If you’re in Canada, you can visit the 49th Shelf website and click the Shop Local button to discover which indie shops carry it near you. Wherever you are on this rotating orb, maybe you ask if your local indie bookstore can order it for you! (And thanks to all who support the works of disabled creatives.)
When the ebook is released, I will update you all for sure! I have been told there will be an audiobook as well, but that will be released perhaps in 2024. I will keep you posted on all updates!
This is the fifth book with my name on it, and the squeefulness is still there. Maybe even more so because writing a disability hope-punk space opera in the middle of a global pandemic was really something. I can never say that enough. I’m so thrilled to Renaissance for once again believing in my work.
Yay! All the yay!
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the award-nominated, multi-genre, disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
I’m just sitting here stunned. In April, I hurled myself into Camp NaNoWriMo with not much heads-up. I had a couple of paragraphs and an illustration for something called Hot Wings and Sauciness. Was this a good idea? Just diving in? Especially since I had been so tied up with health issues and other stressors since the year began?
YES, MUCH GOOD IDEA!
My brain was aching for a creativity stint. I needed to write.
I set a goal of 40K words, which with my chronic pain is hard to do. But holy smokies, I ended up writing 33K words! I also did this:
had a blast
fell in love with these characters
cared for this “throwaway project”
realized I don’t want to throw it away after all
I also accommodated for my pain and fatigue and didn’t write every day. Now I have something that is wonderfully raw and first drafty, and I know how to finish it. This will be my first very short novel and something I want to indie publish in hopes of raising funds for cool projects with the Spoonie Authors Network. Hey, a disabled crone can dream, can’t she?
So yeah, here’s my dashboard as of April 30, 2023:
These NaNoWriMos are great motivators for me. And they not only get me back into the habit of writing but also the desire to write. I’ve been in production mode for two years with Nothing Without Us Too and Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space, so it’s nice just to play in my wordbox again (like a sandbox but with words).
I’m going to continue with Hot Wings and Sauciness this month, until I have a completed super-duper raw first draft. Like Terry Pratchett said, I’m just telling myself the story right now.
So, there ya go! Whoo!
Remember that we often think too much in a binary way—pass or fail, win or lose. The reality is we need to celebrate all the things. I didn’t “lose” anything! I wrote 33,000 words that weren’t there in March! I got a story to be enthusiastic about. To quote Ted Lasso, my book is a “work-in-prog-mess,” and I couldn’t be more proud.
I challenge you to be proud of yourself today. Go for it. Be shameless.
There’s too much self-bashing in AuthorWorldLand. Let’s try the other way, okay? Be your own cheerleader!
Because I have a strong suspicion other folks think you’re awesome too.
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
Featured photo is a screenshot of my CampNaNoWriMo dashboard.
Let me begin by admitting that I totally forgot it was that month. I say it this way, a bit jaded, because April is often a battleground on Twitter between Autism Mom Warriors and/or autism organizations and/or autism “professionals” trying to speak over adults who are autistic. Sometimes it’s even autistic adults who have formal diagnoses going after those of us who are self-discovered. (To be clear though, there are also many, many diagnosed autistic folks who are overwhelmingly supportive of those who are prevented from getting a diagnosis. And for the most part, autistic culture validates self-discovered or self-Dxed people.) But yeah, because I quit the Twitters, I just plain didn’t remember it was the month of autism awareness, acceptance, and celebration.
Which is kinda funny because at the last second, I decided to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo to write “the awkward space opera romance nobody asked for” known as Hot Wings and Sauciness. Something in my subconscious must have remembered something about April because my female protagonist is a feisty autistic and disabled 50something. (Honestly, I have no idea where I came up with that notion…cough…) Anyway, I’m having fun going back to my absurdist humour roots, but even after the first seven days of writing this character, something cool is happening to me.
I feel really empowered.
It must be something akin to unmasking when an autistic author writes an autistic protagonist. Because my self-confidence is boosted (I know, please run and hide) and my identity is affirmed. Autistic folks can be romantic leads! I also have a romantic subplot in Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! that starts in “Episode 3: Herbie Tries to Flirt.” And that was cathartic for me to write as well. Even though I purposely have no cited diagnoses in my Iris and the Crew series, I did reflect my neurodivergence onto Herb and a couple of other characters.
