Kat Cataclysm and NaNoWriMo 2023

Some of you who are newly following me may not know this, but in early 2020, I released my debut novel, 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel. The narrator/protagonist, Kat Cataclysm, is a polyamorous bisexual woman and absurdist short fiction writer. And 99 Erics is a humorous account of Kat’s experiences writing a book called 99 Erics, which is about her experiences dating ninety-nine different people named Eric. It is more surreal than slutty. Not that there is anything wrong with slutty.

Despite not being able to promote it as much as I would like due to the pandemic, 99 Erics is the only book I’ve written to date to have ever won a book award: It was the winner of the Publishing Triangle’s 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, an Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) 2021 silver medalist in LGBT+ Fiction, and one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Indie Books of 2021.

The reason why I’m telling you all this now is because, after much deliberation, I think I’ve finally found a worthy premise for the next Kat Cataclysm novel. A few days ago, I sat down and started typing and the words just flew out of me! Unlike my nonfiction books and essays, which come together in a slow and methodical manner, I’ve found that my best fiction arises when I just let my unconscious mind loose and let improvisation take hold.

Given the good start so far, I’ve decided to take part in NaNoWriMo this month. For those unfamiliar, that acronym stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that you try to write every day in November, hopefully coming out the other side with a fledgling first draft of a novel in hand. While I highly doubt that I’ll finish a whole first draft (especially since I have other commitments), I figured I’d give it a go and see how much progress I make!

In the meantime, rather than inundate y’all with those super-rough drafts, I thought I’d share all the publicly available excerpts of 99 Erics, to hopefully whet your appetite for an eventual second Kat installment.

My favorite chapter of 99 Erics—which I believe offers a great sense of both the character and the book—is “Posers.” A video of me reading from the entire chapter can be found on YouTube and a smaller excerpt of the first part of the chapter can be found on Medium.

Publishing Triangle finalist, review, and reading!

As some of you may know, my latest book 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel was recently announced as a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s 2021 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction!

On April 23rd, the Publishing Triangle published a lovely review of the book; here it is:

99 Erics is such a delightful read! Julia Serano attacks gender norms, sexual stereotypes, gentrification, and homophobia. In addition, she breaks the fourth wall and gets super meta in this romp as her main character, Kat Cataclysm, dates 99 people—each of whom is named Eric. Kat is a writer who wants to learn how to better write conflict, so decides to go on these dates in the hopes of gaining enlightenment, in the process handing us hysterical anecdotes from dates with various Erics. Serano expertly navigates heavy issues while at the same time embracing the absurd. Whip-smart, fast-paced, and drop-dead hilarious, Serano gives us the lighthearted fun read that we all need right now.

The awards are on May 12th – wish me luck! Leading up to that, Publishing Triangle is hosting two finalists readings, featuring many of the writers up for awards. I will be a part of the Monday May 10th reading – all the details (including how to register) can be found on their Eventbrite page.

Hope you can make it out to the reading, and/or share the review, and/or spread the word about 99 Erics more generally!

my "99 Erics" virtual book tour!

The virtual book tour is over now. But all the readings have been archived on YouTube & Facebook, so you can watch them there! (see below for specific links)

I am happy to announce my virtual book tour for my new novel 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel! All the relevant links & info can be found on my Medium post about the tour (shown on right). 

Here is the most pertinent info:

Saturday, September 5th, 3pm EDT/noon PDT (& 8pm in the UK)

theme: On writing a book about writing a book

In addition to reading excerpts from the book, I will talk about how 99 Erics came to be. Specifically, how an earlier failed attempt to write a novel (and reading many “how to” books & articles related to that endeavor) inspired me to satire (& sometimes speak candidly about) the process of writing and publishing a book.

THE EVENT IS NOW ARCHIVED: you can watch it on YouTube or Facebook.

Tuesday, September 22nd , 7pm EDT/4pm PDT

theme: On bisexuals, “weirdos,” and book characters who are Unusually Queer™

On this Bi+ Visibility Day eve reading, I’ll explain why I initially decided to forefront Kat’s bisexuality, and how this eventually evolved into a quest to make 99 Erics the most “unusually queer” book possible — by which I mean, it is very queer in its sensibilities, but is not centered on same-sex relationships or traditional gay/lesbian framings

THE EVENT IS NOW ARCHIVED: you can watch it on YouTube or Facebook.

[note: If you appreciate my work and want to see more of it, please check out my Patreon page]

my debut novel "99 Erics" has been released!

So in recent posts, I shared news of my 2nd book Excluded being mentioned in two "best books of the 2010s" lists, the release of Spanish and French translations of Whipping Girl, and my essay "He's Unmarked, She's Marked" being included in the anthology Believe Me. But I've been saving the biggest news of all for last...

