online publication

New Publications Through July

Posted by Beth on Aug 1, 2016 in anthology:poem, anthology:story, awards, Blog, novelocity, online publication | Comments Off on New Publications Through July

Oh hey, August is here. This month promises to be outright crazy with the release of my story collection (TOMORROW!) AND my new novel Breath of Earth out on the 23rd, the trip to WorldCon in Kansas City, and writing projects looming overhead like a Super Star Destroyer.

That means I need to catch up on website stuff now while I have a few spare minutes, ’cause I won’t have those soon.

An incredible honorable mention:
– Ellen Datlow included my poem “The City” from Mythic Delirium on her long list for best horror of the year!

Over at Novelocity:
– 5 Tips for Writers Writing Book Reviews
– 5 Tips to be a Prepared Panelist at an SFF Convention

Reprint story publication:
– “American Shadow” in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination
– forthcoming in August: “A Recipe for Rain and Rainbows” in Mysterion: Rediscovering the Mysteries of the Christian Faith

New poetry publications:
– “Post-Apocalypse as Described by a Wine Reviewer” in Zetetic
– “Footprints” and “Shopping Spree” in Star*line 39.3 (print only)

#SFWAPro

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New Stories and Poems for April

Posted by Beth on Apr 5, 2016 in anthology:poem, anthology:story, Blog, novelocity, online publication | 2 comments

New stories! New poems! New interviews! Shiny new galleys! Here’s the latest news.

Novelocity:
– My advance copies of Breath of Earth decided to play with my cat and climb trees

Stories:
– “The Souls of Horses” in Clockwork Phoenix 5 (out today!)
– The Human is Late to Feed the Cat” in Nature Magazine

Podcast:
– “Stitched Wings” republished in audio at The Overcast

Poem:
– “View From Above” in Space and Time, issue 125

Interviews regarding The Clockwork Dagger series:
– Beth Cato on WINGS OF SORROW AND BONE and Historical and Cultural Accuracy at SF Signal
– Catching up with Beth Cato, author of Wings of Sorrow and Bone, and the Clockwork Dagger series at My Bookish Ways
– Steampunk, Gremlins, and Maple Sugar Cake: My interview with Nebula nominated author Beth Cato by Ruth Vincent

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A reminder, too–my next Clockwork Dagger story is out in three weeks! It can be preordered now for just 99-cents.

Final Flight story

#SFWAPro

Catching up on June

Posted by Beth on Jul 13, 2015 in anthology:poem, anthology:story, Blog, holy taco church, online publication | Comments Off on 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

Story Behind the Story: “Roots, Shallow and Deep” and the Mussel Slough Tragedy

Posted by Beth on May 21, 2015 in anthology:story, Blog, nostalgia, online publication | Comments Off on Story 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 never forgot about the tragic shoot-out that took place almost exactly a hundred years before I was born. In recent years, I’ve collected numerous books on San Joaquin Valley history through that era, some specifically about the Mussel Slough Tragedy. It remains a contentious event with lots of he-said, she-said debate. Settlers claimed that the Southern Pacific was stealing their land from beneath them; the railroad claimed the settlers were squatters. The settlers who survived the incident were later hailed as heroes by the press, like valiant knights against “the octopus” of the mighty railroad conglomerate. I figure the truth is somewhere in the middle.

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.

#TwitterFiction LIVE

Posted by Beth on May 13, 2015 in Blog, online publication, public speaking | Comments Off on #TwitterFiction LIVE

It’s time! Come over to my Twitter account, @BethCato, for two hours of poetry and story-starters. Reply, favorite, retweet–and, hopefully, enjoy!

#TwitterFiction Tomorrow!

Posted by Beth on May 12, 2015 in Blog, online publication, public speaking | Comments Off on #TwitterFiction Tomorrow!

The #TwitterFiction Festival is ongoing through May 15th! My slot is tomorrow, Wednesday, from 11am-1pm Pacific Time (2pm-4pm Eastern). You can look up other time zones, too.

It’s very easy to follow along live. My Twitter account is public so you don’t need an account to read along. I’m doing two things: posting poems (with some repeated in graphic form), and also posting tweet-sized stories designed to act as story or creative prompts. Be inspired! Posts will go up every few minutes and the subjects are diverse.

The good news is that this is Twitter and if you can’t follow along live, that’s no big deal. The whole archive will be on @BethCato and will also be on TwitterFiction.com.

I hope some of you will follow along and retweet your favorites! I’m excited to see what will happen.