I’m Horrific!
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to find that my name was listed on Ellen Datlow’s full recommended list from Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven. She singled out my poem “Bird Girl” from Niteblade Magazine issue 27.
I find this especially meaningful because Niteblade’s most recent issue was their last. It’s wonderful to see the magazine garnering recognition like this.
Read MoreCatching up on June
I’m an introvert. I like my cozy cave and routine. June was filled with book release and family and travel, and I feel like I’m still picking out things from rubble. Therefore, here are publications I had going back to June (other than Clockwork Crown) and other stuff.
At the Holy Taco Church:
– my recipe for this month is Porter Beer Chicken Thighs in the Slow Cooker!
From Phoenix Comicon:
– I posed for a picture for the great group Kids Need to Read. (Of all the shirts I had to wear that day…)
In the media:
– Michele Brittany wrote up a great article on my San Diego Comic-Con “Romantic Adventure” panel for Bleeding Cool.
At SF Signal:
– I took part in a Mind Meld on great detectives stories in speculative fiction! If you love mysteries mixed with scifi and magic, check this out and add to your to-read pile.
New story:
– “Headspace” in the Cats in Space anthology; on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This story is pure fun: about a kitten named Trouble who ends up on a very interesting ride through deep space.
New poetry:
– “What Happened Among the Stars” in the latest Niteblade; my poem is also featured as the cover illustration!
– “Leaf Dragon” in New Myths
Read MoreLinks and Things
It’s end of the month catch-up-time here. I spent the weekend revising a big batch of poems I wrote during November Poem-A-Day–yes, I’m that behind on things. The next order of business will involve sending out poems (poetry editors: brace yourselves). I have a month until Phoenix Comicon (my panel schedule is online!) followed by the release of Clockwork Crown, so life will soon escalate in craziness.
And hey, there’s a lot of other cool stuff to share, too.
– Have you ever wondered what a literary publicist actually does? One of my fellow Harper Voyager authors interviewed our publicist!
– Author Teresa Frohock invited me to her blog, where I discuss medicine and magic in “The Deepest Poison” and The Clockwork Dagger series. If you want to read about World War I medicine, I list the books I used as sources!
– Editor Rhonda Parrish revealed the cover for B is for Broken. I have a flash story in here for the letter K. There’s also a Goodreads giveaway to win a copy of the book.
I have two new, very different interviews up:
– AFE Smith asks me about the books and goodies I’d bring to a desert island.
– Rhonda Parrish questions me about my story in the FAE anthology over at World Weaver Press.
Tomorrow is the release day for “The Deepest Poison!” Whee!
Read MorePublication Flood
I’ve commented before that publishing events seem to happen in odd little bursts. I’ll hear nothing for months, then have a torrent of acceptances/rejections. The same goes for publications. Up until last week, I had zero stories published in 2014. Then in about a week, I had three out, two of them pro. Plus two poems.
Need to procrastinate and read? Well, here you go:
– My story “Bread of Life” is up at Nature. This is my third story in Nature, and the tale is… appropriately me. There’s also a blog post with the story behind the story.
– Daily Science Fiction published “From the Ashes,” one of those rare, uplifting post-apocalyptic stories.
– At Fantasy Scroll Magazine you can read my longer story, “My Brother’s Keeper.” It features southern-fried magic, family love, and pie.
As for poetry:
– Devilfish Review published “The Migration of Winged Jukeboxes.” More poetry should mention Steve Perry, I think.
– Kaleidotrope has a more whimsical poem, “Squished Things.”
I’ve also popped up elsewhere online:
– I took part in an SF Signal Mind Meld on The City and Epic Road Trips.
– I had a new recipe at the Holy Taco Church: Bacon Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies.
– I also asked one of my favorite authors, C.E. Murphy, about how she plotted series. She answered, and it’s interesting stuff.
Read MorePoetry and Locus
My poems “After” and “The Selkie Visits the Beach (Six Months After Losing Her Pelt)” were just published in Grievous Angel.
On the subject of poetry, my “Mama Gonna Fight” poem in March’s Apex Magazine was well-reviewed at Quick Sip Reviews..
Now to something else that’s nifty.
I mentioned a while back that Locus Magazine had The Clockwork Dagger on their short list of best 1st novels for 2014. Well, it’s now time for people to vote for the annual Locus Awards, and as a recommended read, my book is already included on the ballot.
One thing that sets these awards apart from the other major genre awards is that ANYONE can vote. All you need to do is fill in your name, email, and vote in whatever category you want. The ballot is huge. You don’t have to fill in everything.
Take a look and vote! The deadline is April 15th.
Read MoreSo Much Awesome
GUYS. The Clockwork Crown has its first trade review in Publishers Weekly! And its awesome!
“…Cato continues to defy expectations, moving the saga toward an unexpected, heartfelt conclusion, and the revelations about Octavia’s abilities are amply rewarding.”
In other news, I’m contributing to the annual Suvudu Cage Match. This year’s theme is Women Warriors. The full bracket is shown here. Last week I wrote about Johanna Mason (Hunger Games) and Tris (Divergent), and Johanna won in my story and in the votes. The current match is Johanna versus Felurian (Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles). I anticipate a lot more people to disagree with me this time around. Who do you think would win? Go check out the poll!
The Cage Match has been picked up by the media, too, and an article in Bustle dubbed me as a “big name in the biz” (to which I go o_0) and excerpted my story. Like whoa.
In totally different news, my poem “Mama Gonna Fight” was just published in Apex Magazine. This is one of my favorite poems for all of last year (I wrote it during April Poem-A-Day), so I’m really excited that it’s in such an esteemed magazine.
There’s also my Holy Taco Church recipe for the month: Verde Pork in the Slow Cooker. This is a super-easy way to make a whole pile of meat to use in tacos, burritos, salads, casseroles, or just straight-up.
Three months exactly until The Clockwork Crown comes out and already the pace is frantic. Deadlines galore! Reviews! Promo posts! 2015. This year is crazy.
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