The State of Things

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted something that doesn’t have a video or a list of links attached to it. It’s been a busy summer, like I’ve said. Care for an update?

Over the last few months, I wrote and submitted two new short stories to a couple of themed anthologies. Still waiting to hear. There’s also been a lot of reading. I’ll be done with the next WOGF Challenge book soon and will have a review. I went old school this time; so far, it’s another good one.

The Travelers continues to limp toward its conclusion. I’ve mainly been typing up (dictating, really–my wrists have been sore lately) pages I’d already hand-written. That’s been interesting: 1) I wrote some of these scenes months ago (maybe longer), so I’m revisiting them with various levels of “cringe” and “oh, that’s not too bad”; and 2) Windows speech recognition doesn’t always hear quite what I said–latest fave mistake: “put a sock fuzz” for “bodhisattvas.”

Alpha Reader and I had a really good brainstorming session last month figuring out where The Travelers should end up. Lots of good questions and conversation. Let’s see if that translates into a good story!

In the realm of already-published business, Winter Well received a starred review from Publishers Weekly! There were good things said about my story “To The Edges,” which made my day, and continues to, even though the review came out last week.

I also ran into the dark side of attempting to get published yesterday, when I discovered that the latest issue of a magazine I’d submitted another story to was just terrible. (TW for rape; it’s on the right) It felt like a backlash against the really cool hashtag #DiversityinSFF that was happening on Twitter last week. Obviously, this place is not the home for my badass space detective. I immediately submitted somewhere else that feels a lot more welcoming to anyone who, you know, doesn’t find assault titillating. Here’s hoping they think my story’s a good fit, too.

In the what’s-happening-next category, I’m going to be posting an interview with Justin Robinson, author of the soon-to-be-published City of Devils. That’s going to happen on the day his book’s coming out, Sept. 24. I hope you’ll tune in for that. Should be fun. There might even be a giveaway!

That’s it for now, I think. How’ve you all been?

I love this photo: the composition, the colors, someone reading! Man sits on bench reading (Photo credit: Ian Livesey)

Link Treats

Well, this has been the longest break I’ve taken from the blog in a while now. Life has been busy. Last weekend involved a drive down to the Eastern Shore of MD to see family. Much fun was had and many crabs were eaten. We returned with many pics of family gravestones and pounds of scrapple. (You can’t get scrapple up here in New England. Yes, that’s a bad thing.)

These links have been sitting around for a while, so there’s a good chance you’ve already read them. You know, if you hang out in the same neighborhoods I do. Hopefully, they’re not too redundant. I like them, anyway.

Hey, Everyone — Stop Taking This Picture! (No, I Mean It.)
This is the oldest one–from last year. Fit, Feminist, and (almost) Fifty hipped me to it.

Beta Readers
Minerva Zimmerman shares her thoughts about a writer’s dearest asset, her beta readers.

These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things, On Tiers
I used to be one of those folks who creates best-of lists. I was very Rob Gordon about it, but then I met Alpha Reader who refuses to makes lists like that. At first, I found that kind of quaint; over time I saw his point. It was interesting to see Scalzi’s take on the concept.

Your Ultimate Feminist Mixtape
A good collection of tunes from Vagenda’s Emily B. Fun suggestions in the comments, as well. What would you add?

#510: Falling out of love with your creative work and losing momentum
I so needed to read this today. As I said on Twitter yesterday, I’m trapped in the third act of The Travelers and can’t get out. Well, the only way out is through, isn’t it? Finish the fucking novel, M.

Weekly Linkroll

Happy October, everyone! We’re even further into autumn up here in the northern tier of the US (not counting Alaska, of course–it’s winter up there already). The yard is full of red and yellow leaves from the sugar maples out front and the staghorn sumacs in back. And it’s a brisk 39 degrees this morning. Time for hot coffee and a list of the favorite places I visited online in the last 7 days.