Vancouver Author Ace Baker Returns with “Bathing in Fire,” A Searing Collection of Transformation
December 13, 2025 | For Immediate Release
Canadian author unleashes 12 +1 tales of fire, transformation, and what remains
Chicken House Press is thrilled to announce the release of Bathing in Fire, the highly anticipated second short story collection from award-winning Vancouver author Ace Baker. The collection launches today with its own symmetry: December 13, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, for a baker’s dozen of 12 + 1 stories.
Following the warm reception of his debut collection How to Make a Killing Jar, Baker returns with thirteen unflinching tales that explore transformation through fire imagery, both literal and metaphorical. From smokejumpers battling wildfires to lovers consumed by passion, from soldiers shaped by combat to artists driven by obsession, these stories illuminate the moments when ordinary people are forced to choose between safety and transformation.
“Pack this book with care, and don't forget the ‘delicate and flammable’ tag,” writes Niloufar-Lily Soltani, author of Zulaikha. “These stories take you through burning woods, tattoos, and arsenic, before healing you with water, love, sex, and language as lush as poetry. Ace Baker is a male version of Shahrzad, a born storyteller whose survival is guaranteed with one tale a night.”
The collection showcases Baker’s signature style: taut prose, indelible imagery, and emotional depth that lingers long after the final page. Stories span genres from literary fiction to psychological thriller, unified by Baker’s exploration of the fires that define us—the slow burn of desire, the sudden flare of violence, the smoldering aftermath of loss.
Baker’s work has earned praise from literary luminaries. Diana Gabaldon lauded his writing for its “overlapping layers of depth and meaning,” while the late Jack Whyte described his prose as leaving him “breathless and awed by the indelible images it thrust into my awareness… terrific in its brilliant intensity.”
A creative writing teacher and coach by day, Baker has won both the SIWC Storyteller Award and Poetry Award at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, where he has studied with Gabaldon and Whyte and now presents himself. His poetry and prose have been nominated for the Atwood Gibson Prize, the Dana Award, National Magazine Awards, the Journey Prize, and the Pushcart Prize.
Bathing in Fire is Baker’s second collection with Chicken House Press, following his successful partnership that began with How to Make a Killing Jar. The new collection features striking cover art that echoes the visual themes of his debut—an orange-dressed dancer whose fabric forms flames instead of butterfly wings, linking the two collections while emphasizing transformation.
About the Author: Ace Baker is a writer, poet, editor, and creative writing teacher and coach from Vancouver, Canada. His work has been praised by Diana Gabaldon and the late Jack Whyte, and his poetry and prose have been nominated for numerous prestigious awards including the Atwood Gibson Prize, the Dana Award, National Magazine Awards, the Journey Prize, and the Pushcart Prize. He is a two-time winner at the Surrey International Writers' Conference, taking home both the Storyteller Award and Poetry Award.
Bathing in Fire is available in paperback and ebook formats through Chicken House Press and major online retailers beginning December 13, 2025.
ISBN trade paperback edition: 978-1-997584-06-3
