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There’s something I’ve beep shying away from posting publicly about. I dunno, but I kinda feel like if I mention it in public, it gives it more credence or tangibility or something, plus I’m hyperaware that I might be overreacting or experiencing a hypochondriac medical-intern effect. But then, what’s a blog for if not for over-sharing every now and again? Basically, I’ve felt for a while now that I’ve been losing my words. Beyond a motivation or story flow issue, I feel like I’m perpetually groping to communicate anything. Frustrating beyond belief, yes. And also utterly terrifying. Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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People often ask me where I get my inspiration. Here’s the true tale of today’s inspiration: I normally don’t have a problem with creepy-crawlies. I like rats and mice, I’m fine with spiders, and I think bats are adorable. But I can’t deal with things that squish. Earthworms send me gibbering for cover, leeches petrify me, and maggots on a TV show make me blanch and the little hairs on my arms quiver. So when I realized the little smear of tan-orange on the shower door—which I initially thought was soap scum or mildew—had antennae and was oozing its merry way across the glass, I leaped, dripping wet, out of the shower and shrieked for the slumbering husband to save me. Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Had a great weekend at OutlantaCon. Got to be on panels with fabu folks like Kayelle Allen, Kiernan Kelly, Dennis Upkins, Kage Alan, Paul Bright, and Shae Connor—some of whom I’ve known for years and some I met for the first time. I’m bummed I wasn’t able to catch up with Lee Martindale, though. Somehow, the stars never aligned. Did have something of a hectic, panicky morning on Saturday, though. Lying in bed at 9:20AM, idly scrolling through the OutlantaCon schedule app on my phone, I realized I’d somehow missed being added to a panel: “Social Networking.” That day. At 10AM. I woke Matthew with a yelp and chaotic scrambling ensued. I did make it to my panel on time—with five minutes to spare, even—but, of course, had absolutely nothing prepared. Then again, I actually did some prep for my “Job By Day, Writer By Night” panel on Sunday but promptly forgot to bring up one of my talking points, which is ironic as it was on the importance of making time to do the little things like eat and sleep and exercise while juggling the myriad hamsters of writing and the day job so as to be able to maintain focus and productivity. So, yeah, unfocused. But my fellow panelists, Shae and Dennis, had it covered. Sorta been feeling blah for weeks now. All year, really. Between having the worst lupus flare-up I’ve had in ten years and the rigors of the legislative session, I’ve been utterly wiped, which has not done great things for my emotional equilibrium. But the session is well over, I started doing yoga again, and have a search party out hunting for my absconded motivation. Here’s hoping the rest of 2012 is better than its beginning. Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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OutlantaCon 2012 is this weekend at the Holiday Inn Select-Perimeter, as in it starts today! OutlantaCon is always a fabulous time, full of great panels that are both entertaining and enlightening, and sometimes even bawdy. Hope to see folks there! I’m slated to be on these panels:
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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JordanCon 4 is this weekend (April 20-22) in the Doubletree Hotel in Roswell, GA. I was way impressed by how well run this convention was run last year, and I’m thrilled to have been invited back. Here’s what I’m scheduled for:
Hope to see folks there!
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Got word from the editors that the table of contents has been revealed, so I can announce I’ve sold “Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me” to the anthology When the Villain Comes Home, edited by Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood (Dragon Moon Press). Sequel to the critically acclaimed When the Hero Comes Home, Villain is slated for publication this August. I’m stoked to be in such excellent company. Check out the awesome lineup:
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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This weekend (March 24-26), the Kindle version of the InterGalactic Awards Anthology: Volume 1 will be free at Amazon.com. In addition to my story, “Beautiful Winter,” it includes work by such luminaries as Peter S. Beagle, Aliette deBodard, Marie Brennan, Alethea Kontis, James Maxey, Jason Sanford, and Eric James Stone. Don’t miss out on getting it for free!
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Congratulations to Alan Stewart and Christina Vasilevski, the winners of my portion of the Crossing the Streams contest! They will each receive a signed copy of Returning My Sister’s Face. Thanks to everyone who entered! I read every entry, and y’all sent me some truly fabulous and interesting answers. I hope this contest helped folks discover some great new authors to read.
