The Bramble Path

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Running over the mini-mall parking lot, carrying buzzsaw hand extensions, cometh Mtentchoff! And she gives a low bellow: "I'm going to pulverize you until the cops have to tear me off your wraithly spirit!!"

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The last few months have been very slow for sales, with only a few poems being accepted (one each to Space & Time, Not One of Us, and Hungur) but these first few days of May have been much better. Already I've sold two poems this month, one to Ideomancer, and one to Sam's Dot Current Events, and this morning I woke up to even better news.

The fairy tale I wrote in March, really the first piece of story length fiction I've written in years, just sold to Cabinet des Fees. "The Woman of Ebonstone Hill" will be in the Oct./Nov. 2008 issue. I'm happy :)

In editing news, I've been keeping mostly on top of my Aberrant Dreams poetry slush, but this coming week will, for the most part, be dedicated to making my final choices for the next issue of Spaceports & Spidersilk. I've been holding off, hoping for a few more middle grade SF stories/poems to balance out all the fantasy I receive.

In non writing/editing news, I'm neck deep in crazy season, school year wise. Even the extracurricular stuff peaks around now, and my two evil children are in the middle of plays, dance recitals, martial arts belt tests, and skating parties, as well as dealing with normal school work. And, since my son starts high school next year, and is working ahead of his grade academically, the school work is intense, and there are elementary school graduation planning meetings, meeting with high school councilors, and other frazzle-inducing preparations to see to. It's odd, but I don't remember things being quite this complex or time consuming when I was a kid. Have times changed, or is it just me?

The Fix has posted a really nice review of my poetry collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, at: http://thefix-online.com/reviews/sometimes-while-dreaming/

Today I finished writing the first actual short story I've managed in a very long time. For the last few years, my life (can you say small children and various odd family situations?) has meant that snatching the time to write poetry has been much easier than stealing the long hours it takes to write fiction. This year, with both kids in school full time, I'd hoped to get back into writing longer work, but life sort of conspired against it, and to be honest I'd almost reached the point where I was afraid I couldn't write fiction anymore.

But today I've shown myself that I can, after all, complete a story. A 1700 word fairy tale (not for kids) to be exact. And the crits coming back are positive!

So, okay. More stories to write :)

Of course, first I have to hit a few slush piles. And write a review or two. And I do owe a poem to my crit group. And next week is spring break here with both kids home. And....

Might be a while at that.

It seems that the Speculations Rumor Mill is no more. I came home from shopping to find an email telling me that it was shut down, and the site itself confirmed that fact.

I've been a Rumor Miller for over 10 years now. I found out about Speculations when I first started seriously submitting my work, and the Rumor Mill helped me learn, first how subbing, then how editing, should be done.

I made friends through the Rumor Mill that I'll always be close to, and contacts that I'll always be proud of. I was involved in discussions, arguments, and the development of new ideas and new magazines on the Mill. I was part of the original Rumor Mill crit group, and the poetry crit group I still belong to was first conceived in one of the Rumor Mill topics.

Without the Mill I know I'd not have had as many sales, or editing gigs, or learned as much as I have over the years. Recently I've posted less and less, but I've always read what was posted there.

And now it's gone.

This isn't the eulogy the place deserves. But it's all I can handle right now.

I'm not dealing well.

The weather here has been so gloomy of late. There's been more slush on the ground than in my email. Right now it's raining, but so close to freezing that it may turn into slush yet again.

I've spent the last few days busily getting the Spring issue of Spaceports & Spidersilk ready. Since it's my first time editing a Sam's Dot publication it's been a real learning experience. The slush pile was very small, and I'm rather hoping that by the next issue I'll have a bigger selection to choose from. Right now I'm working out art and story format and all that wondrous stuff, and looking forward to sending all the content in tonight or tomorrow.

In other news, I just found out that Sometimes While Dreaming did not make the final Stoker ballot, which I have to say doesn't really surprise me, though it is of course a bit disappointing. Still, so much good stuff did make the final ballot that I have to be happy. Congrats to all that made it!

February has been a busy month so far:

I've been reading through most of the works on the HWA Stoker preliminary ballot, and today I put in my votes. There was a lot of great stuff, and some choices were hard to make.

