June and July brought several story sales for me, and of course I am thrilled! I also have some other writerly news I can’t share just yet, but the details will be forthcoming soon-ish.
Writing-wise, June was really busy, but I barely wrote at all in July. Instead, I spent a month mostly in Sweden visiting family, and reading some fabulous books and stories. It was a fantastic break, but I’m back at my desk, digging into writing again.
(Note: My writerly recaps are also available in my Mostly Harmless newsletter. I send it out bi-monthly and you can sign up here.)
My latest columns at B&N SciFi & Fantasy
- My June short fiction roundup.
- My July short fiction roundup.
- Read my Queer Book Roundup at B&N’s SciFi & Fantasy Blog.
Short story roundups on my blog:
Stories in the wild
- “Sunlit Surface, Depths Below” featured on R.B. Wood’s Word Count Podcast and my blog. Read it. / Listen.
- “Seven Kinds of Baked Goods” is now available in glorious audio on The Overcast #83, read by J.S. Arquin – listen / support on Patreon.
Story sales
- I sold my dark fantasy story “The Brightest Lights of Heaven” to Fireside Fiction! This is a dream come true: I love Fireside, and I can barely believe I’ll have a story with them.
- My 100 word story “A Doorway Left Ajar” will be featured in Martian Magazine. This is a great new science fiction zine for 100 word stories, and my story will appear in November. Read other great stories in Martian.
- My dog story “Down to Niflhel Deep” was picked up by Kaleidotrope (one of my favourite zines), and will be appearing in a future issue!
- My science fiction flash-story “Kaiju Outside Hope” placed second in Escape Pod‘s flash fiction contest and I am thrilled beyond words about this. I’ve participated in several Escape Artist flash fiction contests, and while I’ve come close before, this is my first time in the “winner’s circle”. There were so many awesome stories in Escape Pod’s contest, and I can’t wait to hear all the winners on the podcast.
- I’ve sold a story to GigaNotoSaurus. Title and publication details to come.
- A reprint of my story from Gamut, “Metal, Sex, Monsters” (a story with a built in Judas Priest soundtrack), will appear on a future episode of the horror podcast Pseudopod. Read more about the story.
Reviews
- Writer Vanessa Fogg reviews “Mothers, Watch Over Me” (from Mythic Delirium) and “The Root Cellar” (from Beneath Ceaseless Skies) in the April/May short fiction roundup on her blog. She has some very kind, generous words for both. She calls “Mothers, Watch Over Me”, “[a] beautifully written, delicate, and poignant story of love, survival, and determination“, and about “The Root Cellar”: “A wonderfully creepy, darkly magical tale, with shades of Hansel and Gretel. A voice that pulls you right in. Beautifully done.” Read the roundup.
- Vanessa Fogg also mentioned my flash fiction story “Sunlit Surface, Depths Below” from the Word Count Podcast in her June and July short fiction roundup, calling it “A shimmering tale of longing, motherhood, and the depths we hide.” Read the roundup.
- There’s a wonderful review of my story “A Strange Heart, Set in Feldspar” from the anthology Abandoned Places at SSF Reviews! Reviewer Sara L. Uckelman calls it “A powerful, real, and disturbing story…” Read the review.
- Writer A. Merc Rustad includes my stories “The Guitar Hero” (from Kaleidotrope) and “Mothers, Watch Over Me” (from Mythic Delirium) in their short fiction roundup for June, and has some wonderful words for both stories. About “The Guitar Hero”: “The story itself is like a great guitar riff: showy, entrancing, and makes you want to mimic the music in the air yourself.” And about “Mothers, Watch Over Me”: “A gorgeous anthropomorphic fantasy, with the familiar yet alien tone reminiscent of Watership Down”. Read the review.
Bits & bobs
- To my great astonishment and eternal delight, I was mentioned in a list of new SFF writers at TOR.com, written by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro. It’s a lovely article, and a wonderful list of fantastic writers. I’m truly honoured to be included. Read it here.
- While in Sweden, I did an interview (using the magic of Skype) with Eddie Generous of the Unnerving podcast, talking about writing short fiction, reading short fiction, the business of submitting stories, and more. It was so much fun to do this interview, and huge thanks to Eddie for having me! Listen to it here.
Maria Haskins 