2017 Writing Roundup



I am late with this, as with everything these days.

I had only one piece of fiction published this year: “Taiya,” which appeared in the fall in The Future Fire. But this one piece has received more attention than any other short story I’ve written. It’s received some wonderful reviews. Maria Haskins and A.C. Wise both featured it in their recommendations. It’s listed in the 2017 Nebula Suggested Reading List. And today I found out that it’s also featured on The Book Smugglers website in “12 Short Stories as New Year’s Resolutions.” 

(Click on those lists above, please. They feature amazing, amazing authors and works that I love, and I am still stunned to be listed alongside them.)

It means so much to me that “Taiya” has gotten this attention. It means so much to me that this story resonates with people. This was one of those stories from the heart; this was the first story which truly scared me to write. I described some of its inspirations and background, and some early reviews, in this post.

Since writing “Taiya,” I’ve finished other stories which scared me to write. I hope to keep doing so.

Other news and thoughts, since this is supposedly my 2017-in-review post:

If you missed it, the lovely Gwendolyn Kiste interviewed me about my writing on her blog here  (and you should definitely also check out her work!)

I’ve posted several of my older stories at Curious Fictions. This is a new website which reprints previously published fiction, and my author page is here. As Curious Fiction’s Twitter account states, it’s a site that allows you to “Read great stories on the go, tip authors for stories that you love.” There’s a lot of great stuff there now by many writers I follow and love. Also, I know that there will be some very cool changes and announcements from this site soon, so keep an eye on it!

Early in 2017, the lovely Meryl Stenhouse invited me to join an online critique group of talented writers. In terms of my writing development, this was the probably the most significant development of the year, and certainly one of my personal highlights. My friends in this group have seen the holes in my stories and pushed me (gently but firmly, with much cheerleading) through revisions which I hated but which absolutely needed to be done. They have pushed me in other ways to take risks in my work. They have made my stories better. I’ve come upon new opportunities through this group. And I have learned from critiquing and reading their wonderful stories, as well as having my own stories critiqued by them.

In 2017, I’ve also made friends with more writers online, as well as continuing old friendships. Their support means everything to me. Advice to new writers: find your writing support group. So many of us live with families and friends who are not writers (sometimes they’re not even readers), and who don’t understand. You need people who do.

2017 doesn’t look very productive on paper for me—not from a publication standpoint. But I did write some new stories I’m proud of, and I sold some stories, and as of today I have five new stories which should see publication in 2018. I’m also involved in some exciting group publication/community projects. I am looking forward to many things.

I am genuinely hopeful for some things in 2018, and trying to be hopeful for others.

Hug your loved ones, my friends. If it’s cold where you are (as it is now for me, here in the Midwest-transformed-to-Arctic-tundra), stay warm; wear layers; wrap yourself in a thick blanket and drink tea and eat hot soup. Here is a splash of color from warmer climes:






Artwork from the artist Likhain, sent through the post from Australia. The painting on the right was a Christmas present to myself, and is the original cover art for my novelette, The Lilies of Dawn. I wish I could truly show you the detail in the work, the glitter of gold and silver. Likhain so generously gifted me with the extra painting on the left, and the cards below also showcase her extraordinary talent.









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On memoir and things I have no experience of—A review of "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life" by William Finnegan

I know nothing about surfing. I've never stood on a board. I've never even seen surfing done in real life (I've spent most of my life in the American Midwest. And even when I lived in Los Angeles for college, I somehow never met any surfers). Yet it came into my head to write a story that involved surfing. So I read a lot. I was interested in big-wave surfing, so I read Susan Casey's book, "The Wave." I read a lot of journalistic accounts. I watched videos online. And eventually, probably inevitably, I stumbled upon a two-part article in The New Yorker. The article is titled " Playing Doc's Games" by William Finnegan, and it was published in 1992. It is famous among surfers. The surf magazine The Inertia called it " possibly the greatest surf story ever" and a writer at The Surfer described it as "the best written piece (all 39,000 words of it) ever penned about surf culture."  I am not a surfer. Yet Wi
Read more

Short fiction recs! Oct-Nov 2023

Some stories that I read and loved, from October through November.    Fantasy “Four Words Written on My Skin” by Jenn Reese in Uncanny Magazine When the Fae stole my wife, I followed them into the dark woods to win her back.   A short but achingly sharp and lovely piece about finding what’s been lost. The Fae stole the narrator’s wife, but the narrator has been losing Jess for a long time, before the Fae ever appeared. What follows is a confrontation with the narrator’s own responsibility for that loss, for the distance that’s grown between them. And, at the end, a glimmer of hope—the decision to choose to love. Beautifully told.     “Six Versions of my Brother Found Under the Bridge,” by Eugenia Triantafyllou in Uncanny Magazine Technically it was built on top of a river that had been dredged and filled in some fifty years ago which made the ground under the bridge degraded and pretty dangerous. But rumor had it—and by rumor Olga meant Maria’s oldest cousin who had be
Read more

Short fiction recs! June-July 2024

So many beautiful, strange stories I’ve read this summer so far. Here are only a few. Strange Tales of Beauty and Horror “Markets of the Otherworld” by Rati Mehrotra in Uncanny Magazine In the Market of Illusions, I writhed on the cobblestoned street that wound between the gilded stalls, gasping for air, convinced I was a goldfish. Someone dragged me to a fountain and pushed me in, breaking the spell and—a minor point, except the water was ice cold—drenching me to the skin.   In the Cat Market, I was pursued by a large white Persian and coerced into signing away a month of my life in return for the privilege of petting her. In my dreams, I still run my fingers through her thick, beautiful fur while she leans against me and hums in pleasure. Worth it, I tell myself, even as I wonder which month of life has been taken from me.   An absolutely gorgeous, magical, and at times melancholy tale of a woman traveling through the enchanting markets of other worlds. A story that’s al
Read more