,
J.M. McDermott

J.M. McDermott’s Followers (78)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Ashton ...
739 books | 170 friends

Karen B...
383 books | 580 friends

Julie
509 books | 150 friends

Jonatha...
174 books | 338 friends

Helen M...
123 books | 729 friends

S. Taylor
89 books | 971 friends

Shiloh ...
30 books | 91 friends

Sarah
51 books | 36 friends


J.M. McDermott

Goodreads Author


Website

Genre

Member Since
April 2011


His first novel was plucked from a slush pile and went on to be #6 on Amazon.com's Year's Best SF/F of 2008, shortlisted for a Crawford Prize, and on Locus Magazine's Recommended Reading List for Debuts. His short fiction has appeared in Weird Tales Magazine, Fantasy Magazine, Apex Magazine, and Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, among other places. He has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an MFA in Popular Fiction from the Stonecoast program of the University of Southern Maine.

By night, he wanders a maze of bookshelves and empty coffee cups, and by day he wanders the streets of San Antonio, where he lives and works.

He tries to write in between.
...more

Average rating: 3.39 · 1,808 ratings · 390 reviews · 37 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Fortress at the End of ...

3.08 avg rating — 633 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Never Knew Another (Dogslan...

3.48 avg rating — 471 ratings — published 2011 — 11 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Last Dragon

3.52 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 2008 — 9 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
When We Were Executioners (...

3.84 avg rating — 124 ratings — published 2012 — 6 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
We Leave Together (Dogsland...

4.11 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Maze

3.40 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Straggletaggle

4.57 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Disintegration Visions

4.09 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Women and Monsters

3.55 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Death Mask and Eulogy

3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by J.M. McDermott…

Sonnet #386

 To receive your sonnet freshly squeezed

Please deposit fourteen quarters in the slot

And extra features come for those want hot

Fresh poems or perhaps ice water cold or freezes

For cursing enemies there’s a fee schedule based

On how many lines they’re cursed in, but 

If you wish to seduce someone, the cost for that

Is based on difficulty of rhyme, orange is faced

With unique problems, blue-hair or red is

Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 24, 2025 02:23
Never Knew Another When We Were Executioners We Leave Together
(3 books)
by
3.60 avg rating — 650 ratings

Nirvana Gates Are You Listening?
(5 books)
by
3.58 avg rating — 19 ratings

Dance of the Happ...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Klara and the Sun
J.M. McDermott is currently reading
by Kazuo Ishiguro (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Ancient Sorceries...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

J.M.’s Recent Updates

J.M. McDermott wrote a new blog post

Sonnet #386

 To receive your sonnet freshly squeezedPlease deposit fourteen quarters in the slotAnd extra features come for those want hotFresh poems or perhaps i Read more of this blog post »
More of J.M.'s books…
Quotes by J.M. McDermott  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“I learned that every tree fights for sunlight in the canopy, but this happens so slowly that the combat looks like peace.”
J.M. McDermott

“Usually the things that kill us are the things we do every single day.”
J. M. McDermott

“Do you know anything about hearts, Jona? The Senta know hearts. Hearts are not one organ. Inside a mother's womb, two pulsing bags of blood seek their eternal mate."
Her hand reached out to his. She opened his palm, and traced a finger down his lifeline, then his loveline. She lifted it up to her own face. She placed it on her cheek.
"Lungs are fine apart," she said, "Hands do not need another but to clap. Brains gnarl like roots in the nothing of soul, and guts spin in knots around the nothing of hunger. But hearts are made by two complete parts merging together. Once the two pieces sense each other in the blood flow, they cross every bloody cliff inside of us. The arteries bind the halves close. The veins make love to each other in the life pulse that makes all life from love entwined.”
J.M. McDermott, When We Were Executioners

Polls

JUNE FANTASY: This poll decides which 2 books move on to the run-off poll for the June Fantasy Book of the Month

 
  30 votes, 33.0%

 
  17 votes, 18.7%

 
  12 votes, 13.2%

 
  9 votes, 9.9%

 
  8 votes, 8.8%

 
  7 votes, 7.7%

 
  4 votes, 4.4%

 
  4 votes, 4.4%

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
SA Book & Challen...: March SA word challenge! 21 14 Apr 01, 2011 11:00AM  
One Million Pages...: Erica's 1,000,000 pages 39 110 Feb 10, 2012 12:48AM  
Romance Lovers fo...: This topic has been closed to new comments. ABC's Romance Title Game - Backwards 111 48 Sep 13, 2012 07:01PM  
Horror Aficionados : This topic has been closed to new comments. March 2014 Group Read Suggestions 43 223 Mar 02, 2014 01:22PM  
SA Book & Challen...: Goodreads friends nominations tasks 150 69 Jan 14, 2016 12:05PM  
Horror Aficionados : Pseudopod for your short horror fiction needs! 138 290 Jul 15, 2019 10:53AM  
Horror Aficionados : Pseudopod 508 1102 Jul 15, 2019 10:58AM  
Aussie Readers: This topic has been closed to new comments. What Are You Currently Reading? (doesn't have to be an Aussie book) - Part 2 3421 891 Dec 29, 2021 12:36PM  
No comments have been added yet.