I'm not going to post the cover of the book because it has a spider on it and I don't want to trigger any phobias, but my story The Courtship Dance is now available in The Tangled Web anthology! https://www.purpleturkeypress.com/thetangledweb
So my go-to plotting method is apparently to add "in spaaaaaace" to the end of the anthology theme. Thus we have a story about spiders. IN. SPAAAAAAACE.
Let me tell you a little about spiders. Terrifying things that snuck out of Hell when Satan was doing spring cleaning, right? Hey, I have arachnophobia - no argument here. (I can't guarantee the content of any other story in this anthology, but mine is sweet and the spider is not scary at all.)
But did you know they can dance?
Enter the peacock spiders, teeny little colorful dudes that shake their iridescent groove thangs to attract a mate. (Link shows photos and video of spiders up close but they are freaking adorable and fuzzy wuzzy and don't trigger anxiety from me.) https://www.livescience.com/39052-peacock-spider-mating-dance.html
And did you know spiders have been to space? (Link shows photos of spiders -- some are not close-ups, and the ones that are show spiders preserved in jars. No extreme close-ups of anything meant to look scary, but I know that doesn't always matter if your phobia is severe.) https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-of-intrigue-the-spiders-who-spun-in-space
So naturally I had to combine these fun facts into a story about dancing, romance, and Newtonian physics. The spiders play a very small part in the actual story, but have a big impact on the plot.
Judith lives in a spaceship, and like all of my romantic leads, she's dorky and awkward and doesn't know how to tell the pretty boy with the glittery prosthetic arm that she fancies him. So naturally, she turns to her spider friend Anita for advice on choreographing a courtship dance.
When I submitted this story, the editors asked me to add more 80s references, specifically Dirty Dancing. Now, I'd never seen Dirty Dancing. It never felt like my kind of thing. It's a girly, not sci-fi movie. But I have seen it and let me tell you, I LOVED IT. Like, I knew how it ended but I got so into it that I was like "BUT DO THEY DO THE LIFT?????"
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
FreakShow Character Introduction: Pneuman
Every Monday from now until December 3rd, I'm introducing a character from my debut novel, Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic FreakShow! Today's character is...
Pneuman!
Along with his identical twin, Theon, Pneuman handles communication for the ship. He's the sweetest person, and usually wears an old souvenir t-shirt advertising the freakshow.
Pneuman is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. He can sense emotions and uses this to perform as psychic, conjoined triplets with Parthen and Theon.
Most of their backstory was explained in a scene that got cut, but I do mention it briefly in one surviving chapter. The three of them grew up on a planet that Pneuman and Theon's people ruled. When settlers turned it into a trading hub, their people were forcibly moved to temples they could never leave. Some people -- like Parthen -- brought them food, and were labeled unclean for doing so. Running away to join the freakshow was their only chance at a real life, and someday they're going to go back and help their people.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Pneuman is the "holy ghost" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." His name means "air" or "spirit." Like his brother, I imagine Theon looking like Michael Ealy.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Cara!
Pneuman!
Along with his identical twin, Theon, Pneuman handles communication for the ship. He's the sweetest person, and usually wears an old souvenir t-shirt advertising the freakshow.
Pneuman is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. He can sense emotions and uses this to perform as psychic, conjoined triplets with Parthen and Theon.
Most of their backstory was explained in a scene that got cut, but I do mention it briefly in one surviving chapter. The three of them grew up on a planet that Pneuman and Theon's people ruled. When settlers turned it into a trading hub, their people were forcibly moved to temples they could never leave. Some people -- like Parthen -- brought them food, and were labeled unclean for doing so. Running away to join the freakshow was their only chance at a real life, and someday they're going to go back and help their people.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Pneuman is the "holy ghost" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." His name means "air" or "spirit." Like his brother, I imagine Theon looking like Michael Ealy.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Cara!
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Review: Unidentified Funny Objects 7
Unidentified Funny Objects 7 by Alex ShvartsmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Full disclaimer, I have a story in this book, but I don't know any of the other authors beyond a passing acquaintance and am trying to be as un-biased as is possible.
Individual reviews of the stories is easier for me than trying to review the book as a whole, though I do have to say I would have loved more diversity in the characters. Not a ton of queer, disabled, or people of color.
THE DRAGON, THE DRUDGE, AND THE DRONE by Esther Friesner
Cute and fun. Not the funniest piece in the book but very nice.
CHAD VERSUS THE REBEL ALLIANCE by Shane Halbach
What if you took Star Wars and replaced the clone army with Jason from The Good Place? HILARITY, THAT'S WHAT.
