Tag: science fiction

Year in Review & Award Eligibility 2018

February 5, 2019
Nothing like good ol’ paper.
Alternate heading: I have 2 seconds before The Razor’s Edge falls over. 0.5 seconds before F&SF follows suit.

2018 was a dreamily wonderful year for me in terms of publication. So dreamy, in fact, that I’m apparently still asleep. Hence why I’m writing this now when everyone else has made their award eligibility posts a month ago.

But nominations are still open for the major SF/F awards. So I’ve listed my 2018 publications below, aided by attempts at pithy, funny summaries. Attempts, I say, because this might get long and not so pithy. If brevity is the soul of wit, then I have none of it. Sorry, Shakes.

Some of the awards I’m eligible for include:

  • The Hugo Awards: Nominations are open until March 16 at 11:59 Pacific Daylight Time. Nominating can be done by current Worldcon members, members of last year’s Worldcon, or members of next year’s Worldcon.
  • The Nebula Awards: Nominations are open until February 15 for Active and Associate members of SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America).
  • The Aurora Awards: For the best Canadian SF/F of the year. Nominations are open from March 1 to May 21. Members of the
    Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association are allowed to nominate and vote.
  • I’m also in my first year of eligibility for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. It is not technically a Hugo, but it follows the same nomination and voting process. Nominations are open until March 15 at 11:59 Pacific Daylight Time.

And here are the individual stories I’ve published this year, and what they are eligible for. Stories marked with a * are available to read for free.

Eligible for Best Short Story (Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards):

*“The Mooncakes of My Childhood” (330 words) in PodCastle. A short piece on the rock-hard, northern version of mooncakes, and how they could be weaponized.

“A Place Without Seasons” (1,370 words) in Factor Four Magazine. Sentient snowbunnies can stick around after winter rather than going the way of Frosty the Snowman… if you stick them in the freezer, of course.

*“Subtle Ways Each Time” (2,100 words) in Escape Pod. A man loses a woman, and decides time travel is the solution. He might be wrong.

“Final Flight of the PhoenixWing” (3,760 words) in The Razor’s Edge. Gundam, but with time dilation and an old lady protagonist.

*“Glass Heart Giant” (3,850 words) in Sanctuary. What if you were trapped inside someone’s literal heart? Written in a day.

Eligible for Best Novelette (Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards):

*“The Palace of the Silver Dragon” (7,820 words) in Strange Horizons. No one who hears the Silver Dragon’s song and jumps into the sea ever returns alive. Aliah knows this, as she takes the leap.

*“The Girl with the Frozen Heart” (8,300 words) in Awakenings from Book Smugglers Publishing. The story of a dying girl, a god who tries to save her, and a boy who falls in love with her.

“The Lady of Butterflies” (8,970 words) in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A foreign girl with no memories appears in the Kejalin court, and the First Sword of the Empire is forced to be her caretaker.

All the above stories are also eligible for the Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction.

I’ve also published two poems, which are eligible for the Rhysling Award (nominations by members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association) and the Aurora Award for Best Poem or Song.

*“The Cosmos Chronicler” in Polar Borealis #6. Astronomy-inspired freeverse.

*“Death’s Knotted Circle” in Polar Borealis #8. Iambic pentametre published in 2018. About as gloomy as the title suggests.

Concluding Thoughts: I’m quite proud of the amount of stories I’ve published this year. Less proud of my inability to blog consistently, and to write my detailed thoughts about every story (as I’ve promised).

I’m still in the wide-eyed honeymoon phase of publishing, so I read reviews. They have been quite positive and even heartwarming (I am writing that down here, so that one day, buried beneath scathing reviews, I can look back and laugh at myself. That’s when I’ll know I’ll have become a “real writer”). “The Lady of Butterflies” and “The Palace of the Silver Dragon,” in particular, have garnered a number of positive reviews (which I, of course, retweeted gleefully). Those two happen to be my personal favourites as well. “The Lady of Butterflies” is more classic secondary-world fantasy, and I planned it out scene by scene, while “The Palace of the Silver Dragon” is darker and I myself took half the story to figure out the main character’s actual deal.

For anyone who read anything I published this year, I would love to hear your thoughts below, positive or negative.

Current Projects: I have two stories and a poem forthcoming in 2019. One will be in Clarkesworld, and the other two I cannot announce yet.

I am also slogging through the third act of a fantasy time travel novel set in the same world as “The Lady of Butterflies.” I’ve finally restarted development on a visual novel I wrote three years ago; I thought I was done the writing part, but apparently three-year-old prose is kinda yucky, who would’ve thought? I am still working on short stories, though more in terms of editing existing ones rather than writing new ones. For now, at least.

This was supposed to be an awards eligibility post. It seems to have veered off-track. Attempt #8923476 at being pithy. Result: not achieved.

The Razor’s Edge available worldwide

July 9, 2018

Contributor copies of The Razor’s Edge. Trade paperback to the left, limited Kickstarter edition to the right.

