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Samantha Mills is an American author and archivist. She received numerous awards for her short story "Rabbit Test," praise for her debut novel, and her other short stories have been longlisted for several science fiction and fantasy awards.

Early life and education

Mills grew up in Southern California and started writing as a child. She wrote her first short story, “What Hapend March Ninth!!” at seven years old after her sister threw a rock at her during a water fight. She continued reading and writing throughout her childhood. In fifth grade, Mills's teacher noticed her love of reading and encouraged her to become a professional writer.

Mills earned a B.A. in Pre- and Early Modern Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Master's in Information and Library Science from San Jose State University. She works part-time as an archivist specializing in managing primary documents for local Southern California institutions.

Career

Short stories

Mills began submitting short stories to magazines in 2017. She has published science fiction and fantasy short stories in various magazines and podcasts, with several of her works longlisted by Locus and the BSFA.

"Rabbit Test" was published online in 2022 via Uncanny Magazine, Issue #49. It tells the story of Grace, and later her daughter Olivia, living in a near-future society where women's rights are limited and pregnancies are heavily monitored, with abortions made illegal. Reviewer Lis Carey described the story as powerful but dark, providing readers with a useful history of pregnancy tests and abortion. Reviewer Niall Harrison described it as an "incandescent" response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

"Rabbit Test" awards

"Rabbit Test" won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Theodore Sturgeon awards for Best Short Story. However, in January 2024 there was a large controversy over the 2023 Hugo Award nomination process, when internal documents were released showing that Worldcon leaders had decided to censor certain authors by excluding them from the nomination process. In response to these allegations, Mills wrote a blogpost titled "'Rabbit Test' unwins the Hugo," explaining the situation and stating that she couldn't truly feel she was a Hugo winner, so she was removing all references to the award from her media presence.

The Wings Upon Her Back

Mills published her first novel, The Wings Upon Her Back, in 2024. The science fiction tale focuses on the war-torn city of Radezhda, where five different sects serve five gods with varying occupations. The narrative alternates between two points in Winged Zemolai's life: as a youth, training to be a warrior under the powerful Winged Vodaya, and as an adult, disgraced and indecisive. The relationship between Zenya and Vodaya is a key tension throughout the book.

Mills began planning the novel The Wings Upon Her Back in 2016. She initially planned it as an action fantasy but added themes of fascism and strongmen politics into the book, inspired by the themes she saw in U.S. politics at the time. Mills revised the book repeatedly to strengthen these themes. The book was published by Tachyon Publications. Upon release, critics received the book with universal praise.

In an April 21, 2024 interview, Mills stated that she was working on a new fantasy novel, nicknamed The Dread Sea Monster WIP.

Selected works

Novels

• The Wings Upon Her Back (2024)

Short stories

• "The Gestational Cycle of Flies in a Cupboard" - LampLight, Volume 6 Issue 3 (March 2018)
• "Strange Waters" - Strange Horizons (April 2, 2018)
• "Adrianna in Pomegranate" - Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue #271 (February 14, 2019)
• "One Part Per Billion" - Diabolical Plots, Issue #50 (April 15, 2019)
• "Laugh Lines" - Daily Science Fiction (June 10, 2019)
• "Four of Seven" - Escape Pod, Episode #687 (July 4, 2019)
• "Kiki Hernández Beats the Devil" - Translunar Travelers Lounge, Issue 2 (February 15, 2020)
• "Mama Cascade" - Deep Magic (Spring 2020)
• "The Limits of Magic" - Apparition Literary Magazine, Issue 11: Redepmtion (July 15, 2020)
• "Anchorage" - Uncanny Magazine, Issue 36 (Fall 2020)
• "Spindles" - Kaleidotrope (Spring 2021)
• "Rabbit Test" - Uncanny Magazine, Issue 49 (2022)

Awards

References

1. ^ Dumpleton, Elise (2024-04-21). "Q&A: Samantha Mills, Author of 'The Wings Upon Her Back'". The Nerd Daily. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
2. Mills, Samantha. "Bio". SAMANTHA MILLS. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
3. "Short Fiction". SAMANTHA MILLS. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
4. Glyer, Mike (2023-09-13). "Lis Carey Review: Samantha Mills' "Rabbit Test"". File 770. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
5. Harrison, Niall (2023-09-21). "The Year's Best Is Dead, Long Live the Year's Best: On the 2023 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalists". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
6. Stewart, Sophia (2024-02-01). "Resignations, Censures Follow in Wake of Hugo Awards Controversy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
7. ""Rabbit Test" unwins the Hugo". SAMANTHA MILLS. 2024-02-18. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
8. "The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills". Publishers Weekly. 2024-01-24. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
9. "Gary K. Wolfe Reviews The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills". Locus Online. 2024-05-18. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
10. K, Kriti (2024-07-30). "Get to know the author: Samantha Mills". Armed with A Book. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
11. Giltz, Michael (2024-04-23). "Best New Book Releases This Week: April 23-29, 2024". Parade. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
12. "BSFA Awards Longlist". Vector - From the British Science Fiction Association. 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
13. "2019 Locus Recommended Reading List". Locus Online. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
14. "2020 Locus Recommended Reading List". Locus Online. 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
15. "SFWA Announces the Winners of the 58th Annual Nebula Awards". The Nebula Awards®. 2023-05-15. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
16. "2023 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. 2023-06-25. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
17. "Mills Wins Sturgeon". Locus Online. 2023-08-25. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
18. "2023 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Award. 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
19. "THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARDS". BSFA - British Science Fiction Association. Archived from the original on 2023-11-01. Retrieved 2024-12-29.

External links

• Official Website
• Samantha Mills at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Response to the 2023 Hugo Process

• Living people
• 21st-century American novelists
• 21st-century American short story writers
• 21st-century American women writers
• American fantasy writers
• American science fiction writers
• American women science fiction and fantasy writers
• American women novelists
• American women short story writers
• Hugo Award–winning writers
• Nebula Award winners
• University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
• San Jose State University alumni
• Writers from California