My WisCon Schedule

I'll be at the convention from Friday to Monday morning. If you see me, please don't feel shy about saying hello! I love putting faces to names. 

My panel schedule:

The Unequal Distribution of Emotional Labor - Sunday, 8:30–9:45 AM

Mary Anne Mohanraj, Megan Arkenberg, Megan Condis, Heidi Waterhouse, Kenzie Woodbridge 

We see it in fandom, in creative fields, in tech, in the Maker movement. How to identify when this is happening and how to push back.

It Came From the Slush Pile - Sunday, 2:30–3:45 PM

Sigrid Ellis, Megan Arkenberg, Eric M. Heideman, Fred Schepartz, Effie Seiberg

Editors of short fiction share their slush pile horror stories. What are the turns of phrase that have made you spit coffee over your keyboard? What are the cover letter faux pas writers keep committing? What are the stories that have made you edit your guidelines to avoid seeing their like ever again? Part advice for new submitters, part venting for slush pile veterans, this panel should warn both groups just what they're up against–or competing against.

How Not To Think About Women Characters - Sunday, 4:00–5:15 PM

Debbie Notkin, Becky Allen, Megan Arkenberg, Claire Humphrey, Justine Larbalestier

"She's such a Mary Sue." "She's only there to serve the story of a male character." "Her characterization is so inconsistent" or "She's too flat to be interesting." As consumers of media—even feminist consumers—we have a whole language at our disposal when we need to justify disinterest or dislike towards a woman character. But as often as these idioms are accurate criticisms of a work, they can also be ways to avoid actually talking about the character AS a character. Some questions to consider: Do the ways in which we critique women characters result in a denial of their agency? Is describing women characters as "inconsistently characterized" a way to avoid seeking out their motivations? Is being a "foil" or a parallel always a subordinate role?

Full Page →

Saturday, May 21, 2016

editing, WisCon

New Year's, Again

It's that day when we sum up the last 365 rotations of our planet's axis and make promises about what we're going to do for the next 366 such rotations. Frankly, the thought of doing either of those things makes my mouth go dry and my stomach do unpleasant little somersaults. So let's see if I can sum up the last week and project to next Tuesday.

I've reread The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion every Christmas since about 2004. This year, I skipped the Tolkein and wound up re-reading David Bajo's The 351 Books of Irma Arcuri. It's a queer novel, all senses, and I have to point out the weird erasure in which none of its reviewers mention that the heroine is bisexual (although one, in a telling overstatement, refers to her "omnisexual"). In any case, I recommend it. If it isn't exactly speculative fiction, it has a distinctively speculative bent: "You are the only other one I have ever met," Irma writes to the protagonist, "who so deeply and compulsively sees anything and automatically begins seeking alternatives."

I also read Nathan Ballingrud's North American Lake Monsters, a Christmas gift from my sister, in one sitting. It's an intense trip. I've loved "Wild Acre" since I first read it in a Year's Best anthology, and it works beautifully in the first act of this collection.

So much for Christmas. The rest of my week off was dedicated to chapter revisions, syllabus writing, and reading for my dissertation prospectus. I haven't made progress on short fiction since October.

Other thoughts for the end of the year: In 2015, I published seven short stories, two of which have made it onto end-of-the-year reading lists. I also had the opportunity to edit nonfiction for a special issue of Nightmare, which was a learning experience in the best sense of that phrase. Finally, Mirror Dance is still going strong, now at a new URL (and with a new e-mail address when we reopen to submissions on January 15).

I'm hitting the ground running in 2016: "Palingenesis," a nearly un-classifiable blend of Weird fiction, philology, and nineteenth-century science, is the cover story for Shimmer #29. I'll have more to say about it on Tuesday, when it goes live on the website.

Until then: stay strange, beautiful people.