THE SECRET DESTINY OF HEROES by Matthew Bailey
Stopped reading after the phrase "crippled horror." My body is not a horror, and I'm sure the author didn't mean it in an ableist way, but I don't make myself read something that makes me unwelcome.
OLD SCHOOL: AN ORAL HISTORY OF CAPTAIN DICK CHASE by Val Nolan
I'm sure I missed a ton of nerd references but the ones I caught were amazing. Nice to see a story call out ableist slurs, too.
TAKE MEME TO YOUR LEADER by Jennifer Lee Rossman
Not going to review my story but I used some swear words in it, so that was fun.
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS by C. Flynt
Legal procedural! I need this story to be a sitcom.
BIMBLE BIMBLE BOP BOP! by Richard Anderson
I can't even explain this one but it's hilarious.
THE SIT DOWN by Laura Resnick
Aliens crash on Earth, and it's up to two mobsters to stop a war. And it's amazing. I've known people like this, and the voice is superb.
THE EBONY EGG by David Vierling
I'm not a huge fan of noir mysteries so my interest wandered a bit, but it's properly amusing.
THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN by Greg Sisco
It's funny, yes, but this story's strength is not its humor. It's the Twilight Zonian way it plays with the us vs. them mob mentality. I think there's a tendency to play down a humorous story as just being silly fun, nothing of substance. Well. Here be substance.
FALLING’S FREE, GRAVITY COSTS by Seanan McGuire
You know I love a space carnival, especially one with a genetically engineered leader.
MISSION LOG NUPTIALS by Langley Hyde
At first, the "I'm going to woo and marry this girl within the week" gave me a creepster vibe, but it's quickly explained that the love interest's species can fall in love but do not date, so it's less about convincing her to love you and more about convincing her you're worthy of lifelong commitment. And it's so sweet.
QUICK CASH IN THE OLD KINGDOM by Elin Korund
I didn't find this one particularly hilarious, but it was just a really enjoyable story.
KEY FANG AND KLAW by Fred Stesney
There's a giant robot... and its name... is Kevin. Need I say more?
THE VAMPIRE’S APPRENTICE by Gini Koch
I adored this one. Poor boy is so oblivious that his boss is Dracula.
THE ASSASSINATION OF 2063 by David Vaughan
Amazing. Full of little historical references and just ridiculous enough to be silly, but not too silly. And that twist.
DETHRONING THE CHAMPEEN by Mike Resnick
I didn't read this one. The main character irritated me and the humor struck me as "aren't these foreigners so wacky and backwards?" Maybe it got better but it was a really long story and I didn't feel like sticking it out.
SPEAR CARRIERS’ UNION #109 by Jamie Gilman Kress
I giggled all through this meta take on high school chosen one adventures.
THE FERMI LONELINESS PROBLEM by Beth Goder
Almost felt Douglas Adams-esque.
THREE WAYS TO LEAVE HAWAII by Zach Shephard
I didn't find this one hilarious (maybe the slapsticky bits would work better in a visual medium?) but a fun adventure.
View all my reviews
Friday, October 26, 2018
Guest Interview with Adie Weston
Twitter. It gives us so much. Corgi pictures, jealous girlfriend memes, Hufflepuff jokes your family doesn't understand... but it also brings writers together and forms great friendships.
Adie Weston is one such friend I've made on the tweety, and today, her first book is published!
Terrific Tails: Stories From A Pet Guardian is a series of hilarious and heart-warming stories about family pets and the guardians who love them. Follow the author from her childhood pets to her current household of furry family. Laugh out loud at the filthy runaway adventures of Winston the dog. Hold your breath while you wait to find out where Hiccup the kitten was hiding all along. Discover that sometimes our pets find us, instead of us finding them. Welcome yourselves into this forever home.
You can order it on Amazon today. And profits go to the Humane Society, so everyone wins!
Adie was kind enough to answer a few interview questions with me (and my cat, Chloe).
You've mentioned this book being your Grandma's idea. Can you tell me more about her?
This book was, without a doubt, all my Grandma Ava’s idea. She demanded I write it for her. And though she passed away before it was finished, I continued on with the book. For Grandma. The thing about Grandma was that she never held back on her thoughts – whether that was demanding I write a book for her or demanding I point out all my cute doctors to her. Yes, you read that last part right. I grew up as a disabled child and let me tell you, doctors were my less than favorite people in the world, for obvious reasons. But Grandma, well, she’d always tell me, "You keep an eye out for a cute doctor for me!" Often she’d say this with Grandpa sitting right there next to her. He never seemed to mind. Now I was young and wasn’t the kind of child to exclaim to a doctor, "My, you’re cute!" But one day, as my mother told it, when I was about seven years old, a young good-looking doctor came into the exam room and introduced himself, offering out his hand for me to shake. I shook it, looked him in the eye and very boldly said, "My grandma wants to meet you." Apparently this was how seven-year-old me told doctors they were cute.
