A witch with a death wish and a kelpie thirsty for revenge make a deal that takes them on a journey across post-apocalyptic Salem. THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE by Lee Ann Kostempski, available now in print or Kindle format, from Mocha Memoirs Press!
Hi! I figure I should get back onto Writeblr now that I'm going to be a published author. :D
I'm Lee Ann Kostempski, an anarchist writer who specializes primarily in dark fantasy and horror, though I like to experiment in many genres. I'm also a librarian. Common themes in my writing include:
utopia
class struggle
disability
gender
sexuality
My biggest influences are Ursula K. Le Guin, adrienne maree brown, Mona Awad, and Margaret Killjoy.
I have one published short story and one published novella! You can read the short story, LIKE IT'S A MAD THING, here in the Spring 2020 issue of 34 Orchard for free (trigger warnings: sexism, depression, supernatural horror, gore/body horror). You can buy the novella, THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE, here on the Mocha Memoir Press website or on Amazon in print or Kindle format; (trigger warnings: suicidal intent, depression, gore/torture, supernatural horror).
Contact info, links, & more about my current WIPs under the cut! :)
Current projects include:
DEATH & TAXES -- a trilogy retelling the legend of Robin Hood from Maid Marian's point of view, with a dark twist (rough draft);
PARASOCIAL -- a horror novella about celebrities and fan culture taken too far (rough draft);
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LIBRARY -- a departure from my usual genres, this one's a YA coming-of-age story about a senior in high school fighting to save her public library's Teen Section from budget cuts (rough draft; I plan to post this for free on Wattpad when it's complete);
SOULROT LULLABY -- a short cli-fi horror story about an Earthling forced to team up with a descendent of the wealthy humans who fled to Mars against an unexpected threat (completed & currently seeking a home for publication).
[CURRENTLY UNTITLED] -- a potential sequel to THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE following a disabled protagonist who flees life with the witch hunters when she realizes they would sooner kill her than protect her, and seeks shelter with witches (outlining).
I also occasionally write fanfiction over on Ao3, and poetry, which I typically post on my Wordpress unless I want to publish it.
You can find me on Instagram and Facebook as well.
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I'm planning on serializing my longer writing projects, posting a chapter (or maybe a handful of them) to my Substack. All of these stories, regardless of genre, carry themes of anticapitalism, activism, anarchism, communism, disability justice, and queer romance.
But I'm not sure which ones to start with, so--poll time!
Which story should I serialize first?
Sequel to my debut novella, The World As It Should Be (horror fantasy)
Death & Taxes (horror fantasy retelling of Robin Hood)
For the Love of the Library (YA coming of age about organizing and protesting)
I recently made a big decision: I want to demonetize all of my writing. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry. My art too–drawings, zines, etc.
So I’m on Substack now! You can subscribe here, completely free, to receive speculative utopian fiction that crosses genres with fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, essays about anarcho-communist theory and praxis, book reviews, and the occasional fun posts about stuff…
I've decided to demonetize my creative writing and art! And I'm doing so through Substack. (Print options for zines and/or longer projects are still in the works, so for now just digital stuff.)
All my fiction, nonfiction, and the occasional zine or poem or drawing, will be available to access FOR FREE.
My Welcome post talks about my reasoning behind this move, especially after successfully having a novella published by a small press.
If you like Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Killjoy, adrienne maree brown, or other anarcho-commie / decolonial / antifascist / anticapitalist / utopian writers, I think you'll like my stuff. So please consider subscribing!
Anarcho-commie writer, artist, and librarian on a journey to decapitalize and decolonize her creative work. Fiction, essays, zines, art, and
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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I dunno, Suspiciously Beautiful Horse In The Mist That's Definitely Going To Drown And Eat Me, if this heatwave continues I just might take you up on it.
Fellow anarcho-communist, anticapitalist fiction writers! Can I pick your brains?
I've been thinking about shifting my fiction writing into some kind of platform where I can just share my work for (mostly) free -- like donations/pay-what-you-can-based.
I've gone the indie press route with my first book but the contract expires this year and, honestly? It has been an alright experience but I have been feeling the pressure of the sophomore slump because of the pressure to monetize hobbies and art, but really idec if I make any money off of my writing. My goal is to just get my work out there and hear from people who read and enjoy it. But I do still want a physical option too.
I'm thinking some kind of hybrid thing where people can either download the PDF for free, or purchase a print-on-demand copy and/or special zine editions I print on my own at home (either serialized novellas or short story collections) with some of my own art included. There's a local indie bookstore I love that often sells/hands out locally published zines so that is likely part of my distribution plan as well.
