E.M. Kerkman | 🏴‍☠️☠️🔥

More exciting news! I am officially a nominee for this year’s Astounding Award! Read more about it here: astoundingaward.info #astoundingaward #writingcommunity #sciencefiction

ALPHA was one of the most influential workshops I attended as a teenager that helped form me into the writer I am today! If anyone knows/mentors young spec fic writers, please encourage them to apply!

Here is a beautiful flyer our lovely publicity people (it was me) made for applications this year! It’s so cool and easy to print out and post in libraries or send to your friends wow!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the radio silence—I’m back with exciting news! This year, I am once again First Runner-Up for the Must Read Books (formerly Dell) Award, for my short story KINESIS. I will be at ICFA in Orlando again this year, and hope to see some familiar faces there! #MustReadBooksAward

A photo of author E.M. Kerkman holding a copy of Asimov’s Magazine issue 48 open to page 146, standing in front of her local Barnes and noble.

Hey look, it’s me holding up a copy of my story in this month’s issue of @asimovssfmag.bsky.social! My first publication ever available in a brick and mortar store, too! Check my blog/newsletter for more info :)

#SFFChat Sept 6: Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding! It was one of the first books I ever read that had morally complex characters who were equal parts interesting, dislikable, and compelling. My own writing is influenced by his characterization to this day.

#SFFChat Sept. 5: all of my characters go through some sort of transformation within the book, but I’d say the biggest is Callum. He goes from an angry, self-isolating person to someone who can handle his grief and is actively working on healing relationships he previously damaged.

01. Inside the cockpit of a Roseway U-07 Firebird, Alexia Terranova flipped through the pages of a handwritten preflight checklist with a scowl on her face. On the dashboard of the single-seater aircraft, the vernier thruster light was still dark. Her in-air stabilizers were offline. Meaning, while she could steer, it wouldn’t be easy. Or fast. At the moment, she really needed easy. And fast. “Thirty seconds to drop!” the race referee announced over the tinny PA system in the hangar outside. Between the guttural rumble of her barely-legal engine and the thick shell of windglass around the cockpit, Terrah almost couldn’t understand him. “Terrah, you need to pull out,” a voice instructed her, and Terrah turned down the volume on her headset. “Not a chance, Rosie.” Terrah reread the ‘Thrusters’ page again in case she’d missed something the first three times. “I can still fly.” “Yeah, and crash. Of all the races for you to be overconfident in, the Spire is not—” “Fifteen seconds to drop!” the referee shouted. “Terrah—” “Auxiliary fuel pump off,” Terrah replied. “Flight controls, free and correct. Instruments, comms, gauges, lights, and docking gear, all checked. Altimeter is set, directional gyro is set, trim is set. Main engine, on. Auxiliary engine, on. Main thrusters, on. Vernier thrusters, not on, but we can work with that. Harness is fastened, rescue float is in here somewhere—” “If you crash my fucking plane, I’m taking what you owe me out of Leo’s estate,” Rosie grumbled.

#SFFChat A4: here’s the opening page of De Terra Ad Infinitum!

#SFFChat A3: my first professionally published short story came out on 9/2 with Apex Magazine! I have another one out with Asimov’s this month as well.

One of my life goals as a writer was to have a piece published in one of the Big SF Mags, and to have *two* in one month is a dream come true.

#SFFChat A2: Terrah’s goals and aspirations in life have gone from more self-centric dreams to dreams that support the family she’s found/built. In the book, she has to learn to be selfish again—because she can’t help anyone else if she doesn’t help herself first.

#SFFchat A1: aside from my usual plethora of short stories, my current project is De Terra Ad Infinitum, a dieselpunk alt-earth sci-fi novel about illegal plane racing, flying cities in an apocalyptic world, government conspiracies, and the unavoidably cyclical nature of human history!

Oh this is so cool! I’m totally going to do this—I’ll make a thread and then backdate the first few posts :) what a fun idea!