What's your first pet memory?
My first memory of having a pet goes all the way back to when I was about four years old. We had a big black lab named Barney. I talk a little about Barney in the first chapter of this book – where I talk about those childhood pets that were so long ago my memory can barely hold on to them. Barney was warm and friendly and protective. I was so little then - and he seemed so big to me - that sometimes I was nervous of being knocked over when he got too affectionate. But I shouldn’t have been. As my mother told it, Barney acted like a bounding puppy with my older siblings, but was always careful and tender with me, as if he was aware of my young, delicate size. What I remember more than anything about Barney is his large, warm body pressed against me as I sat on the back steps of our home on a cold fall afternoon. It’s a lovely memory, for sure.
And Chloe would like to know: What is Hiccup's favorite toy?
Hiccup is a very playful cat, with a whole collection of store bought toys. But his favorite thing to play with? Bottle caps. He especially likes ones off of soda bottles. Drink a 16oz soda, give the lid to Hiccup. He has a collection of about ten bottle lids – and a random ink pen he seems very attached to – behind my bedroom door. We play a game we simply call ‘hockey’. I pull out about six of them and he gets behind the door and waits. I kick one under the door, sliding it between the bottom of the door and the floor. Hiccup pounces on it, scrambles around, and then pushes it back out to me on the other side. I kick another one under the door. Sometimes he slides the lid back under. Sometimes he gets distracted. But we keep playing - me kicking them under one way, him sometimes pushing them back - until I have no bottlecaps left. Throughout the game, I get him all excited by yelling things like, "On the goal, stay on the goal!" and "Watch your mark, coming at you!" When the game is done - and Hiccup is laying on his side in a pile of lids behind my bedroom door - I proclaim, "Good game, good game. Hit the showers." Hiccup will go bounding out of my room then, presumably to hit the showers.
About the author:
Adie Weston is a 40-ish something woman who currently lives in a house in Michigan with her sister, four cats, and sometimes a dog. She wrote her very first story at age six. It was about a seal and mainly consisted of the words, "See the seal." Luckily, she has learned a few more words than that now. This is her first published book.
Follow Westword Books:
https://www.facebook.com/westword.books/
https://twitter.com/Westword_Books
Adie Weston is one such friend I've made on the tweety, and today, her first book is published!
Terrific Tails: Stories From A Pet Guardian is a series of hilarious and heart-warming stories about family pets and the guardians who love them. Follow the author from her childhood pets to her current household of furry family. Laugh out loud at the filthy runaway adventures of Winston the dog. Hold your breath while you wait to find out where Hiccup the kitten was hiding all along. Discover that sometimes our pets find us, instead of us finding them. Welcome yourselves into this forever home.
You can order it on Amazon today. And profits go to the Humane Society, so everyone wins!
Adie was kind enough to answer a few interview questions with me (and my cat, Chloe).
You've mentioned this book being your Grandma's idea. Can you tell me more about her?
This book was, without a doubt, all my Grandma Ava’s idea. She demanded I write it for her. And though she passed away before it was finished, I continued on with the book. For Grandma. The thing about Grandma was that she never held back on her thoughts – whether that was demanding I write a book for her or demanding I point out all my cute doctors to her. Yes, you read that last part right. I grew up as a disabled child and let me tell you, doctors were my less than favorite people in the world, for obvious reasons. But Grandma, well, she’d always tell me, "You keep an eye out for a cute doctor for me!" Often she’d say this with Grandpa sitting right there next to her. He never seemed to mind. Now I was young and wasn’t the kind of child to exclaim to a doctor, "My, you’re cute!" But one day, as my mother told it, when I was about seven years old, a young good-looking doctor came into the exam room and introduced himself, offering out his hand for me to shake. I shook it, looked him in the eye and very boldly said, "My grandma wants to meet you." Apparently this was how seven-year-old me told doctors they were cute.
What's your first pet memory?
My first memory of having a pet goes all the way back to when I was about four years old. We had a big black lab named Barney. I talk a little about Barney in the first chapter of this book – where I talk about those childhood pets that were so long ago my memory can barely hold on to them. Barney was warm and friendly and protective. I was so little then - and he seemed so big to me - that sometimes I was nervous of being knocked over when he got too affectionate. But I shouldn’t have been. As my mother told it, Barney acted like a bounding puppy with my older siblings, but was always careful and tender with me, as if he was aware of my young, delicate size. What I remember more than anything about Barney is his large, warm body pressed against me as I sat on the back steps of our home on a cold fall afternoon. It’s a lovely memory, for sure.
