Publication 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 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.
Read MoreSo Many Links
I am behind on All the Things. See, last week I finished up the novella I worked on for five days in November. Then I gave myself the severe deadline of finishing the first revision pass before the end of the month. Oh boy. That was mean of me. It’s been a very intense rewrite of a very bloated, crappy rough draft. It still needs a lot more work but that first pass is done and now I can catch up on other things, like my blog.
HI, GUYS. Let’s get all caught up, shall we?
– I was interviewed on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast. You can watch the full video or download the audio alone. I talk about my experience with Harper Voyager, my writing background, Dragon Quest slimes, and the Holy Taco Church. As one does.
– Also on the subject of podcasts, at Skiffy and Fantasy Michael R. Underwood gave Clockwork Crown a shout-out as among his most anticipated reads of 2015. He’s at the 30 minute mark. The whole podcast is very interesting, the sort that’s dangerous for your book wish list.
– I’m REALLY EXCITED (CAPSLOCK!!!!) that I have an article on Tor.com: That Was Awesome: The Power of Voice in The Diabolical Miss Hyde. This is a new steampunk book out from Voyager in a few weeks. It’s really good, very intense, definitely on that borderline with horror.
– My recipe at the Holy Taco Church this month is a healthy one: Butternut Squash and Chickpea Tacos.
– Awesome Australian Pete Aldin interviewed me: On CLOCKWORK DAGGER, 5 Questions and 1 Statement.
I had a bunch of new poems come out this month as well!
– “When Death Rides Among Puppets” is in Eye to the Telescope
– “Time Traveler’s Diagnosis,” “Loophole,” “The Border Cowboy in Fairyland,” and “The Border Cowboy’s Smile” are in Star*line 38.1. Follow that link and you can read “Loophole,” which is very short.
I think that’s everything? Maybe? Anything else can wait for another post. A long to-do list awaits!
Read MoreNifty Things
It’s December. How weird is that? This has been the fastest year of my life. I had a great trip to California for Thanksgiving and now I’m home and gearing up for Christmas, even as I work toward a major writing project deadline. (I’m so used to setting my own deadlines. That’s been one of the weirdest things about making this transition to “pro”–new projects and contracts with due dates that are not far off.)
There’s also other news ‘n stuff!
My poem “Bird Girl,” published earlier this year at Niteblade, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Wow.
A new publication: a poem called “Sorry” in Mobius: The Journal of Social Change.
A recipe for Spicy Mexican Fudge over at the Holy Taco Church.
I’ve been invited to participate in the Tucson Festival of Books this coming March! I’ll be there on March 15th (yeah, Ides!) to take part in a panel called I Spy a Dead Guy: Spies and Detectives in Paranormal Worlds. That sounds like the kind of panel I’d love to attend as an audience member, so it will be really cool to take part as an author.
Read MoreThe Arizona Taco Festival
Being a writer means a lot of rejection and waiting, but it also carries certain perks. That said, I never expected free gourmet tacos and margaritas to be part of the deal, but by golly, I’ll take it.
I was ambassador to the Arizona Taco Festival last weekend. I have a full write-up of the amazing experience over at the Holy Taco Church.
Links of the Week
I’m still wandering about the internet, though not in the frantic style I was a few weeks ago (thank goodness!). I’ve actually been working on FICTION again. It feels good! These past few days, I tore apart a story I wrote back in August, one I mentally worked on for months because the subject matter intimidated me. That makes me feel even more accomplished now that it’s coming together.
I wrote another new story at the end of September, too. That one is being critiqued right now. I hope to start work on those edits soon. I love this later stage of revisions… once I figure out what I’m doing.
New poetry publications:
– “Grandfather and Granddaughter (Age 5),” Devilfish Review
– “Nisei” and “Seeds” (reprinted), Mythic Delirium Anthology; available in all formats
Socializing in happily geeky ways:
– SF Signal: Words We Learned From Genre Fiction
FOOOOOOOD:
– Over at the Holy Taco Church, I amp up the pumpkin spice goodness with Pumpkin Cheesecake Sopapillas, which use fast ingredients from the store.
Guest blogging about the book:
– “Romance in the Clockwork Dagger” at Reading Between the Wines
Really nice mentions of the book:
– Tor.com: Sleeps With Monsters: Books, Redux by Liz Bourke with a lovely mini review
