Soul Jar: Thirty-One Fantastical Tales by Disabled Authors
(October 17, 2023, Forest Avenue Press)
Too often, science fiction and fantasy stories erase—or cure—characters with disabilities. Soul Jar, edited by author and bookstore owner Annie Carl, features thirty-one stories by disabled authors, imagining such wonders as a shapeshifter on a first date, skin that sprouts orchid buds, and a cereal-box demon. An insulin pump diverts an undead mob. An autistic teen sets out to discover the local cranberry bog's sinister secret. A pizza delivery on Mars goes wrong. This thrillingly peculiar collection sparkles with humor, heart, and insight, all within the context of disability representation.
Cover art created by Gigi Little
Nebula Vibrations
(October 25, 2022, Extra: Solar/Vertvolta Design + Press)
The idea of going to space stayed in Mari Sparling's library and nowhere else. When Mari wakes up on a spaceship centuries in the future, she knows something is seriously wrong.
Nebula Vibrations is the debut novella by Annie Carl, a thought-provoking meditation on manifest destiny, obligations, and one person's attempts at understanding their disabilities in unexpected new ways.
Cover art created by Vladimir Verano
My Tropey Life: How Pop Culture Stereotypes Make Disabled Lives Harder
(December 8, 2020, Microcosm Publishing)
Annie writes with incisive wit and insight about what it's like to be disabled in an able-bodied world. She walks us through the stereotypical portrayals of disabled people in books and movies—the "inspirational" people, the miracle cures, the monsters and villains—and shows how these stereotypes play out in real-life interactions, from rude stares and patronizing comments to the institutionalization, marginalization, and even murder of people with disabilities. She also writes about positive representation of disabilities in pop culture and ends with a call to action for a cultural shift.
Cover art created by Microcosm Publishing