And Chloe would like to know: What is Hiccup's favorite toy?
Hiccup is a very playful cat, with a whole collection of store bought toys. But his favorite thing to play with? Bottle caps. He especially likes ones off of soda bottles. Drink a 16oz soda, give the lid to Hiccup. He has a collection of about ten bottle lids – and a random ink pen he seems very attached to – behind my bedroom door. We play a game we simply call ‘hockey’. I pull out about six of them and he gets behind the door and waits. I kick one under the door, sliding it between the bottom of the door and the floor. Hiccup pounces on it, scrambles around, and then pushes it back out to me on the other side. I kick another one under the door. Sometimes he slides the lid back under. Sometimes he gets distracted. But we keep playing - me kicking them under one way, him sometimes pushing them back - until I have no bottlecaps left. Throughout the game, I get him all excited by yelling things like, "On the goal, stay on the goal!" and "Watch your mark, coming at you!" When the game is done - and Hiccup is laying on his side in a pile of lids behind my bedroom door - I proclaim, "Good game, good game. Hit the showers." Hiccup will go bounding out of my room then, presumably to hit the showers.
About the author:
Adie Weston is a 40-ish something woman who currently lives in a house in Michigan with her sister, four cats, and sometimes a dog. She wrote her very first story at age six. It was about a seal and mainly consisted of the words, "See the seal." Luckily, she has learned a few more words than that now. This is her first published book.
Follow Westword Books:
https://www.facebook.com/westword.books/
https://twitter.com/Westword_Books
Monday, October 22, 2018
FreakShow Character Introduction: Parthen
Every Monday from now until December 3rd, I'm introducing a character from my debut novel, Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic FreakShow! Today's character is...
Parthen!
Parthen coordinates the crew's schedules and plans their travel through the galaxies. She's black, has purple hair, and is friendly but shy.
Parthen is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. She can change the chemical structure of anything she touches. In the show, she uses this to meld her body with Pneuman and Theon, and they perform as psychic, conjoined triplets (though she is not related to either of them).
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Parthen is the "son" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." Her name is short for parthenogenesis, or "virgin birth."
I imagine Parthen as looking like Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth on This Is Us.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet the third triplet, Pneuman!
Parthen!
Parthen is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. She can change the chemical structure of anything she touches. In the show, she uses this to meld her body with Pneuman and Theon, and they perform as psychic, conjoined triplets (though she is not related to either of them).
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Parthen is the "son" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." Her name is short for parthenogenesis, or "virgin birth."
I imagine Parthen as looking like Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Beth on This Is Us.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet the third triplet, Pneuman!
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Publishing Updates
Well, I did something silly.
Somehow I managed to be in a lot of anthologies that were all coming out while I was too busy with Love & Bubbles to properly promote them. So here are the books you might not have heard about yet.
The Dog Who Walked with Zombies - Dark Ink: A Poetry Anthology Inspired by Horror - September 21, 2018
A rhyming poem told in thirty-something couplets about a dog and her little group of zombies.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Ink-Poetry-Anthology-Inspired/dp/0997483768/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537553864&sr=1-1&keywords=9780997483765
The Cemetery Cat - From A Cat's View - October 14
Pawdrey Hepburn and her fellow cemetery cats who purr to calm the spirits are the only beings keeping our realm from being overrun by ghosts. But when one ghost escapes to tend to his unfinished business, Pawdrey discovers that she might have some unfinished business of her own...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDFV63S
The Leximancer's Rebellion - Battling in All Her Finery - October 16, 2018
Leximancer: noun
1 One who uses words to write magic into existence.
2 A word I totally made up but it sounds cool, right?
Hope is a leximancer, someone who can make magic by writing. She's also illiterate, so she'll have to find another way to magic away this alien invasion.
https://amzn.to/2pRZcjY
The Wolf Mother - Under the Full Moon's Light - October 16, 2018
The Wolf Mother is one of my stories that I thought might be too weird to be accepted. It's got time traveling, genetically engineered monster wolves with two mouths! It was inspired by the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day," because most of my stories start with me watching a show and going, "But it would be so much better if..."
This anthology also contains a story from another non-me Jennifer from Oneonta.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945654279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539697230&sr=8-1&keywords=9781945654275
Also, I have a story in A Punk Rock Future, which is currently on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/689653997/a-punk-rock-future?ref=project_tweet
Somehow I managed to be in a lot of anthologies that were all coming out while I was too busy with Love & Bubbles to properly promote them. So here are the books you might not have heard about yet.
