Arrant Nonsense

Apparently you need a paid account to see the actual review, but I got this in my inbox today from my editor on that anthology, the handsome and hard-working Bascomb James:

An attempt to harness the magic of mid-century science fiction is mostly fun, with a few exceptions, in Bascomb’s second Far Orbit collection. There are a few gems among the 13 stories, including Julie Frost’s “The Affairs of Dragons,” which is an utterly charming Firefly-esque tale about a space captain and his crew that take on very unusual cargo: a clutch of dragon eggs that must be kept safe at all costs, but when they hatch, the crew find themselves in the middle of a dragon clan war and a wily bunch of tiny, hungry fire-breathers.

There's more, but, uh. They mention my story first and call it "utterly charming." Aaaaaaaahhhhh.

Speaking of Awesome Things, the Monsters Storybundle is still going for a few days. If you haven't picked up your collection of completely awesome monster books, don't wait too long, because once it's gone, it's gone!

Two of the offerings are of particular interest to the lovers of prehistoric life. Here's a couple of blurbs for you:

Jurassic Dead by David Sakmyster and Rick Chesler
An Antarctic research team hoping to study microbial organisms in an underground lake discovers something far more amazing: perfectly preserved dinosaur corpses. After one thaws and wakes ravenously hungry, it becomes apparent that death, like life, will find a way. Environmental activist Alex Ramirez, son of the expedition's paleontologist, came to Antarctica to defend the organisms from extinction, but soon learns that it is the human race that needs protecting.

Mammoth Dawn by Kevin J. Anderson and Gregory Benford
Extinction is not permanent. Not anymore.

Multi-millionaire researcher Alex Pierce has developed cutting-edge genetic techniques to extract viable DNA from preserved samples of breathtaking species that humans have erased from the Earth. From passenger pigeons and Tasmanian tigers, to Pleistocene dire wolves and sabretooths... even the humble dodo.

The cornerstone of Alex's dream is to resurrect the woolly mammoth. Majestic and massive, these creatures no longer roam the world, driven to extinction by ancient hunters. At his isolated Pleistocene Ranch in the wilds of Montana, Alex has actually bred the very first mammoth to walk the Earth in 10,000 years.

But there are those who believe what is extinct should remain extinct, and that any tampering goes against the laws of nature. And their fervor may be far stronger than Alex's dreams.

Mammoth Dawn is the original acclaimed novella written by New York Times bestseller and Hugo and Nebula Award nominee Kevin J. Anderson and multiple Hugo and Nebula winner Gregory Benford; this volume also includes their detailed chapter-by-chapter treatment of the full novel the two authors originally envisioned, as well as a non-fiction overview of current scientific attempts to clone mammoths—a reality that may be much closer than you think.

Pick up your storybundle! Tell your friends! Give authors a good paycheck! You know you want to...

I was poking through my publisher's Facebook page last night, when lo and behold, what accosted mine eyes but... my novel! I am so in love with that cover, you guys, you have no idea. The ebook is now available for pre-order and will be released Sept. 28. The dead-tree version is coming out sometime in October--unless you come to Salt Lake ComicCon, where you'll be able to pick up a special edition, which I will totally deface for you!

Blurb:

After seven horrific months as a POW, Army Ranger-turned-PI Ben Lockwood just wants a safe, boring life. With his boss on vacation, he takes what looks like an easy case of pharmaceutical espionage he can work from his desk.

Now he's caught in a three-way collision course between a ruthless werewolf on the hunt for a cure for his dying vampire wife, a mad scientist whose multinational company doesn't even research supernatural medicine--and himself. Ben's nanotech-injected blood holds the key to the vampire's recovery, and the werewolf doesn't much care if he lives or dies in the harvesting.

Ben thought he was done fighting wars when he got home from Afghanistan, but his hard-won sanity and his girlfriend's life are both at risk. He'd rather die than lose either. The battle lines are drawn in a billionaire's basement, and retreat isn't an option. No matter how outgunned he is.

Kobo
Amazon
Smashwords

BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.

