Author: mdaviesostrom

I’m a Canadian author with a particular penchant for horror, urban fantasy, and apocalyptic fiction…or, given my druthers, some weird and wonderful combination of all three.

Can*Con Retrospective

Can*Con (an annual literary conference with a focus on Canadian Content in Speculative Fiction) has always been my favourite bookish event. Not only is it held in my home-town, but it brings together the nicest, smartest, most incredible people for a weekend of great conversations, meet-ups, and overall speculative-themed fun. Can*Con 2026 was no exception, and now I’ve had a chance to rest my brain a little, I feel (somewhat) capable of posting a quick retrospective!

This was my first year attending the con at its new Brookstreet Hotel location (after missing last year to accompany a friend on the last 100k of the Camino de Santiago, which is a pretty good excuse for missing a year, in my opinion), and I was very impressed. Spacious conference rooms, LOTS of bright, airy places to hang out and chat between panels, clean bathrooms, and water/coffee/tea stations everywhere. The vendors’ hall was twice the size it used to be, with twice as many vendors selling all sorts of fun stuff. I picked up books from the Bakka Phoenix and Little Ghost Books tables, some cute collectibles from Mona Storm, and a beautiful cat-themed scarf from the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue.

The programming options this year were stellar, and there wasn’t enough time or energy to attend every panel I wanted to see. That said, the ones I did mange to watch were, as usual, both informative and entertaining.

On Friday, I went to the Make Magic Live! and Horror is Personal panels, and then took part in the first half of the All Night Write-in hosted by the Capitol Region Writers.

Saturday was a BUSY day. I managed to attend the The Violent Victim and Data Preservation as Anti-Information panels…and missed a bunch more I would have liked to see, mostly because they overlapped and/or I was just too darn tired! Bad Hand Press gave us permission for a con-exclusive early release of RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS, so I took a turn at the signing table and autographed more than a few copies. Many thanks to Lynette for being my emotional-support-friend, and to Bakka Phoenix and Little Ghost Books for having copies at their tables. It was an incredible feeling to see my book AS A REAL BOOK and out in the world for the first time.

I also spoke as a panellist on the Discomfort as a Compass Needle panel, alongside Jason Krawczyk and Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, with the wonderful Sarah Gailey moderating. We had a great conversation about how we navigate and leverage discomfort in our writing and whether we seek to intentionally discomfort readers (or simply don’t pull punches), and ended with a brief foray into what comfort-giving elements we incorporate into our work.

In the evening, I dropped in on the Spooky Social, and turned into a pumpkin before the dance party.

Sunday was a little less demanding, energy-wise, and I was able to attend a number of interesting panels, including: The Monster at the Potluck: Food, Hospitality, and Danger in SFFH; The Mysterious Object as Horror Device; and How to Read your Work Like and Expert. I also spoke on the Welcome to Your Cozy Canadian Horror Hotspot panel with Ashley Deng and Rebecca Hirsch Garcia, moderated by Kaitlin Caul whose incredible questions kept the conversation feeling effortless. We discussed the definition of “Cozy Horror”, how we incorporate (or not) cozy into our own work, and LOTS of book and movie recommendations.

The con finished up with a trip out for noodles with most of my lovely critique group (very very good noodles!), after which I came home and collapsed.

Parting thoughts:

  • I need to be on that Monster at the Potluck panel next year! Read RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS….you’ll see why.
  • Having a support network and friends really helps navigate conventions when you’re a spoony author
  • I was (and still am)WAY more stressed about signing books than I thought I would be. Some of it’s just first time jitters, but most of it’s anxiety about spelling (which was bad before the brain injury) and dysgraphia (which is new). I can’t trust my hand to make the letters my mind wants it to, which means I stick to a very careful “To X” and then my initials. It looks pretty weak, and when I see all the other authors with their lovely, calligraphy-worthy personalizations and signatures, I wilt a little inside. Sigh. Something to either work on or come to terms with, I guess.

New Short Story Publication!

My new short story “Rapture Blues” is out today in the Cozy in the Apocalypse anthology from Angry Gable Press.

“Rapture Blues” is a bit of a departure for me, leaning more toward humor than straight-up horror, and was an absolute blast to write. That said, you can take the girl out of the horror, but you can’t take the horror out of the girl, and in this story I serve up whimsy with a side of loneliness and grief.

I’m honored to have my work included in this beautiful book, and can’t wait for readers to check out all the cozy end-of-the-world stories.

Cozy in the Apocalypse is available on Amazon in softcover and e-book formats: https://www.amazon.ca/Cozy-Apocalypse-Chun-Hyon-Lee-ebook/dp/B0HKF96XBY/ref

Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Fuck AI. No, seriously. Fuck AI. That’s it. That’s the statement.