The Dog Who Walked with Zombies - Dark Ink: A Poetry Anthology Inspired by Horror - September 21, 2018
A rhyming poem told in thirty-something couplets about a dog and her little group of zombies.
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Ink-Poetry-Anthology-Inspired/dp/0997483768/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537553864&sr=1-1&keywords=9780997483765
The Cemetery Cat - From A Cat's View - October 14
Pawdrey Hepburn and her fellow cemetery cats who purr to calm the spirits are the only beings keeping our realm from being overrun by ghosts. But when one ghost escapes to tend to his unfinished business, Pawdrey discovers that she might have some unfinished business of her own...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HDFV63S
The Leximancer's Rebellion - Battling in All Her Finery - October 16, 2018
Leximancer: noun
1 One who uses words to write magic into existence.
2 A word I totally made up but it sounds cool, right?
Hope is a leximancer, someone who can make magic by writing. She's also illiterate, so she'll have to find another way to magic away this alien invasion.
https://amzn.to/2pRZcjY
The Wolf Mother - Under the Full Moon's Light - October 16, 2018
The Wolf Mother is one of my stories that I thought might be too weird to be accepted. It's got time traveling, genetically engineered monster wolves with two mouths! It was inspired by the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day," because most of my stories start with me watching a show and going, "But it would be so much better if..."
This anthology also contains a story from another non-me Jennifer from Oneonta.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945654279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539697230&sr=8-1&keywords=9781945654275
Also, I have a story in A Punk Rock Future, which is currently on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/689653997/a-punk-rock-future?ref=project_tweet
Thursday, October 18, 2018
LOVE & BUBBLES IS PUBLISHED!
LOVE & BUBBLES, an anthology of queer romance under the sea, is PUBLISHED!!!!
Dive into romance with these twelve stories of queer love beneath the waves!
Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Order here!
Profits are split between the authors, so every sale is helping pay them.
Go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin... and so much more!
Stories by:
Evvan Burke, Jaylee James (Editor), Jennifer Lee Rossman (Editor), Lia Cooper, Lizzie Colt, M. Hollis, Maggie Derrick, Mharie West, Minerva Cerridwen, Riley Sidell, V. S. Holmes, and Victoria Zelvin.
Note: Stories in this book could be categorized as "sweet" romance. They are all rated PG-13 with no heat level to speak of, meaning there is no on-page sex.
Paperback copies come with a free digital download of the ebook as epub, mobi, and pdf formats.
My story, Shallows, is about two men trying to rescue a dolphin from an aquarium... but one of them is secretly an encantado, a Brazilian dolphin shapeshifter. Encantados are a real mythological creature that I've loved since they were featured in an episode of The Wild Thornberrys. They're usually more on the evil side, but my Adriano is sweet and awkward.
But I'm not just an author this time! I'm also an editor! Jaylee edited the first anthology I was part of, Circuits & Slippers, and was gracious enough to take me on as er assistant when I asked er about editing.
My attitude was, to quote Legally Blonde, "What, like it's hard?"
Yes, it's hard. But it's also something I'm really passionate about. I've been in a lot of anthologies (a few that I haven't gotten around to announcing yet; stay tuned). I've had good editors and not so good editors, and I want to be one of the good ones. I want to nurture new authors, help people polish their words.
I want to be someone who amplifies stories about people who don't always have their voices heard.
I think we did that in this book, and I hope you'll enjoy it and donate copies to libraries and give them to LGBTQ+ youth so everyone can see that people like us can have happily ever afters.
Dive into romance with these twelve stories of queer love beneath the waves!
Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Order here!
Profits are split between the authors, so every sale is helping pay them.
Go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin... and so much more!
Evvan Burke, Jaylee James (Editor), Jennifer Lee Rossman (Editor), Lia Cooper, Lizzie Colt, M. Hollis, Maggie Derrick, Mharie West, Minerva Cerridwen, Riley Sidell, V. S. Holmes, and Victoria Zelvin.
Note: Stories in this book could be categorized as "sweet" romance. They are all rated PG-13 with no heat level to speak of, meaning there is no on-page sex.
Paperback copies come with a free digital download of the ebook as epub, mobi, and pdf formats.
My story, Shallows, is about two men trying to rescue a dolphin from an aquarium... but one of them is secretly an encantado, a Brazilian dolphin shapeshifter. Encantados are a real mythological creature that I've loved since they were featured in an episode of The Wild Thornberrys. They're usually more on the evil side, but my Adriano is sweet and awkward.
But I'm not just an author this time! I'm also an editor! Jaylee edited the first anthology I was part of, Circuits & Slippers, and was gracious enough to take me on as er assistant when I asked er about editing.
