Caitlin Spice

Caitlin Spice is a fantasy writer and LGBTQ rights advocate from New Zealand. She is the author of The Silver Path, a collection of dark fantasy and horror short stories, and the co-author of the children's book Raven Wild. Several of her short stories have been adapted for The NoSleep Podcast.

Early and personal life

Spice grew up in Wellington and has said that, as a transgender child in the 1980s, she felt isolated because she was unaware that other transgender people existed or how to handle the emotions she was experiencing. While studying at University of Waikato, she began using the internet to explore her gender identity and adopted the online username of "Caitlin". Alongside her writing career, Spice later worked in the New Zealand public service.

Spice is an advocate for LGBTQ rights. Before publicly coming out as transgender, Spice said that she had to conceal her gender identity in her workplace. After leaving her job in the public service, she became more ACTIVE as a transgender rights advocate and commentator on the internet. She has openly spoken AbOUT transphobia and the online abuse she has faced, and the coping mechanisms she had developed to mitigate them.

Career

Caitlin Spice wrote under the pen name C. M. Scandreth. Her first book The Silver Path, a collection of dark fantasy and horror short stories, was published in 2017 by Mungfish Publishing. It is a collection of thirteen stories–Silver path, When I was four I could see faeries, Tiny garden, The midnight train tunnel, A conspiracy of mannequins, Straw and twine, The reluctant midwife, Shadow town, Rain berserker, Selkie blood, The one who comes before, The hunter's boots, A seaside British pub, and The yule tithe. Several of Spice's short stories have been adapted for The NoSleep Podcast.

In 2020, Spice co-authored the children's fantasy book Raven Wild with Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris. The book was crowdfunded and forms part of the Promised Land Tales transgender fairy tale series. Spice said that she wrote Raven Wild with a transgender lead character to provide positive representation of transgender people in literature. In an interview, Spice described as working on a fantasy novel set in a windy city drawing inspiration from living in Wellington.

Bibliography

  • The Silver Path (2017)
  • Raven Wild (2020)