But Colleen O’Donnell in Hot Wings is written differently. (Why, it’s almost like we autistics are not a monolith!) I think I’ve just slammed my foot on the gas for this lead. She’s from Earth in the not-so-distant future, so it’s not an idyllic world-building. And this gives me a chance to vent some feelings through her about disability and acceptance. But, it’s funny too. Well, it’s absolutely ridiculous at times. Humour is a great vehicle for storytelling. It’s my fave, really.
I also find with ripping off the mask comes untold freedom, whether in real life or through characters. And honestly, with so many non-autistic folks thinking they know people like me, but who really do not, if I don’t represent myself on the page, I will just shut down.
My voice deserves to be out there, not held back.
I have no idea if I will ever publish Hot Wings and Sauciness, but I am so glad I’m giving it a whirl. As with several of my short stories and especially with Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space, I am writing for myself first. To soothe my spirit through storytelling. That has to by my priority. It’s self-care and self-love. Then, if I feel ready, I will happily invite others to come along for the ride by putting it out in the world.
For now, I am just going to enjoy celebrating my autistic self, by creating art. It feels like the right thing to do.
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
On March 15, I had the great honour of being one of the guest authors at the award-nominated and wonderful ephemera reading series. I was sick as heck (but hey, when am I not) and still had a blast!
I am the first author to read, but I strongly encourage you to watch the entire thing. The other guest authors are Eric Choi and Jae Waller! And there’s a cool performance by Cristianna and Josh Formeller.
It’s my first-ever public reading of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space, and I chose an excerpt from “Episode 5: Beachfront Learns a Thing.” It stars junior security officer Lieutenant Marq Bronwryck. He comes from wealth and privilege and considers himself above everyone and everything—even chief of security Lieutenant Commander Leanna Lartha (hard to imagine that because she’s freaking awesome). He might also think he’s above needing protective equipment when a mysterious mist invades the shuttle he’s in with Lieutenant Sasha. But hey, who needs a mask, right? Not like they’ve ever been important…cough.
Hope you enjoy it! There are closed captions, but auto-generated captions misspell stuff, unfortunately. I included the excerpt of my story below the embedded video.
Transcript of my reading (Episode 5, Beachfront Learns a Thing, by Cait Gordon, advanced copy courtesy of Renaissance)
Content note for ableist attitude, and characters experiencing pain, discomfort, and/or anxiety
After being released from Medical, Marq Bronwryck was fortunately not sent back there by Lartha, but was threatened with a dishonourable discharge—through an empty weapons bay. It had been made abundantly clear to him that because of some admiral’s impending arrival, Security Chief Lartha had no time or resources to dedicate to Bronwryck’s dismissal. This discourse had even been done remotely through a comm because she had been so busy. However, she would have no problem bringing up a discharge plea to the captain once the soon-arriving admiral had been escorted to their destination.
So, his only option was to smarten up. He definitely couldn’t face his family after a dishonourable discharge. What would everyone say at the club? The shame upon him and his family would render them social outcasts.
Bronwryck wandered about random corridors since he would only be on duty in an hour. He moped inwardly, blaming everyone but himself for this current situation. Sasha, for veering into that weird nebula-turned-swarm thing; Rivers and Rennick, for overreacting and keeping him in sick bay; and Lartha, for being such a grouch all the time.
He shuffled around a corner and without warning, collapsed to the floor, clenching his thighs. The air fled his lungs and when he looked up, he saw his superior officer chatting into her arm band, a short distance away. Her back was to him.
“Yeah, we’re gonna have to step it up when the admiral comes on board. We’ll be a flagship when they arrive, and I want no sloppiness, Reez.” Lartha rubbed her thighs with an almost imperceptible wince. “Absolutely. Let’s get on that for sure.” She limped over to a reddish-orange horizontal stripe that spanned the corridor wall, one of many that were ubiquitous on the ship. She placed her right palm on it and said, “Chair.”
“What type?” said the AI.
“Hover.”
