MAT Hodges writes poetry, fantasy / science fiction prose, and non-fiction articles for trade magazines. Her education includes a B.S. in honors English from the United States Naval Academy and Master’s degrees in business administration and English from the Universities of West Florida and South Alabama. In the Navy, she commanded missions aboard maritime patrol aircraft.
Sample from novel Maps
Teenager Andrew Curry, resident of Maryland, North America, World Seven, lived unaware of his ability to emanate peach-colored light. He was similarly oblivious to the bulk of history and to the seven parallel universes that had unfolded into existence a very long time ago. And, unlike most teenagers on the adjacent parallel universe of World Six, Andrew has never worn, nor even heard of, Zindle Boots. His family consisted of his parents, Donald and Deborah, and his little brother, Tyler. They lived in a split-level home in a subdivision with hydrangea under the front window. Andrew had never once turned on the stove, but he had watched his mother prepare pasta several times and felt ready to give it a go. He was tall, gangly, and proud to be a Capricorn.
Excerpt from Maps (2018) by MAT Hodges
Short story samples
Plata explored the gorge. He found no exit other than the tunnel by which he had arrived. The emptiness of the dusty circle meant he was free of danger, so long as the coyote men, who blocked the entrance, kept their distance. Other people watched him from above. He swept the hot sand with a foot, raised his chin, and snorted his antipathy for those men up the cliff side, unreachable due to their height above a smooth, solid wall. He was trapped, and they stared at him, unhelpfully, preferring to point at him, speak to each other, and eat. Plata turned full circle, surveying more people than he had ever seen, more people than he had known existed. They stank of garlic, parsley, sweat, and yeast, and resembled cows as they chewed oily, sweet food. These men felt safe from him in their high-up seats, despite his strength and his building anger. Men had taken him from his home and brought him to this smelly pit, just to watch him walk around. Were they going to fix something wrong with his body, like they had previously when he left his home by automatic cart? He felt very strong.
Excerpt from “Repose of a Royal” (2017) by MAT Hodges
Thankfully, that infinity did not last forever. All we convicts from before time’s unfold, collectively condemned, were simultaneously freed the moment that our subatomic cell burst open like a blueberry under a Cuban heel. We legion of delinquents-sans-leather-jackets burst forth according to program almost fourteen billion years ago, evidently chosen to populate a fresh universe.
Excerpt from “Grace from the Abyss” (2019) by MAT Hodges