The one where I finally post a link to my third-place winning story

I mentioned this was coming, but never posted after it went. On April 15th, my third-place story "Before the Fireworks" was published at Flash Fiction Chronicles along with an interview.

Read "Before the Fireworks" now...

The whole experience was a huge honor. Previously my story "Pompeii is for Lovers" made their Honorable Mention list, so I'm thrilled to have placed this time. As an aside, this is the second interview I've done and I want to plug the first one real quick--it was for the blog of my writer friend, Dale Ivan Smith. You should check out his site and his work.

Lots of little non-writerly things going on besides. I've been cleaning up the garden--weeding, buying new plants, mowing the lawn. I planted a couple of Brandywine tomato plants I grew from seed. The indoor Meyer lemon tree is doing well. I sprayed it with some kind of organic eco-friendly insect deterrent thing yesterday. Gave it some plant food. It's been thriving in the window.

Last week I took a day trip out to Flower World with Cat Rambo. I picked up some clay pots and seeds, a heliotrope (sounds like a steampunk cliche), sweet basil, and dill. It was my first trip out to Maltby, WA, and Flower World was amazing. In addition to numerous greenhouses for browsing, they boast a pond by a lawn with chickens and a water wheel. Gorgeous grounds!

As for writerly things, I currently have more stories out at once than I've ever had before. I think I'm up to 12, which is really good for me. The longest submission has been out for 109 days and the shortest has been out for 3, so I'm chugging along on the submissions front. Submissions, of course, don't mean acceptances, but I'm choosing to focus on the things I can control. My brain, she is full of the tricks.

I've also been recording lots of podcasts that will be posted over the coming weeks. You can see a list of the current Every Day Fiction Podcasts here.

The next big thing I'm attending is the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend with World Horror Convention in New Orleans mid-June. I'm getting excited about that, partly because of the location, partly because all of the cool people I met at last year's WHC and KillerCon, but also because Eliza Hirsch will be reprising her role as my roommate.

All of these factors are ingredients for a successful convention.

As for reading, I've been working my way through a collection of Ray Bradbury short stories, and trying to catch up reading all of the fiction magazines I subscribe to. I am hopelessly behind.

Now you know everything.

Or do you?

Not so much cruel as pretty darned great

I have no complaints with April.

I've heard she is the cruelest month, but March was worse so...maybe I paid my dues already.

*knocks on wood*

Earlier this month I went on a tour of the Georgetown Brewery with friends, which included drinking Manny's with Manny. (Not any kind of euphemism. Manny is awesome.)

So here's my plug: If you are around Georgetown (slightly south of downtown Seattle) and like to consume Manny's and Roger's Pilsner and Lucille's IPA, I highly recommend visiting Georgetown Brewery. If nothing else, they have a tasting area set up, merchandise, and growlers. Well worth the short trip. And the tour, if you are lucky enough to attend, is fun and informative. Made me appreciate their beer all the more.

Oh. I co-taught my first class online. That was a lot of fun.

And last weekend I drove onto a ferry for the first time. It was not as scary as I'd expected. I'd imagined driving onto some rickety thing and workers attaching your car to the platform with huge metal hooks and chains. Torture devices, really. But the reality is that you arrive, you wait, you drive onto the ferry and then you drive off again. Sometimes you get out of your car to go upstairs for hot coffee or to let the wind buffett you around the "sun" deck. Easy.

I also had the honor and pleasure to spend a weekend with a number of writers I didn't know very well but had admired from a distance. We stayed in a repurposed military barracks, had quiet time to work for most of the day, and shared most meals and drank all the wine and all the coffee. Not necessarily in that order. I hesitate to even bring up my weekend because I don't want to make anyone jealous, but it's my blog and I need to at least note that it happened or I risk forgetting. When we were not reading or working, there were trips into town or to the abandoned munitions bunkers for exploration. There were games--which I normally avoid because I get too competitive, but you'll be surprised to learn wine helps with that. And there was much washing of dishes.

