Writer Spotlight: KT Wagner
Welcome to the 22nd installment of Writer Spotlight. This week’s focus is KT Wagner. I’ve reviewed 14 of Wagner’s pieces, 13 of them individually on InkFoundry’s “Get WYSR” feed. (In case you didn’t know, InkFoundry is a wonderful and free resource that aggregates short fiction and poetry pieces!)
Recurring Themes:
Grandmothers biting people
Body transformations
Eerie/Creepy Tone
Older women POVs
Day One - July 2
“Moist Breath of a Cold Stranger” | WYSR Review
Neve returns to her hometown to prove the local legends wrong about the frost giants.
“Christmas at Grandma Minerva’s” | WYSR Review
Minerva braves the apocalypse to get a toy for her grandchildren.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
Both of these stories involve the cold in some way! And body transformations!
Individually:
"Moist Breath of a Cold Stranger” This flash includes themes of returning to your roots and skepticism of local legends. Oh, and frost giants!
"Christmas at Grandma Minerva’s” A zombie apocalypse told from the POV of a grandmother. Lighthearted, with themes of doing anything for family and refusing to tell them when you suffer.
Day Two - July 3
3. “A Bloodless Mistletoe Graveyard” | WYSR Review
The humans have ruined the Earth with climate change, so the vampires are dying out too.
4. “Mother’s Little Poppet” | WYSR Review
A sentient doll becomes more and more displeased with those who own her.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories are both horror.
Individually:
“A Bloodless Mistletoe Graveyard” This has both vampires and climate change! It reminded me of “Moist Breath” in that it incorporates a monster/cryptid.
“Mother’s Little Poppet” An eerie short story with themes of toxic familial relationships and a house that has more compassion than humans. Oh, there’s also a grandmother, which reminds me of “Grandma Minerva’s.”
Day Three - July 4
5. “Annalise’s Grandma Rex” | WYSR Review
Annelise’s grandmother and the other palliative care residents experience something wonderful.
6.“Change of Life” | WYSR Review
All Belinda wants are eggs. Raw eggs. Is that too much to ask?
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both have elderly women POVs like “Grandma Minerva’s"! Also, because Annelise’s grandmother technically plays as a T-rex in the VR and Belinda is a snake-woman, there’s also now a running theme of elderly women BITING THINGS/PEOPLE (as in “Grandma “Minerva’s) and my God do I love it. There is also a theme of transformation, here, with the seniors getting to transform into dinosaurs, Belinda transforming into a snake, echoing “Grandma Minerva’s” and “Moist Breath.”
Individually:
“Annelise’s Grandma Rex” This story has a bittersweetness to it where elderly people get to enjoy the ends of their lives instead of feeling neglected. Interestingly, this theme reminded me of “A Bloodless Mistletoe Graveyard” because of the vampires’ last hurrah of happy . . . er . . . people-eating.
“Change of Life” This one has a snake-shifter old woman who is not above biting or eating people, which also reminded me of “Bloodless” and “Grandma Minerva’s.”
Day Four - July 5
7. “Ursula Major” | WYSR Review
Reya has endured a millennia of being called to the site of gruesome battlegrounds.
8. “Promise Me You’ll Stay” | WYSR Review
Hexe must convince a newly passed dead man to stay.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
Both these stories have themes on the newly dead / dying people, and a protagonist tasked with managing their souls.
Individually:
“Ursula Major” This story reminded me of “Bloodless” in that it included characters who experience a really long span of time, centuries, or millennia. I think Ursula also counts as a cryptid, echoing “Moist Breath,” “Bloodless,” and “Change of Life.”
“Promise Me You’ll Stay” This one has ghosts/spirits, a psychopomp, and an elderly older woman POV (the last reminding me of “Grandma Minerva’s,” “Grandma Rex,” and “Change of Life.” Loving this!
Day Five - July 6
9. “Whiskey and Sours” | WYSR Review
Sophia guards against the infected while wrestling with an internal secret.
10. “Select Entries From the Occasional Journal of Jill Hubbard, Scholar” | WYSR Review
A microbiome directs the narrator to take over a lab.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both involve the main character being infected in some way.