I've also been reading all the poems I can scare up in order to decide on my Rhysling picks. I'm going to try to get my nominations in by Monday, but this is an even tougher choice to make than the ones for the Stokers.

I've cleared out the entire Aberrant Dreams poetry slush, and I've chosen some wonderful poems. I still have two decisions to make there, but I'm feeling pretty happy.

My Spaceports & Spidersilk slush is still waiting for me to send off acceptances and rejections. I've read everything through multiple times (it's still a very small slush pile) and I'm pretty sure of the content for the March issue, but I'm sort of hoping for a few more pieces to come in, especially of fiction. If anyone reading has any short (under 2000 words)speculative stories for kids 8 and up, I'd be very happy to read them :) Reprints are fine.

In my own writing news, I sat down to try to write a fairy tale and ended up with... well, a fairy tale poem. I really have to learn to switch back to longer fiction again. But I think it's a pretty good poem, so that's okay :)

I guess I'll take a crack at posting my monthly sales here.

January was good, actually, for poetry sales.

"Plague" and "Star Fall" sold to Oddlands.
"Pure of Heart" and "Farm School" sold to Kaleidotrope.
"Schooling" and "Unearthed" sold to Star*Line.
"The Homeward Journey" sold to Scifaikuest.
"Tears of the New Girl" sold to Beyond Centauri.
"Fearsome" sold to Sam's Dot...probably Aoife's Kiss.

In other news, voting on the preliminary Stoker ballot starts today. If any HWA members (or, for that matter, SFPA members, since Rhysling nominations are also underway)want to read a pdf copy of my poetry collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, just let me know and I'll gladly send it.

I'm in the middle of a dark, dreary, depressing day, feeling... well... dark, dreary, and depressed, and I'm starting to wonder why. Not why am I depressed, but why do I bother doing this? And by "this," I think I mean editing. I'm currently editing for three magazines. Two of them have me feeling like a fish out of water, and the third has me developing ulcer over the low number of subs I've been receiving so far, when I have to get the first issue together within the next two weeks.

Why do I do it? And for that matter, why am I trying to write reviews for another zine, and articles for yet another? Why am I not writing poetry? Or stories? Or revising my book manuscript or writing a new one?

I always have reasons when I take on a new responsibility. Poetry needs to be reviewed, because I know I would want _my_ poetry reviewed. There need to be editors in order for writers to have markets. And, really, at times I do enjoy doing both.

But sometimes, on the dark, dreary, depressing days, I just want to curl up into a ball and give up.

My poetry collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, has made the Stoker preliminary ballot :)

I haven't been keeping this journal thingy up as well as I should, I think. I'm only starting to get a feel for how i should use it by watching others.

It's only when I sit down and try to figure out what's been going on for me since the start of January that I realize it's actually been a pretty intense month already.

Only a few rejections so far, and four poems sold. Two, "Pure of Heart" and "Farm School," went to Kaleidotrope, and two, "Schooling" and "Unearthed," went to Star*Line. I've decided to try out the AnthologyBuilder concept, so I've had two reprint story acceptances there.

On top of those thing I've started writing poetry reviews for The Fix, and my first review went up today. I'm also the new editor at KidVisions, which is now called Spaceports & Spidersilk. I'm still editing for Mindflights, the new magazine has combined and taken over from The Sword Review and Dragons, Knights and Angels. Oh, and I'm still editing poetry at Aberrant Dreams.

I'm up on the Preditors and Editors poll both for a poem ("Snow Melt," from Ideomancer) and in the poets category. I've been busy reading people's poems from the last year and trying to make my Rhysling decisions, while also sending my own poems from the last year out to people who want to consider them. And my collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, has picked up a few Stoker recommendations, which is kind of fun.

I have an idea for a poem that's niggling away at my brain, and I have more reviews to write, as well as an article for Illumen, but there's this nasty stomach/respiratory bug floating around town that's infiltrated my home and family, and writing has been tougher than usual of late.

Maybe someday I'll actually be able to write fiction again :)

This is old, and silly, but I think it may be the only Christmas poem I've ever written.


