Content Flags, Representation & Recommendations in Threads of Dreams

Publishing news and updates by K.A. Wiggins

14 May 2024

This is a resource that I’ve been meaning to collate from various scattered posts, newsletters, storefront subsections, etc. and expand for some time now.

Threads of Dreams included my first book, my first series, my first foray back into publishing as an adult, and while there is much I am proud of in it and every part of it was written with intention, there are nonetheless some choices that I would make differently today—choices, in fact, that I pivoted on while still working on the series.

The series, for those who have read it, is set roughly 100 years in the future of Vancouver (and later books travel throughout British Columbia), with a strong speculative influence that nonetheless draws on the landscapes and heritage of the Pacific Northwest. Characters were intentionally drawn from the existing diversity of the current Metro Vancouver population, extrapolated to account for the speculative events and timeline of the series, and some characters, setting/worldbuilding, and plot points also draw on various (local & regional) Indigenous practices, both historical and ongoing.

Little to none of this is made explicit within the text of the books, partly because the story is about societal disconnection from roots and identity in complex ways that took me a series(+) to unpack and is much more fantastical than grounded in its presentation (if you don’t know the area, you might not recognize many/any of the contemporary allusions), partly because many of the connections are embedded enough in daily life and culture here that I didn’t realize where they originally came from until later, but also because my own learning as I wrote/published the series had me rethinking the direction it should take and what was appropriate to even speak into.

In the interests of doing better about attribution and pointing toward fiction that authentically reflects Indigenous lived experiences and perspectives, I’d like to collect a lasting resource here for continued learning and speculative fiction. Those follow below, under the appropriate headings. (Note: I may expand this resource page to cover other people groups referenced within the series at a later date and as I become aware of relevant resources…)

I’ve also been wanting to create an accessible/centralized Content Advisory/Trigger Warning-type resource. Content may be flagged in other locations (inside books, on storefront listings, etc.), but my intent is for this to be the most comprehensive resource.

Content is tagged by book (1, 2, 3 for main trilogy, acronyms for series-related short fiction):

Threads of Dreams Content Advisory

Illicit/intoxicating substance use incl. by minors (1, 2, Under)
Fantasy violence (monster x human, incl. gore) (all)
Fantasy & horror creatures — ghosts, various monsters, zombies/ghouls (all)
Gaslighting/emotional abuse (1-3, Under, BWNN, SOtOW)
Selfharm/suicidal ideation (1-3)
Dissociation/depressive episodes (1-3)
Workplace abuse (1, LFtEOtW, Under)
Physical abuse (limited/brief) (1)
Implied/offpage sexual abuse (limited/brief) (BWNN, Under)
Needles/involuntary anaesthesia (1)
Torture (1)
Implied child abuse (1, 3, BWNN, SOtOW)
Child death (offpage/brief) (1, 3, LFtEOtW, SOtOW)
Human sacrifice (1, 3)

This series is rated for older teens and up. It does not include on-page sex or “spice” but does include dancing/clubbing & representations of both healthy and toxic relationships. I sometimes refer to the series as having “more blood than kissing”—they’re fighting for survival and have limited time to angst over each other. 😅 It does include quite a lot of violence, generally within upper-YA dark fantasy norms.

If you believe something is missing from the content advisory above, you can flag it here. (With thanks—it’s actually fairly hard for authors to know what might be triggering or worthy of a content advisory, and we can easily err on the side of over- or under-flagging. Reader tastes and expectations also vary widely…)

### Local (to Vancouver & BC) Indigenous Learning Resources For Further Reading

Have a suggestion for a resource that might be relevant to readers of this series/who want to learn more about local/regional First Nations culture, history, leadership & practices? Let me know about it here!

### Indigenous Speculative Fiction