Shiny writer things!

Thing the first: A panel! On March 25, I’ll be participating in Storycrafting Sessions: Drafting, a free one-day virtual conference hosted by Weeknight Writers. I’ll be on the 5:30 p.m. EST panel, “Nailing the Ending: How To Write a Satisfying Story Conclusion.” There are some other great panels lined up as well, and did I mention registration is free?

Thing the second: A publication! Issue 6 of Weird Horror Magazine is out this month, and it includes my flash story “Dead Maiden Chic,” as well as some badass cover art, which Super Great insisted on showing off with the help of some friends:

Thing the third: A sale! My short story “The Girl Who Welcomed Death to Svalgearyen,” which was originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, will be appearing again in audio format thanks to the lovely folks at Cast of Wonders. Release date TBD. This story is close to my heart and, of all the stories I’ve written over the years, still one of my absolute favorites, so I’m happy to see it get more love.

Thing the fourth: All the novels! A few weeks ago I finished revisions on a fantasy novel that has now been tossed out to first readers so I can figure out what else needs tweaking. Tentatively titled Barren Water, it’s a bit of A Handmaid’s Tale blended with magic and an Old West-ish fantasy world. And now I’m outlining a horror/supernatural romance novel where an opera singer recovering from an onstage nervous breakdown takes a job housesitting an isolated beach home during the off season only to become entangled with a ghost and a cursed piano. This will be my first stab at a novel-length work set in the contemporary world rather than a secondary fantasy world, so all new challenges!

The blog lives!

It’s been a hot minute (or year) since I’ve updated this thing.

(blows off the dust)

(coughs)

This is getting to be an unfortunate habit.

So what’s new?

On the fantasy end of the writer ‘verse, I’m very pleased to say that my story “A Conspiracy of Cartographers” is now up at GigaNotoSaurus! Opera composers! Magical maps! A title stolen from some Tom Stoppard dialogue!

A Conspiracy of Cartographers

And on the horror end of things, on October 8 I’ll be participating in Storycrafting Sessions: Horror, a free one-day virtual conference hosted by Weeknight Writers. I’ll be on the 2:30 p.m. EST panel, “Crossroad Blues: Exploring the Boundary Between Life and Death.”

Hopefully I will have more news and ramblings to come in the near future instead of disappearing again.

In the meantime, I should probably be writing.

Virtual Philcon 2020

Next weekend I’ll be participating in Virtual Philcon 2020. While there’s a lot to miss about in-person cons, one plus side of Philcon being online this year: you can attend for free! (Though if you’re willing and able, they do ask for a donation in lieu of membership fees.)

Here’s my schedule:

Reading
Friday, November 20, 8:30 pm EST

I’ll probably be reading a couple flash pieces for this one.

Panel: Heinlein’s Third Rule of Writing
Saturday, November 21, 10:00 am EST

“You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.” How useful is this advice? Why do some people swear by it, and others swear that the best thing you can do is ignore it?

Panel: How Many Different Modes of Editing Are There?
Sunday, November 22, 11:30 am EST

Checking for mistakes in grammar or spelling is one obvious focus of editing your work; looking at potential problems with pacing and plot-holes another. But what about edit passes for tone, and examining how your word choices and sentence structures impact the feel of a scene? Or the value of doing a draft that looks solely at removing anything unnecessary?