The Razor’s Edge anthology, featuring my story “Final Flight of the PhoenixWing,” is now available in print and ebook! Originally slated for a September release, the new Zombies Need Brains anthologies were released early on June 15th. To get your copy:

From the publisher: Limited Edition Paperback, Trade Paperback, Ebook

Amazon: US, Canada, UK (and in various other countries–I located the Amazon Spain one, for instance)

Ebook: Kobo, Kindle, Nook

The Razor’s Edge, as described by the publisher:

From The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress to The Hunger Games, everyone enjoys a good rebellion. There is something compelling about a group (or individual) who throws caution to the wind and rises up in armed defiance against oppression, tyranny, religion, the government—you name it. No matter the cause, or how small the chance, it’s the courage to fight against overwhelming odds that grabs our hearts and has us pumping our fists in the air. 

Win or lose, it’s the righteous struggle we cherish, and those who take up arms for a cause must walk The Razor’s Edge between liberator and extremist.

The line-up is pretty awesome, with headlining authors such as Seanan McGuire and L.E. Modesitt, Jr. See the full table of contents here. My story’s running the anchor leg.

“Final Flight of the PhoenixWing” is a mix of giant robot fight, time dilation, and friends-turned-rivals-turned-enemies. Ever watched Gundam Wing, Neon Genesis Evangelion, or some other mecha show and thought, “Man, instead of these whiny teenagers, I wish there was an older person in the cockpit?” That’s my story—mecha with old lady protagonist.

If you prefer rogues skulking in dark alleys or time-travelling bars with drinks served by Gilgamesh, check out the other new ZNB anthologies: Guilds & Glaives and Second Round: A Return to the Ur-Bar. And browse their shop for the editor plushies. Always the editor plushies.

Will update soon with more details about the writing process behind “Final Flight of the PhoenixWing.” Once upon a time, I wanted to write a whole saga about mecha pilots.

Storming the EA podcasts!

June 1, 2018

You’ve heard of the EA podcasts–

Wait, you haven’t? Escape Artists (EA) is a publishing company that operates four fiction podcasts. They have a sizable audience, are an SFWA-qualified venue, and provide a great way to experience fiction amidst busy modern life (I tend to listen to them on the subway; if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me give shout-outs to particular episodes I’ve enjoyed). Their podcasts are:

Alright, so you’re wondering why I’m posting about this now. Well, because…

I have not one, but two stories coming out with the EA podcasts!

  • “Subtle Ways Each Time” will be appearing in Escape Pod.
  • “The Mooncakes of My Childhood” will be appearing in PodCastle.

Escape Pod and PodCastle have top-notch narration, so I’m excited for the audio versions of these stories. The EA podcasts publish both originals and reprints; in this case, neither of these stories have been published before. When released, they will be available for free on their respective podcast websites, to both read and listen to (EA is donation-supported).

It is an honour for my stories to be selected. Hopefully I will be able to storm a couple more EA podcasts in the future, if they don’t slam their shutters on me quick enough.

“The Cosmos Chronicler” out now in Polar Borealis

April 7, 2018

Polar Borealis #6 available now! (Art by Jean-Pierre Normand)

My SFF poem “The Cosmos Chronicler” is out now in Polar Borealis #6 (April/May 2018 issue). This is, to sound all pretentious, my first piece of published creative writing. (Seriously, never even published in a school journal before.) Issue #6 is available as a free PDF download. And you can find all Polar Borealis issues here.

When I wrote it during undergrad, “The Cosmos Chronicler” started as a rhyming poem. My alma mater offered two astronomy classes for math-challenged art students: one about the sun and solar system, the other about galaxies and the universe. Being a big dreamer, a fantasy writer, and–most importantly–a full-time student who must consider how courses fit into her schedule, I chose the latter.

I discovered my poem actually aligned nicely with some images and concepts from astronomy. And to squeeze them in, I would not be able to keep the rhyme scheme. So I rewrote the poem as freeverse. I didn’t submit it anywhere though–back then I only submitted short stories. Though I’ve been writing poetry since forever, I only recently started submitting it. Thankfully, this poem found a home.

A cursory look through the Polar Borealis website will tell you that editor R. Graeme Cameron is very passionate about promoting new Canadian authors of science fiction and fantasy. If you like the magazine, the issue, or the stories or poems in the other issues, you can donate to Polar Borealis to contribute to future issues. Graeme explains it much better there than I can possibly do here.

Finally, before I end this too-long-for-a-short-poem blog post: I want to give a shout-out to Lena Ng, my friend, writing group buddy, and sparring-partner-in-vicious-critique. She has a story in the same issue, and I highly recommend it. It’s called “Kittens Crawling.” Sounds adorable, doesn’t it…?

 

“Final Flight of the PhoenixWing” coming in The Razor’s Edge

March 24, 2018

Cover art of The Razor’s Edge, by Justin Adams of Varia Studios

Two months ago, I made a sale. It’s finally time to let the cat—or rather, the giant mecha—out of the bag.

