I have a new short story at Lackington’s, as part of their beldam issue. It’s based around English river hag folklore, with a side helping of cosmic knowledge and imaginary time.
Story Link: After the Rain
short stories
Story/Art at Unlikely Story
In my (probably) last story of the year, “On Shine Wings” is up at Unlikely Story. It’s part of the Journal of Unlikely Entomology and it’s all about bees! In space!
Story Link: On Shine Wings
You’ll also note the artist for the story has a stunning resemblance to me, making this my first art sale. The art piece is titled “Spacebees”, because my ability to title doesn’t when it comes to pictures. It’s acrylic paint, tea and ink on watercolour paper.
Story at Strange Horizons
My story “Never the Same” is up at Strange Horizons. It’s a science fiction mystery. I wrote it about the time I started my cozy mystery novel, so it’s a play on some of those tropes… but in a less cozy way.
Also has birds and terraforming!
This Strange Way of Dying – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
First Published: 1st September, 2013
Genre: Speculative Fiction / Short Story Collection
Available: Amazon.com | Amazon UK
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s collection has stories mostly set in Mexico, with speculative and folkloric themes. My favourite was “Maquech”, about selling live beetle jewellery. The beetle is the last one decorated by a particular crafter, and brings with it dreams of the jungle. Yet it has to be sold to cover basic living costs, to a rich person who only wants it as this season’s shiny thing.
It’s a strong collection, with a range of themes and approaches. Recommended for those who like stories of the quietly strange.
Book Launch: Rainbow Lights (Plus Cupcakes)
‘Tis the season for lots of sugar, as my collection Rainbow Lights is now live on Amazon. In celebration, I made cupcakes in rainbow cases and decorated them with a rainbow of sweets. Some might notice indigo and ink are missing from my collection colours, which was due to the availability of dyes and sweets. But the family aren’t complaining, as it’s all still sugar.
In less sugary information, the book is a collection of fantasy and science fiction stories and poems (mostly stories). I have an official page on my site, which has the table of contents, links to any stories available free online (you can also read the first couple with Amazon’s look inside feature) and a comprehensive list of where to buy. Currently these are Amazon’s sites in various countries, but there will be other places later.
There’s also a page on Goodreads if you’d like to mark it for later, leave a review, or anything of that nature.
Dates and Deadlines
The date I originally set was 13th May, 2013. This was great, except I’d forgotten it was my parents’ ruby wedding anniversary, and I was down to cook a meal. (I remembered the meal, but not the date.) This meant the collection was pushed on a little way, but I didn’t miss it by much. The book went live on 23rd May, and I got down to making cupcakes on the 25th.
Future Plans
Currently the book is only available on Kindle. I’d like to get it up on Smashwords too. I also plan to make a paperback version, with charcoal illustrations inside. The paperback will take time due to the extra pictures, so I’m not setting a date. It’ll be done when it’s done.
There will also be a steampunk novelette in the future, and the family appears to have nominated me to make themed cupcakes for that too. I may have set a precedent here…
But now it’s time for me to drink tea, eat cupcakes, and start work on the next thing.