Full Page →

Friday, January 01, 2016

editing, New Year's Resolutions, publishing, reading, recommendations

Destroying Horror, Week 2

This week's story is Alyssa Wong's nightmarish "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers," and the nonfiction is Nightmare's H-Word column with a twist: Stoker Award winner Lucy A. Snyder's "A Good Story," which asks what "caring about the quality of the story" means in the context of a genre where a publisher requesting that a writer 'straighten' a queer protagonist is not out of the question.

Horror is the literature of fear. And if you’re queer, and if you write fiction about your darkest fears while also doing your very best to tell a good story, a funny thing happens. Many of those readers who claimed to just care about story are now all squirmy. Sure, the plot’s exciting . . . but you made it all weird! Why couldn’t you just write a good old-fashioned entertaining story where the monsters are uncomplicatedly monstrous and the heroic guy gets the trophy girl at the end? Why couldn’t your story be straight, darn it?

Read, enjoy, and keep spreading the word!

Full Page →

Friday, October 16, 2015

editing, horror, nonfiction, queer fiction

I Destroyed Horror - AMA

The first story and nonfiction piece from Queers Destroy Horror! went live at Nightmare Magazine this Wednesday. The story is Matthew Bright's phenomenal "Golden Hair, Red Lips," which drops the protagonist of my favorite novel into an AIDS-crisis era San Francisco, and ends on an absolutely chilling note. The nonfiction is the editorial introduction, including a few words from guest editor-in-chief Wendy Wagner, poetry editor Robyn  Lupo, and yours truly:

As queer writers and readers, we find ourselves feeling both at home and deeply unwelcome in the horror genre. Sexual and gender nonconformity are in the genre’s DNA; queer people began writing horror long before it was a recognizable fiction category, and our ranks include some of the biggest names in the contemporary horror scene...It makes sense that many of us are drawn to fiction that tackles [sex and desire] in unexpected and often unsettling ways. But, as the essays and interviews in this special issue demonstrate, if we often see ourselves reflected in horror stories, it can also feel like the genre wants us gone—or dead.

If you don't want to wait, or if you want to read the full slate of fiction and nonfiction in this oversized issue, it can be purchased in paperback or e-book.

Also, the QDH team is doing an Ask Me Anything on r/Fantasy on Tuesday, October 13. Unless dire circumstances arise to prevent me, I'll be dropping by in the afternoon. Come and ask us questions, or lurk your way through the answers.

Final, unrelated note: Mirror Dance will be closed to submissions until January 15, 2016 so that I can clear out the backlog. Exam reading has not been kind to my slush schedule,and too many authors have been waiting way too long for a response. If this is you: my apologies, and thanks for your patience.

Full Page →

Saturday, October 10, 2015

editing, horror, nonfiction, queer fiction

The End is Now, again, and Mirror Dance

The autumn issue of Mirror Dance is up, and The End is Now, the second book in The Apocalypse Triptych, is now available. I edited the former,  I'm in the latter, and both, in my humble opinion, are excellent. Happy reading!

Full Page →

Monday, September 01, 2014

anthologies, apocalypse, editing, Mirror Dance, writing

March News

• ~ The Spring 2014 issue of Mirror Dance is now online, with (as usual) a fantastic mix of familiar names and exciting newcomers.

• ~ The March 2014 issue of Niteblade is also online, and Mirror Dance readers should recognize - or will recognize, after our summer issue - every name on the poetry page. ;-) And when you're done reading the lovely poetry, you can slide over to the fiction end of things and check out my fairy-tale retelling, "Godfather."

• ~ The End is Nigh, co-edited by John Joseph  Adams and Hugh Howey, is officially now in Kindle and trade paperback. In addition to my "Houses Without Air," this anthology is full of stories from awesome writers like Seanan McGuire, Ken Liu, Jake Kerr, Sarah Langan, and Paolo Bacigalupi. 

Later this month, my story "The Sons of Zeruiah" will be published in King David and the Spiders from Mars. Four new poems will also be featured in the revived Flytrap.

