Cait Gordon's Blog

Because of the financial insecurity of my youth, I never went to university. I did graduate from an Electrotechnology program at a provincial college level in Québec, which provided me with a great job at age 19. I had interviewed to become a servo-actuator tech on airplane simulators, but the union was on strike, so I was offered a non-unionized staff job instead: technical writer.

“Technical writer? What’s that?” I’d asked. And that folks, was the beginning of a two-decade career.

Throughout my adult life, I’d had “equivalent experience,” so I didn’t require a degree to do my job. Often, I was the only one in my friend group who’d never been to university. Sometimes I felt left out or regarded as “less than,” even though none of my closest friends ever treated me that way.

But now, I’ve gone and done the thing! I attended Trent University just this past Halloween! My BFF Talia C. Johnson and I have been guest lecturers, invited by Dr. Derek Newman-Stille, for the past five years. We’ve had the privilege of our anthology, Nothing Without Us, being part of the syllabus in Derek’s disability studies course since 2020! I had only ever spoken to their class virtually, but this year, Talia and I went together in person. On the wettest, sleetest-filled day of the pumpkins. Still, it was a total blast!

I just loved answering questions!
(Photo credit: Dr. Derek Newman-Stille)

The students were incredible. So aware, so curious, so brilliant. It was a pleasure to chat with them. And as always, Derek guided the discussion with their usual ease and skill. It was special for me to be disabled in a class taught by a disabled professor on the topic of disability. I felt safe and celebrated.

Disabled and awesome: Thus endeth the lesson!
(Photo credit: Dr. Derek Newman-Stille)

The entire class was three hours long, so after two hours, Talia and I stayed on as participants while Derek taught a lecture. So, after my being a “teacher,” I got to be a student for an hour! It was super fun giving my opinion while I listened to the students give such insightful answers to Derek’s questions.

Then, after class, we took more fun photos. It’s great to be silly.

I love the “boo” on Talia’s T-shirt. She let me make it for her with my trusty Cricut.
(Photo credit: Dwayne Collins)

So there you go. I can’t say I’ve never gone to university. I went, it was fun, and I’ll treasure that memory always. And all of this happened because years ago, I had an autistic blurty moment where I’d wondered aloud, “I really want to edit an anthology with stories written only by disabled authors. But I don’t know how to do that.”

Guess it helped that I blurted it in front of a small-press publishing director, eh?

See? Autistic traits work for us, too! And curiosity did not kill this Cait! (It’s funny because my name sounds like cat.)

If another opportunity to speak at a university comes up, I will be happy to consider it! I could teach about disability representation in fiction and what we as disabled creatives face in Publishing until the cows come home. (And maybe also even after they’re tucked in the barn afterwards. The cows, that is.)

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait is also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

Featured image by Lum3n on Pexels.com

My anti-ageism short story with absurdist humour and a lot of heart, “Bev the Hacker Does Time,” is a 2025 Indieverse Award–nominated work! The category is Best Anthology, Collection of Short Stories, or Short Fiction. (It’s stacked with wonderful authors, too!)

And guess what? You can vote for it to win! Voting is open to the public from Nov 7 through Nov 10, 2025! Here’s the link to cast your votes: https://www.indieverseawards.com/voting

Note: Take your time because the app they’re using will not let you back in, if you make a mistake. It’s to prevent repeat voting and such. Just go slowly! There are instructions on the Voting page, too, so please read them.

I have included the short story on this website FREE for reading until the end of the voting period! That way, you can make an informed decision about whether to vote for it or not! Here’s where you can read “Bev the Hacker Does Time.”

Fun fact: Bev the Hacker is also included in my new short story collection, Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain!

Thanks so much for considering to vote for this creative! (My mom loves this story, and she’s 81 now!)

Congratulations to all of the Indieverse Awards nominees in every category! Good luck! (Remember, we’re all winners because we wrote things!)

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait is also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

Whew! October is a busy month for this Spoonie author! But cool things are happening!

Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain

If you follow me on the socials, you’ll have seen my top-ten countdown (I didn’t do the last day because it was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and I felt it was better not to take away from the importance of that day). But yes, I had a notion to put all my favourite short stories over the last nine years into one place. It’s the first publication of Dinsdale Press, the brand-new adventure I am sharing with Bruce D. Gordon—that guy who was at my wedding but who still won’t leave my house! And today is the official release day where my book has gone wide!

