Since we’re all apparently pretending that everything since January 2020 hasn’t been just one long unending year, it’s time for my slightly delayed rundown of everything that’s been going on with me in the past 12 months. I mean, everything that’s appropriate for reading in the workplace, at school, or while riding a stolen e-scooter through the middle of a busy shopping arcade (self-care is important).

Also this year, like every year, is sponsored by the colour pink.

Proud Pink Sky was released!

Surely the biggest news of 2023 came in March, with the release of my latest novel, Proud Pink Sky. I had a lot of support from my publisher (Amble Press, an imprint of Bywater Books) and love everything from the layout to the cover design. I was also extremely fortunate that several writers I know wrote some very kind quotes for the release. Thanks in particular to Meg-John Barker, co-authors Natasha Calder and Emma Szewczak, Gayathri Prabhu, Christian Baines, Brett Josef Grubisic, Paul Gallant, and ‘Nathan Burgoine.

The novel came out to some fantastic reviews from publications including Interzone, Strange Horizons, GScene, My Gay Toronto, Out in Print, and Siegessäule, as well as having been described as ‘gripping’ by Publisher’s Weekly. A particular highlight came in the form of a view review from YouTube channel CloudCuckooCountry, complete with delightful animations.

By the way, I should also mention that the novel came out while I was in the middle of moving to a new apartment, which is a combination of things I really wouldn’t recommend.

Interviews, Readings, and Screaming Rants in Public

The release of Proud Pink Sky also came with a lot of talking! Talking from my mouth! I did some talking here in Berlin, some talking in London, and yet more talking in Brighton. And people were forced to listen!

Special thanks in particular goes to to the Ledward Centre, the Centre for Transforming Gender and Sexuality, Lettretage, the Berlin Book Nook, and Daniel Aldridge at Radio Alex for hosting readings and discussions of the novel. I’m one of those people who finds public speaking both fun and exhilarating as well as completely terrifying, and it was fun to experience all those emotions at once.

Then there were the online interviews! I had lots of fun speaking with Alex Iantaffi, Christian Baines, Wayne Goodman, and J. Scott Coatsworth, all of which can be found on my interviews page here.

I Wrote Some Things!

Yes, sometimes I write! Some things in particular stand out in 2023, and I’m going to start with my article on ambitopia. I really believe this is a genre with a huge amount of potential, and I’m very pleased that the British Science Fiction Association published it in their magazine, Vector.

“I started writing ambitopia before even coming up with a term because it felt natural to me. I need optimism like a drowning person needs driftwood – it might not fix all my problems, but it keeps me from going under. Yet singular optimism feels hollow, akin to an offhand You’ll be all right or Things will get better, well-meaning and patronising at the same time. I want – need – hope for a better world, but for many of us the current world contains plenty of dystopia, and waving it away does us no good. Speculation needs darkness to be relatable.”

Among other pieces, I also wrote an article on ‘punching down’ and Proud Pink Sky called ‘The Nesting Dolls of Hate’ for D.C.-based LGBTQ publication Letters from Camp Rehobeth, alongside reviews and other pieces you can check out on my nonfiction page.

I was also delighted that my fairy tale-style story about age treatment technologies and fascism — ‘The Very Many Princes’ — was published in Andromeda Spaceways! It’s a heartfelt and twisted tale, and I especially recommend picking up a copy of Issue 29 and reading it over and over until your sense of reality is warped beyond any ability to function as a socially-responsible human being.

Also, not only did I get to write a list of my three favourite books of the year for the fantastic book recommendation site Shepherd.com, but Proud Pink Sky was listed as one of the three favourite books of the year for author Kevin Klehr! Thanks, Kevin!

Finally, I want to mention something that I wrote at the very start of 2023: a tribute to Maureen Kincaid Speller, author and head of reviews at Strange Horizons. Maureen passed away far too early, and I miss our email exchanges and complaining about politics together.

More Stuff is Coming!

I promise! For a start I’ve been working on a brand new novel, one I’m extremely excited about but will only tease for now because I’m just cruel like that. There will also be some more upcoming news and links next week, so stay tuned!

(By which I mean don’t leave this webpage. Don’t turn off your monitor. Don’t move. Just wait here until the update comes. I mean it.)

Until then, fellow 2024ians!

- Redfern