My attitude was, to quote Legally Blonde, "What, like it's hard?"
Yes, it's hard. But it's also something I'm really passionate about. I've been in a lot of anthologies (a few that I haven't gotten around to announcing yet; stay tuned). I've had good editors and not so good editors, and I want to be one of the good ones. I want to nurture new authors, help people polish their words.
I want to be someone who amplifies stories about people who don't always have their voices heard.
I think we did that in this book, and I hope you'll enjoy it and donate copies to libraries and give them to LGBTQ+ youth so everyone can see that people like us can have happily ever afters.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Love & Bubbles Author Interview: Evvan Burke
Today I'm hosting an interview with Love & Bubbles author Evvan Burke, whole story Color and Pressure is a heist/romance between nervous deep-sea diver Liam and eccentric scientist Virgil, set in a submarine exploring the deepest parts of the ocean.
Evvan Burke is a UCSD graduate in Critical Gender Studies and Writing. His work can be found crawling out of the graveyard of print media. He can occasionally be found on Phaserburn.tumblr.com, and @Phaserburn on Instagram and Twitter.
What is your favorite thing about your story?
I think I have a good twist. I can't talk much about it, for obvious reasons, but I'm pretty proud of it.
What was the inspiration for your luminescent sea creatures?
Real life! Deep sea creatures range from super beautiful, super weird and so weird it's beautiful. But for these specific creatures, I thought a lot what Sea Hares would be like if they could glow.
Do you have a favorite memory of the ocean you'd like to share?
I learned how to scuba dive the summer before I started High School. It's part of the inspiration for having my characters go deep sea diving, because it is simultaneously so magical and so terrifying.
Which story in the anthology (not your own) are you most excited to read?
All of them! It sounds like everyone created amazing worlds for their stories. But I'm excited for "Summoned" for the grumpy merman alone.
Preorder here, and in case you missed it, I did a guest post about editing an anthology over at Mehek Writes: https://mehekwrites.com/2018/10/15/guest-post-jennifer-lee-rossman-on-editing-an-anthology-for-the-first-time/
Evvan Burke is a UCSD graduate in Critical Gender Studies and Writing. His work can be found crawling out of the graveyard of print media. He can occasionally be found on Phaserburn.tumblr.com, and @Phaserburn on Instagram and Twitter.
What is your favorite thing about your story?
I think I have a good twist. I can't talk much about it, for obvious reasons, but I'm pretty proud of it.
What was the inspiration for your luminescent sea creatures?
Real life! Deep sea creatures range from super beautiful, super weird and so weird it's beautiful. But for these specific creatures, I thought a lot what Sea Hares would be like if they could glow.
Do you have a favorite memory of the ocean you'd like to share?
I learned how to scuba dive the summer before I started High School. It's part of the inspiration for having my characters go deep sea diving, because it is simultaneously so magical and so terrifying.
Which story in the anthology (not your own) are you most excited to read?
All of them! It sounds like everyone created amazing worlds for their stories. But I'm excited for "Summoned" for the grumpy merman alone.
Preorder here, and in case you missed it, I did a guest post about editing an anthology over at Mehek Writes: https://mehekwrites.com/2018/10/15/guest-post-jennifer-lee-rossman-on-editing-an-anthology-for-the-first-time/
Monday, October 15, 2018
Love & Bubbles Interview: V.S. Holmes
Today I'm pleased to host an interview with Love & Bubbles author V.S. Holmes!
V. S. Holmes is a gender-queer contract archaeologist and the author of Reforged and the Nel Bently Books. Smoke and Rain, the first in her fantasy quartet, was chosen for New Apple Literary’s 2015 Excellence in Independent Publishing Award. She can be found online at vsholmes.com, facebook.com/authorvsholmes, and @VS_Holmes.
Her L&B story is Familiar Waters. Bia, a catfish goddess, and her partner, Iguazu the river spirit, must hold onto each other tighter than ever when global warming changes their home.
You've written other fiction involving the sea. What's your favorite thing about writing ocean stories? I have! My short The Tempest, in the Out of the Darkness dark fantasy anthology, takes place on the ocean, and there are ocean-themes in some of my upcoming books. I'm fairly scared of water, though I force myself to face my fear by cave-diving and snorkeling at springs. I find the ocean--and any vast, unforgiving landscape--fascinating, and I like to explore stories where the environment is as much of an obstacle as the antagonist. My time in the Yucatan diving in cenotes inspired the jungle feel of Familiar Waters, though the South American jungle is very different in a lot of ways.
Do the names in your story have any special meaning?
