Dagan Books released various electronic versions of its anthology FISH earlier this year, and I’m ever so pleased to pass on the news that the paper version is now available as well.

The book has a fantastic line-up, including my lovely fellow Clarion West 2011 classmate Maria Romasco-Moore (whose story in the anthology is one of my favorites!) and heavy-hitters like Ken Liu and Cat Rambo. The stories are beautiful and dangerous and deliciously weird, and if you’re at all into speculative short fiction, I highly suggest you take a look. My own story, “The Applause of Others,” has received excellent reviews so far from both SF Signal and A Fantastical Librarian.

To purchase a digital version directly from the publisher: epub or mobi.

Or, if you prefer, you can buy from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Kobo.

Lastly, the shiny new paperback version is now available at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

As far as my story goes: “The Applause of Others” was written in my final week at Clarion West, almost two years ago now. It was my first time consciously threading in certain themes and metaphors, and while I’m still not sure how successful it was, it was fantastic practice.

I had a lot of fun writing about my home town, too; I’ve written novels set in Amsterdam before, but they’re not likely to see the light of day anytime soon. If you want to hear me wax poetic about canals, here’s your chance.

Lastly, in case anyone reads the story and blinks at the MC calling her dads by their first names… During Clarion West, one classmate pointed out that they were dubious about that aspect. Why wouldn’t Floor simply call them ‘Dad’ or some variation thereof? Wouldn’t she do that under other circumstances?

Basically, the answer to that is ‘no.’ When I drafted the story, her parents were a straight couple, and Floor did the same thing. (I took a look, and it turns out I actually shared an excerpt at the time. Ha!) Floor’s parents see themselves as being all modern and cool, and being on a first-name basis comes with the territory. I think this happens in the United States, too, but perhaps to a lesser degree?

When I waved my author wand and turned not!Mom into not!Dad, I didn’t immediately realize how calling them by their first names might be perceived given the different context. After some waffling, I ended up keeping it as is. It just fit them in my head. In addition, when I researched whether kids being on a first-name basis with their parents was indeed more common in NL vs US, I stumbled upon several queer parents who go by their first names for practical reasons, which set my mind at ease.

Anyway, if anyone did raise an eyebrow at it, I hope this clears up the what and why

One day soon, I hope to make a proper post of my US trip–photos! the works!–but presently I have the excuse of jetlag, and will thus take the easy route and drop off a few links.

Fellow Texas retreat ladies Michelle Krys and Victoria Schwab have both blogged about it, photos included.

Man, that house was pretty. It’s especially pretty compared to my current environment, which is cold and wet, and will soon suffer from more gross wet snow.

Dear Netherlands: I like you. I would like you better if I wouldn’t have to wear a winter coat twice my size for most of the year.

In non-retreat news, I got two lovely reviews of short stories while I was out of the country.

First, Mieneke van der Salm–Dutch spec lovers unite!–reviewed FISH (now out from Dagan Books) the other day. This anthology features my short story “The Applause of Others,” about which Mieneke said:

I adored this story almost as much for its setting as its narrative. It’s set in Amsterdam and is written not with the eye of a stranger but someone familiar with the city and its character [...]

For the rest of the review, which includes lovely things about the rest of the anthology’s stories–including “Quick Karma” by April L’Orange, a personal favorite–check out her in-depth review.

Next, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam reviewed the upcoming Clockwork Phoenix 4 anthology (coming soon from Mythic Delirium Books). She listed my story “Lilo Is” as one of the highlights, which makes me all warm and fuzzy. Check it out.

That’s two for two as far as reviews for this anthology goes. Not bad!

Now, off to make a dent in my reading pile before my edit letter arrives…

Hi guys!

I’m traveling to the US for two weeks come Tuesday, so this is a bit of a drive-by post. That means the return of my old friends, BULLET POINTS:

• The Clockwork Phoenix 4 anthology won’t be out for several months–but we just got our first review! Lois Tilton takes a look at the anthology at Locus Online, and has good things to say:
  

  The tone ranges from dark to heartwarming and simple. The overall quality is high (…) Several of the pieces are quite challenging. Readers will do well to pick up a copy.

