On November 26 & 27 we’re hosting our second-ever AugurCon, our virtual celebration of speculative literatures! We’re joined by over 45 amazing guests, including authors, poets, editors, and publishing professionals, to explore the intersections of the world we know—and the ones we dare to imagine.

We connected with Phoebe Wagner, author of A Shot of Gin, who is a panel moderator at this year’s AugurCon.

Get your ticket to attend her panel:

Stories for the Futures We Need; Or, How to Write With Hope
Saturday, November 26 at 3:30–4:30 PM EST / 12:30–1:30 PM PST

To see the full weekend program schedule, visit our website.

You’re moderating the Stories for the Future We Need; Or How to Write with Hope panel, which should be a must-watch. What’s a story from any medium that recently filled you with hope?

I’m stoked for this panel, too, a true privilege to be moderating! A story that surprised me recently was Andor, the Rogue One prequel. I didn’t expect Disney to be airing such a solid piece of anti-fascist storytelling, but every week, Andor gets better! It tells a story about resistance that feels substantial and real—plausible, in a way that much of Star Wars has never felt to me. On a different note, I recently read Cadwell Turnbull’s novel No Gods, No Monsters, and I loved how Turnbull used monstrosity and the more-than-human to question systems of power. His depiction of how community forms in these instances of oppression—and what it means to find community—was such a great reading experience. I was totally sucked in.

Tell us about your writing process! How did you start writing? Plus: Do you have any favourite writing haunts (i.e. places) or rituals?

Like many young writers, the first thing I wrote when I was twelve and “decided” I would be a writer was fanfiction: Lord of the Rings fanfiction (books, not movies), to be specific. As a young writer, it was very cool to post a story online and receive comments from readers, so fanfiction was one of my earliest writing communities. I quickly pivoted to my own work and started submitting original fiction. I distinctly remember receiving my first form rejection from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction signed by Gordon Van Gelder. In terms of process, I’m a total pants-er. One of my favorite parts of the writing process is that quick and dirty first draft where I’m just discovering the story and following the characters on these wild adventures. I like to write quickly and in big chunks when I have the time. Because I’m in academia and in my first year as an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, I don’t always have the time to write the way I like, which is every day for a good chunk of time, so what’s been important to helping me stay with the novel and in that headspace has been music. I always make a Spotify playlist for any long project, and I’ll listen to that on the days I don’t make it to the desk or to help set the mood for whatever time to write I can snatch away from work. I currently have “Cigar” by Tamino on repeat for a dark academia novel I’m working on. Oh, and I’m a big coffee shop writer. Combination of the smell and a fresh cup of coffee helps me put the time into the work rather than just stopping when I feel like it.

When you think about your career so far, what’s one of the moments that keeps you going? A career highlight, or a beautiful moment, an inspiring mentor, or something you’re just incredibly proud of? How has that impacted your journey?

I love this question. Co-editing Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk & Eco-Speculation has certainly been one of those moments for me. At the time, I had no idea where Sunvault would go and all I

could do was put in the work and hope people connected to the amazing stories. In 2017, it seemed like such a small thing, but it has been a great joy of my career in addition to introducing me to so many amazing people, opening doors, finding me work, even opening up travel opportunities. You never know how one thing can impact the trajectory of your writing, so I try to keep that in mind on my current projects.

You have a novel AND a novella coming out next year. What’s a little teaser or pitch you can give about each of them?

My novella When We Hold Each Other Up comes out in the spring of 2023 and is a solarpunk story about Rowan, who learns to amend two types of stories—and thus two ways of seeing the ecologically-collapsed world—as a stranger comes to the community, which ultimately results in Rowan leaving on a quest to help heal a sentient city. There’s a bit of everything in this story—the more-than-human, skateboarding, nomads—but ultimately, I wanted to write about the importance of storytelling and telling new stories to restore communities. Without giving too much away, readers who love the “grizzled warrior and kid on a quest” trope will enjoy this novella.

My novel A Shot of Gin comes out in October of 2023 and is an urban fantasy set in Reno, Nevada. Working security for the vampire-owned All Saints Casino, Gin’s got an edge on the other employees: for some reason, vampires can’t drink her blood, making her perfect for the job. But when a radiated zombie staggers into the casino’s club, she’s forced to expose the inhuman traits she’s kept hidden. A total romp in the high desert, this novel is all about power, blood, and family.

Hear more from Phoebe: Get your ticket to AugurCon 2022

Phoebe Wagner is an author, editor, and academic writing and living at the intersection of speculative fiction and climate change. Her debut novel A Shot of Gin is forthcoming from Parliament House Press (2023), and her novella When We Hold Each Other Up is forthcoming from Android Press (2023). She is the editor of three solarpunk anthologies, including Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk & Eco-Speculation (2017). Wagner currently pursues a PhD, studying ecocriticism and speculative fiction at University of Nevada, Reno. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Lycoming College. Follow her at phoebe-wagner.com.

Join Phoebe at AugurCon! Our panel on Stories for the Futures We Need; Or, How to Write With Hope takes place on Saturday, November 26. Get your ticket to AugurCon 2022 now!