A hover-chair materialized in front of her. Lartha sat down and continued her conversation with Lieutenant Reez as she zipped away.
The pain in Bronwryck’s legs vanished. What in the worlds? He stood up and leaned against a wall, watching her.
Down the far end of the corridor, a woman with a walking stick exhaled with a whistle, then tapped her cane in a certain pattern. The corridor’s Accessible Tech stripe illuminated by her. She signed, “Chair.”
Text appeared on the stripe. “What kind?”
“Motor.”
A motorized wheelchair appeared before the woman, and she sat in it, just as Lartha approached her. The security chief signed her greeting, and they high-fived each other with a laugh as their chairs passed.
When the woman neared Bronwryck, she greeted him, and he signed back. But as soon as her chair got closer, a sensation overtook him at once that felt like searing vibrating rods had been impaled in his hips, knees, and ankles.
The other officer didn’t notice as she had stopped to text into her armband. Then she rapidly turned the corner.
Bronwryck’s cheeks streamed with tears. And suddenly, again, the pain disappeared. Did I work out too hard this morning? I’ve never had muscle and joint stuff that just came and went, though.
“Good morning, Lieutenant Bronwryck,” said Iris.
He yelped, not expecting her to be there, turned to face her, then immediately clutched his head.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Bronwryck closed his eyes and opened them. “Ahh!” He blinked a few times and tried again. “Okay, what is this? What’s going on with me today???”
Iris took his arm gently. “Whatever it is, I’m here! What can I do to help?”
“First pain, like lots of it. Then none. And now, everything’s like, hyper-clear, my vision I mean. It’s making me really dizzy!”
“Right, I’m calling Medical.” Iris pressed her palm against the AT-stripe and said, “Transport chair.”
Once again, a chair appeared.
“I got a transport one because I’d like to take you there myself,” Iris explained.
“Help me! I don’t want to open my eyes ’cause I can’t focus without wanting to barf!”
“Don’t worry,” said Iris, then spoke into her forearm band. “Urgent Care, this is Lieutenant Iris.”
“Receiving, Lieutenant Iris. What is the nature of your urgency?”
“I’m bringing in Lieutenant Marq Bronwryck. He’s experiencing severe dizziness from what appears to be sudden onset visual hyper-acuity.”
“Copy that. We’ll be ready for him.”
“Thank you. Iris out.”
Bronwryck trembled. Iris patted his shoulder.
“Don’t be alarmed,” she said. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m not scared,” he lied. “I will beat this!”
Iris made a face. “Or you’ll adapt. I did.”
“Lieutenant Iris, report to the command deck. Lieutenant Iris, report to the command deck.”
“Oh, fweep.”
“You’re not going to leave me, are you?” cried Bronwryck.
“Um, just hold on a second.” Iris peered from side to side, then smiled with relief as she spotted Davan down the corridor. She called out to get his attention.
He smiled with his eyes, then switched to an expression of surprise, noticing Bronwryck in the transport hover-chair. “What is going on?” he signed while running toward them.
Bronwryck tried to respond but found he couldn’t create audible words with his mouth. His eyes fired out his alarm.
“I can’t speak, I can’t speak,” he signed.
Davan titled his head, perplexed. “No, you’re doing just fine. I can understand you completely.”
“No, no,” Bronwryck signed. “I can’t form words with my vocal cords!”
Iris frowned and held her chin for a moment before signing, “Davan, I have to go to the bridge. Will you please escort Bronwryck to Medical? And better update them. It started as pain, then his vision, and now his oral communication is affected.”
“Sure. I can take him,” signed Davan.
“Good, thanks!” she signed. “Okay, Lieutenant, you’re safe as houses with Commander Davan. You’ll get answers soon enough, I’m sure of it,” she said.
“Thank you,” he signed miserably.
Iris and Davan exchanged a glance, then she darted off to the nearest lift.
As soon as she left, Bronwryck’s vision returned to how he’d always experienced it. He sighed with relief. He tried telling Davan, but his vocal cords would still not obey. He reached out to touch Davan’s arm.
Davan stopped guiding the transport chair and stood in front of Bronwryck.
