How did “Hungry as the Mirror Bright” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

To come up with ideas for stories, sometimes I make a big list of elements from other stories that I love. Once I have about thirty tropes, concepts, and techniques, I start looking for interesting combinations, for what will make an old idea feel fresh again. For “Hungry as the Mirror Bright,” I combined the miniature worlds of stories like “Thumbelina” and The Borrowers, the insectile fairies of Magic the Gathering’s Lorwyn setting, a bunch of weird firefly facts, and my humble attempt at Shakespearean dialogue. I think the over-the-top voice is what really brings the story together, and I had a lot of fun writing this.

Where are you in this story?

When I was about thirteen, a group of us went camping in someone’s cow pasture. There was a murky pond where we swam and fished. I waded deep into the dark, fish-reeking water, up to my throat, when my feet touched something sharp in the mud. I stepped back, but I found more hard edges, coated in slime. Probing around with my feet, horror and disgust broke over me when I realized where I was. I stood in the middle of a dead cow, right inside its ribcage. I couldn’t tell if the oily slick on the bones was old bits of meat or just mud settling into the crevices. I stumbled out of it, back to the bank and trying not to throw up, going to an old cabin to hose off.

When trying to imagine a dangerous, cursed place for my faeries to wind up, I remembered the cattle bones.

Is there anything you want to make sure readers noticed?

I read a ton about fireflies before writing this. There are cannibalistic fireflies, larger but flightless, who trick their smaller cousins. They signal for a mate, their lights a bit different in shape and color, but convincing enough. Those unlucky enough to answer their call are devoured.

What are you reading lately? What writers inspire you?

I just finished Sisters of the Forsaken Stars by Lina Rather, and I loved it. Nuns piloting a giant slug through interstellar space!

My partner, Brenda Peynado, recently debuted her incredible collection The Rock Eaters, with stories about things like angels perching silent on rooftops while the families beneath them fall apart, a town where enormous stones grow from the bodies of those who grieve, a school where kids are cautioned to never fall asleep, children eat rocks to keep from floating away, Earth-stranded aliens build kites to remember flying on their low-gravity home world, and so much more. The Rock Eaters is dreamy, obsessive, sumptuous, and it will make you sad.

Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?

I love running tabletop role-playing games for my friends. Mostly we play Dungeons & Dragons, but I occasionally get my players to try other systems. In the last year, we’ve played D&D, Dialect, Quest, Scum and Villainy, Wanderhome, and a homemade Powered by the Apocalypse game using Avery Alder’s Simple World template.

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

My most recent book, Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones, came out in 2019 from John Joseph Adams Books. It’s a horror novel about a town where everyone and everything is infested with fragments of ghosts.

I’m currently revising a fantasy novel. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more about that soon!