Books
Beside teaching investors and building businesses, I also write books and stories. Although my native language is Latvian, I write in English and have been published mostly by American publishers.
If you’re into science fiction, you might enjoy some of my Nebula-nominated short fiction – for example, “Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son”.
If you enjoy YA or love dancing, check out “The Cat King of Havana” – my novel of Cuba, salsa and lolcats.
For more serious fare, look at The Cattle Express – a literary novel of Wall Street and Siberian exile (currently out of print in English).
Or check out any of my other stories below!
Awards & Nominations
- Winner - Writers of the Future Award
- Winner – ESFS Award for Best Author
- Nominee – Nebula Award (3 times)
- Nominee – WSFA Small Press Award
- Nominee – Annual Latvian Literature Award
Novels & Collections
— Katherine Tegen Books — YA Novel
“The Cat King of Havana” is an edge-of-your-seat tale of the mean streets of Havana — full of adventurous salsa dancing, dangerous romance, and cats.
Lolcats, specifically.
Tom wrote “The Cat King of Havana” at the University of Iowa’s prestigious International Writing Program. It is Tom’s debut Young Adult novel and a Junior Library Guild selection.
“The Cat King of Havana” is available in translation to Latvian, Spanish, French and Russian.
The Cattle Express
— Shirtsleeve Press [OUT OF PRINT] — Literary Novel
“The Cattle Express” is a literary novel about love, Wall Street, Soviet Terror during WWII and other things. While entirely fictional, the book is based on Tom’s first hand knowledge of the inner workings of Wall Street as well as his family’s experiences in World War II.
“Tom writes with passion, with more passion than a guy like him is supposed to. His scientific mind makes him look at things cold-bloodedly, then he sets his words on fire. That tension makes The Cattle Express such a great read.” — Baņuta Rubess, award-winning director & author
Lopu Ekspresis
— Zvaigzne ABC — Literary Novel
“Lopu Ekspresis” is the Latvian translation of “The Cattle Express”, presented above. It was published to widespread acclaim from Zvaigzne ABC in 2016 and spent several weeks atop Latvian bestsellers’ lists.
Dubultnieki
— Zvaigzne ABC — Collection
“Dubultnieki” is a translated collection of Tom’s short fiction — his first publication in his native Latvian language. It was published in 2011 to critical acclaim.
Latvian Literature Award nominee — Best Debut
Short Fiction
— The Baltic Atlas/Sternberg Press/Clarkesworld — Short story
A vision of the Baltic lit only by Augmented Reality — dark to everyone not possessed of AR lenses and the luminous visions they project. Millions of people living in millions of worlds, overlapping yet distinct.
— Clarkesworld — Novelette
What if magic is real — but it’s impossible to prove that scientifically? The Magician and Laplace’s Demon explores the supernatural as seen through the lens of hard SF.
Nebula Award nominee for Best Novelette of 2014
WSFA Small Press Award finalist for Short Fiction
Included in Rich Horton’s Year’s Best SF
“This is the sort of speculative fiction I really like, based not only on the notions of physics but philosophy. ” — Lois Tilton, Locus “Recommended” review
— Clarkesworld — Short Story
Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes is a story of love and letting go.
Nebula Award Nominee for Best Short Story of 2012
“A lovely, heartbreaking story” — Damien Walters Grintalis, author of “INK”
— Short Story
In the near future of A Well-Adjusted Man, police cope with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder by reliving their trauma and erasing their original memories. Sometimes this works better than expected. . .
“A disturbing piece, echoing truths from today’s world.” – – Lois Tilton, Locus
— Beneath Ceaseless Skies — Short Story
Bearslayer and the Black Knight is a tale of heroes, war and love, very loosely inspired by the Latvian national epic “Bearslayer” (by Andrejs Pumpurs).
“I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of this author” — Lois Tilton, Locus ‘Recommended’ review
— Lightspeed — Short Story
Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son is the tale of a little boy and his dog — against the universe.
Nebula Award nominee for Best Short Story of 2011
“Probably my all time favorite story” — Stefan Rudnicki, author, Grammy- and Audie-winning audiobook narrator
— Flash Fiction Online — Short Story
To Fly a Pig in the Dorseny Sky explores what happens when pigs fly. . . literally!
— Intergalactic Medicine Show — Short Story
Jima, the protagonist of Express to Paris by Dragon First Class, flew regional out of O’Hare — to Dayton, to Cleveland, to far-away New York. “One day mommy will fly to De Gaulle,” she told the kids. Yet career prospects were dim for passenger dragons with no mechanical parts. . .
— Writers of the Future Vol. 26 — Novelette
Sharing minds with someone on the other side of the world was supposed to be an educational, cross-cultural experience — but when one partner becomes a terrorist, the violence begins to seep through. . .
Seeing Double won 1st place in the Q1 09 Writers of the Future Contest, which led to publication in the anthology and an invitation to a spectacular workshop and awards ceremony in Hollywood.
— Sybil’s Garage No. 7 — Short story
In Johannesburg of the near future, a family pools their brainpower via conjunction just to get by. When things go wrong, there’s a price to be paid.
“[…] a touching, poignant tale” — Sam Tomaino, SFRevu
“Short and incredibly affecting […] it’s stayed with me ever since” — N. K. Jemisin, Nebula- and Hugo- nominated author of “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms”
— Flash Fiction Online — Short story
A woman. A piano. A cast-iron man. After the apocalypse.
Art on the left by Lolo (click on image to enlarge).
— Flash Fiction Online — Short story
Growing up, Bobby wanted to ax zombies for a living. Real life got in the way but his dream never died.
Artwork courtesy of welovethedark on flickr, used under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
— Beneath Ceaseless Skies — Short story
Isadora Four, an artificial dancer facing obsolescence, lives in a kettle with her decommisioned sisters. Can she find love, prove her worth to her creator, and avoid her sisters’ fate?
— Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine — Short story
Paul Davery’s mind was just hijacked. While he was out, his body murdered his best friend. Now he’s in a desperate search to discover who’s responsible before the law gets him.
“To Be Alone Again” was Tom’s first published story.