About

Sumiko Saulson, Award-Winning Horror Author

Biography

Mauskaveli

Sumiko Saulson (they/them or ze/hir) is an award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror whose latest novel Happiness and Other Diseases is available on Mocha Memoirs Press.
Winner of the Carry the Light Foundation 2nd Place Sci-Fi Short Story Award (2016), HWA Scholarship from Hell (2016) BCC Voice “Reframing the Other” contest (2017), Mixy Award (2017),  6th Place HorrorAddicts Next Great Horror Writer Contest (2017) Afrosurrealist Writer Award (2018), Ara Jo Memorial Zinemaker’s Grant (2018), HWA Diversity Grant (2020), Official Selection LA Blood and Boobs Festival (2020), Ladies of Horror Fiction Grant (2021), and the HWA Richard Layman Award for Service (2021)
Sumiko has an AA in English from Berkeley City College, writes a column called “Writing While Black” for a national Black Newspaper, the San Francisco BayView is the host of the SOMA Leather and LGBT Cultural District’s “Erotic Storytelling Hour,”  and teaches courses at the Speculative Fiction Academy.
Sumiko  is a cartoonist, science-fiction, fantasy and horror writer, editor of Black Magic Women, Scry of Lust and 100 Black Women in Horror Fiction, author of Solitude, Warmth, The Moon Cried Blood, Happiness and Other Diseases, Somnalia, Insatiable, Ashes and Coffee, and Things That Go Bump In My Head. They wrote and illustrated comics Mauskaveli, Dooky, and graphic novels Dreamworlds and Agrippa. They writes for the SEARCH Magazine and the San Francisco Bayview column Writing While Black. The child of African American and Russian-Jewish parents, a native Californian and an Oakland resident who’s spent most of their adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Awards and Distinctions:

Awards:

2022 – Bram Stoker Finalist for The Rat King: A Book of Dark Poetry in the Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection category

2021 – Ladies in Horror Fiction Reader’s Choice Award for Within Me Without Me: A Book of Dark Prose and Poetry

2021 – Richard Laymon Presidents’ Award for Service (Bram Stoker Special Award)

2018 – (July) Afrosurrealist Writers Award for the short story “A Balm of Brackish Water”

2017 (May) – Mixy Award2017 – (October) Sixth Place, HorrorAddicts Next Great Horror Writer Contest

2017 – (November) First Place, Berkeley City College Reframing the Other Essay Contest for “When We First Become Other”

2018 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Best Blog Contest

2018 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Songwriting Contest

2016 – (June) Third Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Best Blog Contest

2016 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Short Shory Contest

2013 – (February) Official Women in Horror Month ambassador for Black Women in Horror interview series

Amazon Ranking:

2018 – (February) #1 Horror Anthology on Amazon for “Black Magic Women: Scary Tales by Scary Sisters”
2017 – (August) Amazon Top 1000 Horror Authors (Rank: 738)

2015 – (March) Amazon Best-Selling Author in the Horror Comedy category for “Warmth”

Grants:

2021 – Ladies in Horror Fiction Grant Award

2020 – Horror Writers Association Diversity Grant Award

2018 – (October) Ara Jo Memorial Zinemaker’s Award for Tale of An Iconoclast” The Carolyn Saulson Story

2016 – (May) HWA StokerCon Scholarship from Hell First Place Winner

2001 – STAND Grant for First Time Directors (Film Arts Foundation)

Collections/Anthologies I’ve Been In

2023 – “The Ballad of Faerie Garcia,” short story, In Trouble (Omnium Gatherum) edited by EF Schraeder and Elaine Schleiffer

2023 – “Dwayne’s Baby Daddy,” short story, Blerdrotica 2: Couple’s Therapy edited Penelope Flynn

2023 – “A Confusion of the Gods,” short story, Blackened Roots edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz and Tonia Ransom

2022 – “Centered and Seen,” essay, Came From The Closet (Feminist Press) edited by Joe Vallese

2022 – “Wolf and Girl,” featured artist, The Horror Zine Magazine: Fall 2022 13th Anniversary Edition, edited by Jeani Rector

