K.A. Wiggins (Kaie) is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction author, speaker, and creative writing coach known for the celebrated gothic-dystopian YA Dark Fantasy series Threads of Dreams.

She writes across fantasy, science fiction, and horror subgenres (often within the same work) for middle grade (forthcoming), young adult, and all-ages/adult audiences, exploring the tangled webs of society, environment, and identity through intricate, dreamlike tales of monsters and magic.

She has been published by Fantasy Magazine, The Fairytale Magazine, Frozen Wavelets, Hungry Shadow Press, Fiction-Atlas Press, and Virgibooks (in translation), among others and is the president of the Children's Writers & Illustrators of British Columbia Society (CWILL BC), a director-at-large with Word Vancouver Festival of Readers & Writers, a member of The Writers Union of Canada, and a teacher with the Creative Writing for Children Society (CWC).

LEARN MORE (expanded bio, links) or contact directly at: [email protected]

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News & Updates

Summer News Roundup

Jun 01, 2023

It’s really turned into the year of workshops & short fiction around here—not making as much progress on launching the next series (yes there are now multiples waiting in the wings . . .) as I’d like, because there’s just too much going on between the different author societies, festivals, magazines, etc., but it’s not a bad problem to have!

Coming up in the calendar (full event postings in the appropriate section below):

And I’ll likely also be at Word Vancouver in September and the BC Teacher-Librarian’s Fall Conference in October. Events earlier this year included presentations to the BC Librarians’ Youth Services Institute, Word Vancouver, and Abbotsford Arts Council, along with my usual Creative Writing for Children term-length workshops.

In short fiction, “Children of Earth” was published (in both text and audio formats) in the April edition of Fantasy Magazine (and longlisted in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize), a spinoff “micro-trilogy” of novelettes, Spectres of the Old World, was published from January to February, two new short stories were accepted to a HWA-qualifying podcast and a SFWA-qualifying small press anthology and a third short was award awarded honourable mention in the Writers of the Future awards.

My latest attempt at restocking my short story folder is going poorly—a really fun high fantasy concept absolutely ran away with the wordcount and is stubbornly turning into yet another novel (or new series), so at some point you all can look forward to a deluge of new releases. Another part of the holdup is that there has been a bit of traditional/legacy publishing interest in some of these works in progress. I like to use Twitter “pitch parties” to practice writing hooks and test market interest/create buzz, and happened to get an (agent) full request on CAVE STORY WIP (a MG Ghost Story) and interest from a (Harlequin romantic suspense?!!) editor on SONGSTRESS WIP (a Fae murder mystery/UF), so it’ll take a bit of time to chase down those leads and see if they’re worth pursuing further.

All that said, I’m hoping there’ll be a bit of a slowdown over summer (though there is the possibility of some summer camp workshops . . . and maybe I should actually see my family at some point . . . ?) and ideally I might have a bit of time to get back into revisions/release planning/drafting on at least...
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Read Local! CWILL BC 2023 Spring Preview

Apr 28, 2023

Special thanks to The British Columbia Library Association Young Adults and Children’s Section (YAACS) for the opportunity to pop into their 2023 Youth Services Institute day for a lightning talk!

Watch the replay for a sneak peek at some of the 2023 new and upcoming BC kidlit releases we’re most excited for at CWILL BC, along with a quick overview of bringing BC kidlit authors, illustrators & books into libraries, schools and institutions!


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Fantasy Magazine

Apr 11, 2023

Incredibly proud and excited to share “Children of Earth” with the world. 🎉

Eco-anxiety takes on a life of its own 😏 in this laugh-out-loud climate fiction-meets-body horror-meets-rom com about the dangers of lusting after your neighbour(‘s laneway house) & the pursuit of eco-sainthood in Issue 90 (April 2023) of Fantasy Magazine.

It features a goblin-mode Millennial, toenail cryptids, and a shared compost bin.

