2018 Eligibility Post

Happy New Year, friends. I hope this missive finds you well.

2018 was longer than the eyeblink of an uncaring god, and I hope 2019 doesn’t share it’s same time-bending features. But we’ll get a new year’s post from me soon enough.

Today’s order of business is to talk about the work I put out in 2018 that would make me eligible for nomination for any number of things. So let’s get to it!

For the most part, my fiction work of 2018 was the publication of my short story, “Godmeat,” with Lightspeed Magazine.

Illustrated by the talented and brilliant Galen Dara, and edited by the wonderful Wendy Wagner and the illustrious John Joseph Adams, “Godmeat,” was the only piece of fiction I had published this year. It is a story I’m very happy with and very proud of, and I’m so thrilled so many people have had a chance to read it, and enjoyed it as much as they did.

Some of those people even had some very nice things to say about it, including, but not limited it:

“. . . if the idea of murdering ancient godlike beasts and then cutting them up into steaks appeals to your fantasy brain, then Godmeat is the creepy, weird, wildly imaginative story for you (just maybe don’t read it while eating).” – Charlotte Ahlin, Bustle

“This story is a stunningly delicious sensory feast of fucked-up gods and broken mortals and it is amazing. Such layered, savory detail, blended with a cup of anger and garnished with hope at the end. Rich and exciting, with a dash of horror and a thick aroma of dread; fantastical and frightening; luxurious and lush; a story that will kindle hunger in your bones. Cahill has cooked up a masterpiece of gorgeous language and breathtaking imagery, of too-real people and the choices they make, of gods and monsters and mortals all adding to the narrative’s distinct, perfectly weighted flavors.” – A. Merc Rustad

“A rich, layered story about a looming apocalypse, ancient beings trying to take over our world, and…cooking. It’s about Hark, who cooks the meat of the world’s ancient, divine Great Beasts, and Spear, who hunts and kills them. It is full of vivid imagery and conflicted emotions. What bargains are we willing to make in order to save our own skins? What are we prepared to sacrifice to escape pain and annihilation? Cahill masterfully braids together cosmic horror and violence and tragedy (the butchering of the Great Beasts) with the most outlandish, exquisite recipes. The end of the world was never so tasty.” – Maria Haskins, B&N SFF Short Fiction Round-Up May 2018

“A chef cooks the meat of the divine beasts who maintain his world’s reality. An imaginative, must-read story of ambition conflicting with the greater good, and the choices we all make.” – Jason Sanford, Best SF/F short fiction, January through June 2018

“I love me some good SFF cooking stories, and this one (about cooking literal gods) does a great job of examining Hark as a chef. And not just as a chef, but as a failed chef . . . It’s a story of food and hope and it’s a great read!” – Charles Payseur, Quick Sip Reviews

It makes me so happy that people have enjoyed this story, and that you all gave Hark, Spear, and the Wild World a chance. It’s so nice to see it popping up on some Best Of lists at the end of the year, as well as knowing it’s on the SFWA Recommended Reading List. Thank you to everyone who read it, and thanks once more to the Lightspeed team for showing it off to the world. (And Galen Dara! Her artwork, man, I couldn’t have gotten any luckier with the vision Galen had for this story).

I don’t have any contracts for fiction work in 2019 at the moment, but the year is young, and I’ve been working on a bunch of different things in the meantime. While the goal this year is make some traction for novel pursuits, I also hope to sell some short fiction for you all to enjoy at some point this year. Fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for reading and for considering “Godmeat,” for nomination!