June 18th Release for New Neil Gaiman Novel

As proof of just how much I enjoy Neil Gaiman's work, today I pre-ordered his new novel "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" on CD from Amazon. I don't remember ever pre-ordering any book by any author, but Gaiman's first novel written for adults in nearly ten years seemed to warrant it. From the sound of things, the novel leans more toward horror than some of his work and, doing a little internet surfing, found that it is already planned for a movie adaptation as well. With "American Gods" slated to be an HBO series soon, I have a lot to look forward to.

"The Unseen Truths" out today in Emerald Sky

The new issue of Emerald Sky is out today along with the reprint of my story, "The Unseen Truths."

The editorial introduction had wonderful things to say about all three stories in this latest issue and I hope folks will check it out, as well as TM Publishing's previous issues of Emerald Sky, Crimson Fog, Azure Valley and Burgundy Grove.

"The Big, Bad Wolf" Published

My short story "The Big, Bad Wolf" has been published today at Enchanted Conversation.

This story went full circle. I wrote this for a Little Red Riding Hood theme call at Enchanted Conversation but, computers being computers, my story somehow failed to arrive during the two-day submission period. EC went on with other themed calls and then closed for a time to restructure. When the magazine re-opened, without specific themes this time, my story was subbed elsewhere. The stars finally realigned in February this year, I resubmitted to EC, and the story was picked as one of the two monthly winners. It's gratifying to see it published in the magazine for which it was originally written.

Fairy tales, tales of the faerie, and mythology are all special interests of mine and I'm delighted to  be published in Enchanted Conversation for the first time. Kudos to editor, Kate Wolford, for keeping fairy tales alive and promoting the tradition to her students and readers.

Beyond the Gates Out Now In Aoife's Kiss

A reprint of my story "Beyond the Gates" has been published in Issue 44 of Aoife's Kiss. It was released in electronic version yesterday by the new publishers, White Cat Publications, with the print version to be released soon. I'm pleased this story has been picked up again and am very happy to be a contributor to Aoife's Kiss for the first time. Writing buddy, Alicia Curtis also appears in the same issue with one of her fabulous poems, "Asteroid Orphan."

                                                                                                                             

"Voyager" Accepted at ASIM

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine has accepted my flash fiction story "Voyager" for issue #58! I'm thrilled to be working with ASIM for the second time as a contributor.

The genesis for this story is not any earth-shattering bolt of inspiration - I simply set out with a goal of writing a fun, humorous story with some actual (theoretical, at least) science in it and a nod to Trekkies everywhere.

"Midnight Calls" Published in Plasma Frequency

Issue #2 of Plasma Frequency Magazine is now live at http://plasmafrequencymag.com/issue2.html.

Issue #1 had a great variety: short stories and flash, fantasy and scifi, humor and dark, and it looks like issue #2 will do the same. I'm very pleased that my dark flash-fiction piece, "Midnight Calls," was chosen to be included in the collection.

Reprint of "The Unseen Truths" accepted by TM Magazine

TM Magazine has accepted my story "The Unseen Truths" for publication in their Emerald Sky imprint. "The Unseen Truths" was first published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Issue 52, and I am thrilled that a pro magazine has decided to pick it up for publication again. The publication date is still to be determined.

TM Magazine is a new project of TM Publishing that plans to publish four different magazines, each of a different genre/style: Burgandy Grove for literary, Crimson Fog for mystery/thriller, Azure Valleys for true tales and Emerald Sky for Fantasy and Science Fiction. Their first issue of Emerald Sky is out now as their current issue.

"Midnight Calls" Accepted by Plasma Frequency

My flash fiction "Midnight Calls" has been accepted by the folks at Plasma Frequency Magazine, a new bi-monthly speculative fiction magazine. The story is a rather quirky, dark piece that I was fond of, and I'm so glad it's found a good home. It's slated for publication in Issue #2 (Oct '12).

The genesis of this story came from a quick image I had as I was trying to get back to sleep one night. The image was of a crow -- in a waistcoat, I think -- in a dark alley, knocking on a door. The idea of a crow getting into a bar (the thing I imagined the door leading to) conjured an image from the book "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire, where one scene had people and Animals (not animals) in a nightclub. Something disturbing involving a Tiger happened to one of the characters and he was never quite the same again. That scene stuck with me, and so, armed with my crow and my nightclub and a tiger, along with a few of the darker legends of crows, the seeds of a new flash story sprouted.

Reprint of "Beyond the Gates" accepted by Aoife's Kiss

Tyree Campbell at Aoife's Kiss has generously accepted my fantasy short story "Beyond the Gates" as a reprint. The story first ran in The Absent Willow Review in the fall of 2010, but the magazine unfortunately folded late last year and the web site archiving all of their stories has vanished. Aoife's Kiss (per their website it's pronounced EE-fah, as in Irish for "Eve" for those wondering) publishes both print and online and, per my contract, it seems the story will appear in both versions. "Beyond the Gates" is slated to appear in the March, 2013 issue.

Thiery's Sons in the Quarter-Finals of ABNA

I haven't had any short story sales to write about for 10 long months (3 close calls at pro magazines, but close only counts in -- well whatever it is, it isn't the publishing world), so I'll post instead that my first novel, Thiery's Sons, has advanced to the quarter-finals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. (I entered it under the author name Eliza Collins as Thiery's Sons is traditional, high fantasy, very different from the contemporary fantasy I'm currently writing.).

Getting to this point is probably not due as much to talent as it is to luck, but I was very lucky indeed that my pitch was deemed interesting enough to get through round one and my "Vine Reviewers" must have been part of my target audience. They both wrote very flattering reviews of my Chapter One excerpt, allowing me to advance beyond round two.

Now that I'm in the quarter-finals, the contest gets really interesting. To this point, it has been Amazon admin and frequent reviewers that judged the contestants; from this point on, it's professionals in the publishing world that read and review the entries. In the quarter-finals, a critic from Publishers Weekly will read the entire novel and write a review. The novels with the best reviews will advance to the semi-finals.

Whether I advance or not, I'll leave this round with my PW review in hand (scary, as they could write a scathing review -- but exciting, too). If the review is positive, I can use it later if the book is ever published or if I decide at some point to self-publish. It's a pretty cool perk of getting this far in the contest. Now I just have to hold my breath for the next 5 weeks until the review is posted.