Jennifer Jeanne McArdle

 My supernatural horror story "The Women with Detached Heads" about a wealthy couple from Boston, their housekeeper, and some South East Asian ghost ladies was published in From the Yonder Volume 3, a collection of horror stories with monsters and folklore from around the world. A print copy can be purchased here Please note some content warnings with this story: abuse, characters with racist/imperialistic attitudes, implied sexual encounter with unclear consent (not depicted), some gore, and discussion of abortion/pregnancy. Somewhat spoiler-y thoughts on this story (I will try to keep things vague but this may indirectly spoil some of the plot): Honestly, I struggled a lot with this story and making sure I got it right. I am still not sure I did. I wanted to play with some horror tropes (like the evil "foreign" monster and the othering of foreign, non-Western people, the "innocent" and long suffering wife of the jerk-y narcissistic husband) and upend the...

 My story, "Who Inherits the Earth?" was published in Mesozoic Reader Volume 1 I was inspired by the way we talk about pet parrots to imagine dragons having pet humans/hominids in a pre-historic setting. I was also thinking about evolution, the fall and rise of species and societies, and the history of birds and dinos. All of the stories and poems in the volume contain references to prehistoric creatures. You can purchase a softcover copy here This story was originally drafted in 2018 and actually contains a plague plot-line (woops!).

 My story, "The Mules" was published in Bear Creek Gazette. Check it out here:  The Mules | Bear Creek Gazette (welcometobearcreek.com) Genre: Sci-Fi/dystopia Length: ~3500 words Author Notes: I wrote this story for a call that asked the writers to imagine an outdated technology becoming useful again. I was reading about mules and learned that during pre-industrial times, they were an extremely valuable commodity. This was one of humanity's first experiments with genetic engineering. So I tried to imagine a world where mules would be useful again. The fact that mules are infertile helped spark the lead character, Jordan, who was born without sex organs. I tried to imagine a society where infertility was common and fertility was so precious, so both Jordan and mules would be needed but also looked down upon. Content Warnings: Animal deaths (somewhat graphic), terminal illness, the lead character faces prejudice/ignorance due to her asexuality, infertility, and status as an...