I had 3 stories out in 2014:

My intricate court politics story, "The Year of Silent Birds," at BCS.
"Lines on a Pamphlet Found Near the Museum," at AE.
An arctic horror tale, "Wendigo Nights" in Fearful Symmetries.

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on drafts.

On my way back from Boskone where, yes, I had a lovely time. matociquala introduced me and Fran Wilde to "Drink," a bartender's bar in which they make pale fruity things called Bohemians, which I'll be hankering after for a long time. Other things I'll be hankering after for a while included the Boskone art show, which had some of the strongest pieces I've ( Read more... )

COLSON WHITEHEAD's RULES FOR WRITING

My favorite, because it's both good writing advice and terrible life advice:
Rule No. 6: What isn’t said is as important as what is said. In many classic short stories, the real action occurs in the silences. Try to keep all the good stuff off the page. Some “real world” practice might help. The next time your ( Read more... )

The Nebulas were in DC this year. I dutifully trooped over to view them with the intrepid oktober_ghost and the ever-chipper Fran Wilde. Beth and I even managed to catch a glimpse of that ever elusive species of CW alumni, William T. Vandermark. Barring one CW alum, I have now managed to collect the whole set!

I hadn't been to the Nebulas before, and it was an ( Read more... )

rcloenen_ruiz's post on Eastercon got me thinking about the lack of support for translated works in the N.A. publishing industry and in SF in particular.

I know that there are many hard-working translators out there who have a project on the back burner: an award-winning novel they really want to see get wider circulation, or a series of poems that they've ( Read more... )

I'm finally de-poisoned and de-crankified enough to write an update. Hurray!

First #1:

I finally caved and joined SFWA. Since then I've been reading a lot of excellent fiction, some of which has made the Nebula ballot. Congrats to all the nominees!

But before I start raving about some of the nominated fiction (a future post), I  wanted to mention some ( Read more... )

In my continued efforts to "get a damn internet presence," as some folks at WFC requested, I've started up a companion blog over at blogger.com. It's main function will be to keep track of story pubs, but I'll be crossposting some entries there.

I'm still trying to figure out the blogspot format. Does anyone have any tips?

I just learned that Tangent Online recommended two of my 2011 stories in the 2* category this year: "The Strange Case of Madeleine H. Marsh" (from the 4/11 issue of the late great Realms of Fantasy) and "In the Gardens of the Night" (BCS, 07/11).

It's always lovely to discover that people have read and enjoyed your stories. I have to say, too, that ( Read more... )

This is a much shorter list than those of many of my f-list. But still:

Fiction

"The Strange Case of Madeleine Marsh (Aged 14 1/4)" - Realms of Fantasy (RIP, Realms)

"Remains"  - AE - The Canadian Science Fiction Review

"In the Gardens of the Night" - Beneath Ceaseless Skies

"Birthing Monsters" (poem) - Basement Stories

Academic Essays & Books

" ( Read more... )

...was in San Diego this year. Palm trees, sunshine, a hot tub... True, I spent a lot of time indoors attending readings and events, but wow. What a great location for WFC!

True, the hotel was rather... strange... and had some odd policies (e.g. not issuing guests blankets and barring wheelchair access ramps). But the people more than made up for ( Read more... )