Author Monica Byrne talks about the genesis of her Shimmer 12 story, “Five Letters from New Laverne“:

This story is very important to me. It’s very close to my heart, because it is the first story I wrote after deciding to become a writer–deciding that that was really all I ever wanted to do and that I was going to build my life around doing that. But what happened right as I decided that, and right as I was about to embark on that, is…tragedy.

“Five Letters from New Laverne” puts me in mind of Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and encompasses all that a Shimmer story should. It is soaked in sorrow yet ringed in hope. I hope you will pick up Shimmer 12 today so you can experience its wonder for yourself.