The whole experience was a delightful adventure that reset my productiveness, provided inspiration via all the creative, hilarious people so generous with their time and conversation, and just plain got me outside of my head.

Like I said, April, no complaints. And no, universe, that is not a thinly veiled challenge or invitation to make next month shitty.

Happy Tuesday.

My Latest News Roundup

Last time I checked in I was about to participate in the Broad Universe reading at Norwescon organized by the fabulous Mae Empson. Well, I did, and we had an incredible turnout. It was especially nice to see so many familiar faces there. My friend, Janka, was kind enough to record my reading on my cell phone, but since it's for a story that hasn't been sold yet, I'm not going to post it online.

So Norwescon happened, and it was good.

Then I stumbled onto Jenna Fowler's illustrations for the upcoming anthology, Beast Within 4: Gears and Growls edited by Jennifer Brozek, which includes my story, "The Man at the End of the Chain."

Check out the art for my little capuchin with her metal hand:

Art by Jenna Fowler

Isn't that awesome? Make sure to click through to her web site. All of Jenna's work is top-notch.

You might remember that a month or so back I mentioned I won third place in the String-of-Ten Flash Fiction Chronicles contest? I've been told my 250-word story, "Before the Fireworks," will go up on their site on April 15th, along with an interview--I did the interview over the weekend.

I'm also pleased to report that the podcasting class I taught with Cat Rambo last Wednesday went very well. We had several students and I look forward to listening to their podcasts in the future.

I think the last thing I should mention is that I've registered for a convention and a workshop. I'm excited to share I'll be attending the 2013 Cascade Writers Workshop in Portland, OR, July 25-28. There are still spots left if you want to sign up, too. And I registered for this year's WorldCon, LoneStarCon 3, in San Antonio, TX. Note to self: Add those to the Schedule page.

That's all I got.

Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading, Norwescon, March 30th at 10am

Camille Alexa made us this fantastic flyer

Will you be at Norwescon this weekend? I'll be reading some flash fiction tomorrow as part of the Broad Universe Rapid-Fire Reading, Saturday, March 30th from 10am to noon in Evergreen Rooms 1&2. I'll have about 10 minutes to read alongside Cat Rambo, Camille Alexa, Carol Berg, S.A. Bolich, Brenda Carr, and Mae Empson. I love the Rapid-Fire Readings because you get to sample a lot of different spec fic writers in one session, plus there's a rumor about chocolate.

It'd be great to see you there.

New podcast at Beneath Ceaseless Skies

In honor of its 100th podcast, Beneath Ceaseless Skies has created something special for Tori Truslow's "Boat in Shadows, Crossing" by using multiple voice actors. I had the fantastic opportunity, and pleasure, to read the part of Bue, alongside Rajan Khanna, Tina Connolly, and Michael J. DeLuca. The whole podcast runs a little over an hour, and is a prime example of the type of high quality, literary adventure fantasy synonymous with BCS.

Listen to "Boat in Shadows, Crossing"

And to celebrate this milestone, Beneath Ceaseless Skies is also giving away two audio books of Saladin Ahmed's novel Throne of the Crescent Moon. (More info here)

I hope you'll check out this podcast. I'm really pleased with how it all came together. Thanks!

Four lines, all truth

Somehow I managed to get myself sick
Hello, tea
Hello, soup
Being sick is dumb

Teaching an online podcasting class with Cat Rambo

On Wednesday, April 3, 4-6pm PST, I'll be teaching a class online with the fabulous Cat Rambo. We'll be going over the basics of podcasting. I've recorded over 40 stories for markets such as Every Day Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Wily Writers, and This Mutant Life anthology. I'm excited to share what I've learned about creating the best podcast possible, along with some tips that will help anyone get started--equipment, software, promotion, and performance considerations.

Details about the podcasting class

Sign-up information for Cat's classes

The other news is that I've written a new literary short (250 words) called "Scattered" for the Lascaux Flash Fiction Contest.

Read "Scattered" at Lascaux Flash...

If you get a chance to read my piece, your comments would be appreciated.