A drawing of the main character in my most recently published short story, dressed like a cowboy with robot parts visible through the costume, over a simple blue and tan background

Also also, as a fun little extra, a friend of mine did fan art for Black Gold a while back—here’s her interpretation of the MC!

(Also, please go support her art if you like what you see! You can find her on KoFi here: ko-fi.com/cat_psychic)

A parody of the Little Golden Books logo featuring a circle of vintage black Halloween cats surrounded by spilled potions, lit matches, pawprints, and candies. Text reads: "Apex Magazine Kickstarter 2026"

"Apex Magazine Submissions OPENING! October 1st!"

The Apex Magazine team is thrilled to announce that our Kickstarter for 2026 begins OCTOBER 1ST!! 🎃🍁

We're keeping all the rewards you love, adding exciting new rewards for readers and writers alike, AND reopening submissions! Mark your calendars, and we'll see you at the graveyard smash! 👻🌙🐈‍⬛📅

Black Gold is out today!! I’m so excited for everyone to get to read it—thank you to Apex Magazine for making that possible!

Dear friends, writers, #agents, interstellar travelers, interdimensional aliens, and otherwise paradoxical time hoppers!

We would like to invite you to set your favorite time-traveling device to October 21st, 2025, for the pitch event dedicated to Science Fiction, #SFPit! 🧵

Mountain biking! Hilariously, I’ve come full circle and now coach for the team I raced for back in high school. The cycling world is very small 😂

Hi #weeknightwriters! I coach a HS sports team this time on Thursdays so alas I can only pop in right at the end—I have two upcoming short story publications! One is Black Gold, out with Apex Magazine on 9/2. My other, Lolo’s Last Run, is currently out in the Sept/Oct edition of Asimov’s!

hi y’all!! I’m absolutely blown away by all the amazing #PosterPit posters, and the love you’ve shown my projects #PlanesWIP and #PiratesWIP! I’ll introduce myself properly for all the new folks soon, but for now I just want to thank y’all 🥹 what a wonderful #WritingCommunity

Unfortunately not yet! There was an old, old version of it once available on Amazon, but I pulled the series from all platforms to rewrite it and query it traditionally. Fingers crossed it’ll be published sometime soon!

Text on poster: "De Terra Ad Infinitum: A new adult science fiction novel by award winning author E.M. Kerkman. One central mystery, Two worlds colliding, Three narrative POVs. Terrah always knew she would fly. She never expected to fall." Along the side, the repeating text reads "Omnes aequales sub astris. Pax diu". The background image is a real photograph of a North Vietnamese MiG-17 aircraft being hit by 20 mm rounds from an Air Force F-105D on June 3, 1967. Photo credits: USAF via National Archives

#PosterPit #W #SF #SPF #A #NA #PlanesWIP

Racing planes for a living, and newly accepted to the airforce academy, Terrah's living the dream when disaster strikes. Explosions on a flying city always mean trouble.

Especially when you live under it.

WARCROSS x ONE OF US IS LYING

DEADLY ARCHETYPES is a fast paced, grounded YA sci-fi that features:
- a high-tech, high stakes VR competition game
- an unlikely group of allies
- the ticking clock of a mind control glitch
- hero x villain archetypes
#PosterPit #AG #SF #YA

The text in the image reads: "Magic, mutiny, romance, and a six-month deadline. What could possibly go wrong?" "Dual POVs, sentient oceans, vengeful ghosts, magical curses, enemies to lovers, and lovers to enemies." "He has a curse to break. She has everything to prove." "Sail By Dawn, a new-adult fantasy novel by award winning author E. M. Kerkman." The background image is of a sailing ship on a stormy sea with dawn light shining from behind it. It is a paining titled "Bird of Dawn" by Montague Dawson.

#PosterPit #W #NA #F #R #PiratesWIP

During her world tour, Captain Holloway is captured by pirates. After encountering an assassination plot, a magical curse, an unlikely romance, and an imminent war, she finally takes a side. The wrong side.

It's all Captain Falcon's fault.

