Publication: The Last Incantation at Kazka Press

September 2, 2012

 

Another flash fiction piece out September 1 from Kazka Press. This flash has what I think is the coolest magic system I came up with. What’s also cool is that folks at Kazka created an original illustration piece for the story which looks pretty awesome!

Read it here.

Remember “Nuclear Family” which I bemoaned for not getting enough attention when it was originally published? Not only has it gotten a lot more reads and some wonderful comments, but Kazka Press picked up it as a reprint for their upcoming holiday-themed anthology of SF/F. Yay for traction!

 

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Publication: Those Who Can’t Do at Every Day Fiction

August 31, 2012

 

My humorous take on the nature of art and creativity is published at Every Day Fiction today. You can read “Those Who Can’t Do” here.

In a related bit of news, my very first published story “Good Advice” has been selected for inclusion in “The Best of Every Day Fiction Year Four” anthology.

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A Little Story That Should

August 29, 2012

 

A few months ago, Kasma SF published my flash fiction story “Nuclear Family.” At 500 words it is one of the shortest stories I’ve written, but I am very proud of how much punch it packs for its length. Several of my fellow writers whose talent I admire had incredibly nice things to say about “Nuclear Family” when it was first published and I was thrilled to share it with the world.

Recently Kasma posted their web traffic numbers and I found out that it was one of the least-read stories on their site.

It’s not that the readers didn’t like it. They didn’t click on it. This story was likely read by less people than some obscure 1000-page congress bill. I was upset. Still am. The greatest reward in writing fiction is to have people read and experience it.  So I figured the best thing I can do about it is to give the story a little boost. Next time you’re in a mood for a very short (and absolutely not humorous) flash story, would you please check Nuclear Family out? And, if you like it, perhaps point it out to some other readers? You will not only be mending my fragile ego, but also discovering Kasma, which has been publishing consistently excellent stories.

Click here to read “Nuclear Family”.

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I’m Still a Writer

August 10, 2012

 

It has been a busy couple of months. In addition to my already hectic schedule balancing work and family obligations I foolishly decided to go and create an anthology. If you read my blog, you’ll notice that that all the recent posts have been about that. Which is no surprise because I spend, on average, 6 hours a day working on UFO.

However,  I’m still a writer first and an editor/publisher second (even if it doesn’t feel that way right now.) I’ve been producing some new stories — not nearly as many as I would have with more free time, but my output hadn’t dropped off completely. I’ve also been making sales. Sales that, in the past, I would have rushed to breathlessly announce on the blog. But lately I’ve been so slammed that I couldn’t even take the time out for a proper victory lap. So let me catch up by turning this post into a marathon of braggage.

The following stories have been accepted for publication in the last month:
The Tell-Tale Ear – Nature Magazine’s Futures Feature

This is a humorous take on Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous tale, adjusted for the twenty first century. The story is told entirely through e-mails. It will be my second story to appear on the pages of Nature this year.

Spidersong – The Drabblecast

This story originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction and can be read here. The Drabblecast will produce a podcast of it.

Hell is Other People – Fantastic Frontiers, issue 2

This is a tongue-in-cheek story about “Mood Ring” houses that shapeshift according to the inhabitants’ mood. Nothing could possibly go wrong, eh?

The Last Incantation – Kazka Press

This story features a really cool system of magic which, more than one beta reader suggested, should probably be used in a longer story or even a novel at some point. But this story works really well for me at flash length, and you’ll be able to decide for yourself as it will be published on September 1, as part of Kazka’s “The Last Hurrah” prompt.

 

I should also mention that three of these four tales were originally written for the Shock Totem flash fiction bi-monthly contest. I love participating in this contest alongside the likes of Ken Liu, Damien Grintalis and many other excellent writers.  I never do particularly well in the contest (they like horror over there, and I don’t tend to write dark) but I don’t care — I’m happy to let the contest help me come up with many of my better flash stories.

So there. Victory lap accomplished. And now back to working on the anthology.

 

 

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Two Books, Two Sales

July 10, 2012

It’s been a busy week for me, to be sure. In addition to all the anthology work, I managed to sell two stories and also had two anthologies (available in real, physical dead-tree format!) come out that include my stories.

 

 

First up is In Situ, a collection of short stories featuring alien archaeology.  My humor story “The Field Trip” closes out the book. Here’s a little preview:

The planet in question had been populated by tool using bipedal mammals who learned to split the atom a little too soon for their own good and went boom. The scenario was so common in this part of the galaxy that there are entire digital storage units full of examples, and they are all filed under “Boring.”

You can read more about this story in my interview on Dagan Books web site over here.

To purchase the book click here.

The second anthology out this week is The Memory Eater. All stories collected in this book are inspired by the technology that allows its user to selectively erase memories. The first story I wrote for this book titled “The Take” didn’t make the cut there, but was published at Daily Science Fiction. My second story was “Seven Conversations in Locked Rooms” and I’m rather pleased with it. Click here to buy a copy.

 

 

I should add that both of these fine books were published by small businesses and every dollar really counts. So if you like my stories, and those of the other contributors, and can afford it, consider supporting them by purchasing these books.