Full Page →

Saturday, March 01, 2014

anthologies, apocalypse, editing, Mirror Dance, Niteblade, publishing

TSFAQ (Time-Sensitive Frequently Asked Questions)

Hey Megan, where are you right now?
Glad you asked! Right now, on this fifth of September 2013 at nine hours post-meridiem, I am in my hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska.

What on earth are you going there? Don’t you live in Milwaukee or some place?
Well, until this morning, I did live in Milwaukee. I'm now in the process of moving to Davis, California, and Lincoln is the first stop on my itinerary. I'll be arriving in Davis on Sunday evening.

Why are you moving? Was it the weather? I bet it was the weather.
It was not the weather. I'm entering the Ph.D. in English Literature program at UC Davis. In the unlikely event that you know me personally and this is the first you're hearing of it...well, surprise!

Grad school, huh? What are your research interests?
Victorian literature (especially ghost stories and works with supernatural elements), Gothic literature, and Queer Theory.

Okay, that sounds cool, I guess. How's the writing going?
Much better than it was going last semester. I'm aiming to have five new stories in submission by the end of this quarter. At one time, that would have been a modest goal, but considering the approximately fifty thousand things that have complicated my life over the last year, it now seems positively ambitious.

Oh, and "Sister Philomela Heard the Voices of Angels" placed third in the short poem category in this year's Rhysling Awards, which was pretty cool. So writing is going well.

How's the editing?
Mirror Dance is going well - we just put out a new issue on Sunday. We also have Facebook Page now because all the cool kids are doing it. Watch for updates about Lacuna in early October. (Read: Lacuna is still in e-zine limbo.)

Hey, what did you do to your website?
Sorry, still playing with the formatting. I'm trying to find a template where the main column is wide enough to hold a full line of text in my bibliography, but not so wide that story excerpts become hard to read. I also realize that I never finished my biography page, so that should happen once I finish moving.

Anything else you should update us on?
I got nothing. But check out the the brilliant theme for an upcoming special issue of Lightspeed magazine!

Full Page →

Thursday, September 05, 2013

editing, grad school, Lightspeed, Mirror Dance, my English major is showing, preaching to the invisible choir, Rhysling, the writer in its natural habitat, travel, updates, writing

I love having this problem...

This morning, as I read through the Mirror Dance slush, I again think to myself: I need to limit the number of poems one poet can submit at a time. Because I only publish four issues a year. And there are some poets who submit five amazing poems at a time, and while I prefer not to publish multiple pieces by one person in an issue, it would be unbearable to pass on this incredible, incredible poetry...

Mirror Dance poets, you guys spoil me!

Full Page →

Friday, August 30, 2013

editing, Mirror Dance, poetry

It's always Summer in our dreams...

My story "The Huntsman" - a mash-up of at least three different fairy tales - is now online at Lightspeed. While you're there, check out the reprint of Ken Liu's incredible "Mono no aware."

The June issue of Mirror Dance, Watchers: Stories of Angels and Demons, has also appeared (and been appeared for a little over a week now. Apologies for my belatedness!). The poetry in this issue is some of the most incredible work we've published - check it out!

On a different front, last Friday I finished my student teaching semester, and with it, my B.A. in English and Secondary Education. Insert joyful noises here. As of tomorrow, I will be spending the rest of the month visiting the multi-talented Therese Arkenberg in Washington DC, where I intend to catch up on a semester's worth of writing! And, you know, see some museums and pandas and stuff.

Full Page →

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

editing, fairy tale, fiction, Lightspeed, Mirror Dance, Therese Arkenberg, travel, writing

Achievement Unlocked: Slush Pile

For the first time in about two years, the slush piles for both Mirror Dance and Lacuna are completely empty. Done. Answered. De-slushed. If  I didn't see the empty folders with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it was possible.

Quick, somebody submit something to Mirror Dance before the rush of accomplishment goes to my head!

