I tried NaNoWriMo 2019, but was just too exhausted. Now we’re in a pandemic, and I desperately need distraction, so why the heck not? Let’s see how many words I can put together for Iris and The Crew Tear Space a New One. My goal is for this to be a shorter work, maybe under 50 000 words in total. I’m trying something different this time—writing 13 standalone short stories called episodes. I thought it would be fun to pretend the book is a space opera series readers can binge!

Here’s my attempt at a blurb for my Camp NaNo dashboard:

Lieutenant Eileen Iris and the command crew of the S.S. Sp00nZ have no idea what it means to be disabled. That's not a metaphor—no one in their galaxy has ever applied that term to living beings before. So, when a startled intergalactic janitor calls them disabled but gets beamed back to NASA a bit too soon, they realize they might never get the answer to that particular question.

Unphased, duties resume as Iris tries to appease her overprotective guidebot Clarence; security Chief Lartha and her new sentient prosthetic legs offer kickass protection; Lieutenant Commander Herbert’s inventiveness is a treasured godsend (though he's not quite grasped how to flirt); science officer Commander Davan provides excellent counsel while signing his need for spicy hash browns, and Captain Warq's genteel but firm leadership keeps everyone at their best.

Until on one mission, where they tear space a new one. Just a little bit.

Putting my headspace into stories where disabled, blind, Deaf, and neurodiverse aliens are the stars of the show is just what I need now. As a human on Earth, I’m drained from eugenics-based grossness I’ve read from entitled ableds during this COVID-19 crisis. Time for me to dive in to a totally accommodating world where we can find ourselves represented in a command crew!

Will keep you posted on my progress!

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Cait Gordon is a disability advocate and the author of Life in the ’Cosm and The Stealth Lovers. When she’s not writing, Cait’s editing manuscripts and running The Spoonie Authors Network, a blog whose contributors manage disabilities and/or chronic conditions. She also teamed up with Kohenet Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology in an attempt to take over the world. Narf.