Kate Maruyama
Writer. Teacher. Editor.
Kate Maruyama is a writer who was raised on books and weaned on movies in New England. She now writes, teaches, edits, cooks, and eats in Los Angeles.
Her novel Harrowgate was published by 47North and her novella Family Solstice was named Best Fiction Book of 2021 by Rue Morgue Magazine. Her novella Halloween Beyond: A Gentleman's Suit is out now from Crystal Lake Publishing.
Her duo of novellas, Bleak Houses: Safer & Family Solstice is available for preorder at Raw Dog Screaming Press and her non-genre novel Alterations is upcoming from Running Wild Press.
Her short work appears in Asimov's, Entropy, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Duende, The Coachella Review, and The Magnolia Review among others and was awarded the Uncharted Magazine Short Story Prize. It has also appeared in numerous anthologies including December Tales, Gathering: A Women Who Submit Anthology, Halloween Carnival Three, and Winter Horror Days. You can read short work on the Writings page.
She is a member of the SFWA and the HWA where she serves on the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee, where she helps edit The Seers' Table. She has served as a juror for the Bram Stoker Awards and twice for the Shirley Jackson Awards. She is currently serving on the working board of Women Who Submit.
Photo by Rachael Warecki @CameraRAWPhotography
Books
Bleak Houses:
Safer & Family Solstice
Safer
Los Angeles is in lockdown, “Safer at home,” so Soledad, a college student, jumps at the opportunity to be live-in caretaker for Story, the son of an A-list celebrity. Solid pay and a change of scene are just what she needs in the pandemic. The parents are high maintenance, but she and Story form a quick bond. The dazzling lifestyle shows its dark underside when unsettling occurrences mount. Now it turns out the job that would set Soledad up for college might derail her life entirely if she decides to keep Story safer.
Family Solstice
The Massey family has a secret and Shea, the youngest, will be the last to find out exactly what’s in the basement. She’s been training hard for her 13th year when it will finally be her turn to perform the family duty of fighting. Her older siblings won’t tell her anything, but she’s excited and ready to take all comers. Even if they had, nothing could truly prepare her for what she has to face.
These compelling explorations of dark family secrets fearlessly delve into some of today’s most relevant and troubling issues. In Safer, Maruyama explores what parents will do for a child, and what happens to outsiders in unsafe houses, while Family Solstice addresses the dangers of tradition, inheritance and the sins of the father.
Halloween Beyond
When the veil thins on All Hallow’s Eve, the Halloween Beyond Superstore gets up to mischief. Behind its costumes, animatronics, and Ouija boards lies a deeper Celtic magic that will take our heroes, Kayla, Lex, and Maddie to places they’ve never imagined, and they might never escape.
A Gentleman's Suit: When Lex’s dad buys an enormous animatronic version of Death on a boat, the very fabric of Halloween changes and Lex has to step onboard into the unknown and face an impossible task.