2021 – “With December Comes Elune,” poem. Infections Hope: Poems of Hope and Resilience from the Pandemic, edited by Silvia Canton Rondoni

2020 – “Shades of Domesticity” Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase VII

2020 – “The Kraken,” poem, Siren’s Call Magazine Summer 2020

2020 – “Under the Water,” poem, Siren’s Call Magazine Summer 2020

2020 – “Tapestry of Sentiment and Sunset” short story, Wickedly Abled: Sci-Fi. Horror and Dark Fantasy  by Disabled Authors (Iconoclast  Productions) edited by Sumiko Saulson and Emily Flummox 

2020 – “Asi’s Horror and Delight,” short story, Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noir (Mocha Memoirs) edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz

2019 – ” In Technicolor: A Roundtable on the Future of Diversity in Speculative Fiction

Sumiko Saulson, Award-Winning Horror Author

Biography

Mauskaveli

Sumiko Saulson (they/them or ze/hir) is an award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror whose latest novel Happiness and Other Diseases is available on Mocha Memoirs Press.
Winner of the Carry the Light Foundation 2nd Place Sci-Fi Short Story Award (2016), HWA Scholarship from Hell (2016) BCC Voice “Reframing the Other” contest (2017), Mixy Award (2017),  6th Place HorrorAddicts Next Great Horror Writer Contest (2017) Afrosurrealist Writer Award (2018), Ara Jo Memorial Zinemaker’s Grant (2018), HWA Diversity Grant (2020), Official Selection LA Blood and Boobs Festival (2020), Ladies of Horror Fiction Grant (2021), and the HWA Richard Layman Award for Service (2021)
Sumiko has an AA in English from Berkeley City College, writes a column called “Writing While Black” for a national Black Newspaper, the San Francisco BayView is the host of the SOMA Leather and LGBT Cultural District’s “Erotic Storytelling Hour,”  and teaches courses at the Speculative Fiction Academy.
Sumiko  is a cartoonist, science-fiction, fantasy and horror writer, editor of Black Magic Women, Scry of Lust and 100 Black Women in Horror Fiction, author of Solitude, Warmth, The Moon Cried Blood, Happiness and Other Diseases, Somnalia, Insatiable, Ashes and Coffee, and Things That Go Bump In My Head. They wrote and illustrated comics Mauskaveli, Dooky, and graphic novels Dreamworlds and Agrippa. They writes for the SEARCH Magazine and the San Francisco Bayview column Writing While Black. The child of African American and Russian-Jewish parents, a native Californian and an Oakland resident who’s spent most of their adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Awards and Distinctions:

2013 – (February) Official Women in Horror Month ambassador

2015 – (March) Amazon Best-Selling Author in the Horror Comedy category for “Warmth”

2016 – (May) HWA StokerCon Scholarship from Hell First Place Winner

2016 – (June) Third Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Best Blog Contest

2016 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Short Shory Contest

2017 (May) – Mixy Award

2017 – (August) Amazon Top 1000 Horror Authors (Rank: 738)

2017 – (October) Sixth Place, HorrorAddicts Next Great Horror Writer Contest

2017 – (November) First Place, Berkeley City College Reframing the Other Essay Contest

2018 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Songwriting Contest

2018 – (June) Second Place in the San Mateo County Fair Literary Best Blog Contest

2018 – (July) Afrosurrealist Workshop Short Story Award

2018 – (October) Ara Jo Memorial Zinemaker’s Award for Tale of An Iconoclast” The Carolyn Saulson Story

2020 – Horror Writers Association Diversity Grant Award

2021 – Ladies in Horror Fiction Grant Award

2021 – Richard Laymon Presidents’ Award for Service (Bram Stoker Special Award)

Collections/Anthologies/Magazines I’ve Been In

2023 – “The Ballad of Faerie Garcia,” short story, In Trouble (Omnium Gatherum) edited by EF Schraeder and Elaine Schleiffer

2023 – “Dwayne’s Baby Daddy,” short story, Blerdrotica 2: Couple’s Therapy edited Penelope Flynn