If urban fantasy with a dollop of SF isn't your cup of tea, I have a space opera story in the forthcoming "Far Orbit: Apogee" anthology, from World Weaver Press. "The Affairs of Dragons" is actually my first sale ever, and editor Bascomb James kindly picked it up as a reprint for this volume. It will be released October 13.

Blurb:

Looking for science fiction stories like they used to write? Far Orbit Apogee takes all of the fun-to-read adventure, ingenuity, and heroism of mid-century pulp fiction and shapes it for a new generation of readers. Follow the adventures of heroic scientists, lunar detectives, space dragons [that's mine!--JF], robots, interstellar pirates, gun slingers, and other memorable and diverse characters as they wrestle with adversity beyond the borders of our small blue marble. Fun, engaging, pithy, and piquant, we’ve got it all.

Featuring stories from Jennnifer Campbell-Hicks, Dave Creek, Eric Del Carlo, Dominic Dulley, Nestor Delfino, Milo James Fowler, Julie Frost, Sam S. Kepfield, Keven R. Pittsinger, Wendy Sparrow, Anna Salonen, James Van Pelt, and Jay Werkheiser.

Amazon
Kobo

Why, yes, I think this is Dance-of-Joy-worthy.

Today I found out about a reprint anthology that wants science fiction stories by women. Huh, sez I, I have three of those.

So I spent most of the day re-reading "The Affairs of Dragons" and "Fortunes of Soldiers" to make sure that (a) I still like them, and (b) they don't have anything egregiously wrong with them. After all, I wrote both of those years ago, and things have changed a bit.

Turns out that other than some formatting issues in "Soldiers" and a spot in "Dragons" where Brad is looking over Charlie's shoulder instead of peeking out from behind his knees, they're good to go.

Then I checked my contract for "Sensory Overload" and found out that Plasma Frequency's exclusive runs out in February. Since this anthology won't be published until late 2014, I'm free to send that one along as well. Therefore, I'll be poking through it to make sure it's all right. Then I'll just send all three along to the antho. I'll need a more extensive cover letter for this project.

I also got my contract and proofs from World Weaver Press for "Bear Essentials," and I got the contract signed and scanned and read the proof. It's now back on the editor's desk and will see publication in April. It will be my second published story in the ongoing series outlining the adventures of the intrepid crew of the Inquisitive Tamandua. Yes, I named the ship after an anteater. Hush.

I've also done my half hour on the bike. Now I need to shower. We get paid today, and our liquor supply is depressingly low, so a trip to the package store is also in order, along with a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

WHEE. Holy cow, so busy.

Y'all remember the DragonFic? Wherein my intrepid spaceship crew gets contracted by a mama dragon to transport her eggs to another planet because she's divorcing the daddy dragon, the eggs aren't supposed to hatch, but do, and wackiness ensues? Got published by Renard's Menagerie a year and a half or so ago?

Well, it's just been accepted at Anthology Builder. So, I'm in there along with such luminaries as ericjamesstone, jimhines, Eric Flint, ahmedakhan, wistling and catrambo.

You can buy it here if you like, and customize your own anthology. It's a very very cool deal. :)

You know, I could make myself a nice antho just from the writers on my flist. Maybe I will.

I am holding, in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers, the issue of Renard's Menagerie that has my story "Affairs of Dragons" in it. And it's SHINY, y'all. *bouncybouncybouncy* *flails* IT'S SO SHINY.

I helped howardtayler and sandratayler pack and ship the new Schlock Mercenary books today. They had about two thousand books...and we got them all packed. Sandra's mad organizational skilz are PHENOMENAL, y'all. Keep in mind, people could choose to have the character of their choice sketched, and they could also choose their shipping method. Also, these got shipped out to about fifty different countries. And she had these things filed to a T. It was amazing. Mad, mad props to her.

And now I'm sitting here watching Chuck again with the Hubby, and the ibuprofen has taken the edge off my pain. Tomorrow, I'm taking the day off to sit down in the front room and WRITE. *nods firmly*

Behave, damn you!

In other news, I made a new icon today:



And it would be nice if the Giant Bugs story would do something coherent in my brain. Yes, it would.