Full Page →

Thursday, March 28, 2013

editing, Lacuna, Mirror Dance, No Exit

Editorese to English, Lesson I

When an editor (i.e. me) says "not quite what I'm looking for," she may mean:

• This is so poorly proofread I can't believe you thought it was ready for publication.
• I'm underwhelmed.
• I didn't get it. Was that supposed to be a pun at the end?
• I'm underwhelmed.
• This isn't even the right genre what the heck people it's in the magazine's URL/header!
• I'm underwhelmed.
• This is a perfectly good story. However, I know what I want for my magazine and I know this isn't it, though I can't give a specific reason why or how.

What I've learned today while reading slush:

• A lot of recent submissions to Mirror Dance and Lacuna have been underwhelming.
• There is no polite way to say that someone's writing is underwhelming.

Full Page →

Monday, August 06, 2012

editing, honesty, preaching to the invisible choir

Lacuna

[Note: TL;DR version at the bottom of this post.]

It is considered bad form to speak ill of one's family in public, and as many who have known and worked with me over the past three years can attest, my feelings toward my e-zines are distinctly paternal. But over the past year—and in particular, the past six months—my struggles with Lacuna have clearly passed out of "adolescent growing pains" and into the territory of "irreconcilable differences."

I began editing Lacuna to remedy the criminal shortage of markets for short historical fiction; the market shortage remains, but it has become quite clear to me that I am not the one to remedy it. The patently pathetic submissions backlog (stories from as early as last December have yet to receive responses) and the barren Twitter account attest that I lack the time and energy, to say nothing of the interest, to edit historical fiction.

This is something I should have known from the beginning. I am a fantasy writer, a fantasy reader, and a fantasy editor. As my list of desiderata on the Lacuna guidelines page suggests, I love historical fiction best when it is flavored with fantasy, folklore, or frightening encounters. I have certainly received my share of moving, beautifully-written submissions that don't deal with speculative elements, and it has been my pleasure to publish them. But when I bring up my e-mail to read today's portion of slush, I inevitably find myself reaching for the magical, the unexpected, the enchanting submissions to Mirror Dance, rather than the more down-to-earth Lacuna.

More than that—as my "do not want" list suggests—I find that I have to steel myself before plunging into the uncomfortable mélange of clichés, stereotypes, and unfortunate implications that makes up a sizeable portion of Lacuna's slush pile. I don't mean to suggest that Mirror Dance is completely free of these, or that most Lacuna submissions contain them; but they are prevalent enough that I have begun to approach slush-reading with dread.  

That is the interest component. Now to time and energy. First, historical fiction—by, I suppose, it's very nature—tends to be long. Often too long, and many Lacuna submissions would benefit extremely from cutting 20-30%. But even the tightest, best-written 10,000 word story makes for time-consuming and eye-watering screen reading, as I have learned from considering two or three of them each week. Second, I am entering my final year of undergraduate studies this fall, with the all-important student teaching coming up in spring. It would be frankly dishonest for me to pretend that Lacuna's atrocious response times would not slip even further as my time is divided between work, studies, editing, my own writing career—and my future students, who will deserve and demand the greatest portion of my time and attention.

So…what to do about Lacuna?

I mentioned already the criminal shortage of markets for short historical fiction. While it is not my intention to continue a recreational editing endeavor that has lost most of its pleasure for me, I do not want to close Lacuna. Here, briefly, are my plans for the future of the magazine.

1. Lacuna will publish at least two (possibly three) more issues in its current format on http://lacunajournal.blogspot.com. Submissions for the October 2012 and April 2013 issues will close on August 1, 2012.

2. During the spring semester of 2013, my attention will be devoted to student teaching. Do not expect further announcements regarding the future of Lacuna from January until June of next year.

3.When Lacuna returns, it will be as a themed publication. Since the beginning, I've wanted to put out themed issues of Lacuna, but the bi-annual publishing schedule—not to mention the variety of submissions—has made that wish seem impractical. I have a few solid and many nebulous ideas for the themes, publishing schedule, and format of the new Lacuna; but since its inauguration is over a year in the future, I will publicize the complete details closer to the time when they will be useful to know. 