Where to buy it

A nonbinary Alice accidentally enters their own clubbing wonderland because of a smiley app and Bong Guy. An autistic writing instructor who hates ABA but loves ABBA becomes an unexpected hero. A “silent” mermaid-siren noted for keeping oceans safe from poachers is guided to one who might not be like the others. A disabled space pilot couriers precious cargo for the Network while trying to evade the eugenics-based brigade who wants to keep people like her “safe at home.” A descendant of Frankenstein’s monster is having her sweet sixteen party, but her mother’s gift stops the teen in her rollator’s tracks. Explore this collection of fifteen tales of queer life, disability, romance, power, defiance, and resilience.

I spent this summer figuring out how to produce a book as my own publisher. Holy moly, what a learning curve. Probably should have given myself a longer lead time. But I love the result, and thanks to Nathan Fréchette, my cover spread fits the book! (Help is always a good thing to ask for.) And the book is blurbed by Kate Heartfield, Dr. Finnian Burnett, Jamieson Wolf, and Dianna Gunn! The biggest surprise was when Derek Newman-Stille agreed to write the foreword! Truthfully, the support I have received for this work has been such a blessing.

I thank everyone in advance for buying it and/or sharing about it! I love short stories. They’re like bedtime stories for grownups!

And…

I’ll be launching Spec Shorts and doing other awesome stuff at Can-Con 2025!

Holy molykins! I am more scheduled at this event than I have ever been! It’s a nice problem to have, and I will probably sleep for a week after. This year at Can-Con, I will be sharing a vendor table with Dark Fantasy author Dianna Gunn, so that will be a blast. I am also scheduled for a signing table, and the vendor room is opened to the public, so anyone can come! (I will gladly sign any of my books!)

Then there are the paying attendees events I’m in: Falling Back in Love with Writing, the launch of Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain, and Cripping the ’Cosm: Writing Disability (my first workshop that I have the honour of co-leading with Derek Newman-Stille)!

Here’s an graphic of my schedule, in case you’re going and are interested!

Going to Trent University!

I never went to university, but my book did! I’m of course talking about the Nothing Without Us disability fiction anthology I co-edited with my BFF Talia C. Johnson. This work has been part of a syllabus at Trent University since the winter of 2020, and Talia and I have been guest lecturers (virtually) for years. This time, the plan is for us to attend in-person on October 31! *makes ghost noises* It should be amazing. I always love talking to the students, and Talia and I get to have a best-friend trip, which is nice.

I just hope our Vortex of Weirdness doesn’t show up and change the city of Peterborough forever…

So, that’s all for now, but that’s also a lot for me! You can also follow me on the socials (search for @caitauthor on Bluesky, Insta, and Threads) to get more updates, general silliness, and posts about cake.

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Speculative Shorts: Stories that fell out of my brain, Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait is also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

I love saying yes to opportunities. It’s led me to meet fantastic people and to grow in my career in WritingWorldLand. I became a published author because I said yes. I became a manuscript editor because I said yes. I became an award-winning anthology editor because I said yes. I’ve been a guest lecturer at Trent University several times because I said yes. I got on cool podcasts, panels, radio shows, and TV because I said yes. “Yes” can be a gateway to awesomeness.

However, in this past year, I omitted something vital—to balance my life by saying no. As a result, my mental health is torched, and my physical health isn’t great either. I completely forgot the thing about how I am autistic, mentally ill, and manage a dynamic disability. (In case folks aren’t aware, a dynamic disability is one that’s unpredictable. Zero stars. Do not recommend.)

Instead of saying yes in a healthy way, as in, “Oh, that sounds fun, and I have the spoons to do it,” I was trying to medicate with busyness so I could shut out the stresses in my life. That’s very different and untenable for someone with the type of bodymind I have. All of the things I chose to do in themselves were amazing. It’s just that they were too many all at once. Without realizing it, I was harming myself slowly but surely until CRASH!

Is it internalized ableism when you keep forgetting to factor in the impact stuff has on your disabled bodymind? Maybe? It’s definitely not remembering to put the NOPE guardians in place.

While managing burnout, I bought some whiteboard wallpaper for my closet door in my office. Then I wrote down all of the things I’d committed to—and almost fainted. No wonder my brain felt crispy and my body weakened. Cait! You’re always advocating for others and you totally neglected yourself!!!

Because I would like to remain on Earth until I am crypt-keeper years old, I had to make some tough decisions. I had to wave my white flag and surrender to reality. My BFF Talia sent me an image of a hand-drawn card someone made that was like a buy-ten-coffees-get-one-free card, but for saying no. So, I took the idea for myself and thought my reward for ten “NOs” would be a cupcake. Kinda taking it seriously but not really.

