Connections between my new short fiction collection and my graphic novel

An interesting thing about working on multiple projects at once is the unexpected intersections. Unlike my other two collections of short fiction, which were tied together by very specific themes, Things that Cause Inappropriate Happpiness has felt wide open, which was exciting and interesting. I'm always writing short fiction, but often with ideas of where to place the stories. This time, I kept thinking I was finished a draft, only to discover that there were more stories I felt desperate to write and share, and I felt an urgency to write them now. I guess when you're writing about certain subjects (as I am for the graphic novel) they just never leave your heart or your mind. Anyway, I'm excited to share that one of my stories from the collection, Able to Pass, which was influenced by my research for my graphic novel, will appear in one of my favourite international literary magazines, Beyond Words - Literary Magazine in May 2023. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you then-- and I can't wait to share the whole collection with you in Spring 2024. (below are a few of the unedited panels from the graphic novel. It's been impossible to write about World War II and the Holocaust without it always lingering somewhere in my thoughts)