Individually:
“Whiskey and Sours” This is an awesome zombie short story, echoing “Grandma Minerva’s.” This has a unique angle in that the zombies seem not crazed, but simply that it changes them on the outside, which adds to the body transformation theme as in “Grandma Rex” “Moist Breath,” “Grandma Minerva’s,” and “Change of Life.”
“Select Entries From the Occasional Journal of Jill Hubbard, Scholar” This has an eerie tone, reminding me of “Mother’s Little Poppet.” There are fairy tale rhymes intermixed with science information, which creates a very uniquely haunting sense for the reader. We are not told what the “little creatures” are, beyond that they are part of the experiment.
Day Six - July 7
11. “On the Rainy Side of the Mountain They Grow Columbine, Nightshade, and Stinging Nettle” |WYSR Review
Nora and the other residents of the town communicate through the language of flowers.
12. “Arabella and the Spiders” | WYSR Review
The spiders in a spacecraft have multiplied.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories seemed pretty different to me in themes.
Individually:
“On the Rainy Side of the Mountain They Grow Columbine, Nightshade, and Stinging Nettle” The paranoia and distrust that Nora grows inside the town feels its own language. The small town feel made me think of “Moist Breath.”
“Arabella and the Spiders” I think the spiders are using her as a kind of . . . incubator . . . so this one reminded me of “Select Entries.” Also, the spiders bite and this made me think of the other biting-focused stories: “Grandma Minerva’s,” “Bloodless,” “Grandma Rex,” and “Change of Life.”
Day Seven - July 8
13. 3D Monarch” | WYSR Review
The characters of the Cinderella story have all been changed to bugs in this fascinating continuation of the classic fairy tale.
14. “Hobo Queen”
Queen Rosewater and King Scarecrow champion the homeless.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories have elements of fairy tales, which reminds me of “Select Entries,” which referenced nursery rhymes.
Individually:
“3D Monarch” This story is a continuation of the Cinderella story, but with bugs! There is also a transformation theme, as the prince becomes a monarch.
“Hobo Queen” This story has themes of helping the homeless, the afterlife, and transformation.
Emmie’s Personal Favorite: “Christmas at Grandma Minerva’s”
Summary!
If I were to summarize Wagner's style in one sentence, I would say she often uses elderly points of view, body transformations, and employs an creepy/eerie tone.
Interview Questions
What are the themes you tend to return to the most in your work overall? Why do think that is?
Wagner: Relationships between mothers and daughters. The effects of isolation. The various roles women are expected, or forced, to take and the roles they choose to embrace. I’m fascinated by mother, maiden, crone mythology. Also, politics and how often it intersects with cosmic horror themes such as the vast indifference of the universe.
2. What is one of the characters in your short stories/flash pieces that you relate to the most, and why?
Wagner: There is a little piece of me in each of my older female protagonists.
3. How Has Your Writing Evolved Since You Began?
Wagner: I spent several decades writing nonfiction and loving it. At a writing conference a speaker suggested taking fiction classes to acquire additional tools for writing persuasive nonfiction. I took that advice and found fiction was a great way to further explore the themes and issues I was attempting to address through my nonfiction. That was sixteen years ago, and I didn’t know what I didn’t know. The learning curve was steep. I’ve come a long way, but there is still so much to learn
4. Do you tend to start writing a story idea out of a particular element, like character, setting, or point of view?
Wagner: I like starting with a random prompt, or a fairy tale or myth. Or both. I make lists of words and characters, settings, and objects that appeal to me and roll dice to choose the random prompt. Three (or more) seem to work well because it forces my subconscious to wake up and look for patterns. Codex runs an annual prompt-based writing competition called Weekend Warrior and many of my flash stories were born there.
5. Anything else you’d like to say about your wokr?
Wagner: I write dark speculative fiction with a gothic bent and my main characters are often older women who defy stereotypes.
6. Do you have any piece, listed here or otherwise, that you would like to promote?
Wagner: Last year, I was delighted to have my story Zugunruhe chosen from slush for inclusion in Storyteller, A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology (Essential Dreams Press, July 2025) Zugunruhe is a reimagining of the Swan Maidens fairy tale set in a future ravaged by climate change and told from the point of view of a female Canada goose. The anthology made the Bram Stoker and Locus Award final ballots.