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ConTemporal Bound!
So, ConTemporal starts tomorrow! Before you go thinking how crazy-pants I am to go to a convention after having a baby so recently, keep in mind that I can actually walk to this one. No joke. It’s less than a mile from my house! ConTemporal is a celebration of steampunk and other speculative fun times, and I’m really excited to be a panelist. More than anything, though, I’m looking forward to acting like a writer again for a while (at least the kind who isn’t practically attached to her little newborn). Not to mention, quite a few friends are going to be there, both from near and far. The delightful…
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More Pilgrim of the Sky Reviews!
I’ve been very behind in providing reviews for Pilgrim of the Sky — mostly due to being insanely busy and preparing to bring the new little creature into the world (9 weeks to go, for those who are counting). However, I am grateful and thrilled that so many people have connected with the book, and offer here a few choice bits for you to read: From Chuck Lawton at GeekDad (whose band The Vitrolum Republic you should check out, not to mention the project of his wife, Sue, The Circus and the Cyclone): The novel is grand in scope, rich in description and full of wonderful discovery. It will take you from…
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Where to buy Pilgrim of the Sky!
I mentioned this over at the Pilgrim site, but forgot to do so here. I blame illness. And pregnancy! Anyway… You can purchase the novel at the Candlemark & Gleam Website, at Amazon, and at Barnes & Noble. And some reviews: From Library Journal: Maddie Angler’s lover, the brilliant and eccentric graduate student Alvin Roth, has disappeared and is presumed dead. Instead of moving on with her life, Maddie travels to Boston with Alvin’s socially challenged younger brother, Randy, to deliver a box of research papers to Alvin’s adviser, Dr. Keats. This simple action propels her into a parallel universe where she discovers through encounters with a more gregarious Randy that…
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arthuriana, blog, editing, fantasy, glassmere, peter of windbourne, pilgrim of the sky, queen of none, steampunk, the gnome and the necromancer, ward of the rose, WIP, writing
Prosaic Analysis Paralysis
In which I think aloud for a few paragraphs… pardon the navel gazing. The burden of words. It’s quite something, I tell you. And at the moment I’m finding it to be on the verge of utterly overwhelming. I have all these stories, all these books and novels and ideas, and instead of a calm, steady stream (the way I’ve written for the better part of the last five years) it’s a frozen lake. A frozen lake filled with strange faces and whispers under the icy surface, all jumbled together, staring at me, challenging me. And I’ve got analysis paralysis. I have too much to work on, so much so…
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The Perils of Early Success: Or, Writing With the Pointy End
So I started blogging “as a real writer” at the very beginning of 2008 in order to share a draft of my novel, The Aldersgate, with the world at large. I had already written two drafts, and then decided to start again and record the new chapters and launch them out into the world for feedback. It’s a steampunk western sort of fantasy story, with low magic and high politics and many point of views. You know; as you will. While I commenced blogging in that first year or so, I had pretty immediate success with my short story writing and network building, and I felt like I was on…
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Adventures in Editing
Last night I turned in my book to my editor, Kate, over at Candlemark & Gleam. This is a first for me. You know, editing a novel that will actually get into the hands of readers. I’ve spent lots of time editing my own books, and I generally enjoy the process quite a lot. I know many writers find it tedious and awful. And it can be, absolutely. But I have a good feeling about this draft; the second I sent it off to Kate, I missed it. As I saved the file, I thought of the last two years. In late 2008, I completed the first draft of Pilgrim…
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A Whole Lot of Publication Goin’ On
Well. I have lots of things to share. Enough things to share to warrant a list. Yes, a list. With numbering and everything fancy. So: behold! 1.) Currently you can find me in the premiere issue of Fantastique Unfettered. My story is called “Without a Light”. It’s a story about deadly desire, set in early 90s New England backdrop where, well, weird stuff happens. Like that Stephen King guy, I grew up in the frozen wilderness of New England, Massachusetts to be specific, and it’s the first story I ever set there. I think it definitely owes a lot of its tone to King’s short stories, which I devoured as…
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Updates in Nutshell. Or a Clam Shell.
I’ve been inexcusably quiet here the last few weeks, and no, it’s not because of NaNoWriMo. Again, real life and things got in the way of that. Let me tell you, there’s nothing I would have rather done than write a novel from scratch, revel in the joy of creation, and bask in the awesome of writing for the month of November. But life has a way of being a stinkypants sometimes, and that’s totally what happened. I won’t get into the details of the personal life stuff, but it comes down to the fact that I’ve been job hunting, working on GeekMom, doing the holiday thing, working on Crossed…
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A moment of blatant self-promotion
The Mammoth Book of Steampunk is looking for reprint recommendations. And whaddya know, but I’ve got a bunch of stories that would qualify for just that. They’re seeking suggestions over here. So if you’ve read something of mine that you like, please feel free to let them know! (I added some notes to help you remember each story.) “The Brass Pedestal” – Steampunk Tales #4, Short Story category, November 2009 (Sophronia seeks revenge on her philandering, relationship-destroying brother by getting a bug implant and a metal corset) “Dead’s End to Middleton” – Crossed Genres #16, Short Story Category, February 2010 (seven gun-toting, alien-killing sisters in the American West, and the…
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Official Pilgrim of the Sky Announcement from Candlemark & Gleam
I’m not terribly good at describing Pilgrim of the Sky. But thankfully, my publisher is! To get a better idea of what the book might be about, and what I’m currently immersed in edits with at the moment, consider the following from their announcement post: How to describe this novel? Hm. That may be a tough one. It’s sort of…a world-hopping, reality-bending, art-historical, socio-religious steampunk odyssey. And that’s just for starters. It takes place both in our world – in a corner of the world that I’m particularly familiar with and fond of, Western Massachussets – and in a number of other worlds, each of which has its own character…
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I have an announcement…
Today is September 22nd, which happens to be the birthday of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, give or take. And while this day is perfect for gorging on cheese and mushrooms, taking walks in the park among the trees, and starting adventures, it’s also a good one for announcements (or so I’d like to think). No. I am not disappearing. I have no magic rings, and even if I did own one, I’d probably have lost it by now or else left you entirely. I’m far too much of a Took to let a ring sit in an envelope for years. The announcement is this: I have sold my first book!…
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Weird Tales Uncanny Beauty Issue
I’ve been waiting to talk about this until it was official but, hey, look: official! And awesome. I had the privilege of coming up with a project together with Brigid Ashwood, a brilliant artist and fellow lover of speculative fiction. The piece in the upcoming issue is entitled “The Wakened Image” and it’s a look at some of the “made” women in mythology, taken from the Mabinogion and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Brigid helped me brainstorm the subject, and then I wrote a three-part poem in blank verse; Brigid provided some astonishingly beautiful pictures to accompany the text. The issue isn’t available yet, but soon. I’ll keep you posted. I am so…