Okay. Perhaps there’s a little more to say.

There is no ethical use of AI in the arts. The tools commonly referred to as AI, such as Large Language Models (LLM) and image-generating applications, were trained on stolen works and are antithetical to what it means to be an author or an artist. Using them is theft (and horrific for the environment), and what they spew-out is slop; a poor imitation of human creativity based on mimicry and statistical probability.

No AI was used in the conceptualization, research, drafting, or editing of any of my stories. Any errors, similes, metaphors, literary devices, or punctuation marks are mine and mine alone. Including the em-dashes. LOTS AND LOTS OF EM-DASHES. I use them because I like them; my thoughts have inner thoughts. Deal with it.

Now go support human authors and artists!

TriCon Retrospective

My husband and I been to a number of fiction conventions over the years–CanCon, StokerCon, AuthorCon, etc.–all of which we’ve enjoyed, but the inaugural Trident Conference for Speculative Fiction (TriCon, for short) stands out on all fronts. Hosted by the Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Halifax, Nova Scotia (taking place in various locations around the Westin Nova Scotian hotel) May 15-17, 2026, TriCon was a great first-time event and offered a wide selection of activities, from panels, kaffeeklatsches, blue pencil cafe sessions, signings, launches, and demonstrations to an “Editorial Idol” session and a ghost-walk of old Halifax. The panels (both those on which I spoke and those we attended as spectators) were engaging and well-moderated, and the breaks between panels allowed me to manage spoons.

It’s taken me about a week to get my thoughts in order, but here–only a week late–is an overview of our experience.

Trident Booksellers and Cafe and Kaffeeklatsches

Trident Booksellers and Cafe organized the con and was the location of the various kaffeeklatsches. Trident is a welcoming space with just the right balance of bookshelves and tables, inviting you to disappear into the stacks or socialize over hot drinks and treats. We signed up for a kaffeeklatsch with David Demchuk, author of the award winning and VERY Canadian horror novels The Bone Mother and Red X, as well as the 2025 release; The Butchers Daughter. As an author whose debut is coming out with a small press, I wanted a chance to ask David about his experiences working with both small and large publishers. The combination of a small group (six people), book store setting, and complimentary drinks from Trident made for a cozy and informative conversation. A huge thanks to David for sharing his publishing journey, giving me advice on managing signings (apparently using a custom stamp is something other disabled authors do, which is a huge relief given my TBI and dysgraphia!) and signing my copies of Red X and The Butcher’s Daughter!

Panels

One of the things that stood out at Tricon was the variety and quality of the panels. I spoke on three (and attended a pile more), all of which delivered really interesting and thoughtful conversations.

North American Fantasy (Friday May 15, 4pm): The first panel in which I participated was the North American Fantasy panel, moderated by Toril Orlesky and featuring guest of honour Amal El-Mohtar, Jennifer Giesbrecht, and myself. The conversation started broadly with an attempt (somewhat unsuccessful, but it sparked a really good discussion) to define North American Fantasy, and then dove into a very interesting exploration of whether North American Fantasy exists in opposition to traditional Arthurian-inspired fantasy or builds upon it in a way uniquely grounded in the North American landscape. We came to agreement on the idea that fantasy–and all speculative fiction–has roots that cannot be ignored, and that the genres as they exist in North America are a continuing conversation with their own pasts (and futures). For example, we discussed how Northern Gothic as a particularly Canadian genre keeps true to the roots of Gothic Fiction (slow burn horror characterized by the intrusion of the past into the present and fear derived from the subversion of the very things that should keep us safe: family, home, community) and Southern Gothic (Gothic horror rooted in the particular socioeconomic and cultural setting of the American South) by exploring Gothic stories specific to the socioeconomic and cultural setting of Canada. We also discussed what it means to be a settler writing speculative fiction in North America, and how we can navigate acknowledging that there are stories that are not ours to tell while still engaging with the place we call home. Panellists talked about how our own experiences and the stories we may have brought with us interact with the colonialist history of North America.

Reading Recs: Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline and Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury)

Body Oddity Horror (Saturday May 16, 9:30am): My second panel was the Body Oddity Horror panel, moderated by Tiffany Morris and featuring Krista Collier-Jarvis, Natalie Zina Walshots, Ariel Marken Jack, and myself. As with the North American Fantasy panel, we started out defining “Body Horror” (stories about the horror of being embodied and walking around in a weird fleshy meat-suit that doesn’t always do what it’s told AND/OR anything that gives you “the ick”) and then dove into a really interesting conversation that meandered through the history of body horror, the role of women and marginalized communities in reclaiming body horror from a primarily white, male gaze, and the inherent horrors of disability in the age of screens, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. (Yes, our body horror panel turned into a ‘WTF is going on with my body’ convo about the sheer absurdity of peri-menopause and it ROCKED!) We also talked about making sure our stories don’t reinforce harmful social narratives and stereotypes by othering those already othered, and about the body-horror potential of the digital age.

