Tiny things floated through the air all around him. He stretched out his palm and kept it motionless long enough that one drifted to be trapped in his palm. A seed, a brown seed. Attached to one end a tuft of hairs, fine and feathery, to carry it along. Carefully he raised his hand, examined it more closely. So small. As it neared his eye, it became no longer brown, ridges and swirls marked its surface in grays and greens and reds that somehow blended together to create the impression of brown from just a few inches farther away.It’s that time of year when people are stepping up their reading for the various awards and their best of the year lists. I’m making my own, and if you’ve got something I should be paying attention to, please feel free to point me to it in the comments here or mail it to me at catrambo at gmail.com. I prefer .rtf for short stories, and .mobi for longer stuff. Please put “FOR AWARD CONSIDERATION” in the header so I can spot it more easily in the seething morass that is my inbox. I’m eligible to nominate for the Hugos, the Nebulas, and WFC.
If you are interested, I’ve got two pieces that I consider my best of the year, and I’m happy to send copies for your consideration. One is “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” a short story which appeared in my collection, NEAR + FAR. I’m still pretty proud of the audience gasps that piece got when I read it at World Fantasy this year. It’s an odd piece, but I like it a lot. The other piece is a novella, A SEED ON THE WIND, which appeared in stand-alone form from Athans Associates.
Speaking as one of the people who gasped at your WFC reading, you *should* be proud. I haven’t read Near+Far yet, but I doubt that reading that story will provoke nearly the same impact as hearing it did.
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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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Cover for A Quiet Shelter There
Cover art for "A Quiet Shelter There" by Heather McDougal.Here’s the cover for A QUIET SHELTER THERE, edited by Gerri Leen, from Hadley Rille Books, which will include my flash piece, “The Fisher Queen.” Here’s the description of the anthology:
An estimated four million unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized every year in the United States. Throughout the country, animal shelters, humane societies, and other rescue groups are working to change this by helping homeless animals find forever homes, healing those that are sick or injured, providing training and socialization for those that need it, and working toward a future in which there are no more homeless pets. This anthology directly benefits one of those shelters, Friends of Homeless Animals, which has rescued and placed dogs and cats in the Washington D.C. metro area since 1973. In 2010, even with limited funding due to the downturn in the economy, FOHA found homes for 350 dogs and 150 cats, including hard-to-place FIV positive cats, and they routinely house over 100 dogs and 50 cats at their shelter in rural Northern Virginia. 70 percent of the profits for A Quiet Shelter There will be donated to FOHA–other shelters across the country will be able to buy the book at a discounted price if they want to use it for fundraising.
It’s for a good cause, and I’m happy to be included in the project.
For Reviewers/Book Bloggers: ARCs and Review Copies for 2018 Projects
I have enough coming out in 2018 that some of the different campaigns are colliding a bit. Some are self-pubbed projects, others are with presses but I’m helping with the marketing where I can.
If you’re someone who would like a review copy or copies of any of the following, please drop me a line with your contact info, where your reviews appear, title(s), what format you prefer, and where to send it. I don’t mind sending e-copies out to people who want to review it on Amazon, GoodReads, etc, but be aware that requests for physical copies may both take longer and that I have a limited number available, so I try to send those where I get the most bang for the buck that’s coming out of my pocket. If you’ve got a podcast and would like me to appear, I’m happy to send copies of my work beforehand.
Here’s the list of what’s coming in 2018 in alphabetical order:
Creating an Online Presence for Writers, 3rd edition. (Plunkett Press). Nonfiction, covers how to create and maintain an online presence in order to build a writerly brand and sell books. Appearing in July.
Godfall and Other Stories by Sandra Odell is a collection from Hydra House that I’m editing. These stories are both fantasy and science fiction, and are usually on the darker side, with occasional flashes of humor. They’re wrenchingly strong at times, and I’m very excited to be one of the people making this book real. Appearing in mid-April.
Hearts of Tabat (WordFire Press). Novel, secondary world fantasy. While this is the second book of the Tabat Quartet, you do not need to have read Beasts of Tabat to understand it. Appearing in mid-May.
If This Goes On (Parvus Press) is an anthology of political science fiction focusing on what the world will look like a generation from now. Open for submissions through the end of March, the anthology will appear in conjunction with the 2018 elections.
Moving From Idea to Finished Draft. (Plunkett Press) Nonfiction writing book based on this class, which contains stories illustrating each section. Appearing in April.
Tales of Tabat (Plunkett Press) is a collection of all the short stories and novelettes set in Tabat, including several pieces original to the collection. I’ve got that tentatively slated for September.
The World Made Flash. Plunkett Press. A collection of all my flash pieces along with several essays about writing very short fiction should appear in July.
I am also re-releasing my first solo fantasy collection, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlightin print form, and a new version of steampunk collection Altered America with the horrible typos removed in both electronic and print form.
If you’re promoting your own book this year and are interested in doing a guest post here, let me know! Here’s my guidelines for guest posts.
I have enough coming out in 2018 that some of the different campaigns are colliding a bit. Some are self-pubbed projects, others are with presses but I’m helping with the marketing where I can.
2 Responses
Speaking as one of the people who gasped at your WFC reading, you *should* be proud. I haven’t read Near+Far yet, but I doubt that reading that story will provoke nearly the same impact as hearing it did.
That’s a brilliant answer to an intteesring question