Within less than two days, I had to say no to four things. It’s only been a few weeks, and I’ve said no to eight things total. Holy crap. I mean, I love how I am presented with fantastic opportunities, but if I had balanced things earlier in the year, I could have had some leftover yes responses for now.

(I misplaced my red pen, so used pink for the checkmarks on the second row.)

Upon reflection, even by saying no to whatever else I’m presented with this year, I will still have had a year where I did a ton! But I must keep my eyes on that full whiteboard and my finger on my own pulse, so I can recover and get back to being able to dole out a reasonable amount of yesses. Creating a yes-budget, if you will.

But the good news is that when I have said no recently, I requested to be considered for future projects, if the timing was right. And many folks were quite receptive to that. So, sometimes a “no” can be framed as a “not now, but maybe someday.” I already know a couple of things I would love to do in 2026, so it’s going to be important to have that yes-budget in place.

Another thing that was heartening was how many people told me to take care of myself and that my health was the most important thing right now. Those weren’t empty platitudes either. I felt the sincerity. It’s really nice to know how many wonderful folks there still are in this world. Kindness is worth more than gold these days, in my opinion. And I will recall the people who have been kind to me. They’ll go on my Awesome Humans list for future reference.

So, I wanted to share this in case you might be wondering if you have also exhausted your yes-budget and feel guilty about saying no. I think it was novelist Anne Lamont or someone else who is wiser than I who said, “No is a complete sentence.” Did you know we can just say no without having to come up with “an acceptable explanation” for others? Even by saying, “This sounds great and I would love to, but I can’t fit it in right now,” is a longer “no,” but it’s also true in my case. Anyway, however you phrase your no is up to you. Just please try and not feel guilty or give into the fear of missing out. Trust me, opportunities will happen. And you’ll have a better time saying yes to the things that you really want to do if you’re rested.

Because I’m guessing that other than becoming a mischievous ghost, I can do way more if I’m still alive. Let’s all decide to be good stewards of ourselves, okay?

And thank you to whoever came up with the No card. It’s really put things into perspective for me.

Two more no-checkmarks and I get a cupcake! Woo!

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait is also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

I co-authored an article with Derek Newman-Stille where we discuss some of the gains we have as autistic folks—challenging the narrative that we are “less than.” This is the first time I have ever collaborated on an article, so it was a cool experience.

The featured image in the article is a Gelli art piece created by Derek!

Autism Gain

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

I wrote this article last year for the Spoonie Authors Network, with quotes from Derek Newman-Stille, Dianna Gunn, and C.L. Carey. Because it’s July, and Disability Pride Month has begun, I thought it made sense to repost it!

Why We Need Disability Pride Month

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

The sixth and final episode of The Disabled Crone has dropped! Here’s the post about it on the Spoonie Authors Network. You can also discover all the platforms that host this podcast by clicking The Disabled Crone menu item on my website!

The Disabled Crone Season Finale, S1 Ep6: Writing Memoir Using Poetic Prose, with A. Gregory Frankson

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

The fifth episode of The Disabled Crone has dropped! Here’s the post about it on the Spoonie Authors Network. You can also discover all the platforms that host this podcast by clicking The Disabled Crone menu item on my website!

The Disabled Crone, S1 Ep5: Why Zines Are Making a Comeback, with Derek Newman-Stille

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

The fourth episode of The Disabled Crone has dropped! Here’s the post about it on the Spoonie Authors Network. You can also discover all the platforms that host this podcast by clicking The Disabled Crone menu item on my website!

The Disabled Crone, S1 Ep4: How Our Neurodivergent Brains Influence Our Writing, with Arlene F. Marks

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.

The third episode of The Disabled Crone has dropped! Here’s the post about it on the Spoonie Authors Network. You can also discover all the platforms that host this podcast by clicking The Disabled Crone menu item on my website!

The Disabled Crone, S1 Ep3: Five Interesting Things About My Career with Melissa Yi

Cait Gordon is an award-winning Canadian speculative fiction writer and anthology editor who advocates for disability, mental health, and neurodiversity representation in written works. She is the author of Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! and the co-editor (with Talia C. Johnson) of the Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too disability fiction anthologies. Cait also the host of The Disabled Crone podcast. She is autistic, disabled, and queer, and really loves cake.