Human for a Day Anthology Table of Contents, Available for Pre-Order

Saw that Editor Jennifer Brozek posted the cover art and table of contents for Human for a Day with my “Beneath the Silent Bell, the Autumn Sky Turns to Spring.” And it’s now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. I’m really looking forward to this coming out!

Contents:

“The Mainspring of His Heart, the Shackles of His Soul” by Ian Tregillis
“The Blade of His Plow” by Jay Lake
“Cinderella City” by Seanan McGuire
“Tumulus” by Anton Strout
“The Sentry” by Fiona Patton
“Ten Thousand Cold Nights” by Erik Scott de Bie
“Mortality” by Dylan Birtolo
“The Dog-Catcher’s Song” by Tanith Lee
“Mortal Mix-Up” by Laura Resnick
“Band of Bronze” by Jean Rabe
“Zombie Interrupted” by Tim Waggoner
“Beneath the Silent Bell, the Autumn Sky Turns to Spring” by Eugie Foster
“The Very Next Day” by Jody Lynn Nye
“The Destroyer” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
“Into the Nth Dimension” by David D. Levine
“Epilogue” by Jim C. Hines

Cover: Continue reading

Beautiful Winter to be Reprinted in InterGalactic Awards Anthology

Just heard from the managing editor of Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show that while “Beautiful Winter” (originally published in issue #13) did not win this year’s InterGalactic Award*, they would like to reprint it in their InterGalactic Awards Anthology. Sweet!

The anthology is slated for publication later this year. Looks like I’ll be sharing a table of contents with Peter S. Beagle! Looking forward to seeing the complete contents listing.

Edit: And the table of contents has been announced!

  • “Trinity County, CA” by Peter S. Beagle
    First appeared in IGMS issue #18
  • “Sister Jasmine Brings the Pain” by Von Carr
    First appeared in IGMS issue #17
  • “The Ghost of a Girl Who Never Lived” by Keffy R. M. Kehrli
    First appeared in IGMS issue #19
  • “The American” by Bruce Worden
    First appeared in IGMS issue #20
  • “Silent as Dust” by James Maxey
    First appeared in IGMS issue #7
  • “Horus Ascending” by Aliette de Bodard
    First appeared in IGMS issue #8
  • “The End-of-the-World Pool” by Scott M. Roberts
    First appeared in IGMS issue #12
  • “A Heretic by Degrees” by Marie Brennan
    First appeared in IGMS issue #10
  • “The Never Never Wizard of Apalachicola” by Jason Sanford
    First appeared in IGMS issue #20
  • “Beautiful Winter” by Eugie Foster
    First appeared in IGMS issue #13
  • “Blood & Water” by Alethea Kontis
    First appeared in IGMS issue #9
  • “Mean-Spirited” by Edmund R. Schubert
    First appeared in IGMS issue #16
  • “The Robot Sorcerer” by Eric James Stone
    First appeared in IGMS issue #10
  • “Aim For The Stars” by Tom Pendergrass
    First appeared in IGMS issue #15

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(* I didn’t even realize it was up for award consideration since it was published in July of 2009.)

Short Story Sale to Drabblecast: The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk

Earlier this month, Norm Sherman of The Drabblecast podcast invited me to submit a story for their H.P. Lovecraft Tribute month. I adore both Norm and Drabblecast, as well as any excuse to play in H.P.’s eldritch sandbox, so of course I said, “count me in!”

Just got a note back from Norm, and I’m delighted to be able to announce that my story, “The Wish of the Demon Achtromagk,” will be podcast as part of Drabblecast’s Lovecraft Tribute lineup in August.

Gotta give them elder gods their due, I always sez.

Outlantacon, Sale to Women Writing the Weird anthology, and Aurora Ballot

Outlantacon was, as always, a  fabulous time. Met Amber Benson, who is a complete sweetheart, and managed to not dissolve into utter fangirl incoherence. Got to meet in actual person—not just pixels—JoSelle Vanderhooft; finally got to hang with the lovely and talented Shae Connor, who helps keep me sane at Dragon*Con with her invaluable assistance on the Daily Dragon but who I never get to see elsewhere; and even managed to exchange sallies with Steve Berman, who I haven’t talked to in years. Also caught up with Lee Martindale and Davey Beauchamp, as well as all the many other convention-family-types who, despite my best intentions otherwise, I only seem to encounter at these sorts of events.

An excellent reminder that there’s much to commend in having a low-key, laid-back convention schedule.

Other good weekendness:
• Sold a reprint of one of my favorite stories, “The Bunny of Vengeance and the Bear of Death,” to Deb Hoag’s Women Writing the Weird anthology.
• The 2011 Prix Aurora Awards final ballot has been announced, with two major squeeworthy nominees:

The Aurora is presented by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, nominated and voted on by attendees of the annual Canvention convention. *squee squee squee*

Short Story Sale to Daily Science Fiction: Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo

Just got an email from the editors of Daily Science Fiction letting me know that they’d like to buy my short story, “Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo.” This is my first sale to these folks, but I’ve been impressed for some time by the quality of the fiction they’ve published. Yay!

