About Me

Hi, my name is B. A. Baker, and welcome to my About Me page. I hope you enjoy this website!

I’m a published author writing about technology, LGBTQ+ issues, fandom, cultural exchange, and cyclical storytelling, and having a lot of fun doing it.

Originally from North Georgia, I graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2017 with a B.A. in Writing & Linguistics and relocated to Japan, where I have worked as an assistant language teacher since 2018 in several different regions. International cultural exchange is great!

My writing focuses primarily on speculative fiction, including science fiction and fantasy, along with nonfiction media criticism and opinion. I love studying story structure and designing unique stories that stray far from the expected. I’m also very interested in multimedia storytelling, especially the combination of prose, comics, games, and animation. Work that uses multiple mediums at once will always get my attention.

I edited humor-focused literary magazine Moonglasses Magazine from 2015-2017, and I am a co-founder and project editor for the creative collective Quinlan Circle since 2018.

My fiction work has been self-published on story websites such as Royal Road and Tapas, and has been mentioned offhandedly in publications including the New York Times and The Guardian. My nonfiction work has been featured on this very website’s blog page, as well as on sites like ScreenGeek.net.

Please take a look around my site and let me know what you think!

Contact me at morganharding@vivaldi.net if you need anything.

You can also find me on various social media platforms:

Major Projects

The Gay Gatsby

Release: January 1st, 2021
Genres: LGBTQ+, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Nick Carraway meets a mysterious man named Gaylord Gatsby and his whole life changes. Look out at the rainbow light and get the hell ready for the new remixed, metafictional version of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Cover by Joi Massat.
A full novel published as a response to The Great Gatsby entering the public domain in 2021. Mentioned in the New York Times, The Guardian, and WIRED as part of the trend of Gatsby retellings and the state of copyright in storytelling.
Audiobook published in 2022, narrated by Keith Yeager.
Read a sample here. Spoilers!

Hands Held in the Snow

Release: 2019-2020
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, LGBTQ+
A moving LGBT+ fantasy coming-of-age story about two young women from very different backgrounds discovering each other and themselves in the midst of great turmoil in their city.
70 chapters, 110,000 words. Featured on Tapas on multiple occasions.
In-story illustrations by Mikayla Buan.
Read a sample here.

Reborn on a Systemless Earth… With a System

Release: 2020-2023
Genres: Fantasy, Isekai, Contemporary, Comedy, LitRPG
You know the setup. A young man on Earth hit by a speeding truck who ends up in a generic fantasy world. But what about this: A young man in a generic fantasy world hit by a speeding truck who ends up in modern-day San Francisco, and yet still wants to be a hero anyway? That’s how this one starts, and it just keeps on going.
A three-book web serial with currently over 200 chapters and over 1,200,000 views on Royal Road.
Cover by Mikayla Buan.
Read a sample here. Spoilers!
Read another sample here. Spoilers!

Web Fiction Directory

A regularly maintained list of active websites for web fiction, webcomics, and interactive game experiences. The list has helped thousands of readers and writers discover new platforms, and is frequently recommended on social media platforms. You can use it too.

2010s Retrospectives Series

An ongoing series of blogs published on my own website that examine different parts of the entire decade of the 2010s. Some articles are autobiographical reflections, some are deep-dives into media topics, and some are simple vignettes about forgotten moments that help paint the picture as a whole.
My goal with the blog series is to provide a valuable, inevitably biased cultural artifact for historians studying the 2010s many decades in the future. There’s over 100 articles posted so far.

And, for a further list:

Books

The Anime That Changed Everything: Reflections on Madoka Magica	Nonfiction Novella	Essay Collection	2023	Since 2011, the anime series Madoka Magica has been one of the most popular and influential pieces of pop culture. There’s something magical about the power a single twelve-episode TV show can exert on the world, and I want to examine why. This book collects eleven essays, all about Madoka Magica, its story, its LGBTQ+ themes, its fandom, and its immense impact on my life. Cover by Joi Massat.
Her Golemancer Girlfriend	Web serial	Fantasy, Action	2021-present	Amelia, a half-golem with a chip on her shoulder, comes to the high-tech city of Fleettwixt seeking her missing girlfriend, and revenge against the colonial corporation that plagues the land. She will destroy everything in her path to achieve these two goals. Cover and in-story art by Mikayla Buan.
Rainbow Destructor	Novella	Sci-fi, LGBTQ+, Thriller	2022	The crew of the XSS Savior, seven women strong, is headed back from yet another perilous mission across the stars when they receive a distress signal from an allied fleet. Apparently, they’re being attacked by a giant rainbow star that appeared out of nowhere, and, apparently, only this crew can save them. Things don’t go as expected. Cover by Sarah McSquish.
ATL: Stories from the Retrofuture	Web serial	Sci-fi, Comedy	2018-2021	Morgan Harding, nonbinary slacker with cybernetic powers, solves mysteries and deals with adult life in robot-filled 20XX Atlanta. Cover by Richard Gung. Other in-story art by various artists.
Cultivine	Web serial	LitRPG, Comedy	2021	A vicious and sloppy parody of xianxia and LitRPGs themed around vines. Created for the Silver Pen Vine Marathon 2021. Audiobook by Keith Yeager.
The Glory of Bowsette	Fan Fiction Novel	Fantasy, Comedy, Romance	2018	A 100-chapter parody epic about memetastic icon Bowsette. Cover by Joi Massat.

