Monday, April 23, 2018

A Trove of Fabulous Short Stories over at Curious Fictions!






If you’re looking for short stories to read, be sure to check out Curious Fictions. This little known gem is a platform for short story reprints. The site will ask you for credit card information up front, but all the content is completely free, though tipping is encouraged. You can also subscribe to your favorite authors.


It is a great option for short story writers who too often see their previously published stories vanish into a kind of oblivion a few months after being published. I have uploaded a few stories there and like having a no fuss place to give these stories a second chance to be seen.
 

Most recently, you can find my story, Short Straw, on the site. It previously appeared in the Lost Worlds anthology by Flame Tree Press (print only). The link for Short Straw in the sidebar will now direct to Curious Fictions. 
 

While I hope you'll enjoy the stories I’ve posted there, I know you won't be disappointed with the site: it is stuffed with amazing stories, easy to navigate, and easy to read on a variety of screens.
 

Here’s a little teaser for Short Straw:
 

“Don’t tell the trees your name,” the wild grasses whispered as they batted their bearded heads against the linen skirt wrapped around Nina’s thin hips. Her great grandparents, the first colonists, had brought rice and wheat, barley and rye, and crossed their seeds with the new-world plants. But the grains they produced were inedible. Still, they abandoned grasses persisted, and the wild meadow won a few more inches of ground every year.
 

She looked up, past the settlement to where the tallest branches of the forest canopy snared the sinking sun. “I have to go,” she said.
 

“If you must go, take us with you,” they whispered.
 

Nina closed her hands capturing two fistfuls of seed heads, pulled them off their stems, and shoved them into her skirt pockets. "There. Happy?"
 

“No.”




Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Save the Date Writing Butterflies, This Year’s Armadillocon Writing Workshop is Friday, August 3!


Crack your knuckles and warm up your keyboards, it’s time to polish up your short story or first chapter for the annual Armadillocon Writing Workshop!

Submissions are DUE Friday June 15, 2018

This is an excellent, low-cost workshop for writers who want to:
  • Work with professional writers and editors familiar with speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. 
  • Learn how to give and receive critique in a small-group, face-to-face setting
  • Find out if workshops and in-person critique groups are useful to their writing progress
  • Find their tribe and make connections with others that will serve their writing year round.
  • Take their writing to the next level.

The workshop will be Friday, August 3, 2018 
We will spend the morning in panels on the craft and business of writing and doing a writing exercise or two. Then, lunch with the professional writers and fellow students in your breakout critique group. The afternoon will be spent in in-depth, collaborative critique sessions where you will be both giving and receiving critique. 

Just $90 gets you the full-day workshop and a full convention membership to attend all of the activities for the entire weekend. ArmadilloCon is an excellent regional literary convention, which means there will be lots of great panels about writing, reading, and the state of the genre (there are also panels about movies, tv shows, gaming, and everything geek). 

Sponsored seats for writers of color!
We are committed to promoting diversity and access for all workshop attendees. Writing in a genre centered on exploration and encountering the Other must include voices and visions from writers and readers of all kinds. The Workshop actively seeks to include students, faculty, visiting scholars, and volunteers from a variety of backgrounds including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, and ability. 

To that purpose we are offering a limited number of sponsored seats to the workshop for writers of color. To apply for a seat, follow the link on the workshop page.

If are interested in sponsoring a seat for a writer of color, contact me at armadilloconwritersworkshop@gmail.com