I am currently seeking representation for my 66,000-word speculative fiction/horror novel-told-in-stories “No One Would Rather Have the Story: Seven Unhealthy Shorts”—my debut work of fiction. 

It’s 2057 in Juneau, Alaska. In this alternative-future Juneauverse, a nationwide Executive Order limits daily purchases to two nonessential items. Most are on consistent doses of appetite suppressants. Tourism has dwindled from overdevelopment. Stories dip into horror, urban fantasy, and magical realism with body-swapping, time-stopping, looming shadow figures, and severe climate change. Recurring characters face grief, alcoholism, overwork, and unfit partners, but often make “unhealthy” choices. 

In “Clutter Cutter, LLC,” Wilma's business downsizes people’s consumer-heavy homes post Executive Order 11376 until her work is interrupted by a seemingly interested client, forcing her to go against her principles. In “Tunnel Vision,” Max’s mother disappears during a haunted tour of an underground project halted by a three-year pandemic. In “Bodies and Resources,” Dais has a panic attack from old caffeine pills while trying to seduce her coworker. “Time Flies When You're Having None” brings us to overworked Seymour, who freezes her world to rest and in turn invites something dark into her secluded cabin. "But What If We Don't" follows OC, a young home caregiver struggling with the shame and danger of alcoholism. “The Cab” centers on a hungover and anxious Leti who mistakes a teenager for imminent danger on an Alaskan backroad. “On Shuffle” follows three stifled lives who each seek what others have until they are advised to visit the town “Listener."

Similar titles include “Her Body and Other Parties: Stories” by Carmen Maria Machado, "Nobody Gets Out Alive: Stories" by Leigh Newman, "I'm a Fool to Want You: Stories" by Camila Sosa Villada, "I Who Have Never Known Men" by Jacqueline Harpman, and "Picnic at Hanging Rock" by Joan Lindsay.

After 14 years in professional journalism and content creation, I now work in Alaska conservation, which has directly inspired this collection. 

The full manuscript is available upon request at mscusimano@gmail.com.

(I also enjoy writing about horror and created a place for takes on horror content at @horren_cusimano.)