Issue #39 of Shimmer just went live, and I can still barely believe it, but my name is on that cover. And what a cover! Gorgeous and haunting artwork by Sandro Castelli. The table of contents include some fabulous authors (as well as yours truly), and of course, I highly recommend you pick up this issue and read it, like, right now.
My story ‘Hare’s Breath’ will be available online in October, but you can pick up the issue now (or even better: subscribe!) and read all the stories and author interviews right away.
Stories included in this issue:
- The Creeping Influences, by Sonya Taaffe
- En la Casa de Fantasmas, by Brian Holguin
- Fixer, Worker, Singer, by Natalia Theodoridou
- Hare’s Breath, by Maria Haskins
My story is set in Sweden, and was partly inspired by the Swedish folklore surrounding Midsummer, and partly by the compulsory sterilizations that were performed on mainly young women in Sweden, starting in the 1930s and continuing until the early 1970s.
I’d also like to note that the practice of compulsory sterilization continued until 2013 for transgendered people, who had to undergo the procedure if they wanted to transition.
Wikipedia, The Independent, and The Economist have articles on this dark and horrific chapter in Swedish history. There is also an excellent radio documentary in Swedish by Bosse Lindquist from 1990 that is well worth listening to, if you know Swedish.
Also, if you want to buy that awesome cover-art, you can pick it up from the Shimmer store on Redbubble. All proceeds go to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Maria Haskins 
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