Vanessa Fogg
@vanessafogg.bsky.social
Science fiction and fantasy writer. Also lapsed scientist and freelance medical writer. Website: vanessafogg.com
Pinned
The House of Illusionists – Vanessa Fogg, Writer
vanessafogg.com
New pinned post: My debut collection of short stories, The House of Illusionists, is now officially out.
vanessafogg.com?page_id=1020
vanessafogg.com?page_id=1020
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
So, yes, I'm in LOCUS, reviewing short fiction! 👀 My very first review column is in this issue and I am so FREAKING EXCITED to be part of the Locus team and this magazine!
Issue 779 Table of Contents, December 2025 locusmag.com/2025/12...
December 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
So, yes, I'm in LOCUS, reviewing short fiction! 👀 My very first review column is in this issue and I am so FREAKING EXCITED to be part of the Locus team and this magazine!
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
BCS Patreon has fallen below the monthly amount we need to pay our authors a pro rate and our First Readers a worthy honorarium ($125/mo). Sometimes folks need to lower or pause their support; we understand. But less than 1% of BCS readership donates or supports. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... 1/3
Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon
creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast
www.patreon.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
BCS Patreon has fallen below the monthly amount we need to pay our authors a pro rate and our First Readers a worthy honorarium ($125/mo). Sometimes folks need to lower or pause their support; we understand. But less than 1% of BCS readership donates or supports. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... 1/3
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Frustrated about being beset by AI slop in the reading queue and other places over the past few days. I know it's been said a million times before, but I feel like it's always worth saying again: Stories written by you will always be better than stories written by the robot.
November 30, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Frustrated about being beset by AI slop in the reading queue and other places over the past few days. I know it's been said a million times before, but I feel like it's always worth saying again: Stories written by you will always be better than stories written by the robot.
ICYMI
My interview with Vanessa Fogg about her debut, The House of Illusionists, is up!
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
The Connecting Image
Interview with Vanessa Fogg, author of The House of Illusionists
medium.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:04 AM
ICYMI
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
I just got my copy of @vanessafogg.bsky.social House of Illusionists but I know this will be awesome
The House Of Illusionists: and Other Stories
and Other Stories
bookshop.org
November 30, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I just got my copy of @vanessafogg.bsky.social House of Illusionists but I know this will be awesome
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Well @bookshop.org still has free shipping today! Here are some of my favorite books I've read so far this year which would make great reads for you or gifts for a reader in your life!
First @joshdenslow.bsky.social Magic Can't Save Us. A delightful and strange story collection
First @joshdenslow.bsky.social Magic Can't Save Us. A delightful and strange story collection
Magic Can't Save Us: Eighteen Tales of Likely Failure
Eighteen Tales of Likely Failure
bookshop.org
November 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Well @bookshop.org still has free shipping today! Here are some of my favorite books I've read so far this year which would make great reads for you or gifts for a reader in your life!
First @joshdenslow.bsky.social Magic Can't Save Us. A delightful and strange story collection
First @joshdenslow.bsky.social Magic Can't Save Us. A delightful and strange story collection
Holiday shopping? Space Horrors, an anthology of science fiction horror stories set in outer space, is on sale for only 99 cents (e-book version) today! I'm in this anthology, alongside some very cool writers!
November 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Holiday shopping? Space Horrors, an anthology of science fiction horror stories set in outer space, is on sale for only 99 cents (e-book version) today! I'm in this anthology, alongside some very cool writers!
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Thank you! I would love to let more people know about my beautiful and immersive Hindu-inspired YA contemporary fantasies, STAR DAUGHTER, THE DREAM RUNNERS, and DIVINING THE LEAVES, as well as my adult Audible Original, INTO THE MOON GARDEN.
Find them all here: www.shvetathakrar.com/the-night-ma...
Find them all here: www.shvetathakrar.com/the-night-ma...
Star Daughter — Shveta Thakrar
www.shvetathakrar.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Thank you! I would love to let more people know about my beautiful and immersive Hindu-inspired YA contemporary fantasies, STAR DAUGHTER, THE DREAM RUNNERS, and DIVINING THE LEAVES, as well as my adult Audible Original, INTO THE MOON GARDEN.
Find them all here: www.shvetathakrar.com/the-night-ma...
