tracks. Explore this collection of 15 tales of queer life, disability, romance, power, defiance, and resilience.

The foreword author is nine-times Prix Aurora Award winner Derek Newman-Stille! And this best-selling author has this to say about my collection:

“Cait Gordon writes with infectious joy and energy, and with a sense of humour that is never far from the surface even in the darkest moments. This collection has it all, from mermaids that seem very real to bus stops that seem uncanny. It’s a delight from start to finish.”

Kate Heartfield, Prix Aurora Award winning author of The Embroidered Book

I know, right? How honoured am I to have the literary support of these awesome humans? Speculative Shorts will be released in the Spring of 2026 by Dinsdale Press. Cover reveal in January 2026!

What the hay is going on with the 2025 literary awards season?

“Bev the Hacker Does Time” is my first-ever short story to receive a nomination! It’s a 2025 Indieverse Award nominee in the Anthology, Collection of Short Stories, or Short Fiction category!

This story first appeared in the Laughs in Space collection, edited by Donna Scott. It will also be in Speculative Shorts!

Bev the Hacker is also eligible to be nominated in the Best Short Story category for the 2025 Prix Aurora Awards!

My beloved disability rebellion space opera, “Courier of the Skies,” which first appeared in Spring into SciFi 2024 Edition (Ed. Cloaked Press), can be nominated for a 2025 Prix Aurora Award in the Best Short Fiction category as well!

How the hay do you nominate my short stories for a Prix Aurora Award?

If you are a Canadian or Permanent Resident, you can become a member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA) for only $10 CDN! What’s cool about being a member is that you not only get to vote for your faves for the Prix Aurora Awards, but you also get free reads of the nominated works that end up on the final ballot! You can learn more about the CSFFA by clicking here.

Key voting periods:

March 1-April 5, 2025: This is when you can vote for the nominees by selecting them from the eligibility lists for each category. “Bev the Hacker Does Time” is in the Best Short Story category!June 7-July 19, 2025: This is when you can vote nominated works for the final ballot!What the hay? I’m gonna stop eating cake???

Content note: religion

Oh my freaking word. Yes, I have decided to give up eating baked goods for a Lenten fast. My husband accidentally called it a Lentil gesture, and I went down a rabbit hole. Am thinking of all the types of dishes we can make during Lent—with lentils. Because why should I ever act like a grownup, right? (I also love lentils.)

Thanks for reading and following!

Hope you enjoyed my update! You also can follow me on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads by searching for caitgauthor! Cheers!

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.