Self-fulfilling Prophecy and End of an Aeon

In a perverse display of self-fulfilling prophecy, thus far during this lovely, quiet, stress-free first week post-legislative session 2011, I have written exactly two new words. Two.

Okay, okay, that’s net, not gross, as in I was doing an editing pass on a couple chapters and so that figure includes tweaking, cutting, rewriting, and polishing. But it’s still a far cry from “productive” and makes me want to slap myself in the face and yell, “Just get off your ass and write, you slacker!” Which would probably disconcert my co-editors.

Or I could give a gun to my muse a la this utterly apropos comic from Jim C. Hines. Just what my crack-whore-trollop of a muse needs: a firearm.

In other news, the long-awaited End of an Aeon anthology with my “Black Swan, White Swan” in it is back on track, slated to come out in July. I really like this story—inspired by one of my favorite ballets, Swan Lake—and I was worried that it seemed to be caught in some sort of publishing limbo hell. I sold it to Aeon in early 2008, then the magazine closed down but planned to release the last of its inventory as this anthology, which has subsequently been plagued by computer issues and other slowdowns. (Of note, this is not, by far, the longest lead time I’ve experienced, which is why I wasn’t actively stewing or fretting about it.) So I was greatly relieved to hear from Patrick Swenson, publisher of Fairwood Press, letting me know to expect page proofs soon and with a concrete release date. He also mentioned that it will be released as both a trade paperback and an ebook (in multiple formats). Hurray!

Shiny cover:
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Day 34: Princess and the Golden Fish Part 4 Now Out and Biba Jibun Slated for April

It promises to be a frazzling week. The legislature is in session every day. Then they’re taking all next week off for spring break *insert eye rolling* before coming back to finish the last two days. Urg.

In better news: heard from Jason Sizemore that “Biba Jibun” is slated for the April issue of Apex. Sweet!

Also, got my contrib. copies of the April issue of Cricket with part 4, the conclusion of “The Princess and the Golden Fish” in it:
Continue reading

Day 32: Biba Jibun Sold to Apex and Article Reprint

Day 32 and I’m still hanging in there…mostly by my fingernails. This almost-in-the-homestretch-but-not-quite part of the legislative session is when my nerves, sense of humor, and patience start getting frayed and frazzled. But the tunnel has a light, and I’m speeding toward it. Calmblueocean.

Writing Updates:
As I tweeted yesterday, I sold my short story “Biba Jibun” to Apex Magazine! Absolutely thrilled to have another story of mine published by these fine folks. Getting that “we want it” note from Jason Sizemore totally made my day.

I also had reprinted my “A Writer’s Resolution: I Will Submit” article in the March/April 2011 issue of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators New England newsletter, The NEWS.

And I managed another 1,400 words on Dragon Queller:

37704 / 85000 words. 44% done!

I’ve hit a bridge section that I’m not sure what to do with. I know what happens after it, but I’m uncertain how to get there from the scene I just completed. I’ve been writing this linearly thus far, and I’d like to try to keep doing that; I think it results in less cutting down the editing road. But I don’t want to just spin my wheels on a bridge scene either. Going to do a bit of an editing pass on a couple chapters and see if that joggles or jump-starts anything. Otherwise, we’re wrinkling the damn line.

Writers for Relief 3 and Crossover Day

The fabulous Davey Beauchamp, in the tradition of Writers for Relief 1 to Benefit the Survivors of Katrina and Writers for Relief 2 to benefit the Bay Area Food Bank, is putting together a third volume of his Writers for Relief charity anthologies, this one to benefit the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He invited me to submit a story, and I’m delighted to say that “The Snow Woman’s Daughter” will be appearing in Writers for Relief 3.

Davey is the king of big hearts. I’m so glad he’s doing this and that I can be a part of it.

In other news, today is Day 30 of the 2011 legislative session, Crossover Day. It’s not even noon, I’ve edited a slew of rush amendments, and my brain hurts. Gonna be a loooong day.

Still plugging away on Dragon Queller. 5.5K new words in the last week. Average daily word count: 800.

Shiny progress bar:

36,296 / 85,000 words. 43% done!

Taking an Ice Day and a Sneak Peek of the 2011 Nebula Awards Showcase Anthology

The weather service has extended the freezing rain advisory, the haphazardly plowed roads are now covered in an accumulating sheet of ice, the MARTA ramp is still closed and bus service shut down, and the General Assembly is adjourned today. While I don’t mind snowy roads, I do mind icy ones, so I’m staying home and off the roadways.

Ice Day!

Going to use the time to work on novel revisions of Demon Queller. Also to try to catch up on my to-do list. Been completely focused these last couple weeks on finishing “Beneath the Silent Bell” before the deadline and before session began, but I’m now coming up for air. My email’s inbox is littered with starred “reply needed” notes that I’m just starting to wade through. If you’re waiting on a reply from me: 1. Sorry for the extended radio silence! and 2. It’s coming!

In other news, got the galleys of “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” for the 2011 Nebula Awards Showcase anthology from editor Kevin J. Anderson. And he also included a sneak peek of the cover. Check it out: Continue reading