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This is still not my circus…
But I’ve been watching this year’s Worldcon drama unfold. Seattle used ChatGPT to vet program participants, based on three widely excoriated updates/apologies. Three folks on the WSFS/Hugo side of the convention (i.e. not the division that used ChatGPT) resigned. A number of program participants withdrew; so did a Lodestar nominee. Given the nature of convention… Continue reading
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Mental health book bundle
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and author A. M. Weald has put together a number of book bundles full of titles touching on mental health issues. My short story “Stages of Pre-Bereavement,” all about grief and depression, is in one of the bundles (non-spicy SF/F). Do check it out and see if anything appeals.… Continue reading
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More shorts
“Stages of Pre-Bereavement” and “Always an After” are both available for sale on Itch.io. This seems like a nice afterlife for short stories, and maybe they’ll find readers who aren’t in the mood for a full anthology. Continue reading
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Itch.io
I’m not a big gamer, so Itch.io wasn’t really on my radar until recently. A few months ago, I started hearing about people using it as a platform to sell books. I made a mental note of it and went about my business. But now I have a brand new Mac and freshly installed Vellum,… Continue reading
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Deeply annoyed
A couple years ago, I said I hoped I wouldn’t ever be really glad to vote in SFWA elections because (as a forty-something USian) voting is typically a defensive act intended to minimize harm. Well, here we are: I’m really glad to vote in SFWA elections. Transparency is poor; employee protections are inadequate; some writers… Continue reading
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Things I enjoyed in 2025 (Part 1)
Short Stories “Ten Minutes” by Marie Brennan (2024): A flash piece filled with subtle anxiety about what the narrator isn’t saying that nonetheless provides a convincing argument for the power and beauty of meditation. Novels Club Contango by Eliane Boey (2024): Feral capitalism, second-third-fourth chances, single parenting, murder, and an unreliable narrator on an oppressively… Continue reading
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Lack of spoons and tolerance
SFWA has been going through some stuff. There has been a staff exodus, two presidential resignations, one board member removed for cause, and a number of non-public issues. During the summer, the interim president urged members to do one thing that could help the organization move forward. I did a few small things: Well, it’s… Continue reading
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New authors, you’re doing a great job
For a few years, I blogged about Astounding Award-eligible authors. Neo-pro short fiction writers can get lost in the churn of publishing, social media, and short attention spans, and their work deserves to be celebrated. I’m increasingly less keen on spending energy promoting the Hugo-adjacent award (I’m not part of the Worldcon community, and recent… Continue reading
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Things I enjoyed in 2024 (Part 6)
Short Stories “Field Notes From That Time I Accidentally Got Stuck In A Time Loop For A Week” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor: A cute list story. “Bright Horizons” by P.A. Cornell: A story about AIs and the c-suite, optimistic only in that it’s set in 2042, not the 2020s. “The Five Rules of Spirit Binding… Continue reading
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2024 by the numbers
Okay, this isn’t all the numbers. No money details (there’s not much, but the rate-per-word math is simple) or word count info (I keep logs for some things, but generally not the short fiction) or even works started or finished (that’s more of a qualitative question anyway). Accepted: 2Rejected: 29Withdrawn: 0No response: 5On submission: 3Published:… Continue reading
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2024 in review
Writing-wise, I didn’t finish any of the stuff I wanted to finish. That’s mainly down to exhaustion (see below). So I’ve simply pushed some of my 2024 goals back to 2025. (I’m not responsible to anyone but me, so I can do that.) Releasing at least one book feels quite plausible right now (though I… Continue reading