Koji A. Dae

@kojiadae.bsky.social

1503 Followers 733 Following

Writer of dark, speculative fiction. Stories in Clarkesworld, Apex, Zooscape and more. kojiadae.ink

"Casual" by Koji A. Dae is the novel for everyone exhausted by the expectation of heroism. Here, casualness becomes a form of rebellion. No galaxy-saving, no portal-discovering, no wrestling with transdimensional entities. The characters... live. And that's the subversion. In a genre addicted to spectacle, Dae dares to whisper: "What if we do absolutely nothing epic -- and still matter?"
What people are saying... "perfect horror erotica", "it's weird, it's bloody & at times... kinky", "What made this good wasn't just the eroticism or the horror; it was how it played with human vulnerability", "intense and weird", "seductive to the core" Image of the cover of Hold My Heart: a illustrated hand holding a dripped heart.
A person made of knotted rope. Blue limbs, red and white torso.
Your body, Your choice. Until it's not. Cover of Casual by Koji A. Dae. "Up there with Atwood, Bradbury, Dick, and Gibson. Both inevitable and horrifying. A must-read for the moment." - Literary Hub, Most anticipated Books of 2025.
Clip of the review from the mentioned article with the cover of the book. Reads: "Koji A Dae, Casual. Tenebrous Press, February 11. The best science fiction is ften the kind that helps us understand (or even... warns us?) about the world of tomorrow, and Dae's deserves to be up there with Atwood, Bradbury, Dick, and Gibson. At a time when bodily autonomy is increasingly under assault, the neural implants of Dae's novel seem both inevitable and horrifying--and her look at motherhood under technological surveillance is a must-read for the moment. If you liked Black Mirror but don't think you can read SF, I challenge you to give this one a shot. - DB.
Cover art for Casual. A circuit board shaped like a fox on a copper circuit board background with a small pregnant figure in the bottom corner.