Reading Recs: I spoke a little about “gaze” in body horror, particularly zombie fiction, and how the choice of which bodies are othered by the story is something authors need to be cognizant of in terms of not doing harm. I used Shawn of the Dead, The Dead 2, and Blood Quantum as examples of zombie movies that, respectively: other ourselves (cool), other an already marginalized population from the gaze of a white, male protagonist (not cool), and other a hegemonic, colonizing population from the gaze of a marginalized, colonized population (VERY COOL). If anyone’s interested in reading a more in depth discussion, see my blog post here: https://mdaviesostrom.com/2021/11/10/some-thoughts-on-zombies-othering-and-gaze/

How to Stop Worrying and Start Querying (Saturday May 16, 12:30pm): My third panel was the How to Stop Worrying and Start Querying panel, moderated by guest of honour, agent Kurestin Armada and featuring three agented authors with book deals: E.L Chen, Faith Gladwin, and myself. This panel was much more publishing-industry focused with the aim of providing concrete advice, tips, and resources for participants. Kurestin started us off with a question about the myths we’d heard about querying/representation we’d like to debunk (things like: you need a large online platform or following, or you need previous writing credits) and then led a very useful discussion about the querying process, writing query letters and synopsis, how we chose the agents we queried, etc.

Querying Resources:

Reading Recs:

Extras

On Friday night, we went on the Halifax Ghost Walk with Dusty Keleher, a one hour and 40 minute walk through Halifax’s historic streets, with tales of spirits, ghosts, and all sorts of other creepy things. We had a great time and enjoyed the historical context provided with each story.

On Sunday, after attending a few panels, we visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, both within easy walking distance of the hotel. Both are excellent – well curated, informative, interactive, etc. At the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, we found the exhibits on the Halifax Explosion and the Titanic very interesting, and also enjoyed looking at the scale models of the various ships that brought immigrants to Halifax. Pier 21 was particularly impactful in light of the current state of things down south (it was hard to hear so many stories about people coming to Canada as refugees or choosing to make our country their home when people with similar stories are being treated so horrifically in the US), and because my own grandparents and aunt arrived in Canada at Pier 21 on March 2, 1948, on the Aquitania (a model of which we saw).

We also took advantage of Halifax’s incredible food scene. We were only able to hit up a few of the restaurants recommended, but we enjoyed everything we tried.

And of course, we bought books! Check out the TriCon haul!

All in all, a great convention. I hear it will be back next year, and fully intend to go. I’ll have a book out by then, so hopefully signings and/or readings will be on offer!

New short story drop!

If lush, eldritch horror born (literally) from a fevered dream sounds like your kind of thing, check out my latest short story, “Heavy Dreams”, in the “A Chronicle of Horrors” charity anthology.

Image of book cover with title "A Chronicle of Horrors" and an image of a Victorian man and woman having tea. They are covered in spider webs, and a large spider crawls down the wall behind them.

All proceeds from this incredible anthology go to support Scares That Care, a horror-themed organization that raises money through auctions, conventions, and annual events, including Brian Keene’s Author Con. Each year, Scares That Care gives a gift of $10,000 to three people: a breast cancer patient, a severe burn victim, and a sick child.

To learn more about Scares that Care, go here: https://scaresthatcare.org/

To find the book, go here:

Read horror, Do good!

There are no straight paths in publishing, or “How anxiety kept me from writing a ‘How I got my Agent’ post, because I’m silly that way”

The “How I got my Agent” post has become somewhat of a thing in writing circles. After all, getting an offer of representation is a milestone worthy of celebration, and many authors take the opportunity to share their experience in the query trenches, give helpful advice, and encourage others to keep on slogging.

I planned to do the same, but when the long-awaited day finally came and the wonderful Becky LeJeune of Bond Literary Agency offered representation, anxiety kicked in about two nanoseconds after the initial elation faded. Kind of a “Woohoo! Aaaaaannnd…nope” situation.

Maybe it was because I’m a bit older and more realistic (read, jaded), or because childhood bullies taught me to knock myself down before anyone else could (still hurts, but at least you see it coming). Or maybe it was because I grew up in family where pride (read, feeling good about your accomplishments, or anything, really) was subconsciously seen as bad luck; just asking for the world to kick you down a peg or two. Whatever the reason, the moment the virtual ink on the contract was dry, I started worrying that doing a “How I got my Agent” post would be bad luck, that my success wasn’t “real” until I actually sold a book. (Yeah, I know. Anxious thought make no sense.)

