"Megabot vs. Teamwork!" in fuckit, completely flatted by Clarion West, Chicon 8 schedule, some recommendations
Megabot vs. Teamwork! in fuckit
Megabot vs. Teamwork, the first in a series of flash about “what if the Power Rangers went to group therapy?” is in the latest issue of fuckit. I’ve loved the essays and poetry and fiction in fuckit for quite a while and I’m happy to finally have something I can publish there.
You do have to buy the zine to read the story, but shipping is fairly fast and it comes with excellent stickers.
Completely flattened by Clarion West
Normally I would have a craft or theory or critique essay here, but I just got done with the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop, where I wrote 41,000 words and critiqued 440,000 words, so I have no capacity to do much thought-work at all.
It was a very eventful experience, with a lot of ups and downs, but I am beyond grateful for my classmates, who are an extraordinary and talented group of people and I am happy to have a chance to encounter their writing. At the very least, I am grateful that when they’re all famous I can say that I was a fan from the start.
In news that might interest people here, I finished a novella while at Clarion, tentatively titled The Queen Beneath the Earth. Publication plans up in the air for now, while I deal with revisions.
Chicon 8 schedule
I will be at the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago at the end of the month. Unlike previous WorldCons, they’re actually put me on some panels and events.
SF Depictions of Disability in the Future (Panel), Friday 7 PM (Crystal Ballroom A)
Reading (Solo Reading), Friday 8:30 PM (Crystal Ballroom A)
Future Food (Panel), Saturday 2:30 PM (Grand Hall I)
Table Talk (what they’re calling a kaffeeklatsch), Sunday 2:30 PM (Crystal Foyer)
If you’re going to be there, please let me know! I would love a chance to meet you, even briefly. (Also, I am hoping that at least someone will come to my reading and kaffeeklatsch.)
A Few Recommendations
I’m in the middle of The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall and enjoying it immensely. Kerstin’s descriptions are gorgeous and inviting, even when the world she is describing grotesque and bizarre.
The Demon Sage’s Daughter by Varsha Dinesh was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, which is richly deserved. I know I’ve mentioned it a lot, but it’s my favorite short fiction from the last year and it’s well worth your time.
As someone who longs for nothing more than to transform into a tree, I greatly enjoyed Rooted by Wen-yi Lee.
(These are a few of my Clarion West classmates—they’re mostly who I’ve been reading lately.)
Forthcoming stories
A True and Certain Proof of the Messianic Age, with two lemmas will be out in Fantasy later this month (hopefully by then I will have the strength to write an essay). The Tragic Fate of the City of O-Rashad will be out in Lightspeed in October. Both of these are weird Judaica, a genre I’ve been writing a great deal of recently, so it’s exciting to have them come out back-to-back.
In general I am of the opinion that there should be more monotheism in the fantasy genre, so I’m hoping that these stories will hold open the way for others.