My story “Final Flight of the PhoenixWing” will appear in The Razor’s Edge, a military SF/F anthology from Zombies Need Brains, edited by Troy Bucher and Joshua Palmatier. The anthology will explore rebellion, insurgency, and the line between a liberator and an extremist. You can pre-order it as an ebook or a limited edition mass market paperback. It will also have a trade paperback edition upon release (Estimated release date: August 2018).

Now, a little more about my story. It has two origins: a writing prompt from nine months ago, and an old idea from… more than nine years ago.

Last summer, my writing group held a social gathering. Dinner at a restaurant, bring a piece of writing. The organizer gave us a writing prompt: use these four words in a one-page piece of writing.

Strangely, writing prompts rarely inspire brand new ideas out of me. Instead, they often incite me to dust off old ideas I’d wanted to write since forever. In this case, it was a giant mecha story I first conceived of as a teenager. (Must’ve been all that Gundam Wing I watched.)

As usual, I overshot the word limit and wrote two pages instead of one. The restaurant we selected turned out to be noisy and not exactly well-lit—hardly an ideal setting for reading a far-future science fiction story crammed onto single-spaced pages (printed at the public library, so I skimped on printing fees). I had to shout to be heard, and my writing group was probably just confused. But I had the beginnings of a story.

Fast forward a few months. Zombies Need Brains had three new anthologies in the works. I knew I had to submit something. Second Round intrigued me, but I didn’t know if I could write for it (See my comment about writing prompts. I usually find ideas that suit submission calls, rather than use submission calls to come up with ideas). I had several ideas that might fit the tone of Guilds & Glaives, but they weren’t about guilds per se. I could tweak them, of course.

Then there was The Razor’s Edge. Insurgency, rebellion, military SF/F. I opened old Word documents. Exhibit A: A novelette about rebellion and betrayal … but too long, and in very rough shape. Exhibit B: More military focused, more likely to land within word limit… but half-finished, and written years ago. I could barely remember what I’d intended to write.

Then I looked at the two pages I wrote for that writing group social. They were recently written, and required less clean-up than Exhibits A and B. I still needed to write the other half of the story, but that was easier than tackling those older stories. Between school, work, and other deadlines, I had to pick my battles.

I scribbled. I edited. I scrapped two of those “writing prompt words,” though I kept the other two. I sent my story at the last moment and thought I’d probably flown too close to the sun/insert-your-star-of-choice. I breathed a sigh of relief when I received the acknowledgement email. I was grateful that the story will be considered. I didn’t think for one second that it would be accepted.

When I received the acceptance email on January 29th, I leapt out of my chair and went dancing in the hallway. It’s not technically my first sale, but emotionally it felt like it. I’d sold a story a few months before, but the magazine went on hiatus without publishing my story. I also had a unique tentative acceptance situation going on elsewhere, but because of the uniqueness of the situation, my brain couldn’t quite remember how to shift into celebration mode. That email from Joshua and Troy made everything concrete, true. I’d made a sale. I’d made a sale to a professional market whose headliners have included people like David Farland and Seanan McGuire. Sometimes, refusing to self-reject does pay off.

I hope you will check out The Razor’s Edge when it comes out. And my story, “Final Flight of the PhoenixWing.” For extra authenticity, you may or may not wish to read it in a noisy restaurant.

“The Cosmos Chronicler” forthcoming in Polar Borealis

March 16, 2018

Polar Borealis Magazine

My poem “The Cosmos Chronicler” will appear in Polar Borealis #6. The issue is scheduled for a spring 2018 release, and will be available as a free PDF download. Appearing in the same issue will be my friend Lena Ng, which makes this extra special.

Another thing that makes it special: Assuming (hoping, praying) all goes according to schedule, this will be my first published piece of either story or poetry.

The full impact hasn’t quite hit me. Maybe it will when it’s out. The past several months have been wonderful… and very, very strange. I went from ten years of rejections to several acceptances within a few months (idea for a future blog post: that rejection mountain). Not that I’m complaining—I know full well how incredible this is. It just feels surreal, more “is this really happening?” and less “this-is-happening-and-I’m-going-to-run-around-screaming!”

It may be a little odd, that my first publication will be a poem. But it’s fitting. Generally, I think of myself as a storyteller more than a poet. Telling stories is something I’ve done for as long as I can remember. Poetry I started doing in a more normal way, the way most kids start: with school assignments. (Some I went completely overboard for. Such as writing seven-page epics before I got out of elementary school. How and why did I do that? I can barely write an epic now.)

However, if you were to ask me which I started writing first, poetry or prose… I wouldn’t be able to tell you. Until I was ten I didn’t write my stories down. I’m not sure which came first: my poem about Christmas fairies or my Anne of Green Gables rip-off first chapter (Hey, I was ten!). So in a way poetry influenced me to write things rather than just imagine them.

Now I shall climb out of the nostalgia tunnel. More announcements soon, for short stories!