While it’s hard to believe it’s the last month of the year already, welcome to my final author newsletter for 2024—next one will likely be in January reflecting on the past year. I almost didn’t write a December 2024 newsletter, as I want to focus the newsletter on when I have something substantial to say, whether it be announcements or essays, but I want to draw some attention to some upcoming promo that will take place in December, as well as some thoughts on disability rep, as it is Disability December (more below).

Short fiction updates

First, a few quick updates on short fiction. Since Pray For Him, I had a few short stories release in October and November:

• “From This Day Forward”, an intimate (as in, small-scale) cosmic horror story about life with grief, came out in Even Cozier Cosmic

• I donated my folk horror about family and memory, “Nana’s Teeth”, to the charity anthology There’s a Haint in That There Holler (available in ebook or as a paperback from the press), benefitting Western NC / rural Appalachian people and rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Helene

• “Make Me a Freak Show”, about disabled and queer bodies and toxic relationships, came out in the Icarus Writing Collective’s Monstrous issue

• My sapphic horror erotica flash fiction, “Closer to Death”, came out in Circus Lit’s Taboo issue

Besides the above, the queer weird west anthology I am a part of that was kickstarted earlier in the year is almost here, and can be pre-ordered on itchio as an ebook or as an audiobook!

Upcoming promo

There are three promotional events I’d like to turn your attention to for this month, if you’re yet to pick up Pray For Him or are interested in any of my paid short stories.

First, on December 13, I will be participating in the Monster Manor Book Fair. This indie book fair features a wide range of incredible books that will be on sale (some will be free!) on that date. For my part, Pray For Him’s ebook will be discounted on Amazon to $1 for that day, and my short story “One Saturday Morning” will be part of the itchio bundle. Two anthologies I’m in—Devout and Dead Cowpokes Don’t Wrangle—are also part of the book fair.

Also on December 13, there will be a giveaway on Instagram that I am participating in—keep an eye on social media for that!

Lastly, if you hold out for December 27, Pray For Him will be free to download on Amazon through the Dark Mode ‘Stuff Your Kindle’ event! My short “And The Mountains Melt Like Wax” will be made free at the same time.

Disability December

In honour of Disability December, a month-long reading challenge focus on disability in literature, I’m planning some disability-specific posts on social media, talking about disability rep in my writing, and in Pray For Him specifically, recs for books with disability rep, and on my reasons for including disability rep and my relationship to disability in horror.

In short, and a preview of my post I am planning later in the month, I am disabled myself—multiply disabled, in fact—but to cite that as the only reason I feel so strongly about disability rep in fiction—and particularly horror—would be oversimplification. It’s also complicated what that ‘rep’ looks like, for a variety of reasons both tied to genre and tied to my own lived experience.

Many of my short pieces feature disability, or disability and/or illness coding, and Pray For Him has explicitly disabled characters, because I often feel like disability and access are overlooked and, particularly in horror, it still remains a shorthand for something negative. At best, disabled characters are seen as an unreasonable inclusion or a liability in many stories, especially genre fiction—at worst, disability is a stand-in for character flaw, moral failing, or monstrosity.

So what is a disabled author of horror and monstrous fiction to do?

That’s all for now—but definitely expect to see more on the topic throughout the month and always, in the future.

Until next time, when we'll reflect on what 2024 brought—and what 2025 will bring.

Tyler Battaglia (he/iel/any) is a disabled and queer author of horror and dark fantasy. His debut horror romance novel, Pray For Him, is out now.