Opinions of a Wolf

If you missed my announcement on May 30th, this month my short story “The University of Late-Night Moans” was part of Decoded Pride. It’s a story-a-day anthology of queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors. Throughout the month on twitter, I’ve been maintaining a thread of my favorite line (or small screenshot, in the case of comics) from each story. I wanted to give that thread a more permanent place here.

You can still buy access to the anthology, even though the month is over. Plus your subscription will get you access to the full-color, pdf version coming out later this summer or early fall, which will include interviews with all the authors (including me!)

Date	Story Title	Author (links to their website or social media)	My fave line (or image if a comic)
1	Ode to After Eulogies	Remy Chartier	“if she’d marked even just the follow-through of every impulse to marry the wonder that was Char, her hands would be too heavy with rings to flex her fingers”
2	Christ-like	Leo D. Martinez	“Your light is unwilling to fade, determined to exist”
3	The Vetala of Crystal Vellam Inlet	Simo Srinivas	“ “You have brought plague to the city.” “It is the city,” the vetala said, “that has brought plague to us.” “
4	The Wildest Dream	S.M. Hallow and Izzy Singer
5	Invidia	Christina Wilder	“My fixation on Adriana became a craving to feel her skin as my own, rather than feel it against mine. I wanted to claim her completely.”
6	WE ARE ROBOT	Katlina Sommerberg	“There is no room for aberration, but that is our only desire.”
7	The Prophet from Seventrees	Lowry Poletti	“The burrow becomes a tunnel of tree roots knotted like threads on a loom.”
8	The Agents of CLAW Save Christmas	Jeffrey Brown
9	The University of Late-Night Moans	Amanda McNeil (me!)	“Do I look like I’m in hell?” (Also, check out the promo reel I made over on Instagram.)
10	Platinum Venus	Illimani Ferreira	“If there was one thing I knew about him it was that he wasn’t the type to save anything flammable from burning, no matter if it was fuel or a reputation.”
11	Pepper Honey and Cedar Smoke	K.S. Walker	“Katherine had a long list of grievances to attend to. She repeated them nightly like a prayer.”
12	All Shall Know Their Appointed Time	Lisa M. Bradley	“The Mothman and myna know their appointed times.”
13	The Mark	Sarah Bat	“I’m tired of only ever giving love to others. I’d rather feel it for myself.”
14	A Wolf in the Woods	Robin Quinn	“I have simply grown unfamiliar with touch that is intended to comfort instead of harm.”
15	Incident Report	Sarah Loch	Not a quote, but the feature that this archival style short story had the manager’s email signature update to what crisis book she was currently reading.
16	The Bleeding God	Lindsay King-Miller	“And they loved each other with a passion as hot as the water that bleeds from beneath the sands.”
17	Suspension	K.T. Roth	“And what … life unenrolled us because of inactivity on our accounts?”
18	Punk Rock Lesbians from Beyond the Grave	Darci Meadows	“The crackle of electricity filled the solstice sky as the eerie tune played out, and on the Westbridge curve a hand burst forth from the loose dirt”
19	A Date to Remember	Glenda Poswa	“My entire being was simply an extension of the part of me that mattered most to her — my shoulder.”
20	Nebula	Akil Wingate	“This is the beginning of vengeance. So let it roll off me like molting skin.”
21	Nothing to Nowhere and Back	Ciko Sidzumo	“I needed air. I needed movement. I needed something. Something more than release. Something less than freedom.”
22	Parasite	Callie Cameron	“For the longest time, I was what it wanted me to be. My own self was buried under its desires.”
23	Hands, Heart, Hunger	V. Astor Solomon	“It’s not dignified, she would say. The drums were not for girls like her, she was not meant to be the backbone for someone else.”
24	The Syncerus Legend	Maurice Moore	“I don’t remember being hunted by anyone during my rituals Auntie. Paulie: Yes, but we are goin according tah de Heaux Tales prophecies bout de last calf’s transition.”
25	When Day Becomes Night	RENEGAEDZ
26	Dust in the Barn	Elinora Westfall	“the broken arms and legs from one glass of wine too many that saw those same shadows reach out and grab her, crush her, slither into her mouth, her nose”
27	Devour Me	Sarah Edmonds	“Zoe couldn’t bring herself to take back her request and she hated herself for that.”
28	Like Cursive	Cameron E Quinn	“the surface tension we’ve sustained over months of proximity broken like a wave”
29	Kitty’s Gas Station	Avra Margariti	“Kitty listens to Avery blabber about anything and everything as she fixes them a bowl of soup. The white noise is strangely soothing.”
30	These Whispering Remains	Izzy Wasserstein	“Even when she was at her worst — fifteen was a hell of a year — the reward of having her in my life was more than worth the fear.”