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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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"(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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2021 Publications, Appearances, and Other Notable Things

Text reads "2021 Publications, Appearances, and Other Notable Things."It’s been a great year. Here’s some highlights. I have tried to identify what length and genre everything is, as well as where you can get it. The podcast I work with, IF THIS GOES ON (Don’t Panic), is eligible for Hugo nominations.

In January, my story “Shot Through with Shards of Light” appeared in SPACE: 1975, SPACE OPERA STORIES, 70S STYLE edited by Robert Jeschonek. This story is set in the same universe as my space opera, YOU SEXY THING, and grew out of thinking about a particular aspect of that universe.

March of 2021, my short story “Crazy Beautiful” appeared in The Magazine of F&SF as part of Sheree Renee Thomas’s inaugural issue. This story is very important to me, speaking about something that I deeply care about, and I’ve been stoked that so many people liked it. It is my only story that starts with a Bob Ross quote. Rich Horton said of it, “Perhaps my favorite story from early in 2021.”

In April, Jennifer Brozek and I turned in the manuscript for our co-edited anthology, THE REINVENTED HEART. So exciting! I got a piece of game writing in, with “The Sisterhood of the Shovel,” which appeared in THE WELL from Shoeless Pete Games.

My Beneath Ceaseless Skies novelette, Every Breath a Question, Every Heartbeat an Answer, also appeared in April. This is a Tabat story, and features the protagonists of “Hoofsore and Weary” and “Brittle Are My Boughs, And Sorrowful My Heart.”

Some things reviewers said about Every Breath a Question, Every Heartbeat an Answer

In May, the third book of the Tabat Quartet, EXILES OF TABAT, appeared from Wordfire Press. In it, Bella, Teo, and Lucy all adventure outside the city, with very different results. The final book, GODS OF TABAT, will appear in 2022.

In July, a story that my spouse Wayne and I wrote together, “Stand and Deliver,” appeared in DARK MATTER magazine. It’s a story of fatherhood and time travel…sort of.

In August I actually did some traveling. I went to Laramie, Wyoming, and was part of the Laucnh Pad workshop, an effort aimed at getting more science into one’s science fiction, and I learned so much that I’ve got an entire notebook’s worth of notes.

In October, my flash piece “A Tourist’s Guide to Terror,” appeared in Jennifer Brozek’s anthology, 99 TINY TERRORS.

In early November, my collaboration with Jermaine Martin, “Riders of the Void,” appeared in GUNFIGHT ON EUROPA STATION, edited by David Boop. We took one of my favorite westerns, “Shane,” and used it as the spark to start our story and I’m pleased with the result!

In mid-November, my long-delayed space opera, YOU SEXY THING, appeared finally! Amazon named it one of the 20 best F&SF books of 2021 and there’s been some great reviews. Here’s some of what people have said.

  • “…a thoroughly entertaining sci-fi romp” – Publishers Weekly
  • “A romp. If you’re the kind of person who likes Mass Effect, or enjoyed Valerie Valdes’s Chilling Effect and Prime Deceptions, or fell head-over-heels for Tim Pratt’s Axiom trilogy”¦ then this book is definitely for you. This is a fast, zippy novel that hides some surprisingly substantial emotional heavy lifting under its hood”¦. Cozy-with-a-soupçon-of-suspense hoot-and-a-half.” “•Locus
  • …a delightful, action-filled space jaunt, packed with engaging alien species, a bioship that learns emotions, and witty references.” ““ Library Journal
  • “Rambo absolutely nails it.” – BookPage
  • “Fun, fantastic, and delicious”•I loved it!””•Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice
  • This action-packed space opera is loads of fun.” “•BuzzFeed

I did a lot of other stuff, like teaching for the Norwescon Writers Workshop, Cascade Writers, Williamette Writers, and Clarion West. I read for Older Writer’s Grant for Speculative Lit Foundation as well as for a middle grade contest. I did a holy crapton of readings, and plenty of panels, which I should have tracked better in order to include here.

The school did nicely again this year and I added several on-demand classes of my own:

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