“You want to tell me something?” the commander signed.
“My vision is okay,” signed Bronwryck.
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“My vision is normal.”
“Uhhh…” Davan spelled.
“I still can’t talk out loud, though. I can only sign. This sucks.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Wow, you’re really a winner, aren’t you?”
Bronwryck jolted in his chair. “Who said that?” he signed. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” signed Davan.
“That voice!”
“I didn’t hear anything. Is your thought-receiver activated?”
Bronwryck checked. “No. But it felt like it was.”
“Let’s get you to Medical.”
“Can you please explain to me what you’re experiencing?” asked the triage nurse.
“Well, I had this weird nerve thing in my legs, but then it disappeared. Next, my vision made me feel I could see through time, but then it got back to usual. And now I can’t communicate,” Bronwryck signed.
“You’re communicating fine,” she signed back.
“No, I mean out loud.”
“Can you show me what happens when you try to speak orally?”
Bronwryck opened his mouth. “Right, I… hey! I can talk! What the gleek? Why is everything stopping and restarting for me?”
“I can’t say for sure,” said the nurse, “but we’ll keep you here for observation. I know Doctor Rivers will want to perform some tests and give you a full examination.”
“But I had one when Sasha and I got quarantined. No virus or anything. Can’t I just return for duty now?”
“Sit tight,” said the nurse. “I’ll get the doctor.”
“Fine,” he said and folded his arms yet again in a right sulk.
“Caught on yet, genius?”
Bronwryck yelped and glanced around the room. He removed his pocket scanner and searched for life signs. It seemed like it was just him in the room. Then he remembered that Engineering had tweaked the capabilities of Security’s scanners, under the new configuration Lieutenant Commander Herbert had designed. Bronwryck modified his settings to allow for the fullest detection of organic sentient life.
Instead of one reading, his own, there were now two.
“Hello, you razor-sharp thing, you!”
The junior security officer leapt off his chair.
“HELP, HELP ME!” he screamed.
The voice inside his head merely groaned.
“Well, this is peculiar,” Doctor Rivers muttered while studying the readings in his examination room. Holographic, floating touch-displays eased the pressure on his finger joints and could be brought to whatever position he was at, whether sitting or standing. And this afternoon, the equipment had been modified with the parameters gleaned from Herb’s upgrades of Security’s handheld scanner.
Bronwryck lay very still on the cot. He was afraid to move.
“I still can’t make out anything,” said Rivers. “Are you sure you got two readings?”
“Of course I’m sure!”
“No need to shout. It’s just that I’m not picking up a secondary life form.”
“Oh, fine.”
Rivers jerked his head. “Ah, there we go!”
“And did you hear the voice?” asked Bronwryck.
“Voice? No. But I can make out a blip on your anterior insular cortex. In your brain configuration, it plays a strong role in helping you process things like compassion, empathy…”
“Should I explain what those are? Because it’s like a void in here.”
“Hey!” said Bronwryck. “That’s not very nice.”
“What did I say?” said Rivers. “This is actually the location on your brain scan.”
“No, not you. I was talking to the thing.”
“The thing? Now who’s not being nice?!”
Bronwryck clutched his head. “You’re sure you can’t hear it, Doctor Rivers?”
“I am not an ‘it.’”
“Sorry. What’s your pronouns?”
“He/him,” said Rivers.
“Not you!”
Rivers gestured like he was about to give up on the conversation. “What is going on? Who are you addressing?”
“We refer to ourselves as ‘I’, or ‘we’ as a group, but we never refer to other individuals of our species with a pronoun. Only by our name. You may call me Maddox.”
“Lieutenant Bronwryck?” asked Rivers.
The security officer took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He raised his head to face the doctor. “Yeah, okay, so I’m talking to Maddox.”
“Who’s that?”
“The blip on my brain scan.”
“Of all the beings to cohabitate in symbiosis for life, this is the brain-meat I end up with.”
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
Featured photo is the S.S. SpoonZ, drawn by Cait Gordon
Fun fact: This was the first micro-fiction I had ever written, and it first appears in Stargazing: Microtales from the Cosmos.
