Reprints FTW
First of all, book news!
The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog had awfully nice things to say about The Clockwork Dagger and The Clockwork Crown: “Indeed, one of the things I find so winning about Octavia is her incredible compassion. When her enemies are hurt, she tends to them, as well as to her friends and strangers. She’s not a sap; she knows, the way doctors do, that triage is often necessary. The Clockwork Crown… provided a very satisfying conclusion to an excellent duology.”
I also have a Goodreads giveaway for The Clockwork Crown that ends Monday night! That’s TONIGHT! So enter and spread the word. Scroll down to find the widget.
Now, to the subject from the headline. I haven’t had much time to write new stories this year, but I have made an extra effort to seek out reprint markets. This has turned out surprisingly well. It amazes me that stories that were rejected five, ten times on initial submission are now selling multiple times as reprints–and for a heck of a lot more money, too.
Last week I shared the news about “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” in For Want of a Horse.” That same story will also be appearing next year in 2016 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. That’s right, a middle-grade adventure anthology! How cool is that?! Plus, it’s very girl-positive, and that makes me REALLY happy. There will be a Kickstarter to expand the anthology; I’ll post more about this soon!
I also sold a reprint of my science fiction story “Overlap” to Science Fiction Short Stories from Flame Tree Press. They are publishing this as a deluxe hardcover–the book itself looks gorgeous! Plus, I’m tickled to share the anthology with several friends as well as classic authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and Jack London. This book will actually be out in the next few months–in time for Christmas!
Now here’s the giveaway link for The Clockwork Crown, as promised!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Clockwork Crown
by Beth Cato
Giveaway ends August 03, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Later this fall…
Later this year, a reprint of my story “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” will appear in an anthology from Lethe Press called For Want of a Horse.
There will recent stories like mine, as well as reprintings of fairy tales and classics by authors like Ambrose Bierce, L. Frank Baum, and Washington Irving. I’m rather tickled by the table of contents. Me and the writer of The Wizard of Oz, hangin’ out.
Look for more info on the book’s release this fall!
Read MoreFae Friday
Last year my story “The Cartography of Shattered Trees” was included in a wonderful anthology called FAE. Well, the ebook is now on sale for just 99-cents!
Meet Robin Goodfellow as you’ve never seen him before, watch damsels in distress rescue themselves, get swept away with the selkies and enjoy tales of hobs, green men, pixies and phookas. One thing is for certain, these are not your grandmother’s fairy tales.
Fairies have been both mischievous and malignant creatures throughout history. They’ve dwelt in forests, collected teeth or crafted shoes. Fae is full of stories that honor that rich history while exploring new and interesting takes on the fair folk from castles to computer technologies to modern midwifing, the Old World to Indianapolis.
Fae bridges traditional and modern styles, from the familiar feeling of a good old-fashioned fairy tale to urban fantasy and horror with a fae twist. This anthology covers a vast swath of the fairy story spectrum, making the old new and exploring lush settings with beautiful prose and complex characters.
99-cents at all the places!
For Canadians: Amazon.ca
Catching 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 MoreB is for Broken
You might remember that last year I was part of the A is for Apocalypse anthology. The Alphabet series continues with B is for Broken, out this week!
Broken people, broken promises, broken dreams and broken objects are just some of the ways these 26 fantastic stories interpret the theme of ‘Broken’. From science fiction to fantasy, horror to superheroes the stories within these pages cover a vast swath of the genres under the speculative fiction umbrella.
Featuring original fiction by:
~ Brittany Warman ~ Milo James Fowler ~ C.S. MacCath ~ Sara Cleto ~ Samantha Kymmell-Harvey ~ Megan Arkenberg ~ Gary B. Phillips ~ Alexandra Seidel ~ Jonathan C. Parrish ~ Simon Kewin ~ Beth Cato ~ Cory Cone ~ Cindy James ~ Alexis A. Hunter ~ Michael M. Jones ~ Steve Bornstein ~ BD Wilson ~ Michael Kellar ~ Damien Angelica Walters ~ Marge Simon ~ Michael Fosburg ~ Suzanne van Rooyen ~ L.S. Johnson ~ Pete Aldin ~ Gabrielle Harbowy ~ Lilah Wild ~ KV Taylor ~
Excerpt from K is for…
by Beth Cato
The man on the rock looks up at us. His face so sad, emotion sharp, like a slap to the face. Tommy grunted like it hit him, too.
“Tommy Smith. George Blackworth.” He says my name and I feel it in my bones, like my mother, God rest her, yelling out the back door.
“Who’re you?” I ask.
“Who am I?” He stares at his hands. “A king without a queen, proof that the undying are not immortal.”
You can buy the book in most electronic formats and in paper:
Kobo
Smashwords
Amazon (paperback and kindle)
Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf on Goodreads.
Read MoreStory Behind the Story: “Roots, Shallow and Deep” and the Mussel Slough Tragedy
My newest story is a special one for me: a magical twist on a real historical event that took place near my hometown. It’s called “Roots, Shallow and Deep” and it can be read at Urban Fantasy Magazine.
I was in 3rd grade when another 3rd grade class visited to perform their own dramatization of the Mussel Slough Tragedy. It was described as a local incident straight out of the Old West: settlers facing off against the greedy railroad. The kids pretended to shoot each other and writhed in death throes on the portable’s carpet.
I rushed home that day, indignant.
“MOM. HOW COME YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ABOUT THE MUSSEL SLOUGH TRAGEDY?” I was seven or eight then, already keenly interested in history, and I felt like she had withheld some grand treasure from me.
Mom stammered out an explanation, and the end result was a detour that next Sunday to visit the site of the tragedy on our way to church. It made me even more livid when I discovered it was literally a few miles north of the house were I grew up, a straight shot on 14th Avenue.
Mussel Slough Marker near Grangeville, California
I made a quick visit home last weekend. Some things don’t change; on our way to church, I begged my mom to make a detour out to the Mussel Slough site so I could take pictures for my blog. The ancient house behind the marker was in the process of being torn down. Almond trees stood in sentinel rows behind the hard-to-read state historical marker. So much of the original fight versus the railroad was because of the settlers’ efforts to irrigate the land, and to be compensated for their efforts. Now, with the drought, there was no water flowing through those ditches.
Home still looks beautiful and green to me, in contrast to Arizona, but it grieves me to see how the land and the people suffer. I look at my story and how people fought to bring water to the valley, and I shake my head. Things never really change.
Read More