Santa Bat

I'm sure you've heard of Santa Claus,
That jolly old gift-giver,
To whom kids write with sweating paws
And bodies all a-quiver?
Well that's just swell if you're a kid,
A smiling, sweet-faced tot,
But what to do if you're undead?
Write Santa Bat, that's what!

Oh can you hear chains rattle?
Our Santa's on his way,
With sacks of gifts for ghouls and ghosts
All dripping from his sleigh.

Our Santa has a list to check,
Just like that other fellow,
Who gets the cream? Who gets the dreck?
But Bat's a bit less mellow.
Jack Punkin' get's a brand new lamp,
The horseman gets a head.
But Vincent, he's a naughty vamp
And he gets garlic bread.

Oh can't you hear the howling?
The pack is loud tonight,
And Santa Bat's out throwing bones
To every wolf in sight.

Kids seem to like their Nicky boy,
I think we've got it better.
A hearse is more use than some toy,
A shroud sure beats a sweater.
I much prefer a nightshade wreath,
To all those lights they hang.
Let humans beg for two front teeth,
While we get four front fangs.

Well, since I've seen a few of these floating around, here's my list of 2007 publications.   I guess it was a better year than I'd thought.

Poems:

"Five Wisdoms of the Snow Queen" – Ideomancer,   June 2007
"Snow Melt"  – Ideomancer,   March 2007
"Fair Price"  – Goblin Fruit,   Spring 2007
"Arbutus"  – Goblin Fruit,   Spring 2007
"Wood Worm" – Goblin Fruit,   Spring 2007
"Immortal Blood" – Goblin Fruit,   January 2007
"Reflections" – Hungur,   April 2007
"Don't Worry, But... " – Aoife's Kiss,   March 2007
"The Sea Hag" – Shantytown Anomaly,   January 2007
"Trailing"  – Beyond Centauri,   Jan. 2007
"Haunted" – From the Asylum,   June 2007
"The Reluctant Orc Maid to Her Swain"–Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, August 2007
"Dogwood Winter" – Star*Line,  Oct. 2007
star song tanka – scifaikuest,   August 2007
"The Liberated Alien" – HAHAKU,   2007
untitled frog tanka – HAHAKU,   2007
"Petition" – HAHAKU,   2007
"Homeless Shelter" – The Willows,   May 2007
"Snow Blind" -- Murky Depths,   Sept. 2007
"Star Boarding" – Sporty Spec,  Fall 2007
"Star Gypsies"  – Hungur,  Oct. 2007
"Lamia" – Mythic Delirium,  Fall 2007
"The Song of the Dragon-Proved Ships" – Illumen,  Fall 2007
"Overdressed"  – HWA Newsletter,  July 2007
"When the Queen of the Seas Sought the Sky" – Lone Star Stories,   Oct. 2007
"Ash" – Abyss and Apex,  Summer 2007
"The Witch Boy" – Goblin Fruit,  Fall 2007
"The Mermaid's (Silent) Lament"  – Amaze,   Sept 2007
"The Crow" – Amaze,   Sept. 2007
"Lament of the Alien Dancehall Girl" – Space Westerns Limerick Contest,   Nov. 2007
"The Importance of Tradition" – Space Westerns Limerick Contest,   Nov. 2007
"Dance of the Seven Veils" – Ideomancer,   Dec. 2007
"Passing Beneath Stars" – Aeon,   August 2007
"Seasonal Color" – Between Kisses,  August 2007

Poetry Collection:

Sometimes While Dreaming  – Sam's Dot Publishing, Oct. 2007

Stories:

"In the Company of Women" - Weird Tales,  June/July 2007 (Co-written with Mikal Trimm)

Well, I've finally decided to try doing the journal thing,  but here I am, staring at the blank page which is supposed to hold my first post, and feeling, well, shy.  What should I say? Will anyone read this?  And if they do, will they want to come back and read more?

Ah well, if anyone is reading this, and does decide to come back to read more, he, she, they or it, will be very welcome.

For now I'll simply say that I'm a writer, a poet, and an editor, and that my first poetry collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, has just come out from Sam's Dot Publishing.