"Becoming"

In case you missed the announcement the first time around, my story "Becoming" is now live at The Absent Willow Review. It's a fantasy piece, about a beautiful fairy named Elinor who is unhappy because she can only see her flaws when she looks in the mirror. If you've ever loved someone enough to try and change everything you are, check it out.

21 January 2010

In This Kingdom by the Sea

"Becoming" is tearing my heart and soul to bits with red-hot tongs. Some stories come pouring out like blood onto the paper; some stories require more thinking and planning to be born; and some...some have to be pulled, kicking and screaming, fighting all the way. This is definitely one of those.

Every day I sit down, and stare at it. Then I go off on some tangent, checking email or twitter, or some such nonsense. Eventually I chide myself for procrastinating and get back to it, reading through and making corrections as I go (I'm an in-process reviser girl). Then I get to the end, and the blank space stares at me like the view from the gang plank, and slowly, tentatively, I start walking. Every sentence goes down at a cost. It's taking me forever to write, and I suspect it will take just as long (or longer, if I put it away to percolate for a while) to revise. Still, it's coming. Slowly, damnit, but it's coming.

Some good news today. The folks at The Absent Willow Review let me know that "The Last Fairy Tale" has been chosen to be included in their first-ever anthology, to be released at the end of this year. I'm absolutely thrilled. I love this story, and I loved the experience of writing it (on vacation in the middle of a beautiful forest). So, I'm happy for the news.

The LOML is still away, though, which tempers things. Hard to be apart from him for any length of time. We are very, very close. He is my best friend and confidante, the driving force behind my decision to be a writer, my cheerleader and my other half. I hope he is able to come home soon.

03 June 2009

The Art of the Art

Fairly productive day yesterday, as I wandered away from "Becoming" and started a new story, horror, called "The Devil's Wheel". It's about a carnival that shows up in town only once every ten years, and a loser, low-end criminal named Bucket who finds his way there...

A great find a few days ago, "Eros, Philia, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky, up at Tor.com. It's a wonderful story, full of everything I think good SciFi should strive to achieve - believable, solid characters who are trying to figure out how to be human in a world driven by technology. Check it out if you can.

25 March 2009