Suzan Palumbo
Writer, Editor, Goth
COUNTESS: September 10th 2024 ECW PRESS
“This is a gripping, intense story of loyalty and betrayal, against a vivid backdrop of an interstellar rebellion through labor solidarity. I can’t wait to see what Palumbo writes next!” — Martha Wells, bestselling author of The Murderbot Diaries and Witch King
Cover Art: Matt GriffinA queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial, sci-fi novella inspired by Count of Monte Cristo in which a betrayed captain seeks revenge on the interplanetary empire that subjugated her people for generations.Virika Sameroo lives in colonized space under the Æerbot Empire, much like her ancestors before her in the British West Indies. After years of working hard to rise through the ranks of the empire’s merchant marine, she’s finally become first lieutenant on an interstellar cargo vessel.When her captain dies under suspicious circumstances, Virika is arrested for murder and charged with treason despite her lifelong loyalty to the empire. Her conviction and subsequent imprisonment set her on a path of revenge, determined to take down the evil empire that wronged her, all while the fate of her people hangs in the balance.
More Praise for Countess
“Palumbo has woven a richly textured, beautifully complex tapestry of betrayal, anger, and revenge. The keen edge of justified rage against colonization and colonizers is wielded with great skill in this dark, intense retelling.” — Premee Mohamed, World Fantasy and Nebula Award-winning author“Furiously compelling. Palumbo paints her star-spanning universe and its cast with fluid, natural strokes, then jams a meteor between imperial teeth and dares them to bite. A harrowing space opera journey of injustice and revenge worth every tensed nerve and desperate hope.” — Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth“I love Suzan Palumbo’s short fiction, so when I heard she had a novella, I jumped at the chance to read it. Countess is a space adventure that maintains the hurtling energy of a pulp while highlighting the cultural complexity of diaspora and empire, the cruelty of a colonial future, and the bite of injustice. Grab it!” — Derek Künsken, author of The Quantum Magician and The House of Styx
Skin Thief: Stories
SKIN THIEF: STORIESONE OF BOOK RIOT’S BEST BOOKS OF 2023Nominated for the 2023 Aurora and Locus AwardsThe stories in this collection of dark fantasy and horror short stories grapple with the complexities of identity, racism, homophobia, immigration, oppression and patriarchy through nature, gothic hauntings, Trinidadian folklore and shape shifting. At the heart of the collection lie the questions: how do we learn to accept ourselves? How do we live in our own skin?Cover illustration by Mia Minnis. Cover design by dave ring.
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Praise for Skin Thief: Stories
“Palumbo proves masterful at taking material from folklore and making it personal, letting those things that are meant to terrify speak for themselves. Readers are sure to be impressed.”
—Publishers Weekly“A triumphant collection of stories, ranging from dark fantasy to horror, exploring identity, oppression, and queerness. It is a collection of gothic delights, hauntings, Trinidadian folklore, and heartbreak.”
—Lindsay Manusos for Book Riot“Palumbo’s Skin Thief: Stories pulls together twelve short stories written or published between 2018 and 2022. The stories are dark and haunting and lavishly queer. Palumbo mines her Trinidadian and Canadian/Western heritages alike, blending her experiences together in a way that is both speculative and rooted in what feels like truth. Palumbo always leaves me feeling unmoored and prickly, thrilled and frightened. Readers new to her work and returning fans will each find things to love about this collection. There are no weak stories in the bunch.”
—Alex Brown for Locus
Short Stories
Feathered - Room Magazine September 2024Bleeding Hearts - Haven Spec Magazine September 2024The DaVinci Chip - The Wilted Pages Anthology - Short Wave Publishing. September 2023Jumbie Closet - The Crawling Moon Anthology - Neon Hemlock - July 2024Apolépisi: A De-Scaling -Lightspeed Magazine October 2022Douen - The Dark Magazine - March 2022
(Nebula Award nomination, Aurora Award nomination, World Fantasy Award nomination)The Bride - Unfettered Hexes - Neon HemlockOf Claw and Bone - The Dark Magazine - May 2021Laughter Among the Trees - The Dark Magazine - February 2021
(Nebula Award nomination, WSFA Small Press Award nomination)Her Voice, Unmasked - Weird Horror Undertow Publications - October 2020Tara's Mother's Skin - PseudoPod - August 2020Personal Rakshasi - November 2019 - Fireside MagazineThe Pull of the Herd - August 2018 Anathema: Spec From the Margins
(Reprinted by PodCastle April 2019,Translated into Spanish by Sofia Barker for Pulpture Editiones.)Tessellated - April 2018 The Colored Lens #26 - Winter 2018.Propagating Peonies - March 2018 PodCastle: Artemis Rising 4Bloody Therapy - March 2017 Diabolical Plots
Nonfiction
The Unmanored Gothic - The H-Word - Nightmare MagazineOral Storytelling and Culture as Personal Canon - Fantasy MagazineDeath And Wednesday - The Deadlands
2024 Awards EligibilityThis year for my awards eligibility, I will submit only one work for your consideration: Countess, published on September 10th 2024 by ECW Press.Countess is a novella and is eligible for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus and Aurora Awards. It is also eligible for any award that considers science fiction and work related to queerness and gender.It is a queer, anticolonial, Caribbean, space opera that tells a story of "revenge" through the lens of community building and revolution. I believe it is the first long length work in SFF to feature an Indo Caribbean, queer, femme protagonist. We have never been represented like this before in genre. The novella is also full of Trinidadian food and culture as a homage to the island where I was born and its wonderful people.I've lived my whole life to write this story. It incorporates the actual history of indenture and enslavement in the West Indies, and Caribbean revolutionary and independence movements, into its narrative and weaves them into the future with respect to space colonization. Virika and I share many similarities as immigrant, Caribbean women living in the heart of empire.You can get it everywhere, including at your local library. You can also purchase it in audio, ebook and paperback from just about anywhere those formats are sold. Thank you for your consideration and time. Purchase link to many retail outlets, with various pricing, including indie bookstores, can be found at the link below.
About
Suzan Palumbo is a Trinidadian - Canadian, dark speculative fiction writer and editor. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Aurora, World Fantasy and Locus awards. She also co-founded the Ignyte Awards with L.D. Lewis and coedited the special Caribbean issue of Strange Horizons Magazine. Her debut dark fantasy/horror short story collection "Skin Thief: Stories" is out now from Neon Hemlock. Her novella "Countess" was published by ECW Press on September 10th 2024. Her writing has been published in Lightspeed Magazine, Fantasy, The Deadlands, The Dark Magazine, PseudoPod, Fireside Fiction Quarterly, PodCastle, Anathema: Spec Fic from the Margins and other venues. She is officially represented by Michael Curry of the Donald Maass Literary Agency and can be found on instagram @gothicsyntax. When she isn’t writing, she is often sketching, listening to new wave or wandering her local misty forests.
All rights inquires should be directed to my agent Michael Curry at: [email protected]I am currently closed to blurb requests.
Thank You
Ciao!