Find them all here: www.shvetathakrar.com/the-night-ma...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
My #SFF curations get more traction, but I'm primarily a nonfiction author. During #nonfictionnovember, I'm spotlighting this output. Starting with #books. This sociocultural guide to deities was a crazy endeavour of telling the stories of 60, I'm delighted with its wide and lasting impact. 1/
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 AM
My #SFF curations get more traction, but I'm primarily a nonfiction author. During #nonfictionnovember, I'm spotlighting this output. Starting with #books. This sociocultural guide to deities was a crazy endeavour of telling the stories of 60, I'm delighted with its wide and lasting impact. 1/
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
"you need to grow up"
"adults do not play with toys"
etc etc etc
"adults do not play with toys"
etc etc etc
This essay resonated with me and I knew I just had to acquire it. How many of us struggle with the whole "you need to grow" schtick and how the whole YA thing has MCs ageing rapidly.
By @ph-low.com
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
By @ph-low.com
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Old Enough to Become the Villain: Contemporary Narratives Around Growing Up
The first time I watch Everything Everywhere All At Once in theaters, I am struck by the way Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh are presented—not as the generic smooth-faced Hollywood types but decidedl…
strangehorizons.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:05 AM
"you need to grow up"
"adults do not play with toys"
etc etc etc
"adults do not play with toys"
etc etc etc
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Double issue of MicroVerse Spec Flash Roundup with Oct-Nov recs!
Flash Roundup * October-November 2025
A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count…
mynachang.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Double issue of MicroVerse Spec Flash Roundup with Oct-Nov recs!
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Did I tell you about my latest story? It's short, on PodCastle, and about choices! Read or listen!
My latest story is up @podcastle.org ! You can read my flash story, "The Only Map is Memory" along with shorts by David McGuire and Courtney Floyd.
podcastle.org/2025/11/25/p...
This is, astoundingly, my 12th story published this year, far outstripping any previous year.
podcastle.org/2025/11/25/p...
This is, astoundingly, my 12th story published this year, far outstripping any previous year.
PodCastle 919: FLASH FICTION EXTRAVAGANZA: Possibilities - PodCastle
The Only Map is Memory by B. Morris Allen I use my memory for a map. It’s the only map I have, but it’s unreliable in the way all memory is. Objects that I remember as big must have been smaller, loca...
podcastle.org
November 27, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Did I tell you about my latest story? It's short, on PodCastle, and about choices! Read or listen!
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Thrilled to post that PSYCHOPOMP & CIRCUMSTANCE has made NPR's list of Books We Love!
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Books We Love
Here are 380+ great reads from 2025 handpicked just for you by NPR staffers and trusted critics.
apps.npr.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Thrilled to post that PSYCHOPOMP & CIRCUMSTANCE has made NPR's list of Books We Love!
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
It's one of over 300 books handpicked by NPR staffers and trusted critics. See the full list here:
apps.npr.org/best-books/#...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Yesterday I posted about my favorite novellas of the year, and today I'm posting about my favorite short fiction collections of 2025.
acwise.net/favorite-col...
acwise.net/favorite-col...
Favorite Collections of 2025 – acwise.net
acwise.net
November 25, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Yesterday I posted about my favorite novellas of the year, and today I'm posting about my favorite short fiction collections of 2025.
acwise.net/favorite-col...
acwise.net/favorite-col...
"Vanessa Fogg’s The House of Illusionists is perhaps the most enjoyable read I’ve encountered this year."
So much thanks to NewMyths for this beautiful review of my new collection! Thank you to reviewer Kevin Jin for really "getting" these stories, especially--
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
So much thanks to NewMyths for this beautiful review of my new collection! Thank you to reviewer Kevin Jin for really "getting" these stories, especially--
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
Book Reviews
Books We Are Reading Curated Book Reviews For Your Reading Enjoyment
sites.google.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:48 PM
"Vanessa Fogg’s The House of Illusionists is perhaps the most enjoyable read I’ve encountered this year."
