A Narration, a Sale, and some Miles beneath my Feet

Hellooooo. Here's some news:

I sold a short story! And it's my first collaboration! Randy Henderson and I have co-authored a creepy little tale called "Hiss," for a new supernatural steampunk anthology called GHOST IN THE COGS. For a list of all contributors, see the Table of Contents. We're in some very familiar and talented company. The antho is on track for a release next month -- October 2015.

My narration of "Bent the Wing, Dark the Cloud" by Fran Wilde is now available at Beneath Ceaseless Skies. This was a really fun story to narrate, and takes place in the same universe as Fran's new novel UPDRAFT, which was just released a few days ago.

The other big news, which is actually small news, is that I'm writing and submitting again. It's been a rough year in a lot of ways, but I've had a great support network and I'm feeling ready to jump back into the fray.

This summer I've gone on several quick trips, including Spokane for WorldCon, New Orleans for family, Idaho for friends, a yurt sleepover in the woods, and a quick visit to The Dalles in Oregon. There's so much more I could say about those trips, but if I stop to upload pictures and document the minutiae, I'll likely never get around to posting this post. And what a tragedy that would be.

Biannual tête-à-tête

Six months is a long time between posts. amirite.

So. I've seen some things. Things you wouldn't believe. Things that would sizzle the hair in your belly button. Especially #14.

Mostly plays and a They Might Be Giants concert. Let me see if I can remember the plays: Threesome, Carmina Burana, Big Fish the Musical, Jasper in Deadland, and Outside Mullingar (with a post-play discussion with John Patrick Shanley!).

I changed jobs, but within the same org. I'm more into technical support and business analysis now than tech writing, although that will always have a place in my dark and twisted heart.

I've read a few books on my loooong daily commute. Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind" and VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy. And Chu's "The Lives of Tao." Only a few years behind now.

I haven't been writing. I think about writing all the time. I need to kill -9 the bloated noggin processes. amirite.

The list of things I haven't been doing is long.

I've been trying to figure out what it means to be me.

Or I never stop, and the figuring gets in the way of the doing. Surprise!

It's been a year since a lot of life changing stuff happened. I've been cutting myself some slack, but at some point there is just too much slack and you have to reel yourself back in or you just get lost in space, endlessly drifting, waiting for a passing ship to throw you a line and refresh your oxygen, completely dependent on the kindness of the Others, that six-limbed collective of hamster robots sponsoring a new porpoise university in the methane sea.

But on the plus side, I am growing some fantastic tomatoes on the deck and some basil in the window. I'll get to eat caprese salad until it oozes out my ears. (No you absolutely cannot use the word orifices there, me.)

amirite