Obligatory Year In Review Post aka I DID THIS 2011

There's still a few days before the end of the year, so maybe there's still time to get that acceptance from Asimovs yet.

Ok, in my dreams, sunshine.

How to quantify my writing success this year? Guardedly. Six stories accepted and published, and one accepted and still awaiting publication is not to be sneezed at. It's five more acceptances than I had by this time last year.

Giving

Happy Holidays, however you celebrate it!

In the spirit of giving this season, you can give back to fledgling authors like myself by supporting the venues that have supported and encouraged me this year.

On The Rejection Front 20/12/2011

It's been a while since I talked about rejections in detail. Don't worry, they're still coming in droves.

On the Personalized Rejection front, I've received them from: Fantasy and Science Fiction (gasp! PROGRESS!); Strange Horizons (huzzah! another!); Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (they always do constructive criticism); Mutation Nation; Shimmer (they're always nice); and Redstone Science Fiction (my homies). The personalized response from Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF was a real surprise - means the story filtered up through the slush pile. I'm very happy with that.

The Form Rejections keep on piling in: Asimovs (try and try and try again...); Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations; Daily Science Fiction (two different stories); Shock Totem (first time I'd tried submitting there); Analog (I mean really, who am I kidding?); and Lightspeed (dang, are they super fast on those rejections. Whiplash!).

I stay positive about a lot of these rejections, because editors are starting to get to know my name and style, and I really appreciate the time they take to give a personal response or feedback. I think of it as a kind of networking.



After rejecting the humans as a viable source of knowledge,
 the aliens decided to opt for a much more intelligent life form...



What I've Been Reading 16/12/2011

An update on what I've been reading lately. Chewy book list after the jump.

Ninja Sale: "Talk To Your Universe" WiFiles.com

Rather odd to go to the website of an Ezine one has a submission pending at...only to find it published on the front page!

My odd little 'god or not' piece "Talk To Your Universe" is now available at The WiFiles.com.

I guess it's the sale I wanted before the end of the year. *knock knock* Hi, Wi Files! Can you get back to me, plzkthnx!

ETA: They did, we're all sorted and good to go for Official Squee! *does the sale dance*

VA: "Elevator Episodes in Seven Genres" by Ahmed A. Khan at Redstone Science Fiction

Available now at Redstone Science Fiction, my reading of Ahmed A. Khan's "Elevator Episodes in Seven Genres".

Direct download the audio here.

Genre Accessibility For Young Women

I'm not a fan of Justin Beiber. His style of cotton candy music isn't my thing, and he's had a few things to say about rape and abortion that I don't agree with, along with working with the creeptastic photographer Terry Richardson (not a person I'd like to see role modeled towards young women). Perhaps if I was younger I might like him. I was a teenager through the days of New Kids on the Block and Bros, I remember what it was like needing an outlet for suppressed energies.

So what does Justin Bieber have to do with speculative fiction? Currently the industry, fans and contributors alike, are going a little potty over Bieber appropriating steampunk for his latest video, a cover of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". The master of culturally sanctioned nice white boy pop (read: white washed), Bieber dances with a clockwork doll, interacts with backup dances sporting cyborg-style limbs, and romps through a Victoriana toy factory, all the while wearing a vest covered in clockwork jewellery.

Friends With Book Releases: Paul Mannering, K.D. Berry, Jane Higgins

I know people. Who are authors. And friends. And SpecFicNZ members. And Christchurch peeps (well, one is only recently ex-ChCh). And they've released books recently!

• Like a tasty zombie apocalypse? Try "Tankbread" by Paul Mannering (previously interviewed on my blog here). Available for Kindle on Amazon.
  
  

  Ten years ago humanity lost the war for survival against a spreading plague that brought the dead back to life as flesh eating monsters.Now intelligent zombies rule the world.
  
  Feeding the undead a steady diet of cloned people called Tankbread, the survivors live in a dangerous world on the brink of final extinction.
  
  One outlaw courier must go on a journey through the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Australia. Fighting his way into the very heart of the apocalypse in the desperate search for a way to save the last humans and destroy the undead threat.
  
  His only companion is a girl with an extraordinary secret. Her name is Else and she's Tankbread.

  Also available is Paul's recently released anthology of short fiction "The Man Who Could Not Climb Stairs And Other Stores", in Kindle and Paperback editions.

• Who can resist dragons? I can't! "Dragon's Away" by K.D. Berry [Amazon] [Fishpond] 

  It seemed like such a good idea at the time ... a wager with the devious, dangerous and probably quite deranged King Davkosh of the Southern Realms. Half the kingdom staked in a race between mystery contenders. Ten leagues, point to point as the -er- crow flies. Drewdop the Illusionist is quick to point out the flaws in this plan and is tasked with a secret spy mission - to find out just what kind of invincible champion Davkosh has training at home. Travelling in magical disguise causes unforeseen complications for Drewdop, while his half-ogre bodyguard, in the guise of a beautiful woman, certainly turns a few heads. But Drewdop soon discovers that the great race is the least of their worries. Davkosh's glamorous, fiery and ruthless queen, Gunora, is massing an army ready for attack whatever the outcome. Meanwhile, deep in the dark forest, one of Davkosh's elite royal messengers is facing his own perilous destiny - how to become the world's first and only surviving dragon rider...

• For Young Adult Sci Fi, "The Bridge" by Jane Higgins [Amazon] [Fishpond] [The Nile] 

  The City is divided. The bridges gated. In Southside, the hostiles live in squalor and desperation, waiting for a chance to overrun the residents of Cityside. Nik is still in high school but destined for a great career with the Internal Security and Intelligence Services, the brains behind the war. But when ISIS comes recruiting, everyone is shocked when he isn't chosen. There must be an explanation, but no one will talk about it. Then the school is bombed and the hostiles take the bridges. Buildings are burning, kids are dead, and the hostiles have kidnapped Sol. Now ISIS is hunting for Nik. But Nik is on the run, with Sol's sister Fyffe and ISIS hot on their trail. They cross the bridge in search of Sol, and Nik finds answers to questions he'd never dared to ask.

It's so fantastic to see so much great sci fic, fantasy and horror coming right out of my hometown. Christchurch specfic represent!

Bad Rejections Happen

I've been contemplating how to phrase this post without coming across as bitchy, finger pointy or starting some small call out war. I don't want any of that.

But here it is as honestly as I can put it: bad rejections happen, and they have to be contextualized for a writer to move on.