See, this is why I should be more patient about calculating my stats for the year.  Add 2 more new poems to the count! 

The Broken City just put out its video game themed issue, which includes my poems “Five Date Nights at Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex” and “Through the Screen (A Warped Abecedarian).” 

FNAF stands for Five Nights at Freddy’s, for anyone who’s wondering.  It should come as no shock that I enjoy arcade settings, and I really liked the sprawling location featured in FNAF: Security Breach and thus wrote a poem set there. 

The other poem, my first abecedarian (a reverse one!), continues the celebration of digital environments and considers what it would be like to truly enter a game world.  I had fun namedropping movies, shows, and such built around this trope.  It’s captivated me since childhood. 

Happy New Year, all! 

I haven’t compiled all my annual writing stats since the year isn’t officially done yet, but maybe I’ll share some next month.  For now, I’m doing the thing where I try to take time to reflect back on my accomplishments for the year.  It’s easy to get swept up in the tide of rejections—trust me, I get plenty of those for every one acceptance.  Or to feel like I haven’t been productive enough or have stagnated creatively.  I got some sage advice from my mentor earlier this year that helped me reframe my thinking and recognize the myriad ways we can challenge ourselves in each new writing project.  And I’m always grateful for the insightful feedback I get from my most trusted critique partner and the community I get with my writing groups.  It’s important to celebrate the wins.  Sometimes when we take stock of them, they add up to more than we’d recall individually. 

Here are some stats I can share:  In 2024, I had 5 new short stories published, 17 new poems, and 3 new pieces of nonfiction. 

This past January, my first poetry chapbook came out (it was also my first standalone book).  I’m so grateful to the team at Sword & Kettle Press who helped me make The Inca Weaver’s Tales a reality! 

I’ve had a longtime goal to get invited into an anthology, and I was fortunate to get not one but two opportunities this year, almost back-to-back.  Both anthologies will hopefully come out next year.  One story is done and accepted, the other draft is chugging along. 

One highlight for me this year was being a guest lecturer for two classes at my alma mater, Santa Clara University.  The students asked such thoughtful, sharp, varied questions.  I remember those days as an undergraduate, how hungry I was to learn, to better myself and my writing as art.  I try to cling to that same hunger.  I hope those students do the same. 

I also spoke this year at StokerCon, the Willamette Writers Conference, and OryCon.  I was a guest on the podcast Pages on the Tongue (hosted by Michelle Murray), and I did readings for the online series Speculative Sundays (hosted by Akua Lezli Hope) and Story Hour (hosted by Daniel Marcus and Laura Blackwell).  My gratitude to all these hosts and organizers for supporting writers and helping us reach new audiences. 

Looking forward to 2025, one big thing on the horizon is my first ever novella.  I’m excited (and perhaps a little nervous?) to start on edits with the team at Of Metal and Magic Publishing.  We’re hoping that Thrice Petrified will be ready to go sometime next year!  I’ve been working on this story for years and years, and I just love these characters and their fantasy world and can hardly wait to share it more widely. 

That’s plenty for now.  Take care of yourselves and each other! 

I have a few updates to catch up on.  First is that I’ve had a story accepted for an upcoming anthology about claw machines!  The Kickstarter will be launching early next year.  You can sign up for updates now if you’d like to keep tabs on this project. 

I (along with many, many other authors) have a microfiction story in 42 Stories Anthology Presents: Book of 42².  As you may have guessed, each story is exactly 42 words long.  My story, “Gallows Humor (Upon Finding Jimbo’s Body),” is part of the Clown chapter and features two circus clowns who encounter the work of a coulrophobic killer. 

On the poetry side of things, I’m excited to have some more video game poetry publications on the horizon.  The Broken City will publish two new poems of mine in their gaming-themed issue, and I’ll have a reprint in the anthology Dangerous to Go Alone 2 as well as one in Meow Meow Pow Pow. 

I had a new fantasy poem in issue 47.4 of Star*Line called “Gla-Mer: The Fashion Magazine for Mermaids.”  This one had its origins in a little booklet of stapled-together scrap paper I’d made in grade school—I probably still have it somewhere in my attic.  Anyway, for this new poem I was reminiscing about that booklet, then I started having fun with headlines, and finally my adult lens took it in a more serious direction. 

In “Poetry and the Moon,” Mary Ruefle states, “The sun is the source of life itself, the great creative power.  One cannot confront god without instant annihilation…”  The main character in my newest story, “Ree in the Domain of Scavengers,” worships the sun and faces her own form of annihilation.  You can find it in Flame Tree Publishing’s new anthology Sun Rising Short Stories. 

The idea for “Ree in the Domain of Scavengers” originated years ago when I read a piece of trivia in a string cheese wrapper, of all things.  Yup, sometimes we get stories from the most random sources.  I can’t remember the exact phrasing anymore, but I think it had to do with scavengers avoiding prey that had been struck by lightning.  Anyway, I wanted to feature another low-tech society in a jungle setting, because I really enjoy that type of worldbuilding, and this time I added monsters. 

If you enjoy Sun Rising Short Stories, I hope you’ll also check out Christmas Gothic Short Stories (I have a story in that one as well!).  I love how Flame Tree Publishing’s books feature new stories alongside classic ones, with gorgeous covers. 

