I’m still barely having time to write because it’s a super busy, but very fun, time of year for me. I was at the Steampunk Spectacle and the Rusted Rodeo Ball all weekend and had a blast. I even got to dance which I get to do so rarely any more and I love to dance (I do it badly mind you, but usually it’s just me hippo in a tutuing it around my living room stepping on the cat).

I did manage to write a little bit 5 out of the last 7 days but still not managing much more than 1000K. Sigh.

I did pick up a spook-me assignment that I hope to write for my Athens demon hunters.

I suppose the biggest news is that I DID send Cassadaga Nights off to a publisher for consideration.

That and I DO have a new release this week in Queer Sci-Fi’s new flash fic anthology which you can read more about here.

Other than that I’ve put in three chapters worth of edits on Blood Red Roulette, the same ones I spoke of last week. I had done them on paper then as I find it much easier to edit on paper than on a screen. It’s not nearly as much as I had wanted to finish but at least it’s something. I’m never going to get this done by the end of the year as I had hoped. That makes me sad. Okay I suppose I could but it seems unlikely, how’s that?

I also went in on the commissioned trading cards for Once Upon the Time in the Weird West (which was funnily enough the same theme our airship had this year for our ball). I chose Tsela for a variety of reasons (most of the personal, some vaguely paranoid.). I can’t wait to see them but it’ll be about another 6 weeks before the cover reveal on this one and I’m not sure about the cards (I’m assuming close to that time).

I’m trying something new this time. I just finished the SF short story (that desperately wants to be a novella).

Addison Hunt is on board ship getting his new orders from his captain (She and her twin rescued him when he was a teen).

“Are you ready for a mission more boring than your usual?”

Addison schooled emotion off his face. His shoulder thrummed with pain as if to remind him that his last mission had been too exciting. “An uncomplicated escort mission would be a nice change of pace. Besides.” He grinned impertinently at his captain. “How often will I get to talk to a living god?”

If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!

Or maybe I should call this the continuing tales of the allergic Druid.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for weeks but I’m lazy, I don’t budget time well, I forgot, the excuses roll on. But today at the autumn equinox is a perfect time because this post all ties into that. Because I think this fall and winter are going to be weird. The signs are there to be read (and helps that I’m also a biologist).

When I headed back to Ohio in August I noticed something. I was already seeing Ironweed and Joe-Pye weed which are typically not seen until late September. They’re fall flowers. Usually I see them with golden rod and fall asters. Looking out the windows now, I only see the latter as the two ‘weeds’ are already spent and gone. Just a few years ago I collecting those weeds for a ‘witch’s hut’ in a haunted village thing I was part of. This year they came early.

Also early were the birds. Even before I came back to OH, birds were massing and flying south way in advance of their usual time.

The leaves have already begun to fall. Not change color and fall, just dropping off dead. That I can at least attribute to the dry summer. We are in near drought conditions this year, I’m sad to say.

But I can’t shake the feelings that the animals and plants know something I don’t, something I should pay attention to.

I fear a bad winter. Now winter is my favorite month but as I get a bit older and sicker, I am wary, especially as my apartment has no generator and is all electrical. I’ve had many a winter when I’ve had to leave because of the extended intense cold. If I can’t find a gas-heat house, I will have to buy myself a generator but that’s for the future.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy my favorite time of year. Pumpkin everything!

The 2016 Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction anthology, “Flight”, is here, and I have a story in it! It’s a really cool concept:

A 300-word story should be easy, right? Many of our entrants say it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever written.

Queer Sci Fi’s Annual Flash Fiction Contest challenges authors to write a complete LGBTQ speculative fiction micro-story on a specific theme. “Flight” leaves much for the authors to interpret—winged creatures, flight and space vehicles, or fleeing from dire circumstances.

Some astonishing stories were submitted—from horrific, bloodcurdling pieces to sweet, contemplative ones—and all LGBTQ speculative fiction. The stories in this anthology include AI’s and angels, winged lions and wayward aliens. Smart, snappy slice of life pieces written for entertainment or for social commentary. Join us for brief and often surprising trips into 110 speculative fiction authors’ minds.

The book us available in eBook form (4.99), and will soon be available in paperback with b/w illustrations inside (12.99) and in a special collector’s edition with color illustrations (24.99).

Buy Links

Amazon eBook | Kobo | All Romance | Goodreads

Excerpt Like Falling: Moriarty said something about falling being like flying. For an evil genius, he’s an idiot. Falling is nothing like flying.

Author Bio:

In the first year of the Queer Sci Fi Flash Fiction contest, we received about 15 entries for the theme “Endings”. In the second year, it was 115 for “Discovery”.
This year, we had more than 170 entries from people around the world, and from all parts of the LGBTIQA rainbow. “Flight” represents 110 of those people and their stories.

Author’s Note – My Story is Like Falling and I had fun writing it. I gave you a little taste above. I’m looking forward to getting my own copy and reading them all. I hope you do the same. (And yes, I’ll agree with the intro, this IS hard to write. Flash fiction is a challenge.)

I’ve been doing a write every day in September challenge and on one hand it is working.I am writing. On the other hand it’s usually about 200 words a day which is pretty sad.

To be fair to myself, I did have to make three exams (and grade one, the other two will be this week) and I was busy editing Cassadaga Nights. I hope to send it off in a day or two.

I’ve also edited through the first three chapters of Blood Red Roulette and found many of the suggested changes already done on the opening chapters so maybe it’s later that I forgot to carry them through? I’m not sure. I guess I’ll see as I go. I have cleaned up some of the opening stuff that was still, sadly repetitive, as a function of so much time taken in the original writing.

In my small progresses this week were both Behind Blue Eyes which won’t be happy until it’s four books long or something and I started the contemporary romance that I was challenged to try and write for Dreamspun Desires. We’ll see how it goes.

And this weekend was bad for writing between my steampunk adventures and the mothman festival but good for inspiration. I still want to revisit Aaron and Rhys in a long work and they do love their steampunk

(so do I)

I’ve also long wanted to use the Mothman Festival as a backdrop. I need the right urban fantasy anthology.