They’ll be coming for me. Fine. Anyway, there’s something so satisfying about a high-speed chase through space involving a Crip at the helm.
Huh.
Funny how our leadership brags that our planet’s a galactic god of tech, but they’re oblivious to the spirit of disabled sentients. Whatever. I’m here, alone for the moment, lights off but with life support, staring at the stars.
I’d been scheduled for “restructuring.” Well, the collective They felt people with legs that don’t leg were an impediment to their medical accolades. Being corralled to the Institute (read: institution) with about a hundred others was super fun. Thank goodness for Sheena. Our late-night convos from our bunks made everything bearable.
“You’re a star,” she’d sign. “You need to shine with your own kind.”
I finally had the courage to sign back, “I love you,” the night before they took her away.
She wasn’t voiceless. I heard her screams. The restructuring didn’t take.
So, for the next weeks, I watched. Each security team, what they carried, when they took breaks.
They shouldn’t have left that hoverchair unattended.
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
You could have knocked me over with a feather when KT Bryski sent me an email this week, asking me to read at the next ephemera event. For those who don’t know it, ephemera is a multi-award-nominated reading series run by awesome humans KT Bryski and Jen Albert. It used to be an in-person event but has been streamed live on YouTube since the pandemic came to Canada. Every month, usually the third week, these events take place with wonderful readers and performing artists!
So, yeah, I was invited to read! Honestly, I was so honoured and frankly, stunned. But what a wonderful opportunity for me to share words from my new book, Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! I’ve already chosen the excerpt, too!
If you would like to listen to me read, please go to the Live section option on ephemera YouTube channel on March 15 at 7pm EST! The entire event is about an hour long and will remain on their channel (in the Live section) afterwards!
I’m still full of squees! And very grateful for the opportunity!
*bounces up and down*
Hope you can join us!
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
Featured photo is the official ephemera FB page banner.
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
Okay, sorry to visit my anxiety on you. That wasn’t nice.
But I have so many feelings right now! My current novel is in production and should be in the world this September. I’m immersed in that familiar whirlwind of getting all the edits done, sending eARCs for blurbers, gathering info for my publisher for the distributor…these are all good problems, yet, EEK! This means people will be introduced to Iris and the Crew this year!
While I have had extremely positive and enthusiastic feedback on this first “season” of this series, I always get terrified about new book releases. This will be my third title as an author (I had two additional titles as a co-editor), and after going through production five times since 2016, you would think I would have become more laidback by now.
And you would be wrong! (LOL, I am such a mess.)
It’s also the first book I wrote during the pandemic. The world-building has no cure narratives and does have bodymind celebration, and accessible ship, and pew-pew-pew! In the Keangal, we make space accessible! On Earth… well, you know how I feel about accessibility on Earth… It always blows my mind how I can’t even open most doors by myself in this city.
Anyway, so much is different for me with this book. I have never drawn episode sketches before. Heck, I’ve never written chapters like episodes before! I also have more aliens who resemble humans this time. And instead of one disabled or neurodivergent character, I have an ensemble cast of stars with a gorgeous diversity of bodyminds!
By the way, sensitivity editors are gifts to humankind. Without them, I would be trapped in a vortex of overthinking. Hug a sensitivity editor today! (But only with their consent, of course.)
So, yeah, I’m all whirwindy and stuff, so this blog isn’t my most eloquent piece. In summary: book happening, full of eek.
Okay, I have to have a meeting with a sensitivity editor now. Cheers!
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.
So, I am “I was a child when A New Hope came out” years old. I have been a massive Star Wars fan all of my life and a proudly self-labelled Star Wars Nerd. As an adult, I manage complex post traumatic syndrome (cPTSD), anxiety, and depression. My mental illness has been pushed to the outer rim during this pandemic too.
How do my geekness and my mental health make an unexpected pairing right now? Well, episodes one and two of Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped last week, and I could not have predicted their content for anything. Especially the state of Obi-Wan himself. I deeply felt the isolation and monotony his life had become, the rejection, the persecution, and the alienation from anything to do with his previous life when the Jedi council was alive. He was alone, he had night terrors, he felt hopeless and not like the person he used to be. He basically erased himself from himself. It wasn’t that he was merely hiding undercover to watch over ten-year-old Luke. He truly believed he was powerless.
