This year I attended my second conference run by the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. This year was a very different experience from last year in many ways. It was at a different hotel, I was able to attend on Thursday and Friday, and I wasn’t pitching to any agents or editors. This led to some good moments, some bad.
Several weeks ago, while talking about my submission to Cobalt City: Dark Carnival, my friend Torrey pointed out with faint surprise that I actually had fun writing my story about Snowflake. And, I’ll admit, I have had stupid fun writing for all the other Cobalt City stuff I’ve participated in. I can’t say that it’s strictly a matter of the publisher. My entry into Growing Dread was a very difficult thing to write. But I think overall my Cobalt City stories have allowed me the opportunity to cut loose and play with the topic a bit.
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I’ve been away for a bit. Work has persisted in being unaccommodating for my blogging regimen, and after fracturing my elbow Monday night I haven’t been much for typing. Today is the first day it’s really been possible.
Okay, I’ll admit up front that the cake is a lie. You had to have seen that coming.
First off, my long time friend Joanne Uppendahl has put out a collection of her poetry called She Sho Gathers Stones. I’ve ordered my copy and you may be inclined to order it as well.
In more local to me news, I got a mention in my neighborhood blog. Because, you know, neighborhood newsletters are so last century. The article is about the launch of the Cobalt City Timeslip anthology, which I have a story in. There is also a reading and signing event at Wayward Coffeehouse on Ocotber 9th from 7-10. The girlfriend and I won’t be able to make it due to a conflicting engagement, but all the rest of the authors should be. You can also Pre-order the book here.
I’ve submitted a story to a pro market finally and received a rejection. This was one of the most discouraging rejections to date. Not only did they get my name wrong, but when offering feedback on the story they confused it with another piece they had read. I’ve turned around and re-submitted elsewhere. So here’s to hoping.
And now, the honeydew.
This last weekend I went to the Penny Arcade Expo, so I thought I’d do a quick summary of stuff I saw and did.
Lots of stuff to talk about, but that’s a different post. I popped on here to pimp the mighty Sanford Allen. He was at the workshop in Kansas with me and the writing he brought to the workshop was some of my favorite stuff that I read. He will be at ArmadilloCon this weekend. He will be doing readings and sitting in on panels. If you are in the South-Central Texas area and are interested in the convention, I encourage you to seek him out.
Before I dig in with this, I’d like to give a hearty hurrah for Ann Charles, who has just won the Daphne du Maurier award in the unpublished division. Not only did Nearly Departed in Deadwood take first place in the “Mainstream Mystery/Suspense” category, but she was also the overall Daphne winner for that division. Rock on!
My big hurrah coming up is my first honest-to-gosh reading. This is the official blurb:
An Evening of Authors, Wayward Coffeehouse, August 21, 7-10pm.
Hosted by Jennifer Brozek and Nate Crowder. Come to an evening of authors and good coffee at Wayward Coffeehouse. We will be reading from recent and forthcoming releases, answering questions and generally having a good time. Come one, come all and enjoy an evening with your local authors. Find out what’s next. Authors include: Cat Rambo, Rosemary Jones, Keffy R. M. Kehrli, Alma Alexander, Nate Crowder, Jeremy Zimmerman, R. Schuyler Devin, Leah Cutter, Sunder Cameron Addams and Angela Korra’ti.
I don’t recognize all of those names, but the ones I do are people I sat on the other side of the table from during panels at Norwescon. I’m a little stunned to be amongst such luminaries. Holy mackerel.
Less auspicious is that I’ve received five rejections in a row. Two of them encouraged me to submit to them again. Two were people I’ve submitted to in the past and will probably submit to again in the future. One told me the anthology will not be coming out after all. D’oh. Two of my rejections came in today. After a night of fitful sleep because my bedroom is an oven right now, the rejections hit me a bit harder than they might normally. One of these five also qualifies as my fastest rejection ever. I’ve never been turned down the same day before.
And now, the honeydew.
A quick post to review where I am with my goals.
First, some pimping!
This month, Wily Writers has been providing flash fiction weekly instead of short fiction every other week. The great thing about Wily Writers is that (a) it’s free and (b) they provide MP3 readings of all their stories. This week’s story is, “Grand-Monster” by Sasha Janel McBrayer.
(And, you know, I have a story there too if you want to look for that. *ahem*)
In other news, I spent Saturday night at a reading at Third Place Books for Apex Publishing’s Close Encounters of the Urban Kind. Jennifer Brozek, the editor of the anthology, coordinated the five authors that read and did signings. I meant to post information about the reading earlier, but have been too busy with deadlines to poke at this blog. Especially since most of my update is, “Still working on it.” And I also haven’t read the anthology.
BUT! That said, the readings I heard were marvelous. I felt definitely out of my league among some of these people, and I play D&D with a couple of them. Really top notch stuff. The authors present were:
(I feel I should add: Nate, Rosemary and Eric all had good readings as well. But I already knew they were going to be good. Alma Alexander and Shannon Page were unknown variables.)
Anyway, a quick update on the honeydew. New stuff is italicized, unless I screw up the HTML again.
Currently reading The Fall of Hyperion, the award-winning sequel to the award-winning Hyperion. I’ve come across at least a couple “As You Know Bob” moments in the text.
Continuing to chug away at deadlines. Got a couple items off my plate, so I’m feeling pretty good about that. This week will be mostly dedicated to clubbing my stuff before I send it to Mr. Gunn for the workshop.
Now, have some honeydew.
