Janine A. Southard is the Cygnus award-winning author of Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story and of other fun, speculative fiction. She has also edited four anthologies (between two pen names) and two digital-only collections, an editorial combo which **psst** totally qualifies her for a Best Editor (Short Form) Hugo Nomination. **nudge nudge**
Her core passion is guiding readers on escapes into exciting worlds. And she must be doing something right! Most recently, she was invited to edit her fourth anthology, full of adventure and optimism and ladies with weapons–Silk & Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology.
An homage to her home in Seattle, her half-contemporary, half-fantasy novel for adults, Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story, received a Cygnus Award from Chanticleer in 2015. (It’s about story gamers in Seattle who acquire a magic iPhone and is as ridiculous as it sounds.)
Happily working from her Seattle home, she’s still thrilled when asked to travel elsewhere in the US and the UK to speak about writing, anthology editing, and how to run a successful Kickstarter project. (She’d probably get excited about adding a third speaking-engagement-country to that list, but no one’s asked yet.)
Her YA series, the Hive Queen Saga, blends cultural experimentation with epic as the teenaged main characters voyage to new lands where their normal ways seem strange. The first novel in the saga, Queen & Commander, has been described as “like Joss Whedon’s Firefly but for teenagers” by the YA’s Nightstand. It won an IPPY (Independent book Publishers) Award for science fiction ebooks in 2013. The second book, Hive & Heist, is a classic heist tale set on a space station; and the third, Reign & Revolution, dives deeper into cultural differences between fictional Wales and China… in space, of course.
All Southard’s books so far have been possible because of crowdsourced funds via Kickstarter. She owes great thanks to her many patrons of the arts who love an optimistic science fiction adventure and believe in her ability to make that happen.
Want to chat with Janine? Send her an email: janine @ janinesouthard.com