On to new business:

My humor flash story “Those Who Can’t Do” was accepted at Every Day Fiction. This will be my fourth appearance at EDF, the first magazine to ever publish one of my stories. “Those Who Can’t Do”  should be released sometime in August or September.

And yet another humor flash story, “How To Locate and Capture Time Travelers: a Memo” was picked up by Third Flatiron publishing and will be released on December 1 in their “Origins” themed issue.

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Publication: “Price Of Allegiance” in Penumbra

July 1, 2012

 

My space opera story “Price of Allegiance” is out today in the Politics-themed issue of Penumbra e-zine.

When it comes to influence and power among the membership of the Galactic Union, Earth is near the bottom of the totem pole. So when an opportunity comes along to finally  earn some clout and possibly gain access to advance alien technologies, Earth leaders jump at the chance. But things aren’t as they seem, and soon the humans are entangled in a dangerous power play that can determine not only the future of Earth itself, but of all the worlds within the Union.

Click here to purchase the issue.

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New Sales: Interstellar Fiction and Bards & Sages

June 28, 2012

 

I’m not writing all that much at the moment, because editing an anthology is even more crazy and more time consuming than I expected — and I don’t think I was fooling myself about the amount of work it was going to take in the first place. My previously written stories are making the rounds at various markets though, and this has been a very good week, with two semi-pro sales to report.

On Sunday I heard back from Bards & Sages Quarterly — they will be publishing my tiny slipstream humor SF story “Manna From Heaven” in the October issue. B&S appears to appreciate my flash stories that make fun of or subvert Biblical plots. Last year they published “Superior Firepower,” a story about the final battle between good and evil as predicted in Revelations taking place in our day and age. “Manna From Heaven” is inspired by Exodus. Perhaps I should write a flash humor story based on every other book of the Bible and see if I can get them published. Adam and Eve chomping on Snow White’s poisoned apple? Robo-Christ? The sky’s the limit.

My other sale is a much longer story titled “A Better Tomorrow,” which was picked up by Interstellar Fiction, a new e-zine, for their inaugural issue. IF is new to the business, but they’ve been super friendly and responsive, a great experience so far, and I can’t wait to see what else they come up with for the issue 1 lineup.

“A Better Tomorrow” was one of the first stories I wrote in 2010. However, I wasn’t satisfied with how it came out, so I shelved it and kept coming back to the story every six to nine months as my skill as a writer improved. It wasn’t until late last year that I felt comfortable enough with the story to begin shopping it around. It had a few very close calls before it found a worthy home.

“A Better Tomorrow” is a pulp thriller set on an Earth-to-Mars spaceship that is damaged en route, dooming the crew. How will they react in a hopeless situation? The story feels a lot like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode, down to a opening with an action sequence cut from the middle of the plot. Very curious to see what readers make of this story.

 

 

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The Take read on the radio live and podcast

June 23, 2012

 

My flash story “The Take,” originally published at Daily Science Fiction in March 2012, is going to be read on the radio at 4pm today as part of Paul Cole’s “Beam Me Up” program. You can listen to the live stream at wrfr.com and it will be available as a podcast later on at beammeuppodcast.com

 

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VP and Guest Blog Post

June 20, 2012

I’ve been concentrating on the anthology, but there are lots of other great writing-related news to report as well.

 

 

Early this week I learned that my application was accepted and I’ll be attending Viable Paradise 16 – a very prestigious speculative fiction workshop that takes place on Martha’s Vineyard each October. I applied and didn’t make it in last year, but was encouraged to try again. I did, and it worked out. VP is an opportunity to learn from some of the top writers and editors in the industry. This year’s instructors include TOR editors Patrick and Theresa Nielsen Hayden, Elizabeth Bear, Steven Brust and James McDonald among others. I’m thrilled to be attending and hope it will help advance my writing to the next level.

Speaking of workshops, much of that is about having other writers read and comment on your manuscript, which segues me nicely to the next bit of news.

 

 

 

A guest blog post I wrote for Penumbra Magazine was published today. It’s called Get The Most Out of Beta Reader Feedback. As you may have guessed from the title, it’s about cabbage farming. Seriously though, if critiquing interests you, you should also go read Jake Kerr’s excellent Eleven Rules On How To Get Great Critiques.

The cover above is from Penumbra’s Politics themed issue, which includes my story “Price of Allegiance” and is coming out in early July.

Finally, I’d like to bring your attention to an excellent blog post by Jeff Chapman who selected my flash story The Traveling Fair (published by Every Day Fiction) as his story of the week and dissected it with some thoughtful comments and interesting things to say. Thank you, Jeff!

 

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An Anthology of One Sentence Stories

June 4, 2012

After the success of a #1ss challenge on Twitter, Matt Bennardo announced that he’s going to publish an anthology of one sentence stories. And since he mentions it already on his blog, I can say here that my entry “One Thousand And First” will be included.

The wheels of publishing turn slowly, so it will be months yet until this anthology is released. Until then, you can read some of the other stories by following the links at the bottom of mine.

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