My debut novel – 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel – is now officially released! 

You can purchase 99 Erics right now (in paperback & ebook formats) at all the major online outlets (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Books, etc.). The ebook is also available in all formats via Smashwords (where you can download the first 5 chapters for FREE!).

Brick-and-mortar bookstores & libraries can order the book via Ingram – please encourage them to carry it! You can locate your local independent bookstores via IndieBound.

And if you appreciate 99 Erics, *please please please* give it a good review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or wherever you purchase it, as this really helps to spread the word about the book!

If you are associated with a literary or media outlet and wish to obtain a review copy of 99 Erics, or to possibly interview Julia about the book, feel free to contact me here.

If I had to do one of those “Out of Africa meets Pretty Woman” pitches for 99 Erics, I would describe it as kinda like a Michelle Tea novel meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, except that none of it takes place in outer space.

Here is a more standard synopsis of the book:

Kat Cataclysm is an ethically non-monogamous bisexual woman and absurdist short fiction writer. 99 Erics is a humorous account of Kat’s experiences writing a book called 99 Erics, which is about her experiences dating ninety-nine different people named Eric. It is more surreal than slutty. Not that there is anything wrong with slutty.

The book is largely comprised of amusing anecdotes from Kat’s dates with various Erics; satirical takes on relationships, sexual conventions, language, the writing process, book publishing, online media, and tech culture; and Kat’s smart yet silly digressions on a variety of topics, including the distorted nature of memories, hipsters, sex toys, sabermetrics, YA dystopian fiction, trendy restaurants, temporal anomalies, Freudian slips, banana slug mating practices, lucid dreaming, the internet of things, poetry slams, and Prince lyrics, to name but a few. These more fanciful passages are seamlessly interwoven with more serious and mundane matters, such as navigating the world as a woman and sexual minority, being an outcast who doesn’t really fit in, struggling to make ends meet, and reconciling one’s past with the present. The end result is a fun and fast read that tackles meaty subjects and contemporary issues along the way.

Several excerpts from the book are available on the 99 Erics webpage. More will be released in the coming months and will be posted there (along with any interviews & reviews), so stay tuned...

"99 Erics" – an update about my forthcoming novel!

Over the last few years, I have been writing silly, surreal, sex-positive fiction centered on a character named Kat Cataclysm. Back in 2016, I published the chapbook you see here, full of short pieces that were supposedly penned by her. And this fall, my/her debut novel – 99 Erics: a Kat Cataclysm faux novel – will be released!
[Note: it has since been released, read more at the link!]

99 Erics will be published on Switch Hitter Press in October, 2019 early 2020. A description of the book, plus links to excerpts, are below. More info (including cover art) will be made available once it is complete.

If you are a writer or media outlet interested in reviewing 99 Erics, or interviewing me about the book, please contact me, and I'd be happy to get you a review copy as soon as they are available!

In the meantime, here is a brief description...

Kat Cataclysm is an ethically non-monogamous bisexual woman and absurdist short fiction writer. 99 Erics is a humorous account of Kat’s experiences writing a book called 99 Erics, which is about her experiences dating ninety-nine different people named Eric. It is more surreal than slutty. Not that there is anything wrong with slutty.

Introducing Kat Cataclysm (aka, my fiction)

My most recent email update came out a couple weeks ago - you can read it here. (& to get future updates, please sign up for my email list.) In it, I discuss the recent release of some fiction that I have been working on under the name Kat Cataclysm!

Kat Cataclysm serves as a pen name (to create a little bit of separation between my fiction and non-fiction), but she is also a character in her own right: a bisexual absurdist short fiction writer, recovering slam poet, and failed linguist who has a somewhat silly and surreal take on the world.

And the first Kat Cataclysm book (a chapbook, really) is now available! It's called General Surgery & Surgeons General. This modest forty-some page collection offers a potpourri of Kat’s short stories, slam poems, and whimsical musings, which touch upon and/or outright tackle diverse topics such as YA dystopian fiction, photosynthesis, mountain climbing, temporal anomalies, ethical non-monogamy, Santa Claus, Prince’s song lyrics, malapropisms & paraprosdokians, and the trials and travails of the contemporary author. As if that were not enough, the book also premieres several excerpt chapters from the eventual Kat Cataclysm debut novel 99 Erics.

The book can be purchased at either:
CreateSpace, which offers the best royalties for the author.
Amazon.com (in both book & ebook formats), where you can “Look Inside” the book (aka, read excerpts) by clicking on the cover.

Also, while on tour with Sister Spit in March, I recorded live performances of four of the pieces in the chapbook - here are links to those recordings:

• Smells Like Teen Dystopia
• The Sex Which Is Not One
• Mr. Prince
• Poetry Slammed