“The Art Disease” in Electric Velocipede

I’m delighted to report that after some delays, my story “The Art Disease” appears in the award-winning publication, Electric Velocipede today. EV is making the transition to online from print, and I’m most pleased to be a part of this exciting move.  Here’s the first paragraph, just to get you started…

  Derek and Emily had the art disease, the both of them.  Everyone they knew had it too.  That’s one of the symptoms:  Colonies, clusters, movements, splinter groups, manifestos.  Clumping, the experts call it.  She had a master’s in design and decorated cakes at Food One, not the one on 17th but the one near the park, open till midnight.  He refused to sell out.  He was determined to support himself with his art….

 

Electric Velocipede #23

The schedule for the launch of EV 23 follows. You’ll notice me bringing up the rear. Hope you’ll join me:
August 15
“Through the Uprights” by Richard Butner / Blindfold Taste Test w/Alex Irvine

August 22
“Fastening” by Patricia Russo / “Fish out of Water” by Deborah Fitchett

August 29
“Gray-faced Wench” by Andrew Kaye / “The Last Patrol” by Tara Barnett (poem)

September 5
“Dancing in the Winter Room” by David Tallerman / “Her Mother’s Bees” and “The Girl and Her Cloud” by Alexandra Seidel (poems)

September 12
“The Empire Never Ended” by Brian Trent / “Content TKTK: Speculative Poetry” by John Ottinger III

September 19
“The Art Disease” by Dennis Danvers / “Sampling the Aspic” by Penelope O’Shea

Richmond Noir is now an audiobook!

I haven’t had a listen myself yet, so I don’t know if the reader is up to the task of all the accents and dialects there are to be found in this rich collection, but it’s definitely worth a shot. Take it to the gym, listen to a few murders on the subway, give yourself a chill on the elliptical. Visit my fair city in all its noir glory.  Buy it here.

Everyone interested in online fiction, raise your hand, now put it on the mouse or trackpad or device of your choice and go to Electric Velocipede.  The award-winning publication is back in a big way, giving away some truly remarkable fiction.  I’ll have more on EV’s return soon.

Déjà vu all over again!

Realms of Fantasy is back, again. This is of particular interest to me because I had/have a story in the issue that was not/ but now will be coming out. This is the second time this has happened. “Healing Benjamin,” a story that has been very good to me was scheduled to appear in Realms when it went under before, but then it was rescued.  My story “The Banjo Singer,” was similarly accepted, then the mag died, but you can’t keep a good story down, and once again Realms is rescued.   “Banjo Singer” is a companion piece to “Here’s What I Know” (also published in Realms), which mythologizes my dad’s life.  This one’s about my mom. Anyway, the December issue.  Look for it.  Better yet, subscribe. Welcome back Realms! Woo-hoo! The good thing about resurrection is you get to celebrate twice, even if the death part’s a serious downer.

Spread the word that Realms lives. Anyone who has submissions in limbo there should check their website. Welcome back, Shawna!

Benjamin gets a nice notice

This review appeared recently on Beam Me Up—

Tails of Wonder & Imagination
Edit by Ellen Datlow
from Night Shade Books

Do you think of yourself as a cat fancier? Do stories about cats or with cats as the main character garner more than just a little interest? Well have I got a book for you! Tails of Wonder edited by Ellen Datlow has collected some of the finest “catâ€� stories I have seen to date. Now I am not talking about the cutesy puss in boots tales (no pun intended) either. Some of the most heart wrenching and frightening stories are contained within the covers, by some of the most esteemed authors in the field today. Stephen King, George R.R. Martin and Mary A. Turrizllo to name a few. Mary’s story you might remember from an earlier BMU program, is Pride which tells the story of a long dead sabre tooth tiger brought back through regressive dna (I know, I am mangling the science) and the horrifying effect that the big cat has on modern society. Or the absolutely indescribable Cat Skin by Kelly Link and one of my favorites in the book Healing Benjamin by Dennis Danvers is absolutely heart breaking.