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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The Shared Worlds SF/F Teen Writing Camp is a summer camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where up to 50 teen writers come from around the world, including Japan, Indonesia, and Germany, to learn, practice, and hone their writing skills and creativity, guided and instructed by top professional writers. The camp’s assistant director is the fabulous Jeff VanderMeer, and guest writers for this year’s camp include New York Times bestsellers Julianna Baggott, Naomi Novik, and Tobias Buckell, as well as Prix Award Winner Karin Lowachee and Hugo Award winner Ann VanderMeer. At Shared Worlds, students form teams in classrooms to build entire fantasy or science fictional worlds in the first week and then write stories in those worlds the second week. They also get to attend author readings, take field-trips to bookstores, and create videos about their imaginary worlds. The camp is supported by Amazon.com but is funded in large part by donations which help to ensure that attending the Shared Worlds Teen Writing Camp can be a possibility for all registered students, no matter what their financial need—which brings us to the “Critter Map.” With website created by filmmaker and writer Gregory Norman Bossert, artwork by Jeremy Zerfoss, and compiled and edited by Therese Goulding, it includes story contributions from writers including Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Scott Westerfeld, Gene Wolfe, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and even yours truly. So head on over to check out the Critter Map. Click on a critter and read its story. And please donate what you can to this great cause!
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Happy Groundhog Day! What better way to celebrate the beginning of February than with free fiction? Free fiction the first: The podcast of “The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake” is now up at Journey Into…, read fabulously by the talented Rajan Khanna. Listen, enjoy! Free fiction the second: A bunch of us writers have come together to coordinate a massive book giveaway contest, “Crossing the Streams.” Check out my Book Giveaway page for details.
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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First and foremost, “Biba Jibun” is now up at Pseudopod for your free listening pleasure, read by the talented Kara Grace. Enjoy! Next, laid out in quasi-scientific fashion, an update on my foray into releasing some of my previously published and out-of-print short fiction as e-books:
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Human for a Day anthology with Beneath the Silent Bell, the Autumn Sky Turns to Spring Now Out and O The anthology Human for a Day, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Martin H. Greenberg (DAW Books), is now out with my story “Beneath the Silent Bell, the Autumn Sky Turns to Spring”! It’s available at bookstores and online booksellers such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com in print and as an ebook. Also, the Nebula Award nominations are now open, and the Hugos are coming up, so herein the obligatory shameless pimpage for the short stories I’ve had published this year for your consideration:
And a final plug in this plug-filled post, I’m running two deals for the month of December:
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Meant to put this up on CyberMonday, but apparently I overdid the festivities over the weekend and instead spent Monday on the couch in a zombie-like state of aches and groans. So to celebrate the Thursday after CyberMonday, I’m offering my Returning My Sisters Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice ebook at Just take this link to RMSF’s Smashwords page and enter the coupon code below prior to completing checkout. Smashwords distributes ebooks in just about every format, including .mobi for Kindle. Coupon Code: LA82X Happy Holidays!
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Another Reason Why Doing Readings Flummoxes Me aka Come to GA Tech and See Me Titter and Turn Bright Minor change in logistics for tomorrow’s reading at the GA Tech SF Symposium. I’ll have a little less time than I initially figured, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get through all of “The Archer of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon.” So rather than trying to rush through it, I decided instead to read the first chapters of “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast.” Also, it seems more fitting to read actual, y’know, science fiction at a symposium on science fiction (versus fantasy). Did a practice run last night to check my timing and pacing, and it occurred to me that I’ve never done a reading of any of my non-G-rated works before. The opening chapter of “Sinner” has sex, violence, murder, and expletives in it. And now I’m wondering if I can get through it without turning bright red and teeheeing like a schoolgirl. So yeah, the rather aggressive butterflies I was sporting in my stomach have become mutant hippopotami.
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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Received the final schedule for this Thursday’s (11/17) science fiction symposium, The Shape of Things to Come: Science Fiction at Georgia Tech, hosted by The School of Literature, Communication and Culture (Skiles Building, Room 002). My reading with Joe McDermott and Chesya Burke is schedule for 4:30 pm-6:00 pm. I’ll be reading “The Archer of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon,” one of the stories from Returning My Sister’s Face. The symposium is free to the public and promises to have heaps of interesting subject matter and discussion topics. Hope to see folks there!
Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there. |
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