Sean Markey |

Rich Horton had something brief, but nice to say about my story “Waiting for the Green Woman.”

My favorites included Simon Petrie’s “Downdraft”, set on another planet with intelligent zeppelins and flying human-like people. This story is about a young flyer’s ill-advised attack on one of the zeppelins — a story really about misunderstanding, with no bad guys. Also, Becca de la Rosa’s “Not the West Wind”, about, variously, and among other things: a woman in love with a guitar, the west wind, Ireland, and a foundling girl; and Sean Markey’s “Waiting for the Green Woman”, about a man with a tree for a daughter. Other strong work came from Eric Del Carlo, Genevieve Valentine, and Stephanie Campisi.

Nice to see some love for that story, and for Sybil’s Garage issue 6, which is really a fantastic issue.

While we’re on the subject of me, I want to gently remind Nebula/Hugo/Campbell voting readers that “Waiting for the Green Woman” is eligible for both awards, and the full story can be read online for free.

I just started reading the fairly new (and much loved) Cherie Priest book “Boneshaker.”  So far?  It’s definitely good (and I haven’t even gotten to any of the zombies or pirates and what not that the back cover and the blurbs promise me.  *happy*).

But with all the ebook talk lately, I figured I’d mention this.  First, a disclaimer.  I love ebooks.  I love reading them on my iTouch.  For me, ebooks are much more convenient and easier to read than tradition books.  I bought “Boneshaker” from Barnes and Noble with a giftcard, so I have the actual physical book.

“Boneshaker” is Completely Gorgeous.  The layout, the font, the covers… just everything about it is lovely.  If you don’t already have a copy, you should probably go buy one.  Just looking at it will make you happy, and that’s not even speaking to the awesome story you will surely embark upon.

So, good job, Tor art department.  Consider me impressed.

My pal (and super artist) Aaron Deyoe has whipped up a little pdf of Shatter Shatter, a story about doing bad things and being exiled to Ohio.  Also a story whose title comes from a Tori Amos song.

Check it out here, or DOWNLOAD it here.

[story originally appeared at Brain Harvest]

From “The Wrong Grave,” by Kelly Link [From the book Pretty Monsters].

Miles is standing in front of the coffin containing his girlfriend, thinking poetic thoughts:

…Every cloud had a silver lining, except there was probably a more interesting and meaningful way to say that, and death really wasn’t a cloud.  He thought about what it was: more like an earthquake, maybe, or falling from a great height and smacking into the ground, really hard, which knocked the wind out of you and made it hard to sleep or wake up or eat or care about things like homework or whether there was anything good on TV.  And death was foggy, too, but also prickly, so maybe instead of a cloud, a fog made of little sharp things.  Needles.  Every death fog has a lot of silver needles?  Did that make sense?  Did it scan?

You can read the entire story here.

So it’s that time of year where we make Nebula nominations. As this is my site, I am posting my eligible stories. In a few days I will also post stories from other authors that I found particularly awesome. So if you’re voter eligible, please check these stories out and consider them for nominations.

Short Stories:

The Spider In You – Strange Horizons, March 2009

We kept our god under the sink, in an old aquarium, so it wouldn’t spill its web all over the house. We didn’t tell you because you were so curious. Our daughter: you are like an otter, or a hummingbird. How would you stand against such a monster as our god?

Waiting for the Green Woman – Sybil’s Garage, August 2009

MY DAUGHTER IS a tree in the desert. She doesn’t move; the world rushes past her. I sit in her thin, angular shade, against her diluted-green trunk, and listen as she gossips about the grains of sand as if she knows each one by name. I try not to think about her mother, the green woman, but cannot help myself.

Thanks!

true story.

my most awesome and talented friend Skipper has a new story out in Fantasy Magazine this week.  It’s  called The Medusa Complex. You’d be doing yourself a favor to check it out because it’s pretty damn cool.

teaser:

You have opened the box, so we’ll have to assume that your mother is dead. We would like to offer our sincerest condolences. It’s not going to help, drinking vast quantities of rum out of Holiday Inn Dixie cups, but we agree it dulls the edges. We do think you should stop drinking, however, and focus on these instructions.

Beth has a story in the newly released anthology Escape Clause.  It’s a pretty wicked and spectacular story.  The details of the release can be found on her blog.

In celebration of Munsil and the Minotaur newly released in the anthology, Beth has put up a previously published Minotaur story in celebration.  It’s called The Minotaur’s Rabbit, and it’s sweet and tragic.  So please GO AND READ IT.  You surely won’t regret it.

Here’s a teaser:

The Minotaur knows it’s time for the rabbit to die. He’s been going into the zoology section of the colony ship every hour or so to check on the rabbit, but so far he hasn’t been able to bring himself to end its suffering.

My copy of Electric Velocipede arrived the other day.  What a beautiful magazine!  The cover art is amazing.  Again.  So far, I’ve only read Matthew Kressel’s The Spaces Between Things, which is available online.  I really enjoyed Kressel’s story.  It’s a haunting tale of love and war, and it stays with you.

I guess that’s kind of been my experience with EV.  The stories just stay with you.  Good stuff. 

This new issue arrived with a recipe article filled with summery treats, just in time for the final weeks of summer.  As soon as I saw the first recipe, I had to have one.  Coconut Cuba Libre.  I dashed out to the store for a lime and some coke, and made myself and Beth a tasty drink.

Ah, Summer.  Ah, quality short fiction.  Goes down smooth.

I have decided to give away an extra copy of Sybil’s Garage issue 6…

FOR FREE

Here’s how to play:

1.) Go read my story from SG issue 6, “Waiting for the Green Woman.”

2.) Leave a comment about the story (if you’re so inclined) at the SG site, or just leave me a note here that you’ve read it.

There will be no multiple choice test; I trust you, internets.

3.) In one week, I will collect all the names who commented here and at the Sybil’s Garage site, put them into a random name generator (RNG), and let the RNG pick a winner. 

*Please make sure you’ve left a way for me to contact you, such as an email address, or a link to a site where I can find your contact information.

Check back NEXT FRIDAY (September 11) for winner announcement.

Enjoy!

My story Waiting for the Green Woman is up at the Senses Five site (which has just been redisigned, btw, and looks very rad).

My daughter is a tree in the desert. She doesn’t move; the world rushes past her. I sit in her thin, angular shade, against her diluted-green trunk, and listen as she gossips about the grains of sand as if she knows each one by name. I try not to think about her mother, the green woman, but cannot help myself.

You can pick order your own copy of the issue here.