Eugie · Foster's · Self-Indulgent · Musings

This is normally when I look back over the previous year and make some resolutions for the new one, but I’m sort of off resolutions. It’s not that I don’t have any goals or good intentions to enumerate. To the contrary, I have many items I’d like to accomplish, improvements I’d like to make, tasks I want to complete. But coming off of 2012, I find I made all my deadlines and am caught up on my urgently outstanding to-do items. Aside from feeling like I should beware the impending Apocalypse, it makes me realize that I haven’t found resolutions all that helpful. When a deadline pops up, I’ll work my ass off to meet it because that’s what I do with deadlines. When a project lands on my plate, ditto ass ditto off ditto just ‘cuz. And I’m fully aware of personal items I’d like to address with an eye towards improvement as they’re largely the same ones dogging me most if not all my life. Me making a list isn’t going to up my motivation or change my work habits, or at least it certainly hasn’t up to this point.

So I’m going to skip the resolution list-making. Instead, I’ll just resolve to do my best, and if/when my best doesn’t pan out the way I’d like, I resolve not to let it get to me.

In lieu of a list of resolutions, herein a rundown of my work published in 2012:

• “Beautiful Winter” in anthology InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Vol. I*.
• “Biba Jibun” in anthology The Book of Apex: Volume 3* and Pseudopod*†.
• “The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake” in Journey Into…*†.
• “Little Grace of the House of Death”† in Drabblecast.
• “Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me” in anthology When the Villain Comes Home*.
• “The Red String” in the Feb. 2012 issue of Cricket.
• “Trixie and the Pandas of Dread”† in issue #44 of Apex Magazine – actually, this came out yesterday, but I’m betting it went live in 2012 in some timezone.

__
*reprint
†free fiction

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

So instead of working on the stories I’ve got on my plate, including one with a  scary-looming deadline, I’ve been doing some WordPress web development. For three websites actually:

• Created a website for a new novelist: CateCampbell.net.
• Made a new website for my good friend and talented photographer/filmmaker, Patrick Roberts…which isn’t quite done yet.
• And, ta dah, overhauled my own site, EugieFoster.com

Was getting pretty tired of having to keep patching up the hacks I made to my last theme, and WordPress has implemented some nice functionality in the recent upgrade series that I hadn’t been able to take advantage of, like drag-n-drop custom menus (!), so it was time. Streamlined the backend of my site’s organization as well to make it faster to update.

Shiny?

Okay, enough with the excuses. Back to the stare down with my current story deadline…

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m having an amazing week for story sales! Just sold “Trixie and the Pandas of Dread” to Apex Magazine. It’s not slated for an issue yet. Editor Lynne Thomas said it’ll probably come out in 2013. *happy dancing*

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

Just got an acceptance email from Cricket for both “The Tiger Fortune Princess” and “The Girl Who Drew Cats”! They’re going to serialize “Girl Who Drew” in the February and March 2013 issues. Woot!

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

Got my Dragon*Con panel schedule! In all the Daily Dragon pre-con hubbub, almost forgot the non-Daily Dragon stuff:

• “Sex and Romance in SF” -The existence of sex/romance in SF in an overt fashion is relatively new. If there’s too much is it still sf? Too little? Fri 10PM, Greenbriar (Hyatt).
• “Race in SF and Fantasy” – An examination of the way ethnicity is used in science fiction and fantasy literature. Sun 4PM, Fairlie (Hyatt).
• “Short and Not So Sweet Stories” – Help for short story writers from the pros. Sun 7PM, Embassy D-F (Hyatt).
• “Future of Speculative Fiction” – Pros discuss the future of fantasy, SF, paranormal, urban fantasy, and other genres. Mon 4PM, Embassy D-F (Hyatt).

Looking forward to seeing folks there!

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ll be a guest at Faerie Escape: Atlanta this weekend (June 15-17) for a “celebration of all things fae.” It’s a fun little convention with impressively eclectic programming, including panels on fairy tales, workshops on everything from costuming to building faerie houses, parties, and gaming.

Herein my panel schedule (download the complete schedule booklet.) :

• “Fairy Tales, Myth and Psychology” – What is the deep attraction of fairy tales and what do they mean to us? (Subtitle: Grimm, Cambell and Jung Walk into a Bar…) With Andrew Greenberg (m), Honora Foah, Dea Mozingo, Ted Friedman, and Bill Bridges. Sat. (6/16) 10:30AM.
• “Fae in All Their Guises” – The fae is just one term for these beings. What names, forms and meaning do they take around the world? With Honora Foah, IK the Troll, Eugie Foster, Dea Mozingo, and Bill Bridges. Sat. (6/16) 1:30PM.

Hope to see folks there!

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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.

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Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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.

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Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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.

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:

• “Teen Fiction” – A discussion about the major players in the field; attendees are encouraged to bring up their favorite teen series as well. With Kiernan Kelly and Dennis Upkins. Sat. (5/5) 6PM, Board Room.
• “Job By Day, Writer By Night” – How do our author and filmmaker guests juggle creating fantasy worlds and gay romances at night with computer support, database design, and other mundane careers during the day? There’s got to be some funny stories there. With Shae Connor, Paul Bright, and Dennis Upkins. Sun. (5/6) Noon, Board Room.

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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:

• Book signing (with Emilie P. Bush). Fri 2:30-3:30PM, Barrington.
• “Young Adult Literature” Harry Potter, Alcatraz, The Hunger Games, Twilight… why are full-grown adults reading this stuff? With Tiffany Franklin and Rachel Little. Fri 5:30-6:30PM, Goulding C.
• “Keeping it Short” A discussion on the differences in writing short fiction and novels. With Michael Livingston. Sat 1-2PM, Goulding A.
• “The Business” Our industry professionals talk about what goes on in the publishing world. With Emilie P. Bush, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Paul Stevens. Sun 10-11AM, Goulding A.
• “Folklore and Fairytales” Incorporating myth and tradition into fiction. With Michael Livingston. Sun 1-2PM, Goulding A.

Hope to see folks there!

Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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:

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Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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!

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Originally published at EugieFoster.com. You can comment here or there.

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.

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.