  An excerpt from her thoughts on my story “Lilo Is”:

  A surprisingly real and sad story.

• The e-version of the FISH anthology is live! I was holding off on posting an official announcement about this until the paper version came out, but I didn’t want to leave it out of this round-up. FISH contains my week six story from Clarion West, “The Applause of Others,” which is set in Amsterdam, and contains a magic eel and a teen girl.

  The stories in this anthology are wild and varied and lovely. If you’re interested in whimsical fantasy and science-fiction, you should definitely check it out. For a full table of contents and various ways of purchasing a copy, check the publisher website.

• The FISH publisher also interviewed each author in the anthology. Find my interview here.
• Story notes will come when the paper version is out.
• In YA news: These past few months, I’ve been active as a moderator of the OneFourKidLit group–a fantastic group of MG/YA authors debuting in 2014. We’re all introducing ourselves before we really get the content going. Here’s my introductory post with some fun Otherbound details, and I highly suggest you take a look at the other intro posts as well. These books, man. These books. My wallet is going to weep throughout all of 2014.
• This upcoming trip of mine contains stops in Boston, New York, and Austin, and meet-ups with friends, Agentlady Joan, and Editorlady Maggie. I will also consume copious amounts of frozen yoghurt. I’m beyond excited!

In my first week at Clarion West in 2011, we received fascinating writing exercises that resulted in some good stuff, but they weren’t “official” Clarion West stories in the sense of being passed around the class and critiqued. Our first proper stories happened in week two, during Nancy Kress’s week. Mine was about a spider-girl named Lilo.

Lilo is adorable.

That was my most popular story during the workshop, and probably the one I’m most proud of, too. As is usually the case, that also means it was incredibly difficult to sell.

I was getting ready to shelve the story when the absolutely perfect opportunity presented itself: after a successful Kickstarter campaign, Clockwork Phoenix 4 opened to submissions. And, after a nail-biting wait, I just received word that editor Mike Allen has accepted my story for publication.

“Lilo Is” will be published in Clockwork Phoenix 4, due out in July 2013. Excuse me while I high five the WORLD.

I meant to finish my novella “The Tales of Sigma City” last week. Things that got in the way include a) germy germ germs and b) Pokémon LeafGreen.

Don’t judge me. I’ll send my Shiny Golbat after you.

Anyway, after a few days of squeezing out a minimum of zero and a maximum of five hundred words a day, I finally managed to kick my flu’s ass and finish the rough draft yesterday. It stands at 21.5k, which I expect to go up a little in revisions–but I have a little wiggle room, so we’ll see how it turns out.

Here’s the required snippet. Our esteemed heroine is sneaking around a place she shouldn’t be, took something she shouldn’t have, and is trying to shake off a handful of guards.

I know what you’re thinking–this calls for Mommy Issues.

Panthress ducks into the alcove—waits for the footsteps to pass—then slips around the corner. This part of the hall is empty. She picks up her pace. The canister presses painfully into her skin, and she’s far too conscious of the weight of it jangling back and forth in her sleeve. More than anything, she’s thinking, I should’ve run while I could.

In her head, her mother’s voice says: For once, you’re right.

And now, time for a few days of sweet, sweet reading.

After passing another draft on to betas, I decided to dig back into a novella I worked on last year that ended up falling by the wayside. (It’s my pulpy ’50s lesbian superhero thing, for those who remember it. The idea is such fun! The execution is so tough!)

I’m rewriting it from scratch, and I’m cautiously optimistic about how it’s turning out. Here’s a snippet:

A day and a half later, the place where Blaze died still smells like fire.

