Sensitive Ice: The story's backstory
Big Pulp has reprinted my story, Sensitive Ice, in its Fall 2011 paperback issue. This is its third outing, making it one of my most successful by that count. It's also one of my first published pieces of fiction. This is its backstory.
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Back in 2006, before Clarion, I joined an awesome writing group, Second Draft. (I'm still a member, and it's still awesome, though its composition has changed some over the years. This group is responsible for many good things in my writing life, including encouraging me to go to Clarion.)
Someone proposed a Story-seeds game: We'd each provide story-starters to another member of the group, and we'd critique the resulting story. The one I got (I think from cassiealexander ) was: A woman has ice instead of eyes.
What could I do with that, I wondered. It didn't sound promising. The only way to find out was to start writing -- and this story emerged. It morphed a few times, was critiqued by the group, and I sent it out.
It was one of my first sales after Clarion 2007; in February 2008, Big Pulp accepted it for publication online in Fall 2008. A few people read it, told me they liked it.
And then, in January 2011, Expanded Horizons reprinted it. The only change I made was to the protagonist's name. I wanted her to be a Luo, rather than leaving her tribal affiliation indeterminate. She's Anyango now.
Soon afterward, Big Pulp asked if they could use it for their paper Fall 2011 edition. Of course I was delighted. Here's what the magazine looks like... (the woman in red is not from my story, though). It's available on their website.