           3.5. One of the themes is Shakespeare. Another is Antiquarian Ghost Stories. 

                  Sorry, I can't keep a secret for the life of me. :-)

4. Mirror Dance has always been and will continue to be interested in submissions of historical fiction with fantastical, mythological or folkloric elements. Alternate history where the history is sufficiently "alternate" may also fit our needs; browse our archives and use your best discretion.

5. If you work with or are considering working with a historical fiction magazine that will be open after October 2013, please let me know so I can direct Lacuna's readers (and writers) to you. At this time, I am not looking for anyone to "take over" the operations of Lacuna, since the publication will continue with a similar flavor but different format.

6. If you are a writer with specific questions about how these changes will affect your publication or submission with Lacuna, I am happy to answer them. Please email markenberg at yahoo dot com with the subject "Lacuna Query."

I regret the disappointment and inconvenience these changes may cause. Thank you to the loyal readers, patient submitters, and talented writers who have joined me on the sometimes-rocky journey of the past three years. I look forward to meeting you again, either on Mirror Dance or a new and better Lacuna.

TL;DR version: Regretfully, I lack the time, energy, and interest to continue editing a broadly defined "historical fiction" e-zine. Lacuna will publish an October 2012 and April 2013 issue in its usual format, submissions to which will close on August 1, 2012. Lacuna will return in late 2013 as a themed publication in an as-yet-unspecified format and publishing schedule. 

Full Page →

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

editing, editing Lacuna, historical fiction, Lacuna

Mirror Dance Summer 2012

"Passages: Stories of Gateways and Guardians"  is now online! This issue has gods and fairies, heroes and monsters, ghosts and vampires, temples and mysterious forests and icy fog-shrouded mountaintops. (It also has a few mysterious formatting issues, which I am trying desperately to sort out, and incredible original art by Shirl Sazynski, which should more than make up for the formatting.) Happy reading!


Also, in honor of this issue's theme, have a look at these fascinating entrances that are clearly gateways to Narnia.

Full Page →

Friday, June 01, 2012

editing, fantasy, fiction, Mirror Dance, poetry, publishing, reading

Roses in December

The Winter 2011 issue of Mirror Dance came out this morning. We have some lovely retold fairy tales, surprising takes on folklore, entirely original pieces, and an insightful interview with Mike Phillips. I'm particularly pleased with the poetry in this issue, so be sure you check it out!

My pseudo-Jamesian secondary-world ghost story "The Gardens of Landler Abbey" appears in today's issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and the very queer "Portrait of a Courtesan" appears in Crossed Genre's final issue. As a bibliographic note, "Landler Abbey" is my most recently finished story, having been drafted, edited, and submitted this September. Make of that what you will.

In other news, please think positive thoughts for my mother and aunt, who lost their beloved mother (my wonderful and elegant grandmother) on Saturday.

Full Page →

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Beneath Ceaseless Skies, editing, ghost story, Mirror Dance, No Exit, publishing, queer fiction, short fiction

Lessons from a Clockwork Queen

I know it looks like it, but honest to goodness, I don't live under a rock. I'm just really slow on announcing things sometimes.

Lessons from a Clockwork Queen appears in Fantasy Magazine this week (which, by now, is almost last week). There's also an Author Spotlight where I talk about clockworks, lessons, and trolls.

In other news, I'm revamping the guidelines for both Mirror Dance and Lacuna. No major changes, but I'll be making my fiction philosophy a bit more explicit (so when I say "this isn't quite what I'm looking for" in a rejection letter, the author doesn't scream in frustration). Stay tuned.

Full Page →

Friday, September 09, 2011

editing, fantasy, steampunk, writing

Works in Progress

First things first: "The Copperroof War" appears as a reprint in the current (and, sadly, last) issue of Labyrinth Inhabitant. Go check it out!