Forty two stories in all with a fine intro by Ellen gives enough selection than anyone is likely to find several well worth the cost of the volume. I thought I would be wanting at the end knowing that most of the stories would be classified as fantasy, but I had no problem getting to the end and often a lot of trouble just putting it down.

This would be one that I would suggest you checking out no matter what your main story venue is. I think even the most hardened amongst us can warm to this collection.

posted by Beam Me Up at 2:50 PM on May 13, 2010

Summer school starts Monday, so I’m crazy busy.  I’ll be back with news from that front when time allows.

“The Banjo Singer” finds a home

I just heard today that Realms of Fantasy will be publishing another story of mine, “The Banjo Singer.”  While “Here’s What I Know,” previously published by Realms mythologized my father’s life, this one’s about my mom, by way of the fantastic, of course.  Here’s how it begins—

The Banjo Singer

Marie’s father was a large man with hands square and flat like coal shovels.  He owned the music store where Marie worked—like her dead mother before her.  She was a quiet girl, slim and slightly bent like a young tree planted in the way of a tireless north wind, but stronger for it.  There was something discomforting in her gaze if you looked her in the eye, and so Marie rarely looked others in the eye, not wanting to make anyone uncomfortable.

Afternoons she helped her father among the tubas and piccolos and banjoes and violins and thought them all of  no real importance.  Wood tubes, bent brass, strung wires and cat gut—they were dead things.  She wanted to be a singer.  She was a singer.  She wanted this all her life, though few had ever heard her sing.   Even at birthday parties or at Christmas when everyone sang, she always busied herself doing something else.  In church, she never voiced the words, for she knew if prayers were answered, her life would be quite different altogether….

WRIR Covers Fountain Bookstore Reading

  WRIR, 97.3 in Richmond, one of our favorite radio stations, was in attendance at Fountain Bookstore the other night for one of the Richmond Noir readings.  Check it out:  “Richmond Gets to Tell its Own Dark Story.”  Don’t miss the audio clip, and be sure to wait for the end where I give it my best Texas for the first paragraph of “Texas Beach.”  A big thanks to Kelly Justice of Fountain and Caroline Jackson of WRIR for their support of local writers.

“Fairy Princess” in F & SF

As I said in a previous post, I’ve waited a long time for this.  I keep looking at the name on the cover.  Gordon sees fit to give the story an adult WARNING, so I suppose I should too.  Any adults out there?  Never mind.  Here’s the first paragraph to get you started:

Let’s start with the part where you won’t like me much, then take it from there.  No excuses.  I was married to a nice man with a little girl three years old, when I fell in love with another man and left my husband, lost my child in the custody battle, and ended up in the high Rockies with my lover.  He changed.  What did I know?  I’d known him nine months when he shot himself in our cabin, the dead of winter.  I dragged him outside so he’d freeze solid and I could figure out what to do with him, but before I figured it out, something dragged him off.  When the thaw came, I got down off the mountain.  I live in the city now, a different one from where my husband lives.  He’s remarried, moved on.  My daughter calls her stepmother Mom last I heard, though she’s old enough by now to have a daughter of her own.  I leave them alone.  That’s the only thing I’m proud of in that story, not that I ever tell it.  So that’s who you’re dealing with.  In case you think it matters—a person’s best-forgotten, sordid past.  For what it’s worth, I’ve changed too.

“Texas Beach” in Richmond Magazine

In the latest issue of Richmond Magazine, hot off the presses, “Texas Beach” from Richmond Noir is reprinted in its entirety with some terrific illustrations by Barry Bruner.  They can be seen at his blog here.  Run right out and buy 5 copies to give all your friends or perfect strangers.  Or the next time you’re getting a root canal or waiting for an eye exam, remember I’m probably in the pile of magazines in the waiting room.  Skip the People.  Read some noir.