Writing Achievement Unlocked!

So in the past three days I've gotten three really exciting emails and I don't know if I can announce the specifics yet but here's the exciting bits:

　

Wednesday: I have been invited to write for an anthology about dinosaurs! Apparently they found me on Twitter, where I write about dinosaurs way too much. My first invitation!

　

Thursday: I got a poem accepted for an anthology of sci-fi poems!

　

And today: A story was accepted that they asked me to revise. Their notes? Add more 80s references, specifically Dirty Dancing. Oh, that I can do.

　

Also, sometimes a story just wants to be told through rhyming couplets. And sometimes that story is about a Very Good Dog in the zombie apocalypse.

This October, my poem The Dog Who Walked With Zombies will be published in Dark Ink: A Poetry Anthology Inspired by Horror!

See the other 65 poets and get free shipping if you preorder now:
https://www.moontidepress.com/single-post/2018/08/08/DARK-INK-A-POETRY-ANTHOLOGY-INSPIRED-BY-HORROR-is-COMING-October-2018-66-Poets-to-Fright-and-Excite-You


　
Also, I did an interview! http://palmbeach.happeningmag.com/storytime-grownups-author-spotlight-jennifer-lee-rossman-author-anachronism

Review: Brightly Burning

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is a reimagining of Jane Eyre... IN SPAAAACE. Now, I've never read Jane Eyre, but I know the basic plot and totally expected the big twist... except that was only part of the big twist and it was actually much more complicated and delightful than I expected. I really enjoyed the story.

So why the low rating? Couple reasons, but mostly the romance.

I keep reading about how swoony the romance is. I'm not seeing it. Like, there are two other characters (three if Stella was bi, which I have no evidence of, but that doesn't stop me from shipping her and Bianca as enemies-to-lovers) that I think she had so much more chemistry with. I was genuinely hoping Hugo would die so Stella could be with George or Jon.
Hugo is nice... when he's alone with Stella and is the right amount of drunk, but for most of the book he's also a manipulative alcoholic who uses his power as her boss and access to books to effectively order her to spend time with him, even though he claims they're equals.
Forgive me for growing up with an abusive father, but I don't find any of that romantic.

And no spoilers on the specifics, but of COURSE the mentally ill character is dangerous and can't have a happy ending.

Also, not one damn mention of the cats after a certain point. We never even MET the rumored third cat. If there is a cat in the book, the safety and fate of the cat is all I care about for the rest of the book.

View all my reviews

Did You Know I'm an Artist?

This is a two-part announcement.
One, I've had a story accepted by Robot Dinosaurs, a website featuring short stories about robot dinosaurs! It will be compiled in an anthology at the end of summer too. https://robotdinosaurfiction.com/


　

But my story won't be up for a while yet, so let me tell you about Kathryn Kania's story, When I Was Made. It's a sweet story about a robot dinosaur raising flesh-and-blood dinosaur babies... oh, and I did the illustration for it!
https://robotdinosaurfiction.com/kania-i-was-made/

Love & Bubbles Pre-Orders!

Hello! Today I have the Love & Bubbles pre-order link to share! This is the anthology of queer romance under the sea I've been editing with Jaylee James.

I also have a story in it about a gay dolphin shapeshifter. There is no sexual content to these stories, very little language and violence, and they all will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

It will be available on Amazon when it comes out, but for now we're offering pre-orders on Gumroad to raise money to pay for the cover art.

In addition to ebook and paperback, we also have t-shirts! And cross stitch I made, while supplies last.
http://gumroad.com/jayleejames

Busy October

Well, I've got five projects coming out in October!

I'm not sure how this happened exactly, but I'm not complaining or apologizing for constantly sharing my good news. I'm also not going to go to the library for books at all that month, because of a lovely thing called contributor copies. (I do get paid in actual money for most things, but getting paid in books is all I've ever dreamed of.)

So! Updated list of the things I have been given the go-ahead to announce:

One Last Ride on the Horse with Purple Roses - Luna Station Quarterly - September 1
http://lunastationquarterly.com/



The Cemetery Cat - From A Cat's View - October
https://post-to-print.com/from-a-cats-p-o-v-selected-stories/



Enough - We Shall Be Monsters - October


https://weshallbemonsters.wordpress.com/submission-guidelines/



Take Meme to Your Leader - UFO7
(Seanan McGuire!!!!!!)
https://alexshvartsman.com/ufo-unidentified-funny-objects/



The Leximancer's Rebellion - Battling in All Her Finery - Oct 18


 (I've been in an anthology with one of the other authors.)http://madscientistjournal.org/2018/03/battling-in-all-her-finery-submissions-now-open/



The Wolf Mother - Under the Full Moon's Light - Oct 16

(I know TWO people in this one!)

https://owlhollowpress.com/under-the-full-moons-light/

Children of the Sky is Published!

First things first, my novel Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic Freakshow is being published on December 4th! We've got a cover reveal on September 10 - sign up here and you can get an advanced review copy before anyone else: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNGh58bFJINgtT6t_W7Q5nA6BjgoRpeVM-sfCctA8D0Wlvbw/viewform




Children of the Sky, an anthology of eight alien stories -- one of which is my Artist Unknown -- has been published by Schreyer Ink Publishing!

Ebook 
Paperback

Here's a tip for writers: Keep a dream journal. I've been keeping one for years, and I underline interesting ideas and images so I can find them later. Artist Unknown was based on one such entry.

Direct quote from my dream journal, dated March 26, 2016:

"A boy and his family fly across country in a race against time to discover secrets about an old painting. "Gustav's Pocket Watch" is actually some other guy's monocle, and a whole series of events is revealed by examining the reflection in the glass, which is not the artist."

The boy and his family didn't make it into the story, nor did the bit about the monocle (to be honest, I don't fully understand what that was supposed to mean), and of course I had to add aliens.

But the main idea - an image hidden in a painting of a watch - is the same. The painting is even called Gustav's Pocket Watch, though I haven't the slightest idea where my brain came up with the name.