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Radio Silence

Map of Europe with push-pins in preparation for travel planning. Accompanies blog post by speculative fiction writer Cat Rambo.
There's something enchanting about maps, about all the possibilities they represent. Certainly they're not the territory, but they promise so much about it. I'm looking forward to sharing the exploration with my favorite person in the world.
I’ve been very absent from the blog of late, and I apologize for that. I’m actually in the process of radically trimming down our belongings, packing up Chez Rambo, moving us into temporary housing, and then getting this place ready to sell. Then Wayne and I are going to travel a bit while we figure out what we want to do. There will be plenty on that to come, but it’s why I won’t be teaching in the latter half of 2014 and will generally be unreceptive to anything other than requests for stories or reprints during that period as well. I do plan to write steadily while on the road, which should be a new and interesting experience. Advice from other road-warriors is welcome.

For people wondering how that’ll affect my tenure as SFWA’s vice president, which seems increasingly likely barring the eruption of a singularly well-organized write-in campaign: not too much. That’s one reason I’ve cut a lot of other responsibilities. As before, I’ll be stepping down as head moderator of the SFWA boards, which takes a good slice of stuff off my plate. I did commit to driving the third iteration of a SFWA cookbook (more on that to come as well), but I’ve got the capable Fran Wilde co-leading that effort as well as a nice long deadline, so all’s good there.

Various publishing news: Just turned in the last edits for “Rappacini’s Crow”, which will appear in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. There’s another story going through edits there right now, “Call and Answer, Plant and Harvest,” which features a city, Serendib, that I sense will become a working part of my mental universe as far as story production goes. “English Muffin, Devotion on the Side” will be popping up in Daily Science Fiction. “The Raiders” (formerly “In Andersonville”) will pillage in the pages of Fiction River’s Past Crimes issue, edited by Kristine Kathyrn Rusch and “Marvelous Contrivances of the Heart” will unfold in Fiction River’s Recycled Pulp issue, edited by John Helfers. “Elections at Villa Encantada” will appear in Unidentified Funny Objects 3.

Christy Varonfakis Johnson, aka Folly Blaine, will be narrating both of my collections and is currently working on Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight. PseudoPod will include “The Worm Within” in an upcoming podcast.

I will pick up the “You Should Read This” posts again soon! I’m finishing up a review of two new Jo Walton books for Cascadia Subduction Zone right now, but once that’s done, I’ve got a number of old as well as recent reads I want to talk about.

So…plenty to do. And plenty more to come.

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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."

~K. Richardson

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2013 Wrap-Up

Photo of Cat Rambo.
Here I am with a peacock's worth of color in my hair.
Well, it’s been a very good year.

I had 20 original stories come out. Here’s the list, if you want to look for some of them.


My short story, “Five Ways to Fall In Love on Planet Porcelain,” appeared on the Nebula Ballot. Another first happened on that trip: got to see my charming spouse in a tux for the Nebula Banquet. The story has been reprinted into several different languages as well as in the Nebula Awards volume for 2013 edited by Kij Johnson.

I won an Ictineu Prize for the best fantasy short story translated into Catalan in 2012. The story was “Kallakak’s Cousins,” which originally appeared in Asimov’s, and was reprinted in my collection, Near + Far.

I wrote a nonfiction book, Creating an Online Presence, based on my online class of the same name. Classes overall have gone well, and I’ve even added a few more, including an advanced workshop that has been tremendous fun to teach.

I got a shiny new agent, the amazing Seth Fishman, and began shopping a novel around.

As a result of letting my blog readers determine my hair color for LoneStarCon, I’ve developed an unfortunate Manic Panic habit. I look forward to trying some additional new colors in the coming year.

I turned 50, which felt extremely weird. However, we had a rousing party for it over at the Wilde Rover in Kirkland, thanks to the party organization skills of Deanna Francis and Caren Gussoff. I felt extremely blessed to see so many of my friends in one place and realize what a great group I’m associated with.

In March, I began working with the moderating team for the SFWA private discussion boards. In some ways, it’s been a lot like working with the Armageddon MUD boards. But more cantankerous at times, which is saying a lot. Still, I was pleased to see, when looking at the logs, that traffic on those boards has literally increased tenfold. We’ve added a lot, and one effort that I’m very pleased with is the scheduled chats, which have been a lot of fun as well as very informative.

Time with my godkids is always golden. This year I accompanied them to Disneyworld in May and then got some additional time with them at Thanksgiving. Cutest, smartest, most wonderful kids in the world. 🙂

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Newly Published on Amazon

Cover for "English Muffin, Devotion on the Side", a story by speculative fiction writer Cat Rambo.
“English Muffin, Devotion on the Side” is one of my personal favorites.
Part of this year’s resolutions is getting everything up on line. So far I’ve reformatted everything that I’d put up because it didn’t look as nice as it should and today added some more stories.

The new stories, which I’m working on putting up on Smashwords as well, are:

  • Amid the Words of War – (Twicefar Station) An exiled alien mourns for the race that will no longer accept it.
  • Can You Hear the Moon? – (The World Beside Us) A teenage girl in smalltown faces one of the most difficult challenges she’ll ever endure: upcoming adulthood. As she stands on the brink between innocence and experience, will magic be able to help her cope with what lies ahead?
  • English Muffin, Devotion on the Side – (Closer Than You Think) George leaves copies of himself to his friends and family when he dies. The problem is — what happens when you’re only a copy?
  • Flicka – (Closer Than You Think) Inhabitants of a small Idaho town have trouble adjusting to their new neighbors, a family of genetically modified humans who have chosen to become more equine than human.
  • I Come From the Dark Universe – (Twicefar Station) Life on tumultuous TwiceFar station is much the lonely existence same day to day for Bo. But when he comes upon a mysterious woman who claims to come from an alternate universe, he must face his strange attraction to her.
  • Love, Resurrected – (Tales of Tabat) General Aife Croffadottir is acknowledged one of the finest military minds of her time — which is why the sorcerer Balthus commands her to her service even after her death. How will she come to terms with her new existence?
  • Of Selkies, Disco Balls, and Anna Plane – Small-town Indiana in the 80s is an uncomfortable place for Arturo, who has a secret life at the local gay bar. When he introduces his best friend, Anna, to the place, he finds both of them swept up in a story of magical obsession and servitude.
  • So Glad We Had This Time Together – (The World Beside Us) Television executives come up with a reality series starring supernatural creatures — only to find it enjoying unnatural popularity.
  • TimeSnip – (TwiceFar Station) Plucked from the 19th century, Victoria finds employment negotiating with civilizations for the same technology that’s responsible for her existence. What happens when she’s dispatched to a civilization whose ways she finds oppressive in this story of the far future? Contains adult themes.

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