Second things second: It's that time of [insert time cycle here], where I look at my list of stories that I ought to finish one of these days, and instead of thinking about ways to finish them, I do a first line meme. I meant to refresh my list at the beginning of the year, but life (read: classes) got in the way. So here's what I ought to be writing, in no particular order.

"The Improbable Library of Asmodeus Foster"
Rosamund Solomon found the body in a footnote on page 217.

Weirdly, I see that the exact page with the body-containing footnote has changed from 216 to 217 and back to 216 (and now back to 217) in various drafts of this story. That's not important. What is important is that the murderer's identity has also changed in each draft, and I'm not really satisfied with any of them. So, back to the sketch pad or whatever.

"The Basilisk and Sophia Kadare"
If, as Sophia Kadare claims, all poems are serpants, the sonnet sequence of Pasiphae Isaac is a basilisk.

Sophia Kadare is a literary critic attempting an interpretation of the famously lethal sonnet sequence of Pasiphae Isaac.

"The Ninety-Nine Houses of Irene Dobrokost"
No first line yet. Hebene Yacob attempts to steal a house from Irene Dobrokost, who owns every abandoned building in the city. Also, ghouls.

"All in a Hot and Copper Sky"
I have written her a thousand letters.

Dolores remembers her lover, Socorro Mariner, the Queen of Mars. The first line keeps changing, as does the format. Is this a diary, or a reminiscence, or an interview, or a letter? And how did everyone get to Mars in the first place?

"The Small Rain Down Can Rain"
"We think there might be some interest," Stephen said, "in a posthumous collection."

Laura travels through time, gathering poems for her sister Daphne's final collection. Someone is following her. Who are they, and what do they want with Daphne? I'm not quite sure.

"There was no King in Israel"
The girl called Requiem follows Levi to the edge of camp.

Post-apocalyptic retelling of the last chapters of Judges. The current draft is missing quite a bit of backstory, but I like what I've got. Now who'd be interested in publishing this...?

"Babel," "Danae," "Actaeon"
Some nights, when I grow weary of lying awake and listening to the incomprehensible murmuring of the world, I leave the city sleeping in its whithered gardens and go to the ruins of the Tower.
He likes the Owl best.
Over the burbling of the expresso machine behind the bakery counter, he hears the dogs.

Three retellings, one Biblical, two from Ovid. One magic realism, one fantasy, one--Lovecraftian? I have first drafts of all of them, and like what I see. Now, who'd be interested in publishing these...?

"The Dead Women of Bajos Court," "The Women of Arcadio Leon," "The Riverland"
Four dead women live in four gray houses at the end of Bajos Court.
My body is a map of places Arcadio Leon has loved.
Sixty-four miles past the Junction, the land becomes a red and vibrant place.

A Bluebeard story, a haunted(?) film strip, and man-eating lions. I've made no significant progress on these three stories since November.

"The Unbinding of Artemis Kale," "The Gardens of Revenant Road," "The Memory of Philippa Lune"
Lady Saraband burst into the tent. "Artemis is pregnant."
After the war, a woman calling herself Gethsemane Armand came into Moses Johnson's cafe and asked about the place at the end of Revenant Road.
They bought the house on Pall Street because it was where Anabeth Bellcross had died.

A murdered escape artist, a war criminal on the run, and a historian who can remember everything except her own life--and happens to be the prime witness in a murder trail. All of these are in the final brush-up and submit stage. Yay!

"Frankincense and Myrrh" [working title]
Balthazar was dead.

Vashti, Melchior's wife, tells us about the final years of the Three Kings. I love the magi, but the current draft of this story is rediculously cheesy. I also need a title.

"Cafe Macondo"
The scanner bipped, an ascending four-note scale of disapproval. "Sorry, ma'am," I said. "This coffee isn't in our system. It's from an alternate dimension."

Interdimensional coffee and the line between wishes and reality. Based on true events. Ready(?) to be typed up and submitted.