Let’s finish up the spooky season strong.  If you’re curious about the appeal of the horror genre, or you’d like to incorporate more of it in your own work, I’ve coauthored a blog post for Of Metal and Magic Publishing with Allison Filiatreault and JM Williams.  In “Committing Fear to the Page – The Jagged Hook of Horror,” Allison and I talk about the genre from the perspective of a reader and a writer, respectively.  I hope it helps you find and/or create more of the types of scares that you most enjoy. 

And, early Happy Halloween! 

Just in time for Halloween, the Horror Writers Association is releasing their annual anthology of dark verse.  My poem “Peter Pumpkin Eater’s Most Delectable Carving” is in good company in the HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XI. 

I wrote this poem after watching a video about pumpkin carving—it’s an amazing art, one at which I demonstrate absolutely zero skill.  In fact, I get a little squeamish at all the textures and smells.  Good fodder for a horror poem. 

Also, this past summer my family went to Enchanted Forest, a beloved amusement park near Salem, Oregon, that I grew up visiting.  I just had to get a photo of the aforementioned nursery rhyme character. 

If you enjoyed “A Petrified Heart,” buckle up…  The adventure has just begun.  I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve sold my first novella, which builds upon my novelette “A Petrified Heart” and will show the full story arc for this world and characters.  Look for Thrice Petrified from Of Metal and Magic Publishing, a press specializing in secondary world fantasy.  I’ll share updates as I have them. 

In other news, if you’re in the Portland area, I hope you can come out to my hometown on Oct. 26^th to meet local horror authors and hear us give readings at the Beaverton City Library from 1pm-3pm. 

Next month I’ll have a new short story in Flame Tree Publishing’s Sun Rising Short Stories and a new poem in Corvid Queen. And keep your eyes peeled for the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. XI. 

Want to hear some poetry for Halloween?  The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association is updating their annual online SFPA Halloween readings throughout this month, and my poem “Pumpkin Ash and Cypress Knees” is part of this year’s batch.  My thanks to Silvatiicus Riddle for curating this year’s selections and including my poem.  Keep checking for new additions, too. 

The Horror Writers Association just revealed the cover of the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. XI, and it looks awesome!  I’m excited for when I can share my new poem in there with you. 

As a reminder, if you want to hear more of my dark poetry, you can check out the video of last year’s Haunted Tales and Eerie Melodies event. 

And finally, if you want to hear me in person, I’ll be doing a reading and a couple of panels at OryCon 44 here in Portland later this month.  Here’s where you can find me: 

Let’s All Go to the Lobby…

October 19, 2024, 3:00pm-3:50pm PDT

When was the last time you went to a movie in a theater? Streaming and the internet were already killing the theater industry, and Coronapocalypse almost finished it off. But after the successes of Top Gun II, Avatar II, and The Super Mario Bros., there is a glimmer of hope. What is it that draws us back into a large darkened room full of strangers? Why do we still go? And what does the future look like for theatrical releases?

Panelists:  Katherine Quevedo (moderator), Mark Niemann-Ross, Alan Olsen, Tom Whitmore

Katherine Quevedo Reading

October 19, 2024, 5:30pm-5:55pm PDT

Devils in the Details

October 20, 2024, 3:00pm-3:50pm PDT

How much description is too much? How do you include worldbuilding, clues, sensory information, and other important context without dumping, As-You-Know-Bobbing, or going on elliptical journeys to the Outer Limits of Reader/audience patience? Attend and find out!

Panelists:  Dayle A. Dermatis, Rosiee Thor, John M Lovett, Katherine Quevedo, Emily Suvada

My new story “The Dancer’s Body at Rest” is available to read in Abyss & Apex.  I’ve been submitting there for a long time (since 15 years ago, in fact—goes to show how I’ve grown as a writer), and I’m thrilled to have a story in this longtime publication at last. 

I’ve been to Spain twice, once when I was in high school, and years later with my husband.  Both times I saw a flamenco performance that blew me away.  I was dying to set a story there.  Not only was the flamenco inspiring, I also loved the architecture, gardens, fountains… 

I researched the culture and music, and I brought in some of my own insecurities about exploring a setting in my fiction where, yes, I have ancestral roots, but the connection is further removed than I usually tackle.  I decided to lean into that thematically.  The result is a story about performance, imposter syndrome, duende (and its accompanying frisson), pain management, and the collaborative nature of certain artforms. 

As we get closer to October, this seems like a great time to share the recordings of last year’s Haunted Tales and Eerie Melodies event, part of the Portland Book Festival Cover to Cover program.  I read a selection of dark poems to live piano, and the others read horror short fiction to their live musical accompaniment.  Enjoy! 

• Katherine Quevedo and Katie Bennett
• Remy Nakamura with Kate Ristau and Matt Brislawn
• Elle Mitchell and Julian Kosanovic
• Sarah Walker and Obadiah Baird
• Nathan Carson and Erin Jane Laroue

Also, the Horror Writers Association has announced their Poetry Showcase Vol. XI table of contents, and I’m excited to have a poem selected for inclusion:  “Peter Pumpkin Eater’s Most Delectable Carving.”  Keep your eyes peeled for news about the anthology’s release. 

Coming soon, a new short story in Abyss and Apex…