Chronic pain permeates your life–but fictional depictions often fall short of fully representing this reality. We’ll discuss existing chronic pain representation–the good, the bad, and the ugly–and how writers can build characters whose struggles with chronic pain reflect the struggles of chronic pain sufferers in the real world.

This panel is part of Storycrafting Sessions: Disability in Writing, a free virtual conference hosted by Weeknight Writers and happening on May 30th. Check out our full panel listing to learn more.

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Meet our panelists

V.M. Ayala (she/they) is a queer disabled biracial Mexican American sci-fi/fantasy writer. She loves dragons, space, their partner, and giant robots. Their work has appeared in Lightspeed, Escape Pod, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024, and elsewhere. She is also a streamer and TTRPG actual play performer—as well as one of the co-founders of OTHERSIDE, a queer speculative magazine. You can find her most social media places @spacevalkyries or at spacevalkyries.com.

Felix Graves is a queer and disabled AAPI author of dark speculative fiction. Most of his writing involves tragedy, queer romance, and faerie-inspired creatures. He prides himself on writing stories with a starkly honest ownvoice commentary on mental illness, disability, and queerness. When not writing, he can be found reading queer fiction, cooking elaborate meals, or gaming with his friends and family. He currently lives in the beautiful PNW with his husband, their children, a ferociously adorable pibble, and possibly a ghost or two.

Sabina Nordqvist began writing as a way to distract herself from chronic pain and illness, and before long, she couldn’t stop creating imaginary worlds and swoony book boyfriends. When not immersed in her latest project, she’s likely doing physical therapy, reading, or searching for answers to her latest mystery symptom. A polyglot with three nationalities, she’s spent many years abroad and loves nerding out over intercultural communication and the languages she’s picked up along the way. IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD is her debut novel.

Sabina is represented by Samantha Wekstein at Thompson Literary Agency.

Machelle (Spooky Pickle) is an author, an artist, aaaaand a weirdo all rolled into one delightful human bean. At least, they try to pass for human. Usually, they're two possums and three ferrets running amuck in a trench coat. And one of them is wearing clown shoes. And it isn’t the guy on the ground.

In their spare time, Machelle enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons with their friends, napping with their cats, and heeding the screams of the void. Sometimes, they even dabble in arts & crafts so that their brain makes the good chemicals.

You can find Machelle's work under the pen names of Machelle Berglund and S.P. Green. They're known as SpookyxPickle on most social media apps.

Meet our moderator

Dax Murray is a word-witch who studied politics, music, and creative writing at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. In a previous life, they were a software-sorceress but now they spend their days attending to the feline-god and canine-deity they reside with. When not writing, they can be found in the world of an RPG.

Contact the host of Accurately Depicting Chronic Pain: What We Wish Writers Knew