“Four Seasons in the Forest of Your Mind” at F&SF

I have a story out in the May/June issue of F&SF!

A lot of writers have a market that they submitted to from the beginning and have always wanted to crack. This one is mine. My very first rejection came from F&SF, printed on a half sheet of paper and signed by JJA. The rejection arrived in February of 2006.

I wrote “Four Seasons in the Forest of Your Mind” back when CC Finlay was guest editing at F&SF, with limited windows for submissions. I got the idea for the …

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2014 by the numbers

107 submissions (includes reprints and foreign markets)
31 acceptances (20 original stories, 11 reprints/foreign market)
33 personal rejections
39 form rejections

Submissions-wise, 2014 was an amazing year for me.  I sent out more submissions than any other year, and I had more acceptances this year than in the last 4 years combined.

46500 words written

I don't track daily wordcounts, so to get words written I added up the wordcounts for all my completed drafts.  This includes a couple of co-written stories (and yes, I claimed all the words even though my co-author wrote some), but doesn't …

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Stories in 2014

As I start my year-end frantic reading of short fiction to put together my Nebula nominations, I really like other people's posts reminding me what stories they've had out this year. (I promise myself every year that I will keep up better and not binge read at the end of the year, but do I keep up? NO. I blame other people for writing too much good stuff.) So here is my 2014 roundup post.

My very favorite of my short stories out this year (and, in fact, my favorite of all the things I've ever had published so far) …

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Stories in 2013

I had five stories come out in 2013–a slight decrease from the six I had out in 2012, but definitely not bad given that having a small baby in the house slowed me down somewhat :)

Harmonies of Time (Daily Science Fiction, Jan 1st 2013)

Ten Million Sheets of Paper, All in Black and White (Giganotosaurus, April 2013)

A Crown of Woven Nails (Daily Science Fiction, Aug 26th, 2013)

Elizabeth’s Pirate Army (Fireside Issue #8, December 2013)

The Carnival Was Eaten, All Except the Clown (Electric Velocipede Issue 27)

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Books for Toddlers

AKA which books does my 2-year-old want me to read to her REPEATEDLY, and what qualities do these books share?

My daughter’s current favorite books include:

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Hug
Good Night, Gorilla
Sheep In a Jeep
City Dog, Country Frog

The first two are popular (I think) because I sing them for her. She particularly likes me to sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” in Spanish. But the real key right now is words per page. Ideally, I should read about one …

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Nebula weekend!

I had a fantastic time at the Nebula Awards in DC. I got to meet and hang out several of my fellow nominees, including , ,, Eric James Stone, Rachel Swirsky, Vylar Kaftan, Mary Robinette Kowal and Paolo Bacigalupi. Plus I met many members of Codex (my online writing group), several fantastic editors, and two of my former Clarion West instructors. Phew! Lots of wonderful people and I'm sure I've forgotten some!

On Friday, Peter and I went on a guided tour of the Air and Space Museum. It was so much better than just wandering around the museum (which …

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Three things make a post

(1) I have a flash fiction story coming out at Daily Science Fiction on Monday — if you want to be among the first to read it, head over to their website (http://dailysciencefiction.com/) and get a free email subscription. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a week for the story to be posted on their website.

(2) We’re set to start remodeling our kitchen on Monday, which I am very excited about. The current kitchen is small, walled-off, and TURQUOISE. The new kitchen will be open, bigger, and NOT turquoise. More detailed pictures and postings about the kitchen remodel, but I …

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