2023 – “A Confusion of the Gods,” short story, Blackened Roots edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz and Tonia Ransom

2022 – “Centered and Seen,” essay, Came From The Closet (Feminist Press) edited by Joe Vallese

2022 – “Wolf and Girl,” featured artist, The Horror Zine Magazine: Fall 2022 13th Anniversary Edition, edited by Jeani Rector

2022 – “Generations of the Imaginarium,” poem, Of Horror and Hope: Mental Health Reflections by Members, edited by the HWA Wellness Committee

2021 – “On Darkest Night of Faerie Bright,” Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase VIII, edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich

2021 – “With December Comes Elune,” poem. Infections Hope: Poems of Hope and Resilience from the Pandemic, edited by Silvia Canton Rondoni

2020 – “Shades of Domesticity” Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase VII edited by Stephanie M. Wytovich

2020 – “The Kraken,” poem, Siren’s Call Magazine Summer 2020

2020 – “Under the Water,” poem, Siren’s Call Magazine Summer 2020

2020 – “From SideKick to Romantic Lead: Rise of the Strong Black Woman” essay, Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel

2020 – “Tapestry of Sentiment and Sunset” short story, Wickedly Abled: Sci-Fi. Horror and Dark Fantasy  by Disabled Authors (Iconoclast  Productions) edited by Sumiko Saulson and Emily Flummox

2020 – “Asi’s Horror and Delight,” short story, Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noir (Mocha Memoirs) edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz

2019 – ” In Technicolor: A Roundtable on the Future of Diversity in Speculative Fiction,” interview, Strange Horizons 23, Interviewees: Linda D. Addison, Crystal Connor, Rain Graves, Eileen Gunn, Greg Herren, Maria Nieto and Nisi Shawl, Interviewers: Sumiko Saulson and Tristissima, edited by Vanessa Rose Phin

2019 – “Unheard Music from the Dank Underground,” Tales for the Camp Fire: A Charity Anthology Benefitting Wildfire Relief (Tomes & Coffee Press) edited by Loren Rhoads

2019 – The Mysterious State of We-Ness from “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of  Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy”

2019 – “The Distance from We-Ness to I-Ness” From “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of  Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy”

2018 – “My Life As A Young Urban Fiction Writer,” memoir, Carry the Light: Winning Stories, Poems and Essays from the San Mateo County Fair, Vol 7

2018 – “Tango of a Telltale Heart,” short story, Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters (Mocha Memoirs Press) edited by Sumiko Saulson

2018 – “The Symbiont Revolution” From “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy”

2018 – “A Balm of Brackish Water” Afrosurrealist Writers Workshop/ProArts Dedication

2018 – “The Ride of Herne and Hespeth,” Siren’s Call Magazine, February 2018

2016 “Character Flaws,” flash fiction, Carry the Light: Winning Stories, Poems and Essays from the San Mateo County Fair, Vol 5 edited by Lisa Meltzer Penn and Bardi Rosman Koodrin

2016 “Agrippa,” short story, Carry the Light: Winning Stories, Poems and Essays from the San Mateo County Fair, Vol 5 edited by Lisa Meltzer Penn and Bardi Rosman Koodrin

2016 “Dead Horse Summer,” memoir, Carry the Light: Winning Stories, Poems and Essays from the San Mateo County Fair, Vol 5 edited by Lisa Meltzer Penn and Bardi Rosman Koodrin

2016, “Enclosures,” short story, Tales from the Lake, Vol. 3 (Crystal Lake Publishing), Monique Snyman

2017 – “Clockwork Valentine Clockwork Wonderland, Horror Addicts

2017 – “The Honeymoon Suite: Jacob’s Reunion,” short story, Forever Vacancy: A Colors in Darkness anthology (Colors in Darkness) edited by  Mya Lairis, Kenya Moss-Dyme, and Eden Royce

2015 – “HorrorAddicts Guide to Cats,” essay, HorrorAddicts Guide to Life (HorrorAddicts), edited by David Watson

2015 – “Sweetness.” short story, Babes and Beasts: Tales of Lusty Shifters (Bloody Kisses Press) edited by Cinsearae S.