The area is cordoned off, but Panthress doesn’t think it’s meant to do anything but keep children from playing in the factory’s burnt-out skeleton. It’s nothing but a silhouette, barely visible against the near-black background. If the smell doesn’t tell people exactly what happened here, that sight will. Half of the roof is gone. The walls jut into the night sky like crumbled teeth.

“This is nothing like how I left it.”

“Anything in specific we’re looking for?” Stalwart asks.

Panthress doesn’t answer. This may not even be about looking for clues, because this shell of a building will have nothing left for them to find. Maybe it’s just about seeing where Blaze died. About saying, I’m sorry for not staying. I’m sorry for what they’re saying about you.

I promise not to link to every nice thing people say about me, but look! Or… listen, rather! People said nice things about “Eight” on StarShipSofa!

*feels special*

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So, I’d been tinkering with BLINK for a while. You know, streamlining info-dumps, fixing a misstep here and there, correcting some continuity, those sorts of things.

Then I sat down and went, “I should probably actually edit.”

So on Saturday, nine thousand words of new material exploded from my fingers, and I’ve spent the rest of the week knitting it into the actual book and making sure everything works smoothly. It’s amazing how many things you notice each and every draft. (HOW did that huge plot hole make it into this book? Tsk.)

As usual, this book is nigh impossible to quote from without context, so here’s a bit from one of the early chapters:

Amara didn’t know how long she sat on the stairs, ignoring other inn customers heading to and from their rooms. She traced Dit letters on her leg for lack of paper. She wished Maart would wake up. That he’d tell her stories of the palace he’d served at like he used to.

Then—one moment to the next—Cilla stalked up the stairs, gripping the banisters on both sides.

Amara jerked back, pulling her hand away from half-traced letters like Cilla might notice and tell on her. She scrambled onto the landing to stand upright. Did it look like she’d been eavesdropping? Or like she’d been slacking? She’d done all the tasks Jorn had demanded of her. Maybe she’d missed one.

Cilla reached the top of the stairs. Normally her eyes were narrowed, hidden in shade, but now they were wide enough for Amara to catch a glint of brown even in the dark.

Amara’s heart sped up, a thump-thump-thump with no pauses in-between—no longer because Cilla might tell on her, but because under her wrappings, Cilla’s chest still heaved from exertion or panic or both. Cilla never rushed unless it was important.

That meant one thing. Cilla was hurt.

So far, so good.

The lovely Beth Cato gave me a heads-up via Twitter that “Eight”, my Strange Horizons story, made this year’s recommended reading list at Tangent Online (though they listed me as Corinne Davis).

Shiny!

I’ve also had this song on my mind for the last couple of days–not even necessarily because of the lyrics or the new year, but just because it’s way stuck in my head.

Schmoopy Dutch music is my Achilles heel.

It’s “Alles Gaat Voorbij” by Acda en de Munnik (studio version here). That translates to “Everything Passes”.

Everything passes
But first, we’ll enjoy it

Is finally live! At Strange Horizons! Which requires all the exclamation marks I can get my hands on.

I’d love it if you checked out “Eight” when you find some time.

Excuse me while I go off to alternate between bouncing and chewing my nails

Worst title ever, I know.

Anyway! As I mentioned on Twitter a few days back, I made a new short story sale, this time to the Dagan Books anthology FISH. My first anthology sale! Neat. The story is titled “The Applause of Others”, and it’s about magic eels in Amsterdam. No, not electric or moray eels — we definitely don’t have those in the canals — the other kind. The kind you smoke and eat.

Anyway x2, if that story concept sounds familiar, it’s because I mentioned it before — it’s my week 6 Clarion West story. One story down, four to go!

The anthology will be out on February 8, 2012, has a lovely cover, and one hell of a ToC. I’ll be reunited with editor K.V.Taylor and author Cate Gardner for the first time since last year’s inaugural Red Penny Papers issue, and other nifty people in the ToC include my loverly Clarion West classmate Maria Romasco-Moore (High five! Affable mofos repra-zent!) and Cat Rambo, whom I also met in Seattle this year.

This is going to be one gorgeous book.