In other other news, for those playing at home who don't read comments on posts, or who might have missed it, the copies of Renard's Menagerie with my story "Affairs of Dragons" are winging their way toward me and are ready to be ordered at the website by anyone who wants one.

Also, I have a cold and a new crick in my neck.

And new Chuck and Heroes tonight!

Wow, that was...random.

The October 2007 issue of Renard's Menagerie, with my story "Affairs of Dragons" in it, is live!

Now I need to figure out how many copies I need to order for myself...

I got my proof from Renard's Menagerie today and managed to read through it while Da Boy was doing seatwork for school. (Why, yes, we had school today. Yesterday was lovely, and today was forecasted to be rotten weather, so we swapped days. This is one of the many advantages of homeschooling: flexibility. I don't have to keep him cooped up on nice days.) It looks great, and the October issue it's going to be in should be out very soon.

I also had to come up with a bio for the thing. Yay for having anthologies lying around that I could crib from.

[Name redacted because I'm weird like that] lives in Utah with her husband, her son, two un-catlike cats, and a hyperactive French Brittany. When not writing, she spends her time homeschooling, reading, and travelling to zoos to take pictures. Visit her blog at http://agilebrit.livejournal.com/ . This is her first fiction sale, and she would like to thank her husband [name] for his unfailing support, her (published) mom Jan Christensen for kicking her butt to write original fiction, and Joss Whedon for starting it all by saying "Write fanfiction."

In a manner of speaking. I think I finally got to sleep somewhere around 6:30, and then the alarm woke me up a little before 10. I'm not any closer to deciding which story to send to Writers of the Future, but I tend toward the A&tS story because it's longer. I'm poking through that one again anyway to see if there's anything egregiously bad about it--something still bugs me about it, although I can't put my finger on it. *sigh* I'm going to give the Abducted!Werewolf story to my Writing Buddy this week.

I have four and a half hours of school per day to do with Da Boy. I need to go grocery shopping, for lo, we are nearly out of food. And I'm on three panels at MountainCon this weekend and am scrambling a bit for funds to attend the thing. I think I have the entrance fee covered, but gas to and fro and feeding myself may be...problematic. Whether I'm financially comfy at this thing is rather contingent on getting paid for...something. Hopefully the check is in the mail. *crosses fingers*

I also need to figure out what the next thing I'm writing is. I like to have one in progress and one in the editing stages, and the Abducted!Werewolf story is in editing, so it's time to start a new story.

In other news, I just poked around the Renard's Menagerie site and found out that the DragonFic is going to be in the October issue. Whee!

Whether that's better than a "way," I don't know. However, in no particular order:

• Merc&theSnake: Going to Fantasy & Science Fiction next. They have a shockingly quick turnaround time. After that, maybe Strange Horizons. Will cross that bridge if it comes.
  
• CatFeet: Contingent upon it being salvagable, it's going to Weird Tales. Right now my Writing Buddy, Dan Willis, and Bob Defendi have it and are hopefully tearing into it.
  
• WerewolfFic: Probably sending that one to Writers of the Future, unless I can get something else hammered out before the deadline.

What's next on my plate? I have no idea. None of my prompts are really firing my cylinders right now. Hopefully I'll be able to meet with snarking_boojum on Monday, he'll give me back the WerewolfFic and the CatFeet story, and I'll at least have something to edit. Merc&theSnake is formatted and ready to go, at least.

I really like a "cats as aliens" idea, because cats are freaky little creatures. I realize that it's been done to death, but what if there was a cat that just wasn't very good at being a cat? *eyes the Tober-Kitty, who is misshapen and rather graceless and is just...stranger than most cats* And thus people began getting suspicious?

I haven't heard back from Fox Cutter on any edits for the DragonFic yet, either, so that'll be something I'll have to jump on as soon as he gets back to me.

Hm. Looks like I'll be wearing my Editor Hat rather than my Writer Hat for the forseeable future. Yayness.

But everything I consider "complete" is either out there in the Wild Blue Slush Pile or headed that way ASAP. Cuz, you can't get published if you don't send the crap out. Writing is 20% inspiration, 40% perspiration, and 40% plain old gumption...ation. Yeah.