You can read it (or listen to the podcast/audiobook version) for free online, buy the whole brilliant💅 April edition as an ebook for just $2.99, or subscribe for even more fantastic speculative lit for under $24/year!

And don’t miss my author spotlight with Fantasy Magazine co-editor-in-chief Christie Yant while you’re there.

Podcast/audiobook version narrated by Judy Young. Longlisted in the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Honourable Mention in the 2022 Writers of the Future Awards.

With thanks to Arley Sorg at Fantasy Magazine for hands-down the best editing experience I’ve ever had, Dean Wesley Smith at WMG Publishing/Pulphouse Fiction Magazine for the killer workshop that spawned this monstrosity, and Rebecca Schaeffer’s MARKET OF MONSTERS series for the twisted inspo (& Mirella’s name).

And it’s kinda a deep cut, but for anyone who’s curious (mild spoiler alert? IDK?🤷), the thing Mirella orders to deal with her little problem was totally inspired by a Lomi machine, so if you guessed that, congrats. 😂


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The Astonishing Case of the Zombie Sub

Mar 30, 2023

I’ve got some amazing news, but first: a quick heads-up on a super short #IndieApril Sale April 1-3 at Narratess!

And, in other news, I’m excited to have just been accepted into The Writers’ Union of Canada! Check out my new speaker’s profile here. I’ll be eligible for funding going forward under the Ontario Writers-In-The-Schools and the National Public Readings programs, so schools and organizations interested in booking an author visit, presentation, or workshop, please get in touch!

And finally, the contract isn’t actually signed yet, but I’ve just had an offer on a short story I never thought would actually find a home, so buckle up for . . .

The Astonishing Case of the Zombie Sub

If you’ve ever tried to create something, you’ve probably realized in pretty short order that a gap (ahem: yawning chasm, void, black hole, unscalable cliff of doom) exists between what you envision and what you’re able to create.

This is true regardless of the form your creation takes and, to some extent, regardless of skill level, experience, talent, etc.

That’s not to say that you can’t get better at narrowing the gap. A baby artist takes time to gain mastery over her tools. But even a master has that final thread of uncrossable, unscalable, ineffable something more to keep her awake at night.

Every story is, at some level, a battle to translate as clearly and completely that perfect, unattainable vision into imperfect words on a page.

Case in point: in 2019 I set out to capture an idea about a girl who chose to silence herself in order to win her heart’s desire.

It was loosely inspired by Scottish folklore—Thomas the Rhymer, cursed to speak only the truth, The Fiddlers of Tomnahurich, lost from their own time and stranded in a future they didn’t choose or understand, Tam Lin, stolen away by the queen of fairies, or maybe the stealer of virtue himself, destined for sacrifice—and set in a remote corner of modern Scotland where slow decline and struggle for survival roils beneath an idyllic tourism-oriented veneer.

My first attempt was the lyrical, folkloric “A Song of Dark Things,” a longish short story that sold immediately to Unknown Realms: A Fiction-Atlas Press Anthology.

But it didn’t fully capture the depth of what I wanted, the underlying motivation and tension. So I tried again. And again.

The third attempt was something new, something vital and alive and completely different from anything I’d written before. It switches perspectives, introducing an outsider’s view and voice, along with a whole new set of problems and possibilities. And it ended up being the start of something far bigger than I could finish back in 2019. You’ll get a look at it one of these days—it’s now the first chapter in the series I’ve been referring to as Songstress WIP.

But let’s circle back to that second attempt. The weirdest one in the Songstress triptych of tales about fae and rockstars and tricksters breaking barbed promises.

“Calloused” was the shortest, strangest, most difficult story of the three by far.

It jitters between past and present from one scene to the next. It’s entirely narrated, the “action” hinging on quiet, fierce interiority of purpose. While it racked up its share of wonderfully encouraging comments (and...
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WRAD2023 Plus A Not-Announcement

Jan 25, 2023

Shoutout to the awesome team at Word Vancouver for the invitation to host their in-person World Read Aloud Day event this year!

