So it turns out that “A Green Silk Dress and a Wedding Death” made Ellen Datlow’s honourable mentions list, which is pretty cool.

It never occurred to me to check for my name, so I found out via a tweet from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (who published the story originally). Yay for me and for editor Charlie Finlay!

In skating stuff, ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

Tomorrow I am off to Glasgow for the weekend to take part in and enjoy Satellite 6, Glasgow’s Science Fiction con. There are a host of things happening, but here are the ones where I’ll definitely be present.

Friday 18:30 - 19:30 in Siduri (Main Programme): I’ll be rubbing ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

It’s already a new month, I’m not sure how that happened, but I did manage to finish (and sub) a story for April. I have a very vague idea of something I want to write for May (something…slightly sciffy, for a change) so in terms of prompts, I want you to go to wikipedia and find ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

I hope you all got something creative splattered onto the page or screen last month. If you didn’t, don’t worry, it’s time for a new month and a new prompt.

I found an artist whose clean, gentle style and whimsy (and cats!) I have fallen in love with, and so I’m going to be using ( Read more... )

I've discovered a rather enjoyable series of 14 minute myth clips related to the afterlife (Look! All my buttons pinged!) that I'm listening to. Great story fodder and I love how myths and religions have all these interlinking stories and ideas.

BBC STORIES FROM THE AFTERLIFE

In less cool news, Younger Spawn has been sick and in pain for ages, and ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.


( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

It’s been a long while since I last wrote any short stories, and I was pretty sure I would never write any again. I felt defeated, deflated, scraped out. All my imagination was rust flakes and bird droppings.

But I’m feeling better, and I’ve decided to set myself a little challenge ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

Success is an amorphous tentacled monster, defined by contrasts and comparisons. By our own desires. And success - or the appearance of it - is even more nebulous in the age of Social Media.

I’m going to talk about writing because that’s all I know, but I’m pretty sure the ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

One of the things I’m looking at in the current revision of KotHD is the little details of interaction and action when characters are speaking.

When I first draft (and this goes for many writers), I’m in a zone to get the rough sketch of the scene in place, and one easy way for me ( Read more... )

Originally published at CAT HELLISEN. You can comment here or there.

It’s our joint book birthday today, and to celebrate we’re talking about our inspirations and writing choices. The conversation began over on Nerine Dorman’s blog, where we discussed liminal characters, facing adversity, magic and monsters. Now we’re looking at a bit of world- ( Read more... )