Dandelyon's Worlds

The dreadful cold was alleviated a bit, in my heart, when the fully-signed contract and check for a short story I wrote arrived in the mail. The publishers plan to launch the anthology at Balticon in May, which is probably too far for me to travel, but I'm still delighted. This anthology has been in the works for quite a while now (long enough that for a while I had the rights back after the first publisher was unable to publish it).

It's a reminder that persistence pays off, and the only guarantee of failure is not continuing to try again.

It's time to start my 2014 tax spreadsheet, I suppose, since I now have something to enter there.

My very short story, By The Shore, is in this book:



http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Bathroom-Reader-Presents-Fiction/dp/160710427X

mount_oregano has a story in here too!

The book looks greener in person.

The story that RJ Astruc and I wrote for this anthology, Scrapheap Angel, started with a friendship on LJ.  RJ asked if anyone wanted to collaborate on a story, and I thought what the heck.  I've had both very good experiences collaborating and experiences that, well, didn't work out.  Anyway, we chatted a while on Skype--well, she chatted and I typed, since I couldn't get that old laptop to pick up audio no way no how.  And then we took turns writing.  Finally, happily, the editor liked it!

The book goes on sale today, and if you're inclined to buy it--for yourself or as a gift--please consider ordering today.  A good first day showing can make a big difference to a book's success in the marketplace.

You can order Subversion:  Science Fiction & Fantasy Tales of Challenging the Norm  here: 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615533299  (PRINT)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GG90JE  (EBOOK)

In honor of this release, I'm announcing a contest--If during the month of December you review any of the three anthologies that my stories appeared in this year (Family Ties & Torn Skies, Re-Vamp, and Subversion) on your Amazon, Goodreads, a similar venue and/or on your blog, and leave a link here, I'll enter you into a drawing for however many SF&F books from my library I can mail to you for $10 US (That's a medium flat rate box if you're in the US).  The winner will get a chance to share their preferences as to authors and/or sub-genres before I raid my bookshelves to choose the prizes.

I suppose I should share links for finding the other books:

Family Ties & Torn Skies   This can also be found on Amazon.

Re-Vamp:
+Amazon paperback (US edition)
+Lulu paperback (worldwide edition)
+Amazon Kindle
+Smashwords (ebook, multiformat)

I'll pick a winner on January 1st--two winners, if you guys really blow me away with the number of reviews!

If you are inclined to boost this signal, please feel free, and thank you.

Actually, less than two days, now, and my latest-published story will be on sale with the rest of the stories in the anthology.

To celebrate, the editors are doing a Goodreads giveaway: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12685623-subversion

At Windycon I was on a panel about anthologies. I asked a lot of questions, since there were anthology editors on the panel, and when I'm on a panel with people who know things I don't, I try to both learn from them and let them shine.[Poll #1800427][Poll #1800428][Poll #1800429]
I'd love to get your opinions and comments, to help me sort out my thoughts on this topic.  

My sister, Dragon, lured me into shopping last Friday since she was going to Michaels, had a great coupon, and going shopping for arty stuff with her is always fun.

I looked at the pre-made wreaths, especially one in all purple, but they were too expensive. So, I thought, I bet I can get a few things to make a wreath I'd really like. I spent more than I would have for a pre-made wreath, but I'm also finding more joy in this one, so I had to share:



I also took a couple of close-ups, since this is clearly more reflective of my role as fantasy-writer than my role as paralegal, even though it's hanging on my office door at work.





As to Monday, that's when Subversion: Science Fiction & Fantasy tales of challenging the norm will be out, which includes a story written by R J Astruc and me called Scrapheap Angel.  If you're interested in buying the book, please consider ordering it on Monday.  If enough people order it that day, it will create additional visibility for the book.

In the meantime, if you go to crossedgenres, you can see some subversive trailers for the anthology.  Have fun!

It's now past midnight on Oct 31st in the UK which means... it's ALIIIIVE!

Re-Vamp includes my drabble, Sometimes They Do.

You can purchase it in paper or e-form directly from the publishers or through Amazon, Lulu, or Smashwords:

http://maddocsoflit.com/

Amazon paperback (US edition)
http://www.amazon.com/Re-Vamp-Mad-Doctors-Literature/dp/1466407492/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319999703&sr=1-2

Lulu paperback (worldwide edition)
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/re-vamp/11693059

Amazon Kindle
http://www.amazon.com/Re-Vamp-ebook/dp/B005UGJYEC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1319999673&sr=8-2

Smashwords (ebook, multiformat)
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94535

For those who care about the cover art (an excerpt of which was used for the flyer below), I'm told that Smashwords required the publishers to shrink the art, so the paper edition Lulu cover is printed from a higher-resolution file. 



Happy Halloween, everybody!

Re-Vamp is holding The Monster Makeover Short Story Competition, and my story Monster Meal is entered. You can stop by here: http://mad-docs-of-lit.livejournal.com/26730.html to read the story, and you can go to their "recent entries" to read the other contest entries that have been posted so far.

Voting will take place September 11-17, and the winner gets their story published in the Re-Vamp anthology.

I invite you to check out my competition!  I know I plan to do so.

Another installment in my Gluten-Free Adventures--and an announcement.

Informal office lunches are not what they used to be. Pizza is right out, as are sandwiches and...well, nearly everything cheap. I was delighted one day that the potato chips were safe (and that I had real food in my office for later). But today was different.

There's this sub place called Jimmy Johns in this neck of the woods, and they offer any of their sandwiches made as an "Unwich"--the same ingredients wrapped in lettuce leaves instead of bread. It was quite good--the lettuce was very fresh.

It was a good lunch.

Also, thank you to everyone who's supported my writing lately! I used the paypal funds to acquire some cool "church keys" to open old-fashioned bottles (like my corn-free Mexican Coke) with.



Thank you all for my fun new eating (well, drinking) tools!

In other news, my drabble "Sometimes They Do" will be published in the Re-Vamp anthology! The publication is due out on Halloween. They're currently running a contest over at mad_docs_of_lit, so you can read and vote on some of the candidates for the anthology. If you like vampire and monster stories, you might want to check it out.

The first Torn World anthology is in e-print, and you can pre-order the trade paperback!  The PDF is available today--and if you preorder, you get a copy of the e-book free, so you don't have to wait to start reading. We'll be mailing the first copies in mid-June or earlier, depending on exactly when the printer delivers them.

You can, if you prefer, just buy the e-book. Kindle and other e-versions will become available soon.

Anyone can go here to order:    Family Ties & Torn Skies

Our first, very modest, goal is to sell enough books to pay the printing costs so each contributor gets a paper contributor's copy.

Also--we're producing 300 artist's collector cards, prints of some of the best Torn World art, and our artists have donated a few originals. Details on how to get one (or more) are on the order page.

I was going to post a copy of the cover here, but I keep getting LJ's goofy goat telling me something went wrong.  Oh, well, it's on the preorder page.  You can see it there!

( Some promotional copy and the entire table of contents are below the cut.  )

Stay tuned for our Muse Fusion, this weekend!

Administrivia: Here's the page to vote for us at Top Web Fiction. We appreciate your votes! The Top Web Fiction landing page shows the number of unique voters during the last week, so each week you vote helps people find us.