2024 Wrap-Up: what I've done and what others have done

Wrapping up 2024 with what I've accomplished and what I recommend

What a year…

Often (and unfortunately), I don't find the time to write end-of-the-year posts about what has transpired, what I hope will transpire in the coming year, and what I've read and recommend. You can clearly see the Hyperspace of Words is kind of abandoned like a ship marooned in hyperspace. Its last issue was published roughly 6 months ago.

But this year, I feel that I owe this post to the world. It was my most important year in publishing for several reasons. My novelette, A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair, published in 2023, was a finalist for the Nebula and the Ignyte, and in Brazil, its Portuguese version was a finalist for the Argos. I’ve also made my debut into two magazines that were dream markets for a long time. The Plasticity of Being, an eco-dystopian tale about a journalist investigating people who eat plastic, was published at Reactor (formerly Tor.com), edited by Ann VanderMeer. A Theory of Missing Affections, an archeological and philosophical SF story about two sisters with different views on life stranded on either side of a warp gate, was published in Clarkesworld. I also made my second sale to Reactor, with a story about hunger and cosmic deities, which will come out at some point early in 2025.

It was also the year I published my debut collection of solarpunk and climate fiction short stories, Different Kinds of Defiance, and though it didn't receive too much attention, it was a very important milestone for me. I've been writing solarpunk and climate fiction for years now, and having this out in the world represents an example of how I view and navigate these subgenres of speculative fiction with a Global South and Brazilian focus.

In total, I published 11 new stories this year, all eligible for the major awards of SFF. I'm happy and thankful for everyone who has read, commented, and shared about any of them, and for editors who took a chance publishing them. My daily routine is often rushed, and sometimes I think I’m not clear enough on how much I appreciate all the messages and support I receive throughout the year. Thank you all!

My first novella, Disgraced Return of the Kap's Needle, is also on its way, by Dark Matter Ink. It's about a failed expedition coming back to Earth in a ship filled with death, oppression, and corruption—and not enough oxygen for everyone. All right, not what you might be expecting from an author who has published a solarpunk collection, but I try to have some breadth. ;-) Pre-orders should open soon, and for the while you can add it to your GoodReads. But if you're looking for positive vibes, don't worry, I’ll have a story out soon in Bright Green Futures, a beautiful solarpunk anthology edited by Susan Kaye Quinn. (Spoiler: my story has more than one dog in it).

In 2024, I also wrote a science fiction novella, set in the same world as my story The Offer of Peace Between Two Worlds, and I'm at about 80% of a first draft of a novel about collective memory, gigantic threats, and oppressive regimes deeply entrenched in Latin American culture. Lots (if not most) of those works were written in my cell phone, which is the way I have to jab chunks of writing time in my daily routine. It has been working so far.

It was also the year I mostly abandoned Twitter/X. Good riddance.

I also visited Orlando and Miami for the first time, and here's my squinting face riding a rollercoaster. Fun fact: one my first attempt at writing short stories was about a man stranded alone for hours in a rollercoaster. I never finished it, though, comdemning the man to stay in the rollercoaster forever.

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My (incomplete) list of recommendations

I've been posting my short fiction recommendations throughout the year at Bluesky (both in a thread, which I found out still doesn't work pretty well, and in individual posts). The thing is: I’m not consistent at it. There are stories that I've read and loved and didn't mention there. My short fiction reading is somewhat organized before I read the stories, but I rarely keep track of them afterwards. Perhaps I should try to change that in 2025.

But here's what I have, in no particular order.

Do Houses Dream of Scraping the Sky?, by Jana Bianchi, at Uncanny, is a marvellous and sad story about loss.

Evan: A Remainder, by Jordan Kurella, at Reactor, explores anxiety and asks us to find the things that truly makes us feel good about ourselves.

Six-Month Assessment on Miracle Fresh, by Anne Liberton, at Diabolical Plots, is a fun ride through the life of the followers of a new messiah.

This Wooden Heart, by Eleanna Castroianni, at Podcastle, is one to shatter your heart in peaces. About refuge and flight in times of war.

We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read, by Caroline M. Yoachim, at Lightspeed, is a masterclass in form and content.

Five Views of the Planet Tartarus, by Rachael K. Jones, at Lightspeed, is… WTF! Go read it now. Seriously. I still have nightmares about this.

I’ll Miss Myself, by John Wiswell, at Reactor is about multiverse and finding the best version of yourself. Really great and fresh idea.

Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, by A. W. Prihandita, at Clarkesworld, is a great novelette about communication, compassion, and medicine.

Chief Scavenger's Log in the Climate Apocalypse, by P.A. Cornell, at Interstellar Flight Press, is a beautiful flash fiction about connection in dire times.

The Music Must Always Play, by Marissa Lingen, at Clarkesworld, is a great and fresh take on first contact.

Variations on the Memory Palace, by Avra Margariti, at Skull & Laurel, is a horrifying blend of science fictional, fantasy, and weird horror. Loved every bit of it. This one is not free to read.

The Gulmohar of Mehranpur, by Amal Singh, at Reactor, is a beautiful tale about death and rebirth—of the self and of your home.

Onitsha Main, Ochanja, The Twins, Nkpor, and the Shadows of Shoprite, by Somto Ihezue, at Pseudopod, is a horror piece in the POV of… markets! Some prominent Nigerian markets see their world changing and try to do something about it.

A Wish for the Drowned, by Corey Farrenkopf, at Strange Horizons, is a beautiful weird tale about making ends meet and finding your way out from personal hells.

Every Hopeless Thing, by Tia Tashiro, at Clarkesworld, is a great tale of a spacefarer finding a lost world beneath the surface of a dying Earth.

We Shall Not Be Bitter At the End of the World, by David Anaxagoras, will not make you bitter! Very fun read about a party at the end of it all.

House of the Hidden Moon, by Sam W. Pisciotta, at Nightmare, is an horrific tale about grief and transformation.

I still have a huge backlog of stories to catch up to, including stuff from Eugenia Triantafyllou, Deborah L. Davitt, Thomas Ha, Aimee Ogden, Marie Brennan, and so many more! I'll try to make a part 2 when I'm done. If you're a SFWA member and are looking for new reads for your ballot, I really recommend checking out the Nebula Suggested Reading List. It's open to the public, but members can upvote the stories they like and make other members’ life easier when they're scrubbing the list.

I'm way behind on my longer reading (novellas and novels), but I can definitely recommend Club Contango, by Eliane Boey, The Dragonfly Gambit, by A.D. Sui, The Working, by BrightFlame, and had the honor of blurbing Not Too Bold, by Hache Pueyo, and Psychopomp, by Maria Dong, both of which will come out in 2025 and I’ll urge you to lay your eyes on them. You won't regret!

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I want to end this post in a good note for the year to come. I've recently read this 2011 post by Tobias S. Buckell, Writers and Pellets, on how we shouldn't make awards, publications, and sales our goals. Our goals need to be things we can control. “All I can truly anticipate and control are tonight’s pages, chapters, sentences, rewrites,” he says. I wholeheartdly agree with his point and will set a few reachable goals for my writing career in 2025: finish my novel, revise it, and start querying for agents.

Last but not least, I want my 2025 to be a bit more like what Suyi Davies Okungbowa writes about here. To slow down should be everyone's goals. It's almost an act of defiance to slow down in a world that wants you to be unnervingly fast.