Tag: publications

No reading today

April 1, 2012 /

I have no recommendations today. I’ve spent the last few days in a whirlwind of birthday stuff (not mine) and trying to get life in order, and I haven’t been doing any reading online. Offline, I haven’t been good for much beyond crossword puzzles.

I saw the proofs for “Sea Glass” at Abyss and Apex, and they’ve made it gorgeous. Really. Sending out stories is such a long process, and rejection so much a part of it, and by the time someone buys a story, you feel grateful for the mere fact it sold. To then have the pleasure not only of seeing it in print, but seeing treated so carefully feels very good.

I’ll put up a link when I know it’s out. As I mentioned last week, free online fiction deserves financial support. If you read and enjoy stories at Abyss and Apex, please consider stopping by the donation page and subscribing.

In other news, I think I’m just about done with my promotional materials for “Phoenix.” That also feels very good. Though I’m off schedule with Wren, I’m still close to finishing, which will be celebration-worthy. And for the next few days, I’ll be considering how best to rework the ending of a story I love for a publication I love. Here’s hoping I’m able to rise to the challenge.

Happy April!

Phoenix

February 9, 2012 /

Hope is a challenging concept when you’ve suffered from depression for well over half your life. I suspect there are some writers out there who cope by writing happy things. I write dark things with endings that feel optimistic to me.

“Phoenix” was born from a single line: The thing about stories is they’ve got to have hope. As a story, I’d say it’s less like my short stories and more like my novels (and comes in at novelette length). There’s a good reason for that. The details I used in writing it came from an older story about one of the characters in the novels.

That connection is one of the reasons that I’m excited to say that “Phoenix” has a home! It will be available as an ebook through Musa Publishing on May 11. I’ll have more to say about it when the date comes closer. For now, here’s to hope found in unlikely places!

Ash and Dust

December 5, 2011 /

“Ash and Dust” is almost here.

Strange Horizons accepted this story on May 17, 2011. (If you are not reading Strange Horizons on a regular basis, you should be. Not because they bought my story — because they are great.) My jitters around seeing it published commenced within minutes of said acceptance. Luckily, six months lead time is enough for jitters to come and go, for other stories to happen, for life to suck one along in its current.

Now it is almost time. Story trivia?

–I managed to completely flub a reference to alcohol in the original version.

–It is the second of my post-apocalytic trio, affectionately dubbed Snowpocalypse, Droughtpocalypse, and Rainpocalypse (still in draft form). I plan on someday collecting them all in one catastrophic volume.

–It grew out of a much older, unwritten story, featuring an apocalypse of a very different sort.

I think that is all there is to be said about it for now. You can find it at Strange Horizons on December 12 and 19.