So what are the platforms you use? I've considered buying my domain for my author site from WordPress but tbh I haven't looked yet into whether that platform has shifted to the AI-scraping model (wouldn't be surprised if it has), or even posting chapters here on Tumblr or Ao3, though idk how good traffic would be with that. Also considering a Patreon/Kofi model but idk the logistics of that very well.
So, how do you distribute your work digitally, and what about physical copies of your work?
In the wake of the 2024 election, a handful of friends asked me to compile a list of books for “budding leftists.” I was a little slow getting it out due to ~life~, but I finally finished it.
Before we get to the list though, first things first: Let’s define “leftist.”
When I refer to “leftism,” I keep in mind the phrase “leftism begins where capitalism ends.” If you think the system we have in…
Book Review: Margaret Killjoy's THE IMMORTAL CHOIR HOLDS EVERY VOICE
Margaret Killjoy has long been an author I look up to, as an anarchist and a fiction writer myself. Often blending fantasy/sci-fi and horror, they write the same type of fiction I love to write–the kind that challenges readers to imagine a different, better world than the one we live in now–by exploring themes that tickle one’s brain: radicalization, the corrupting nature of power, the struggle…
*Author’s note: This list is not based on books published in 2024, but rather the books I personally read in 2024. Some, but not all of them, were brand new releases this year; and some were published decades ago.
This was a reading year full of nonfiction–lots and lots of great antifascist, anarchist nonfiction. Maybe that’s not surprising, given I joined a local Progressive Book Club that…
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The Most Important Lesson Leftism Taught Me: Thoughts on the Election
The election is coming, and the Lee Ann who voted twelve, eight, and even four years ago, would not recognize the Lee Ann I am today. But I like to think past-Lee Ann would be impressed with how far I’ve come.
My first presidential election was Obama vs. Romney. I cast my vote for Obama with a very surface-level understanding that “Democrats seem nicer than Republicans and honestly I’m a little…
I never imagined I’d live in a world where people I trusted, people I thought had a basic grasp of right and wrong, who claim to be “progressive,” ignore or even make excuses for a genocide.
But here we are. Almost one whole year later, over 100,000 dead Palestinians, and I still see it happening.
Sometimes the mental whiplash feels almost physically painful. It’s that intense. After all, in…
Red Thread Games’s Dustborn has had one of the most interesting releases I’ve ever witnessed for any video game in my life. The far-right hates it, of course, because it’s “woke,” but for some reason they especially hate this game and review-bombed it everywhere; and some younger folks who are in the unfortunate “media purity” mindset (which is, arguably, also far-right, even though they don’t…
Oh, hey, it’s been months since I’ve posted here. Wondering where I’ve been? What I’ve been up to? What I’ve been writing and reading? What happened to my Stuff I’ve Been Reading blog post series?
Well, life since the publication of THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE has been hectic. Can you believe we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary? (If you haven’t snagged a copy yet, what the heck are you…
Had a blast selling some Mocha Memoirs Press titles and signing copies of THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE at the Buffalo Horror Garage Sale today! Thank you to everyone who braved the heat!
All these great horror, sci fi, and fantasy books are available at MochaMemoirsPress.com.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
I’ve seen the Ursula K LeGuin quote about capitalism going around, but to really appreciate it you have to know the context.
The year is 2014. She has been given a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Awards. Neil Gaiman puts it on her neck in front of a crowd of booksellers who bankrolled the event, and it’s time to make a standard “thank you for this award, insert story here, something about diversity, blah blah blah” speech. She starts off doing just that, thanking her friends and fellow authors. All is well.
Then this old lady from Oregon looks her audience of executives dead in the eye, and says “Developing written material to suit sales strategies in order to maximize corporate profit and advertising revenue is not the same thing as responsible book publishing or authorship.”
She rails against the reduction of her art to a commodity produced only for profit. She denounces publishers who overcharge libraries for their products and censor writers in favor of something “more profitable”. She specifically denounces Amazon and its business practices, knowing full well that her audience is filled with Amazon employees. And to cap it off, she warns them: “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art. Very often in our art, the art of words.”
Ursula K LeGuin got up in front of an audience of some of the most powerful people in publishing, was expected to give a trite and politically safe argument about literature, and instead told them directly “Your empire will fall. And I will help it along.”
If you want to support a bi chronically ill author and read a dark fantasy/horror novella starring a bi protagonist, check out THE WORLD AS IT SHOULD BE! Featuring witches, witch hunters, ghosts, and magical creatures in a post-apocalyptic Salem, MA.
Available for Kindle or in print via Amazon or direct from the independent publisher, Mocha Memoirs Press.
(TW for suicidal ideation, supernatural horror, and general gore.)