"The Reconstitution of [Museum Name]"
At precisely 4:00, Winter closed her pocketwatch and drew her pistol in one fluid motion.

Winter and her followers kidnap an entire museum to reclaim the artifacts that were stolen from her people. Action! Adventure! Archaeology! Missing corpses! Also, clockwork docents.

"Hunger Lake"
The morning they buried our father, Bel found wolf tracks in the ice over Hunger Lake.

A dying woman returns to her childhood home. When a stranger becomes trapped there in a snowstorm, Madeline must confront the truth about her sister's death. I've got to get this one finished and submitted before February. Wish me luck!

"The Butterfly Garden of Eliott Stone" alt, "Eliott Stone, Queen of the Butterflies"
No first line yet. Or rather, too many first lines (and scenes) to narrow down. The Queen's new summer home forces Eliott to leave the house where she has lived since she was fifteen. Little do the villagers know, the fate of the kingdom of butterflies is at stake. Okay, this one's seriously weird.

Full Page →

Thursday, January 27, 2011

editing, first lines, writing

The Gales of November

I'm in a slightly foul mood as I type this, having spent the last four hours trying to catch up on Lacuna slush and failing miserably. I'm very frustrated with the tendency of some authors to use nationalities or--God forbid--"race" as a shorthand for characterization. Russians are Russians, some stories seem to say; surely you know everything you could possibly want to know about Nikolai when I refer to him as "the Russian"? And let's not get started on the bull I see white authors pulling with Native and African American characters. Guys, guys, I thought we'd figured this out by now: stereotypes are harmful. They are evil. They are not literary.

So, yeah. Bit put out about that. And then there's this weird thing going on this submissions period with simultaneous submissions. Now, I may not be the sharpest banana in the rain forest, but when I send a rejection letter at 5:00 Monday afternoon, and you send me a reply at 7:00 Monday evening to say, "Oh, too bad you didn't like the story, it was just accepted by [insert magazine title here]," I know damn well you sent me a simultaneous submission. It's even worse if I sent you an acceptance at 5:00 on Monday. So, simultaneous submissions; don't do them.

Oh, and if you do need to withdraw your story from consideration because you submitted it simultaneously? Don't send the same withdrawal notice to me and twenty-three other editors. You know how I feel when I see twenty-four e-mail addresses on the sendee line? Not pleased, sir. Not pleased at all.

Full Page →

Thursday, November 11, 2010

editing, editing Lacuna, Hall of Shame, historical fiction, Lacuna

Track Changes option, how to I love thee?

On a much happier note, I got some work done on that story I'm supposed to be editing. It took longer than I expected, because for some reason revising a scene always takes twenty times longer than writing it in the first place, but it's moving forward, which is all I can ask for right now.

I normally dislike revising because it takes up time I could be using on a new story to change a story that's already "done." The characters have moved out of my brain, the voice is hard to recapture--and the story's already been accepted, so it's not like my extra work is going to make me any extra money. But right now, when I can't make any progress on new stories, I might as well be polishing up the old ones.

I looked at a calendar this morning and nearly choked when I realized how close we are to September 1. *Gack! Autumn issue of Mirror Dance needs finishing!* Time to get cracking on that formatting, and gosh I hope I have some cover art picked out already.

Nose, meet grindstone.

Full Page →

Thursday, August 12, 2010

editing, Mirror Dance, revising

Good Things Come in Threes

1. Crimethink, while not entirely formatted, is now online.

2. My poem "What Sieglinde Serpentslayer Said to the King" is online at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

3. James Lecky's "Ancient Shades" is also online at HFQ, and I've never read a story of his that I didn't enjoy immensely.

Full Page →

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Crimethink, editing, HFQ, publishing, recomendations, writing

June Things!

The June issue of Mirror Dance is now online, and my story "The Copperroof War" appears in the June issue of Ideomancer.

Full Page →

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

editing, fantasy, publishing, short fiction, updates, writing