alex k. masse

Prose

  • Cover art for “Moon to Comet,” a track based off Alex’s short story of the same name, featured in artbyform’s FORM STORYBOOK creative event.
  • Cover of Written in the Wind, a 2024 Worldsmyths anthology Alex had their short story “The Gift You Gave Away” featured in.
  • Cover of Darkness and Moonlight, a 2022 Worldsmyths anthology Alex had their short story “The Gift You Gave Away” featured in.

Alex got their start in prose, writing fantasy novels instead of doing their homework, and it’s close to their heart to this day. Beginning with quirky tales of unicorns and outer space, Alex never quite left the speculative behind. Their efforts were rewarded for the first time in senior year, when they received a Scholastic Gold Key for their short story, “The Grief Sisters,” and then again when they were selected for the 2018 cohort of #TeenPit, a young author mentorship program.

More recently, they’ve had short stories featured in works compiled by Artbyform and Worldsmyths, as well as expanding their prose practice to interactive works, creating their first Twine game in 2024.

notable works
  • The Gift You Gave Away (Worldsmyths Anthology, 2024): A single mother travels through fey courts in search of her estranged transgender child, who erased her deadname to hide.
  • Deepfaked, Dysphoric, Drained (Independent release, 2024): A free, interactive Twine game about a transgender person who becomes the victim of a nonconsensual deepfake. Written for a fourth-year Communication course in gender and technology.
  • Selene (Worldsmyths Anthology, 2022): After what to most would be a career-ending injury, a ballerina-slash-witch must fend off a concerned fan so she can solve her problems with magic.
  • Moon to Comet (FORM storybook, 2021): The Moon speaks to a rebellious young comet about humanity and why she and her stars grant their wishes, however small.
  • The Grief Sisters (Gold Key recipient in the Scholastic Writing Awards, 2018): Five sisters, each the patron of a stage of grief, meet for dinner. Tension and envy ensue.
mentorships
  • #TeenPit 2018 Cohort (2018)
awards
  • Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award, Honourable Mention (2021)
  • International Scholastic Writing Awards: Gold Key in Fantasy (2018)
  • International Scholastic Writing Awards: Silver Key (Overall transcript) (2018)
  • #TeenPit: Semi-Finalist (2018)

They consider their specialty to be the #OwnVoices Fantasy genre, specifically of the YA/Adult/General Audience niches.