So much thanks to NewMyths for this beautiful review of my new collection! Thank you to reviewer Kevin Jin for really "getting" these stories, especially--
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
So much thanks to NewMyths for this beautiful review of my new collection! Thank you to reviewer Kevin Jin for really "getting" these stories, especially--
sites.google.com/newmyths.com...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
A poignant story about a father and a son and a third person who needs so badly to be acknowledged. Just as much as any person in a society that ignores systemic issues and can crush the human spirit so easily. Still, we persist.
by @wiswell.bsky.social in @reactorsff.bsky.social
by @wiswell.bsky.social in @reactorsff.bsky.social
Phantom View - Reactor
A disabled son care-taking for a disabled father tries to understand the mysterious blur haunting them.
reactormag.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
A poignant story about a father and a son and a third person who needs so badly to be acknowledged. Just as much as any person in a society that ignores systemic issues and can crush the human spirit so easily. Still, we persist.
by @wiswell.bsky.social in @reactorsff.bsky.social
by @wiswell.bsky.social in @reactorsff.bsky.social
Oh wow. The ending to this devastating little flash.
Null Empathy (950 words).
Genre: SF.
A cyborg must learn to blend in with the human population.
@naturefutures.bsky.social
Genre: SF.
A cyborg must learn to blend in with the human population.
@naturefutures.bsky.social
Null empathy | Nature
How to disappear. How to disappear.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Oh wow. The ending to this devastating little flash.
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
My interview with Vanessa Fogg about her debut, The House of Illusionists, is up!
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
The Connecting Image
Interview with Vanessa Fogg, author of The House of Illusionists
medium.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
My interview with Vanessa Fogg about her debut, The House of Illusionists, is up!
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Look what I lack in pretty design skills I make up for in writing skills
November 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Look what I lack in pretty design skills I make up for in writing skills
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
At Interstellar Flight Mag, Julie Reeser interviews Vanessa Fogg, author of THE HOUSE OF ILLUSIONISTS, a stellar new short story collection from IFP! magazine.interstella...
November 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
At Interstellar Flight Mag, Julie Reeser interviews Vanessa Fogg, author of THE HOUSE OF ILLUSIONISTS, a stellar new short story collection from IFP! magazine.interstella...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
NEW PODCAST ALERT!
Episode 17 of the Strange Horizons @ 25 podcast is live now featuring R.B. Lemberg @rblemberg.bsky.social interviewed by Kat Kourbeti @darthj.uno.
Listen and read at the link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Episode 17 of the Strange Horizons @ 25 podcast is live now featuring R.B. Lemberg @rblemberg.bsky.social interviewed by Kat Kourbeti @darthj.uno.
Listen and read at the link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Writing the Diaspora Experience with R.B. Lemberg (SH@25 Episode 17)
In this episode of Strange Horizons at 25, Podcast Editor Kat Kourbeti sits down with long-time Strange Horizons contributor RB Lemberg to talk about everything from using poetry as a tool to refin…
strangehorizons.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:03 PM
NEW PODCAST ALERT!
Episode 17 of the Strange Horizons @ 25 podcast is live now featuring R.B. Lemberg @rblemberg.bsky.social interviewed by Kat Kourbeti @darthj.uno.
Listen and read at the link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Episode 17 of the Strange Horizons @ 25 podcast is live now featuring R.B. Lemberg @rblemberg.bsky.social interviewed by Kat Kourbeti @darthj.uno.
Listen and read at the link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
November 23, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Reposted by Vanessa Fogg
Zachary Gillan's foreword highlights the "occulting," or obscuring Ha uses on the terrors of the wider world, creating an effect of more localized menace for his characters, who are always the focus. I love lore, but I also love the power of the reader's imagination to furnish empty spaces.
November 22, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Zachary Gillan's foreword highlights the "occulting," or obscuring Ha uses on the terrors of the wider world, creating an effect of more localized menace for his characters, who are always the focus. I love lore, but I also love the power of the reader's imagination to furnish empty spaces.
This is lovely
Oh hey! My story "My Mother is the Water" is available to read online in F(r)iction latest issue. This is a story inspired by the lakes of my hometown, about a girl called to the water yet doesn't want to leave the aunt who raised her.
frictionlit.org/my-mother-is...
frictionlit.org/my-mother-is...
My Mother is the Water - F(r)iction
My Mother is the Water by Lyndsie Manusos explores a young woman's relationship (and magical connection to) the lake.
frictionlit.org
November 22, 2025 at 11:52 PM
This is lovely