Links 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 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 MoreAwards Consideration for 2014
It’s award season for genre fiction writers, that time when last year’s works are being considered for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. I had a few things published in 2014 that I’d like folks to keep in mind.
Foremost of all, there’s this book called The Clockwork Dagger.
In the short story category:
- “A Mother’s Touch,” Perihelion Science Fiction
- “Hatchlings,” Daily Science Fiction
- “Post-Apocalyptic Conversations with a Sidewalk,” Nature Magazine
- “The Cartography of Shattered Trees,” FAE; on Amazon and Barnes & Noble (If you want to read my story for consideration, drop me an email/tweet/message and I’ll happily send it along.)
- “Measures and Countermeasures,” Daily Science Fiction
As for works that I plan to vote for, I list those over on Novelocity. It’s a great post where my fellow authors Fran Wilde, Michael R. Underwood, Tina Connolly, and Ken Liu also chime in with their favorites.
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 MoreEarthquake Day
I will always think of October 17th as earthquake day.
1989. I was nine, at home in Hanford. I was watching the 5 o’clock news on KSEE 24 out of Fresno with my mom and brother. We felt the earth move. We all looked at the hanging lamps; their sway confirmed that an earthquake had indeed occurred. When the news resumed after commercials, Bob Long and the other broadcaster mentioned they had felt something, too. The breaking news quickly shifted to San Francisco.
Today the news is all on Ebola and war and lots of other scary things. A new year, a new fear.
Moving on to more pleasant things…
J. Kathleen Cheney did a great interview with Jeremy Brett on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Archive at Texas A&M. This is of particular interest to me because I now have two earlier editorial drafts of The Clockwork Dagger at the Texas A&M archive. You can actually go into the Cushing Library and view my materials. As a library geek, this pleases me to no end.
My story “Hatchlings” can be read at Daily Science Fiction. It’s about the cruelty of children and the benefits of pet monsters. This one was inspired by Pokemon.
I also have two old favorites newly published as podcasts:
“Red Dust and Dancing Horses” at Escape Pod
“Reading Time” at Cast of Wonders, a podcast for teens
Also, I have a guest blog and excerpt from The Clockwork Dagger up at Coffee Time Romance.
Read More