Holy crap, I thought. Obi-Wan is depressed!He’s got PTSD!
I mean, of course he does! He’s been through the works, lost people he loved, and assumed he killed Anakin, his best friend who had been like a brother to him.
I was blown away by this writing choice because far too often, characters in SFF who seem larger than life tend to shake things off like Wile E. Coyote does an anvil to the skull. Obi-Wan’s mental health matters here, really matters to the story. It also matters to the viewers, folks who might be dealing with their own mental health, such as people who have had to remain isolated or whose lives have changed dramatically because of the ongoing pandemic. But even for reasons other than the pandemic, mental health issues exist. And I bet dollars to donuts that young fans who are depressed could think, “Hey, even a Jedi can feel the way I do. I’m not a freak!” It can be so powerful to see yourself in your fiction heroes. Sometimes transformative!
Now, I can write an entire blog on WEE LEIA!!! But it’s also interesting to me how she might be set up as a catalyst in Obi-Wan’s life. Maybe to provoke self-reflection. Maybe for him to remember who he is. In my life, I have always had those people run interference against my negative self-perception, and many times, they have no idea they’re meeting a need in me. Sometimes a person can randomly express how they view you, and it prompts you to remember yourself.
We know where Obi-Wan gets to in A New Hope, but I feel it’s really important for us to see him in a bad place mentally. It’s real, even in a galaxy far, far away.
I must say a great big thank you to the writers for taking this direction and to Ewan McGregor, who portrays this state of being so well, even wordlessly. It really came across to this space opera author who always wants to see more disability and mental health rep in SFF.
Seriously. Thank you.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently streaming weekly on Disney+. Content note: Episode One’s intro shows a flashback where children padawans and their teacher are running from Stormtroopers shooting at them.
Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm,The Stealth Lovers, and Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Her short stories appear in Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland, We Shall Be Monsters, Space Opera Libretti, and Stargazers: Microtales from the Cosmos. Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit theNothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Tooanthologies, whose authors and protagonists are disabled, d/Deaf, Blind or visually impaired, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or they manage mental illness.
I did a teaser trailer about a cool thing that I announced yesterday!
THOSE WITH LIGHT SENSITIVITY: I didn’t have a problem with the flickering border under the text or brief flash of light near the end (I have light sensitivity myself and didn’t find it that intense), but here’s a warning that it starts right after I say, “Get ready for season one,” and the text briefly flashes out toward the screen for the next three panels. If you’re unsure, please do not watch this video.
There is a dramatic score in the background, and what appears to be a whirl of stars in space after the line, “The crew of a certain science vessel tears through space.” The video is mostly text flying onto the screen and there is an audio voice-over of the text.
This is the news: Iris and the Crew will tear through space in the Fall of 2023!
(Just an advert. Not the cover.)
I’m so excited for you to meet this crew. I loved writing this first season, although world-building a space opera while inspired by the concept of Universal Design and the Social Model of Disability… during a eugenics-based pandemic on Earth… was… interesting. I found myself diving into Iris’s world just to escape this one. This series is my dream of what things might be like if a society became so accommodating and accessible, they wouldn’t understand the need to use identity-based language for disability. All bodyminds would be celebrated as part of everyday life. They would just… be.
The Iris and the Crew series follows the adventures of a science vessel crew on a massively accessible ship, the S.S. SpoonZ. They are a part of a galactic network known as the Keangal (key’angle), where inclusivity and supports are the norm. But not everyone is living in harmony within the Keangal—most notoriously so are the dreaded Piranha Brigade pirates whose creed is to do away with anyone they consider “weak.” And they’ve discovered a new enemy in Iris and the Crew…
I gobble up so many streaming series, I decided to make one myself, in book form! My hope is to have Blind, Deaf, neurodivergent, and disabled readers find themselves represented as major characters in this story! (I think there might be abled, NT members of that crew somewhere on the ship. I mean, it is inclusive after all.)
Cait Gordon—author and editor 