In Autonomous Press’s Spoon Knife 7: Transitions, I have a weird little short story called “Don’t Eat the Canapes”. It’s about what happens when you seek out gods and paradoxes.
Published in March 2023, this anthology of 19 stories edited by Nick Walker and Mike Jung includes “Tales of transition and initiation, of life-changing encounters and moments of choice, of people who stumble into unexpected love or weird magic or designer lawn scams.”
About the Anthology
From the publisher: “Autonomous Press is an independent publisher focusing on works about neurodivergence, queerness, and the various ways they can intersect with each other and with other aspects of identity and lived experience.” The anthology itself was built around the theme of “Transitions” from one state to another.
I enjoyed every one of the stories in this anthology. Overall, I’d say they skew toward offbeat science fiction. I went snooping around the internet to find some of the authors of works that I was particularly taken with after reading them. I had to learn more about the character of Jordis from Dora M. Raymaker’s “My Father’s Skin” – killer, actiony sci-fi that made me want more. Cirrus Wood’s “Lawn Moving” was so deeply weird and deeply satisfying at the same time.
About the Story, “Don’t Eat the Canapes”
I remember setting out to write a story that approximated the alien feeling that I had, navigating my autism as a mythologist. Being a person who can pattern-find across myths and pantheons, and then who is comfortable with the cognitive dissonance of deep paradox isn’t always the comfiest way to be. It certainly doesn’t always translate to straight academic writing.
I wrote the story, then saved it in a folder of drafts where my writing goes to die. Years later, I found it again, having mostly forgotten the act of writing it. It was science-fictiony, very weird, and I found it delightful. I’m happy it has a place to live in this anthology because I’m not sure it has many possible homes.