About a year ago, I saw a contest on the writing website Scribophile about “the ghosts in the machine”. Having little inspiration at the time, I decided I might as well use the opportunity to take out my recent frustrations with my dad and his steadfast refusal to get a hearing aid despite suffering rapidly-deteriorating hearing loss for the past 15 years.

“White Noise” was the result. I didn’t intend it to be a commentary on the immigrant experience and the difficulty of being heard in today’s world, but sometimes, the stories make themselves. “White Noise” was the first story I ever published in Anathema: Spec from the Margins which, as a magazine dedicated exclusively to publishing queer authors of color, is exactly the venue I dreamt of for this piece. And as of yesterday, you get to listen to it in all its creepy, gurgling-baby glory over at PseudoPod as part of Artemis Rising 5!

Also, can we just take a moment to admire the absolute, mind-bendingly beautiful glory that is the AR5 cover? Because I get goosebumps every time I look at it. And the “Hudson” in the Authors section? Isn’t just for “White Noise”. I’ve got another piece releasing from PodCastle later in March, so keep an eye out!