I’ll be chatting with CWILL BC member and recent debut Emily Seo as she presents a reading from her 2022 middle grade novel The Science of Boys and demonstrates some live science.

Local schools will be joining us for this celebration of reading aloud at Surrey Library Central City Branch from 10-11 am on February 1, 2023.

I do also still have availability open on the afternoon of Feb. 1 for schools or libraries who want to book a short, free virtual reading (or, locally, live reading).

In other news, I’m very excited to not-yet-officially be able to announce my first audio adaptation has been licensed! Hollow will be coming to a horror podcast near you in the not-so-distant future.

The market has requested the official announcement wait until the story goes live, so all I can really say now is that it’s an eerie, Twilight-zone-esque short story inspired by Hollywood North, a Horror Writers of America-qualifying sale, audio-only (first print rights still available), and despite the horror label, suitable for all ages.

And, as a word of encouragement for the writers out there: don’t self reject! Getting into this market felt like a real stretch to me, the story is kind of a different direction from my usual (more “straight horror” than cross-genre? But not actually that scary? More unsettling/chilling than gory or bloody?), and I’d very nearly retired it from my submissions rotation when the license request came through on a long-dormant sub. You never know what will connect and with whom!

Looking forward to seeing how they interpret this story to audio—so many fun opportunities with the sound design. Will keep you posted when it goes public!


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More News


Events

UBC MACL Presents: (Re)Imagining Tomorrow Graduate Conference

Date: Friday-Saturday, June 23-24, 2023

Time: 3-5 pm Friday (1-9 pm Friday, 8:30-6pm Saturday)

Location: UBC Vancouver, Henry Angus Building (Sauder)

Type: TED-style Conference Talks

Honoured to have had my proposal accepted for this exciting two-day conference put together by the University of British Columbia Master’s of Arts in Children’s Literature & iSchool programs.

(Re)Imagining Tomorrow: Agency and Possibility in Literature and Media for Children and Young Adults Graduate Student Conference in Children’s & Young Adult Literature, Media & Culture features creative presentations on Friday, June 23 and academic topics on Saturday, June 24, with two keynotes and over 40 stunningly diverse presenters from around the world.

I’ll be presenting “After ‘The End’: Building Brighter Futures in Apocalyptic, Dystopian & Speculative YA” based on the Threads of Dreams series (specifically the final chapters of Burn the Skies) on Friday, June 23 during...
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“Collaborating with BC Children’s Authors & Illustrators” BC Museums Association x CWILL BC Webinar

Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Time: 12-1 pm

Location: online

Type:

I’m looking forward to showcasing all the exciting collaboration possibilities (and successful examples) between local kidlit creators and museums, galleries & other Arts institutions for the BC Museums Association.

I love history, and all of my series so far feature local history and/or scenes set at historic sites around the province (Burnaby Village Museum in Black the Tides from Threads of Dreams, ghostly flashbacks through the last 150 years of Chilliwack’s history in CAVE STORY WIP, and SONGSTRESS WIP takes a detour through a kobold community hiding in Britannia Mine Museum), so it’s going to be super fun to get to connect with this group!

Learn more/register here.


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Abbotsford Arts Council Presents Workshop Wednesday: Intro to Publishing

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Time: 6pm

Location: Online

Type: Workshop/Presentation, Q&A

Join us for the second webinar in Abbotsford Arts Council’s Workshop Wednesday series! I’ll be taking attendees through a whirlwind overview of all things publishing–local visibility, in-person sales and ecommerce as a publishing strategy, as well as planning, drafting, editing, product design/development, launching, pre and post-launch marketing, sales & PR, with time for a Q & A at the end.

This webinar is perfect for local writers looking to learn more about the world of publishing and getting their work from their screens to the shelves. Learn more and register at the Abbotsford Arts Council website.

And check back later for more great local artist resources from AAC. I’ll be offering an asynchronous, multi-part marketing and cover design workshop before the end of March, and there’s more...
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Past Events