The rewrite of the first book, whose tentative working title is Beasts of Tabat, is off to Seth the fabulous agent, so I’ve started messing with the second book. It’s got the love triangle I mentioned in an earlier post, and I’m contemplating the somewhat odd strategy of having it start, chronologically, at a time point somewhere in the middle of the first book, and show some of that action from a different viewpoint. Crazy? Maybe, but I think it’ll be interesting to try.
At any rate, once I gathered up all the stuff snipped out of the first volume, I found myself with a solid 45k worth of words, and it’s encouraging to think that puts me halfway to a first draft. The second is tentatively titled Hearts of Tabat and while Bella and Teo make appearances, there’s some new voices as well. I hope you all will enjoy them as much as I have.
Other stuff includes a story rewrite that I need to finish up for Glitter & Mayhem, another story that’s due in a couple months, and the usual slew of other stories I should finish. Blah!
Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
Want to get some new fiction? Support my Patreon campaign.
"(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
You may also like...
Free Fiction: Stories Newly Enrolled in Kindle Unlimited
If you’re into short stories and have Kindle Unlimited, I made all of these free:
Aquila’s Ring: Aquila Nenyuk finds herself thrust into a world of scheming nobles and political power struggles. When she falls in love with Marius Tor, will he bring her happiness or heartbreak? Originally published in Shadows & Light II.
Karaluvian Fale: Impoverished noble Karaluvian Fale struggles to keep up appearances in the face of Allanaki society, which is all too ready to condemn her. When she has a chance to shape a city-wide festival, will she be able to turn the tables on the families that have mocked the Fales for so long?
Mirabai the Twice-lived: Mirabai is appointed the spiritual leader of her people, despite her extreme youth. She leads them through the decades only to be presented with an unexpected second chance in her later years.
Narrative of a Beast’s Life: Taken from his home village, the centaur Fino is enslaved and shipped to a new land, where he must learn to cope with the trainer determined to break him. This short story originally appeared in Realms of Fantasy.
Events at Fort Plentitude: An exiled soldier tries to wait out a winter in a fort beleaguered by fox-spirits and winter demons. Originally appeared in Weird Tales under editor Ann VanderMeer.
How Dogs Came to the New Continent is a short story pulled from the events of the novel Hearts of Tabat, told in the form of a meandering historical paper that teases out more behind the oppression of Beasts and their emerging political struggle.
Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart is steampunk horror based on an episode of the old Wild Wild West TV series. Pinkerton agents Artemus West and Elspeth Sorehs have been chasing their prey across the country. When they finally catch up with him near the outskirts of the Cascades, though, they realize he’s gone to ground in a mysterious house that once belonged to his mother, a famous inventor. What secrets hidden in the house will they discover””and how will the house protect its returned son?
Grandmother is space opera with an older female protagonist. Space pirate Phoenix, now retired, finds herself facing an unlikely opponent. Will she and her lover Gareth be able to survive the deadly scheme set up to destroy them and the planet Phoenix rules?
Elsewhere, Within, Elsewhen: On a distant planet, David struggles to overcome his husband’s betrayal, only to encounter an unlikely sympathizer in the form of one of the planet’s native inhabitants. But are its intentions truly benign?
Like these and want me to make other stories available? Review these or drop me a line in the comments!
Catch-up and Recent News as of the End of June, 2014
This may be a pinnacle in quirky thrift shop finds. I look forward to traveling and finding worlds as wonderful as this one.My story, “English Muffin, Devotion on the Side,” is up on the Daily Science Fiction site. Please let me know what you think, and spread the word if you like it!
I’m finishing up my essay and the story edits for the Women Destroying Fantasy issue of Lightspeed, as well as some other articles, trying to get those finished before hitting the road. Stories coming out soon include pieces in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 3-Lobed Burning Eye and Shattered Shields (edited by Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt).
I’m going to be setting up a Patreon campaign, because I’ve got a big backlog of stories and figure releasing them on my own while on the road will probably work as well as worrying about keeping them submitted. If you might be interested in subscribing to get two short stories each month, please sign up for my mailing list, and drop me a comment here to let me know what sort of things you might like to accompany that. What sort of cost would be appropriate for a subscription that lets you supply a prompt or get a Tuckerization, for example?
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
In three days, I become Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. I look forward and am somewhat daunted by the prospect.
Today I am putting down linoleum as the next part of the great remodel while Wayne does some sanding. We’re still on track to leave July 15, +/-3 days. We’ll be heading eastward, with stops planned in Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Indiana, and Philly-area, arriving towards the end of July. August we’ll spend some time knocking around on the eastern seaboard, and towards the end of that month, we will go somewhere. Just not sure where, but Australia, Europe, and South America are among the strong contenders, continent wise.
