A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some complexity I was encountering with a character’s pronouns in my latest short story. The character is a cloud elemental, neither male nor female nor even necessarily appearing human. The standard he/she pronouns didn’t seem to fit.

Several of you kindly answered my plea for advice, so here’s what I decided. It’s an experiment for me to write a character like this, so I looked into alternative pronouns. There are more than you think! Em/er, ze/zer, te/ter, xe/xer… But ae/aer, also written fae/faer, seemed appropriate for a magical being.

Plus, aer would be pronounced just like “air” and how could I resist such a pun? So I’m hoping in the near future to be telling you about Vayle and aer adventures when the antholoy I’m writing it for is published.

By the way, the anthology is “Midnight Menagerie,” with stories set in circuses and carnivals. Submissions open on January 1, 2024. Here are the guidelines if you’re interested.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.