In my defence, there was a grain of truth behind the cognitive distortions. Having an agent is no guarantee of selling a book, just as selling one book is no guarantee of selling another. Great stories go unsold, editors and agents leave the business, and even seasoned, published authors end up back in the query trenches through no fault of their own. There are no straight paths in publishing. It’s a never-ending labour of love marked by long slogs, frequent setbacks, nonsensical back-tracks, and – if the stars align and the right manuscript lands in the right hands and the right time – the occasional success. But let’s be honest; it wasn’t practicality that kept me from celebrating my success, it was anxiety, pure and simple – a deep-seated and completely illogical fear that sharing my wins would jinx my future. (Anxious thoughts are weird little bastards, aren’t they?)

Well, now my dark fantasy novel RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS is coming out from Bad Hand Books in 2026, and, while I’m still anxious (because of course I am), I have no excuse. So, without further ado, here’s a bare bones look at my query journey; even more proof that publishing is never a straight road.

  • Queries sent: 146, over two different books
    • Partial requests: 7
    • Full requests: 19
    • Rewrites: 2 major (including a switch from 3rd to 1st person), and innumerable minor
    • Rewrites of query package: 3-4, per novel. If I didn’t get at least one request after 10-20 queries, I revised my query letter.
    • Offers of representation: 1
  • Sales so far:
    • 17 original short stories
    • 3 short story reprints
    • 1 novel (Note: Becky’s offer of representation came on Book # 2, but it’s Book # 1 we sold first)
  • Written in the interim (i.e., between rewrites & while querying and on sub); a pile of short stories, 6 additional novels (5 of which my agent has yet to see), and 1 novella.

Do I have any advice to offer? Only that everyone’s road is different, and the only way to succeed in trad pub is to keep trying. Also:

  • Do celebrate each others’ successes; other authors are our allies, not our competition, and no one outside the writing community will understand the highs and lows of publishing.
  • Do get outside eyes on your manuscript and query package. That doesn’t mean you have to hire an editor, but it does mean finding someone willing to review. Join a writers’ group, trade beta-reads with other authors, or ask a trusted friend…whatever it takes to ensure someone finds those three times you misspelled “canyons” as “crayons”, before you send your MS out…
  • Do make use of online resources like the archives of the late, great Janet Reid’s Query Shark site. https://queryshark.blogspot.com/ (Best query advice there is, hands down)
  • Do join a writing community, whether IRL or online.
  • Do celebrate the milestones (i.e., don’t be me!) Sent a query? That’s a win. Got a form rejection instead of a ghost-pass? A win. Personalized rejection? Pure gold! Request? A win! Break out the ice cream! Offer of representation? WIN! Out on Sub? Distract yourself with cookies (and writing the next thing, but mostly cookies). Book Deal? Party! And cake!
After finding multiple instances of “Canyons” misspelled as “Crayons”, my best friend promised to make me an appropriate cake when I sold Book # 1. Behold the Crayon Cake, in all its glory!

BOOK DEAL! BOOK DEAL! BOOK DEAL!

I am over the moon to announce that my dark fantasy novel RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS will be coming out with Bad Hand Books in summer 2026. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for a long time, and I’m so happy to be able to share this story weird, heartbreaking story of my heart with the world.

Description:

Min, royal daughter of the elven-like Yhathlin, was born to be a diplomat. Representing her nation at the joint American-Canadian embassy in her subterranean city, she was good at walking the tightrope between the edicts of blood and birth-order that governed her people, the bewildering emotions of her human colleagues, and the strict rules of the Yhathlani Treaty. Then her city was overrun by an apocalyptic plague, and her ordered world disappeared in a flood of blood, teeth, and hunger. 

Now, fifteen years later, Min is a refugee in the dying remnants of Washington, D.C.. Alien and alone, with only the voices of those she’s lost to guide her, she has one reason left to live: to protect Sophie, the last living relative of her human diplomats, or die trying.  

RISE FROM THESE DARK WATERS is an uplifting, genre-blending tale told in an epistolary, novel-in-short-stories format. It weaves between three interconnected storylines. If you enjoy epic political fantasy and love the found-document style and framing narratives of Max Brooks’ DEVOLUTION, this one is for you. 

Pre-orders available now (paperback with signed bookplate): https://badhandbooks.com/preorders/6y7d6ijfrevuvxdgvgyvr5z6q00tay