Short Stories

Gretel & The Really Hot Witch (feat. Hansel)	2021	Collected in the “Sappho’s Spinning Wheel” WLW romance anthology.
Just Love Me	2020	A dramatic romantic story that uses magical realism to explore a literally fading queer relationship.
The Anarchy Party	2020	A strange satire.
Miniboss	2020	RPG from the other side.
On the Ship	2018	A slice of life on a colony ship.
May I?	2017	May-December.
Ode to My Future Self	2016	Published in Georgia Southern Miscellany.
James, John, Jane	2015	Published in Home Clipart Animal Deer.
Travelling Back	2015	Published in Litro UK.
Four Minutes After Ordering	2015	Published in GTK Creative Journal.

Poetry

Outlooks on a Cloudy Day	2016	Published in Georgia Southern Miscellany.
Going Home	2015	Published in the Elohi Gadugi Journal.
Home for Christmas	2014	Published in Slink Chunk Press.

Comics

Hands Held in the Snow: Date Night	Comic strip	Comedy, Romance	2021	Comic script and sketches. Art by Ryuichirou. A spinoff of Hands Held in the Snow.
The Convenience Store on the Edge of Reality	Comic strip	Comedy	2020	Crossover comic script for Pride 2020 celebrations. Art by Ryuichirou.
Sandswept: The Squiddle Session	Multimedia Comic Series	Fantasy, Sci-fi, Comedy, Horror	2012-2017	Project manager, story supervision, scripts, storyboards. Art and story work by various contributors.
Rode & Kent in: The Babies Are Them	Comic Short Story	Fantasy, Comedy	2014	A short spinoff of Sandswept. Art by Joi Massat.

Games & Animation

ATL: The New Knights – Chapter 3	Text Adventure	Game design, writing	2019	An experimental chapter of this web serial that uses the text adventure format to let readers nonlinearly explore a futuristic convention center. Branching paths, but no divergent storylines.
Sandswept – [S] Act 2	Game – Walkaround	Map layout design, script, game design	2014	Interactive narrative minigame, part of the Sandswept multimedia project. If the original file cannot be played, please try this linear playthrough version.
Sandswept – [S] Rode: Enter	Animation	Storyboards	2014	A short narrative animation, part of the Sandswept multimedia comic series.
[S] Rex Duodecim Angelus	Animation	Storyboards	2011-2014	Contributed storyboards for sequences throughout the animation, most prominently in the sequence from 4:00 to 4:22.

Old Work, Websites, Editing

It’s Always Friday	Novella	Editor	2022	Edited this sci-fi novella published on the author’s website.
A Broken Clock	Short Story	Editor	2021	Edited this sci-fi short story published on the author’s website.
The Madoka Series, by Thedude3445	Fan Fiction Series	Writer	2013-2018	A long-running, little-read parody of Madoka Magica, starting with the story “Madoka in Mexico.”
Moonglasses Magazine	Literary Magazine	Co-Founder, Editor	2015-2017	Humor-focused literary magazine. Edited fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and art submissions for seven issues. The website is down, but it appears mostly or completely archived on the Wayback Machine.
Screengeek.net	Pop Culture News Site	Freelance	2015-2016	I wrote news and opinion pieces.
Home Clipart Animal Deer	Experimental Story Site	Co-Founder, Writer	2015-2016	“Where Literature Goes to Die” A website with short stories, media articles, and various oddities.
Barty Anderson 4: Tale of the Legend of the Crystal Chubacabra	Short Film	Director, Writer, Producer, Editor	2015	The unofficial fourth film in the famous Barty Anderson Series.
MSPA Prophet	Fandom Account	Social Media Manager	2012-2016	I helped maintain and promote this very strange part of Homestuck fandom lore.
Visions of Etherflow	Web Serial	Co-Writer	2013-2014	I wrote many chapters of this unfinished collaborative series.
365-Story Challenge	Story Blog	Creator	2013	A collection of short stories written in the end of high school. It only got to 60/365.
Let’s Write a Story While Giving Blood!	Fan Fiction Short Story	Writer	2012	Osmosis Jones/Friday the 13th crossover fan fiction written while giving blood.
The Bulbears: Lordess to Nomad	Fan Fiction Short Story	Writer	2012	Ironic Pikmin fan fiction.
Trol Seasson Rock Oprah: Continental Shift	Music Album	Original Lyrics and Vocals	2012	Ironic Homestuck fan album.
NC Backblog	Media Blog	Creator	2009-2012	“The Evolution Revolution” My high school blog, including media articles and short stories.
My Old Smackjeeves Sprite Comics	Sprite Comics	Creator	2005-2011	Archived for your viewing pleasure. I should reupload these on my own server someday.

My Life With Michael Guy Bowman	2023	An ovrview of the most important music artist to every phase of my youth.
8 New Oscar Categories We Need	2023	A passionate plea for more representation at the Academy Awards, and my ideas for how to help make that happen.
The Great Desensitization	2023	Reflections on the way extremely serious news topics slowly fade into the background. Why it’s necessary, and why it’s a problem all the same.
Close Talker by nelward – Review	2022	Reviewing a single song that helped me reflect on pop culture changes and amateur art.
The Curtains Were Blue For a Reason	2021	An article that tears apart an internet meme that transformed slowly into a dismissal of all literary criticism.
Obama x Romney Fan Fiction: The Nostalgic World	2021	Fandom, ironic humor, and politics swirling together in a way that could only have ever happened in the early 2010s.
Why Can’t I Marry Petra?! (and, Queer Romance in Video Games)	2020	An article about how LGBTQ+ representation in video games skyrocketed over the course of the 2010s.
Super Mario Dance Bros., Irony, and My First Semester of College	2020	Memories of the bizarre depths of Youtube.
The Star Wars EU’s Old White Guy Jedi Problem	2019	An article about accidental shared universe bloat hurting storytelling opportunities.