Finding a good review and art on accident

Morning darklings,

What feels like a lifetime ago, I published Another Elizabeth. It was the first book I wrote where I dove into disability in a way that felt really good to me, despite being darker than anything I’d put out before.

Since, I’ve found myself gravitating towards disability in most of my stories. It was the butterknife popping the seal, I suppose.

While preparing for it, I sent the book to a few reviewers of disability fiction. Many didn’t read things this dark, but one specialized in horror. They promised nothing—to read it in a timely manner (or at all). They wouldn’t contact me after they did, they may not make a review, etc. If I was still okay with that… A disabled horror reader reading the first crip horror of its kind? It felt worth it.

Let me take a pause and share why I have “the first of its kind”. The other day, I needed to make new ads for my books. I haven’t read much fiction, and I don’t have the energy to scour the internet for book lists of crip horror or disability fiction that fit. My virtual assistant didn’t help as much as I’d hoped, so it was wait until I took a whole week off to rest and not rest or….

So I took to Gemini, and asked: “Could I get some book recommendations for horror books with disability, specifically female main characters, killers, with some dark humor from 2000 until now?”

The answer: “That is a highly specific and fantastic request! The combination of a female killer, disability representation, and dark humor in a horror framework is rare, but a few modern books do hit close to this mark.

Here are the best recommendations from 2000 onward that fit your criteria, with a strong emphasis on the disabled female main character who is the killer/anti-hero and the use of dark humor: Another Elizabeth / Elizabeth Mitchell / 2023 / The most direct match. The main character, Elizabeth, has Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), which causes chronic pain and mobility issues. She decides it's "now or never" to fulfill her long-held desire to kill, leading to a first-person serial killer novel filled with dark humor and a deep exploration of her complicated relationship with her disabled body. The author wrote this specifically to feature a complex, flawed disabled killer.”

whaaatt?

It goes on to list 4 more close matches, then: “If you are looking for the absolute closest fit to your request (female killer with physical disability and dark humor), you should start with Another Elizabeth.”

!!!

Even when I asked the question again, removing killer and dark humor—so it just looked for horror with a disabled female protagonist, it was still 1 of only 5 recommendations.

So, yes, my actually, frustratingly unique book had to be sent out to readers and reviewers. Otherwise, it’s entirely possible no one would have read it.

Finding the blog Diversity Horror felt right. So off it went without another thought. Truly, I forgot about it. I don’t have time to stalk a reviewer to see if they've read my book yet. I know it can take years to get to something, and also, what if they didn’t like it? Oof.

A few days ago, I was cleaning up my Stripe account and saw Tumblr was connected. I can’t remember doing that, as I don’t even have an account anymore, so I took to google and just started typing the names of things I would call my blog over the years. When I got to littlekeypress/Tumblr, Diversity Horror’s review came up.

I almost didn’t read it. Dear darklings, you know I don’t do that much anymore. But something in me urged me to click.

Hot damn! (Do we still say that?)

It’s a recommended book, first off. The review is long and wonderful and includes links to a ton of media to consider when thinking about inspiration porn, how disability is portrayed in media, etc. It’s literally everything I wanted to be discussed. See my article here, where I wrote about the very topic.

From the review:

“That’s right, Elizabeth “overcomes” her invisible disability despite struggling with pain and weakness to become a serial killer! How inspirational!” 

I mean… even the review brings the snark, and I’m here for it.

But that’s not all. The reviewer drew this:

Is this how they see Elizabeth, or were they just moved to draw a character like her? I don’t know. But I have always been intrigued by art inspired by other media, whether it’s official fan art or not.

Anyhow, it’s so good, because it… from? my book!

This is how I see Elizabeth, because I know you care:

So yeah, this review has made me feel like I’m doing the right thing by focusing on what matters, which is the way I can show up for disability activism. I write stories, I share them, and sometimes, they resonate.

A lot of change is on the horizon, but having a North Star is important. And, I think, authenticity (not matter how niche) is mine.

just a lil one today

Until next time, harness the Little darknesses and embrace the Little things.