News and Updates from My Writing Life

Where I’m publishing, what I’m working on, and book news.

If you’ve been following me on social media or my website, then you may already know about a few things. I’ve recently sold some stories and accepted a couple of interim roles at several publications. These places are magazines that I always told myself would signify that I made it as a writer.

In the upcoming months, you can find my stories and work in issues of:

• Lightspeed Magazine: a story about a water alien that comes to take over earth.
• WIRED: an article on how game developers design games to help elicit emotions in players and encourage them to be more mindful and caring in their own lives. This one might end up online, but there’s a possibility that could end up in a print issue.
• The Writer: an article on my experience writing my games and what I’ve learned about story and reader engagement. This is slated for the September issue.
• Fireside Magazine: I’ve accepted a last-minute guest editor position for the fall issues of Fireside Magazine and will be selecting and editing the table of contents for three of their upcoming releases planned for September, October, and November.
• Apparition Lit: Similar to my role at Fireside, I’ll be selecting and editing stories for the upcoming August, I believe, issue of Apparition Lit.

When it comes to my article with WIRED, if you’re a gamer who has played cozy management games like Stardew Valley, Spiritfarer, Animal Crossing, etc. and you’d like to be interviewed, I’m looking for a gamer to do a quick (2–4 question) interview.

Just respond in the comments!

Out on Query

The other big news on the table is that I have finished my novel and am now on query until the book is picked up by an agent, editor, or publisher. For people who don’t know what on query means, it refers to submitting a manuscript or parts of it out to literary agents in the hopes of getting represented.

Their representation then leads to traditional publishing that you couldn’t get without a literary agent. They’re also useful for contract negotiations, finding more publishing opportunities, and helping writers get their stories moved from the page to the screen.

Instead of doing what a lot of writers do and sending out a huge number of queries to lots of places, I am only sending out a query to one of my top agents a month. This gives each one a sort of private reading of the manuscript pages. Each one gets a month to request more or offer me representation without feeling like they’re battling with other agents before I move on to the next on my list.

I mainly choose that option because I follow a lot of agents on social media, especially the ones I plan on querying, and many of them have shared this advice. So, for now, I’ll hold off on mass-sending out my queries in order to do a more tailored approach.

We’ll see how it goes!

Right now, I’m only on my first agent and have 7 more agents, editors, and publishers to go through before I move to my second-tier selections. This process can sometimes take years, so I’m prepared and ready to wait. Then after that, there’ll be more months and years of waiting as it goes through its submission out to publishers and so on and so forth.

I’ve got other projects in the works and am excited to finally have that book in the next stage on its way to publication.

Recent Published Work

Fiction

• Beyond Ballyhoo

Nonfiction

• Highly Recommended Podcasts
• RPG Nightmares
• Chronic Chills
• Into the Night: April Horror Fiction and Poetry Review
• Radio at the End of the World April

Poetry

• Demon at My Window

Masterclasses, Games, and Books

Writing Your Book, Your Way: A masterclass in novel writing that encompasses everything from the story generation process to finalizing it for publication. Whether you’re going the traditional route or the self-published route this course outlines every step and offers insight into the writing and novel creation process. This is perfect for the first-time novelist or the author who wants to tackle their book process like a professional with almost a decade of experience. Over hundreds of hours of resources complete this in-depth course for the modern novelist who’s tired of trying to write like someone they are not. Exclusive pre-order price $175 (Release date July 1st, 2021)

How to Sell Your Writing: Have you been curious about how to land assignments and bylines in publications like the New York Times, WIRED, or another top publication in your field? Wondering how to up your writing revenue? How to Sell Your Writing is a masterclass designed for the beginner and experienced writer who wants to make a living from their writing and sell their stories, articles, or poems to publications. Hours of reading, resources, and more guide you through the process of coming up with story ideas and submitting them to markets. Exclusive pre-order price $175 (Release date July 1st, 2021)

Edit Your Book: Instead of hiring an expensive editor, learn how to edit your own novel the professional way. Using my experience as an editor and writer, I teach you the steps and techniques that professional editors use to fix a draft. These techniques are actionable and clearly defined, giving you the tools and knowledge you need to clean up your book without spending a fortune on someone else to do it. A recent article that goes over the basics of what we’ll cover in the master class was recently published in Better Humans if you’d like to see some of what we’ll cover. Exclusive pre-order price $175 (Release date July 1st, 2021)

to be haunted: My first collection of poems; some horror, some surreal, all personal. There will be reprints and new pieces never before published. ‘to be haunted’ is a collection of poems centering around the care, growth, and keeping of me.

Plagued Company: My first short story collection that includes a novelette, Plagued Company about a sentient suit of armor, and four short stories ranging from fantasy to science fiction and fairytales. A majority of these stories are original to the publication and never before seen.

Featuring a wide cast of characters, themes, and genres, Plagued Company is a great way to see my range as a writer and a great starter pack to my less dark and horror bent stories.

Take Me Home: Made for the adventurous puzzle solver, ‘Take Me Home’ is a gamble at survival and a story of hope told through interactive storytelling. A sci-fi puzzle game where you play as a child on a colony ship, heading toward a yet-to-be-explored planet.

The Nightmare House: An interactive horror story where you choose to play as a cast of characters who are attempting to stay overnight in their town’s most haunted house, the Nightmare House. This is a terrifying trip through a house with many doors and demons that don’t want you to leave but want you to grow into the monster you were always meant to become.

Further Reading

Aigner Loren Wilson is a queer Black Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer of America, Horror Writer of America, and Codex writer. Her work has appeared in and is forthcoming from WIRED, Lightspeed Magazine, The Writer, Tordotcom, and more. To join her international writing group with an aim to help writers tell and sell their stories, sign up here.