They do! Iguazu is a river that serves as a portion of the border between Argentina and Brazil. It's best known for the beautiful Iguazu Falls just to the east of Paraguay. Bia is a shortening of the phonetic Spanish for "voyager" -- viajero.
Does your work as an archeologist influence your writing?
It certainly influences my Nel Bently Books, as Nel is also an archaeologist (though of the academic variety). I get to travel a lot, and often spend up to ten hours a day outside. We hike to very remote locations, often untouched by humans for several hundred years--even thousands. That close relationship with nature, particularly the wild, has a deep influence on my worlds. Our role as contract archaeologists to protect Native people's cultural histories from destruction and development also adds a lasting respect for other cultures and humans.
FreakShow Character Introduction: Theon
Every Monday from now until December 3rd, I'm introducing a character from my debut novel, Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic FreakShow! Today's character is...
Theon!
Theon is one half of Jack's communications specialist. He's black, confident bordering on arrogant, and not afraid to tell you what you're doing wrong. And Jack has a wee little crush on him.
Theon is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. Along with Parthen and Theon, he performs as psychic, conjoined triplets (more about that in the next weeks). He can also read minds.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Theon is the "father" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." His name actually comes from the Latin word for "god."
I imagine Theon as looking like Michael Ealy. (I have trouble distinguishing faces but "casting" the movie version of your book is apparently a Thing, so I maaay have asked some people "what is the name of a very pretty black man?")
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Parthen!
Theon!
Theon is one half of Jack's communications specialist. He's black, confident bordering on arrogant, and not afraid to tell you what you're doing wrong. And Jack has a wee little crush on him.
Theon is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. Along with Parthen and Theon, he performs as psychic, conjoined triplets (more about that in the next weeks). He can also read minds.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie. Theon is the "father" in "the father, son, and the holy ghost." His name actually comes from the Latin word for "god."
I imagine Theon as looking like Michael Ealy. (I have trouble distinguishing faces but "casting" the movie version of your book is apparently a Thing, so I maaay have asked some people "what is the name of a very pretty black man?")
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Parthen!
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Love & Bubbles Cover Reveal!
Love & Bubbles
An anthology of queer underwater love stories
Edited by Jaylee James & Jennifer Lee Rossman
Dive into romance with these thirteen stories of queer love under the sea!
Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin... and so much more!
Love & Bubbles is a short fiction anthology of love stories united by an underwater theme and featuring characters from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Go on a deep-sea voyage to study a brand-new species alongside a cute, distracted scientist. Discover your magic with a water witch and the help of a cute mermaid. Explore the waters of an alien ocean. Get summoned to the surface with a grumpy old merman and his non-binary water demon neighbor. Swim with a catfish goddess, rescue a dolphin... and so much more!
Featuring stories by:
Evvan Burke
Minerva Cerridwen
Lizzie Colt
Lia Cooper
Maggie Derrick
M. Hollis
V. S. Holmes
Jaylee James
Jennifer Lee Rossman
Riley Sidell
Mharie West
Victoria Zelvin
Pre-order link: http://gumroad.com/jayleejames
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.
About the Editors:
is a nonbinary writer, editor, and story curator native to Kansas City who is best known as the editor of Circuits & Slippers, an anthology of science-fiction fairytales, and Vitality Magazine, which published LGBTQ+ genre fiction between 2014-2016. E also writes a smattering of short fiction and video games.
Friday, October 12, 2018
Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic Freakshow Giveaway!
Want to win a signed copy of Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic Freakshow AND this starry carnival cross stitch?
We're holding a giveaway all this week over at World Weaver Press's blog (and you can read the first few pages of chapter one):
https://www.worldweaverpress.com/blog/giveaway-jack-jetstarks-intergalactic-freakshow
We're holding a giveaway all this week over at World Weaver Press's blog (and you can read the first few pages of chapter one):
https://www.worldweaverpress.com/blog/giveaway-jack-jetstarks-intergalactic-freakshow
Monday, October 8, 2018
FreakShow Character Introduction: Merulo
Every Monday from now until December 3rd, I'm introducing a character from my debut novel, Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic FreakShow! Today's character is...
Merulo!
Merulo is Jack's first mate. He is asexual and aromantic, and comes from a toxic planet called Valeo. Having grown up in a wasteland, he has a passion for protecting the environment and bringing peace to the universe... but he also really enjoys bloodshed and war. Merulo is a conflicted man, but you won't find anyone more loyal.
Merulo is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. He turns into a beast, sort of a combination of a werewolf and a bigfoot.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie, and musicians referenced in it. Merulo is based partially on John Lennon ("Lennon" means "blackbird," and the Latin name for blackbird is "merula"), and his home planet being a radiation hazard was inspired by "the birds flew off with a fallout shelter."