2014 – “Ashes and Coffee,” short story, Death’s Cafe (Mocha Memoirs) edited by Eden Royce

2013 – “The Birthday Present,” short story, Wicked Women Writers (HorrorAddicts.net)

Contact Info

My email address is sumikoska at yahoo.com

My Twitter is @sumikoska

My Instagram is @sumikosaulson

My Tik-Tok is @sumikoska

My Facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/authorsumikosaulson

2019 – “Unheard Music from the Dank Underground,” Tales for the Camp Fire: A Charity Anthology Benefitting Wildfire Relief (Tomes & Coffee Press) edited by Loren Rhoads

2019 – The Mysterious State of We-Ness from “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of  Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy” 

2019 – “The Distance from We-Ness to I-Ness” From “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of  Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy”

2018 – “The Symbiont Revolution” From “Scierogenous II: An Anthology of Erotic Science Fiction and Fantasy”

2018 – “A Balm of Brackish Water” Afrosurrealist Writers Workshop/ProArts Dedication

2018 – “The Ride of Herne and Hespeth,” Siren’s Call Magazine, February 2018

2017 – “Clockwork Valentine Clockwork Wonderland, Horror Addicts

2017 – “The Honeymoon Suite: Jacob’s Reunion,” short story, Forever Vacancy: A Colors in Darkness anthology (Colors in Darkness) edited by  Mya Lairis, Kenya Moss-Dyme, and Eden Royce

2020 – “From SideKick to Romantic Lead: Rise of the Strong Black Woman” essay, Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel

2014 – “Ashes and Coffee,” short story, Death’s Cafe (Mocha Memoirs) edited by Eden Royce

2014 – “Sweetness.” short story, Babes and Beasts: Tales of Lusty Shifters (Bloody Kisses Press) edited by Cinsearae S.

Contact Info

My email address is sumikoska at yahoo.com

My Twitter is @sumikoska

My Instagram is @sumikosaulson

My Tik-Tok is @sumikoska

My Facebook author page is https://www.facebook.com/authorsumikosaulson


16 Responses to “About”

  1. I got your message on my email about wanting to interview me about my books. I don’t have horror or vampire books. Does that matter? Mine are sci-fi and fantasy.

    • That’s great! Actually, Jody was telling me about your books – she’d introduced you to me as a sci-fi writer who writes books with kick-ass heroines. I was very interested in the fact that your stories have strong female protagonists – I know you don’t write horror or supernatural fiction. Sci-Fi and Fantasy are related genres, and I would love to interview you.

      • Sorry it took so long to reply- my computer got a horrible virus and I lost all capabilities. Trying slowly to get back online. I would love to have you talk to me. I am trying hard to get my books promoted- it’s difficult. How do you do the interviews? Phone? Email? Whichever way works best for you is great! I look forward to hearing from you. Email me to let me know how and when- llandra@netzero.net

      • I interview via email, and you can expect an email from me shortly. I am very sorry to hear about your computer virus and I hope you didn’t lose any writing – that’s a writer’s nightmare.

  2. Ms Saulson – there is an egregious error of fact in one of the women in horror you have just published, with a false claim about a Bram Stoker Award nomination. I would like to provide you with the information privately so you can make a correction, please.
    Rocky Wood president@horror.org
    President – Horror Writers Association
    (Proprietor of the Bram Stoker Awards®)

  3. […] on my part; I flat out didn’t know about most of them.  Which makes me truly grateful to Sumiko Saulson for putting this one […]

  4. I am loving your short story anthology so far (“Agrippa” is amazing!) I must get a signed copy of the paperback when I’m done! 😉

  5. HI, MISSED YOUR EASTMONT LECTURES…..
    ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY PERHAPS IN THE FUTURE?
    I would like to talk with you please.

  6. Hey,
    I have been trying to find websites about black women in horror and came across yours. Plus, I listened to one of your short stories on a podcast, which was thrilling. I just started a blog titled, Spooks. If you get a chance, check it out at blackhorrorreviews.blogspot.com.
    Thanks,
    Tracie

  7. Thanks for checking me out. It means a lot coming from you!!

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