*Art by Shibushio on fiverr* The image shows a fake movie poster for the book "Mark of a Magpie" Text in the image reads: Mark of a Magpie, An adult fantasy by Emilia Young, On submission next week, Thief x Assassin, Forced Proximity, Morally Gray, Women's Wrongs Behind the text are two characters leaning over the side of a ship with beautiful skies in the background. The first character is a women, Ryn, who has brown hair in two braids, wearing leather armguards and a tunic, watching the land pass. The second character is a man, Seven, who has black hair and is wearing a tunic with a black turtleneck beneath it. He's watching Ryn with a small smile on his face.

📖🐦‍⬛Mark of a Magpie🐦‍⬛📖

When a small-town thief crosses paths with the kingdom’s big-shot assassin, an unlikely partnership is born; but can their goals align before their egos and secrets land them both a spot on the gallows?

#PosterPit #PosterPitOS #PosterPitA #AG #OS
#A #F #R #DIS
#onsub #editors

IDLE OF A PSYCHOPOMP - POSTER

IDLE OF A PSYCHOPOMP
How far would you go to make sure your loved ones survive? For a retired explorer, that burning question never ceases to exist. When he overhears a rumour about a mysterious forest, he ventures back into the wild, desperation overwhelming every other emotion.
#PosterPit #Q #T #A

A mock search bar with search suggestions, there is a picture of a crashing wave in the background. The search bar says 'Of Gemstones and Divinity', the search suggestions are: Second world historical fantasy, sapphic rivals to lovers slow burn, pirates and sea adventures, self discover, rebelling against the government, all women pirate crew, duels and banter

🌊OF GEMSTONES AND DIVINITY🌊

Kiana robs the wealthy to give to those in need. Emeralda left her noble life behind to be a seafaring vigilante. The unlikely duo must cooperate long enough to take down a bloodthirsty pirate. They get along better than they expected.

~96k

#QueerPit #NA #F #FR #HF

Think: A forest that gives birth. The paper-thin layer of skin between life and death. The sacrifices we make to ensure our lineage.

Pairs well with: sandalwood, cedar, bonfire, freshly laid mulch, and pinot noir.

#HuntingSeason #PosterPit #PosterPitA #AG #H #LIT #SPF

“This world, my dear, is the slaughterhouse of noble ideals.” Color Magic Fantasy Heist No Romance! Epic Fight Scenes Feral Feminine Rage Touch Her & You'll Die Title: Killer Quill Coming Sept. 25 2025 Wisteraverse.com Author: Shida Ketzer Guaranteed NO Romance Color composition: Saturated red, black, & white. Figure: Quill's image holding a dagger and a quill wafting tenrils of black magic

🗡️Murdered in cold blood &resurrected through forbidden powers, Quill becomes a legendary assassin.
🥷When her latest mission sparks the higher power’s wrath, Quill must avenge the death of her people and her own murder. 💀Failure will cost more than just her life.🪶
#PosterPit #P #F
🪐📚 📚💙 🌈📚

Pretend movie poster for #Posterpit featuring an image of a dark forest in the background with the silhouette of a ballerina's legs en pointe in front with rope tying the ankles together. Ice is creeping in from the bottom, purple swirls of magic are by the legs, and a giant feather is on the ground beneath the feet. Words at the top read, "Mental health rep," "Slow burn," "Found family," "Forced proximity." The top center reads, "One kidnapped ballerina, Four fantasy fugitives, And her quest to escape" next to a badge reading, "Killer Nashville Claymore Finalist." Center reads, "Jessica DeLand's Wake" centered between words reading "A Curse So Dark and Lonely" and "The Inheritance Games," both bracketed separately by feathers. Bottom reads, "YA Contemporary Fantasy, AAPI/ADHD Writer, 26 Full Requests, 4 Previous Offers of Publication, Querying Now."

A CURSE SO DARK & LONELY X
THE INHERITANCE GAMES

When a ballerina is kidnapped by fantasy fugitives desperate to recover their leader’s magic trapped inside her, she unearths their secrets to facilitate freedom, but bonds w/ them & falls for 1 instead

#PosterPit #Q #YA #F #M #R #FT