If Jack is Han Solo, Merulo is Chewbacca. I even accidentally drew inspiration from the prison transfer scene. My "dream casting" for Merulo would be Sean Baek, who plays Fancy on Killjoys.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Theon!
Merulo!
Merulo is a freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. He turns into a beast, sort of a combination of a werewolf and a bigfoot.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie, and musicians referenced in it. Merulo is based partially on John Lennon ("Lennon" means "blackbird," and the Latin name for blackbird is "merula"), and his home planet being a radiation hazard was inspired by "the birds flew off with a fallout shelter."
If Jack is Han Solo, Merulo is Chewbacca. I even accidentally drew inspiration from the prison transfer scene. My "dream casting" for Merulo would be Sean Baek, who plays Fancy on Killjoys.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Theon!
Saturday, October 6, 2018
UFO7 is Published!
My story Take Meme to Your Leader, about aliens who talk in Internet memes, is now available in Unidentified Funny Objects 7, a yearly anthology of funny sci-fi and fantasy!
The Unidentified Funny Objects series delivers an annual dose of funny, zany, and unusual science fiction and fantasy stories. All-new fiction from the genre's top voices!
...and me.
I think I'm a funny writer, but the stories I think are funny usually make other people cry. (Looking at you, Earth Music.) I'm happy to be funny on purpose for once. And it's no small thing that I'm sharing a table of contents with one of my favorite authors. (Hi, Seanan McGuire!)
My story is very... niche humor. You probably won't get most of the jokes unless you spend a lot of time on Twitter, but it should be amusing nonetheless.
We're also on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41950829-unidentified-funny-objects-7
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Review: Year Zero
Year Zero by Rob ReidMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
I'm so done with abled white cismale authors.
I wanted to finish this book because it's got that mix of music and copyright law humor that I was really enjoying and I want to see what happens. But this book is attacking me
I'm starting a new rating system where I knock a star off for using ableist slurs like "crippled." And I guess I knock off four for using "retarded" and "special needs". I THINK "diffrently abled" was used in an ironic way? But on second I actually don't think the author is that in touch with the disability community to understand why that term is problematic so... off with your stars.
I don't know. I don't have all the kinks worked out yet. It's slow going because I have """""""""""SPECIAL NEEDS"""""""""""
(those are mocking quotation marks. I hate this book)
View all my reviews
Monday, October 1, 2018
FreakShow Character Introduction: Jack Jetstark
Every Monday from now until December 3rd, I'm introducing a character from my debut novel, Jack Jetstark's Intergalactic FreakShow! Today's character is...
Jack Jetstark!
Jack is the main character of the novel, as well as the owner of one of the last carnival ships still roaming the stars. He's a hopeless romantic who wants to show people the wonders of space, wonders that he himself only dreamed of seeing as a child on the poor, swampy moon of Stoval. Though he only talks about relationships with women, he is also attracted to men and identifies as bi.
Jack is a self-described freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. His powers are firebreathing and, it can be argued, the ability to always say the right thing at the right time.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie, and Jack is no exception "Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'cause fire is the devil's only friend" gave him both his ability and his first name. His family name comes from the name of two James Dean characters: Jett Rink and Jim Stark.
While writing this book, I accidentally drew a lot of parallels between Jack and Han Solo, so my "dream casting" for Jack would be a young Harrison Ford. Or possibly Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead, but that may just be because they both wear vests and know someone named Merle.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Merulo, Jack's first mate!
Jack Jetstark!
Jack is the main character of the novel, as well as the owner of one of the last carnival ships still roaming the stars. He's a hopeless romantic who wants to show people the wonders of space, wonders that he himself only dreamed of seeing as a child on the poor, swampy moon of Stoval. Though he only talks about relationships with women, he is also attracted to men and identifies as bi.
Jack is a self-described freak, a descendant of people who were genetically engineered to have superhuman abilities when they hear a certain song. His powers are firebreathing and, it can be argued, the ability to always say the right thing at the right time.
Most of my characters were inspired by lyrics from American Pie, and Jack is no exception "Jack Flash sat on a candlestick 'cause fire is the devil's only friend" gave him both his ability and his first name. His family name comes from the name of two James Dean characters: Jett Rink and Jim Stark.
While writing this book, I accidentally drew a lot of parallels between Jack and Han Solo, so my "dream casting" for Jack would be a young Harrison Ford. Or possibly Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead, but that may just be because they both wear vests and know someone named Merle.
Preorder here and add it on Goodreads!
Come back next Monday to meet Merulo, Jack's first mate!
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