A Hot and Copper Sky

Not a reference to the wildfires, I promise. "All in a Hot and Copper Sky" is my latest science fiction story in Lightspeed. I talk about story structure, Mars, and scientific women in the Author Spotlight.

Speaking of hot and copper skies, I went to San Francisco with a group of friends today to see the J. M. W. Turner: Painting Set Free exhibit at the De Young museum. It was a beautifully done exhibit, and quite crowded ("I couldn't see the people for the paintings," Oscar Wilde may have said). My favorite images were Sunrise with Sea Monsters (Cthulhu ftaghn!),  The Hero of a Hundred Fights ("There are fairies of the furnace as of the wood," John Ruskin says), and 'Hurrah! for the Whaler Erebus! Another Fish!' (not to be confused with the other Erebus).

I also bought a postcard of The Angel Standing in the Sun, which illustrates Revelation 19:17--one of the verses that inspired "How Many Miles to Babylon?" I was delighted to note the "birds of midheaven" in the upper left:

Image from Tate Britain.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2015

art, Lightspeed, science fiction, short story, The Good Book

Autumn 2015 issue of Mirror Dance

After posting about our new URL, I realized that I hadn't posted about our new issue! Find it here, and be sure to share the love on your social media platform of choice.

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Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Mirror Dance

URL updates

I've (finally) purchased a non-blogspot URL for Mirror Dance. The new address is www.mirrordancefantasy.com. Old links should still take you to the correct page on the website, but please let me know if you find a broken link in the wild.

In the same vein, you'll notice that the URL at the top of this page is now blog.meganarkenberg.com. Sub-domains: the wave of the future?  Or just darn sexy?

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Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Mirror Dance, public service announcement, updates

August: writing, Mirror Dance, new publications

I'm back in California after a relaxing beer-and-sausage-filled trip back to Wisconsin, and my timing could not be more perfect. I missed the worst of the wildfires and arrived in time to enjoy a stretch of unusually temperate days: the breeze stirring the loose pages on my desk is a mere 88 degrees. The sunflowers are blooming in the fields alongside the freeway. This is the weather that makes people want to move to California.  

So what am I up to now that I'm back? Well, I'm spending nearly every waking hour reading for my upcoming prelim exams. My progress on short fiction this summer can be measured in inches, although I'm wrapping up a flash piece for the next volume of Rhonda Parrish's alphabet anthology series, C is for Chimera. (So what is L for? You'll have to wait and see!). I'm also poking at a Bluebeard story that I started ages and ages ago. It was missing a vital piece in the main character's motivation, but I think I've figured it out as of last month. 

The Autumn 2015 issue of Mirror Dance is ready to go for September 1st. While our Autumn issues aren't themed, there's a general focus on vocations and professions in the short stories this time around. On the other hand, I've been seeing a noticeable uptick in mermaid and selkie stories in the slush pile. Hypotheses? I'd blame it on the drought, but we see submissions from all over the globe.

I have two new stories out this month: "Love in the Time of Markov Processes" in Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists (Lethe Press) and "And This is the Song it Sings" in Nightmare. The first is about alternate universes, Tam Lin, whale falls, and unrequited love; the second is about ghost stories and hitchhiking. Also serial killers, symbiosis, and Rilke (maybe). I talk about that in the Author Spotlight. 

And now: back to reading.

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Monday, August 24, 2015

Mirror Dance, short fiction, the writer in its natural habitat, updates