From the mind of Megan Arkenberg

April 22, 2015

WisCon Schedule (preliminary)

Posted by Megan Arkenberg with 6 comments
It's almost that time of year again! I'll be at WisCon 39 from Saturday morning (5/23) until Monday afternoon (5/25). Here's my preliminary panel lineup:

Story Submission Clubhouse - Saturday, 8:30–9:45 am

Bring your laptop and learn how to write a query letter, format your story, and choose markets -- and submit it, right at the con! A supportive Den Parent or several will be around for hand-holding and advice. Bond with your fellow writers just starting out, and take concrete steps towards getting published.

"Infodump," "Mary Sue" And Other Words That Authors Are Sick Of Hearing - Sat, 4:00–5:15 pm

Charlie Jane Anders got the ball rolling on io9 by asking some authors what writing workshop critique terms they'd like to see retired (or destroyed). Answers ranged from "Relatable" to "Head-Hopping" to "the distinction between 'hard' and 'soft' science fiction." http://io9.com/infodump-mary-sue-and-other-words-that-authors-are-1663345948 An interesting discussion ensued in many comment threads. Do these critical restrictions do more harm than good? Or is it only when you've mastered the craft that you have the right - and the ability - to break the rules? What terms would you like to see retired, and why?

Penny Dreadful - Monday, 8:30–9:45 am

A ground-breaking female-protagonist show with other complex female characters in it.


And yes, the other participants assigned to those panels are absolutely awesome, but I have to wait until everyone agrees to their schedule assignments before posting names.

February 14, 2015

Five Things of various shapes and sizes

Posted by Megan Arkenberg with 5 comments
Looking at the archive of this blog, there seems to be a pattern: in January, I resolve to work harder on my internet presence, and there are a fair number of blog entries; then the winter quarter catches up with me, and between teaching, research, and writing, I fall off the internet-planet until something happens that demands to be blogged about. The question of whether this particular post fits the pattern or not if left open as an exercise to the reader.

1. Reprints! "Final Exam" is being reprinted in John Joseph Adams' Wastelands 2. Read an interview with me (and other interviews with the other fabulous contributors) here. "The Minotaur's Wife" appeared in Pantheon's Persephone issue at the end of January, and "All the King's Monsters" will appear in Airships & Automatons at the beginning of next month.

2. The Spring 2015 issue of Mirror Dance is all ready to go! I'm also getting a lot of awesome submissions for the summer "Animals and Humans" - more so than usual. Just an especially popular theme? Or is everyone getting a lot of writing done now that they're cooped up for the winter?

3. I finished a story! Yes, that is important enough to get its own bullet point. Horror stories are easy to start and hard to finish, in my experience, so I'm giving myself credit on this.

4. I am not at all caught up on reading. However, as a reward for myself for achieving something like a word-work balance (like a work-life balance, but for people who do two different kinds of work), I bought a copy of Caitlin Kiernan's The Red Tree and re-devoured it in one sitting.

5. And finally, speaking of horror: I am going to the nonfiction editor for Nightmare's Queers Destroy Horror! special issue! Ridiculously excited about this. More news as it comes.



January 25, 2015

2014 Fiction?

Posted by Megan Arkenberg with 5 comments
So, as I have alluded more than once, 2014 was a terrible year for me reading-wise. I've put out a plea on Twitter:


Have any recommendations? Please share them there or here!

January 22, 2015

On Twitter!

Posted by Megan Arkenberg with 8 comments
As I continue to ease my way into the second decade of the twenty-first century, I've finally signed up for Twitter. You can follow me at @meganarkenberg. Feel free to let me know who else I should be following!

In other news, my sister has a story up at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Sunny Moraine released a new novel on Tuesday. The Kickstarter for Lightspeed's Queers Destroy Science Fiction is in full swing, and you should definitely be reading the personal essays by An Owomoyela and others.

My students have their midterm next Monday. I cannot believe how fast time flies on the quarter system.