This month. Yeah. WOW. Seriously.
I’d planned to have Writers in Residence all month. Monica was coming before ICFA, then Tempest. Shveta was going to stay a few days after the conference, then Monica would leave, then Tempest at the end of the month. We were going to visit the beach and the White Sands Buddhist Center. It was a great plan.
Monica got here on the 1st. Tempest arrived on the 10th. Shveta cancelled right before ICFA did. The supplies we’d stocked up on now needed to include gloves and masks and toilet paper. Suddenly, the Make Art Not War Writing Retreat had turned into a very different thing.
And then, the weekend of March 15th (Monica’s birthday!), I got sick.
I blame it on the Evil Lizard — the AC went out that Saturday, and we were forced to sleep with the windows open for two nights. And this is the time of year when I am the most allergic to Florida. I was pretty miserable by the time the guy came on Monday to tell me about the Evil Lizard who had crawled in the AC and shorted out the defrost board. And it got worse from there. (We all got sick, but I was hit with the big hammer.)
Now I know what you’re thinking: No, I don’t believe we had coronavirus. I suspect we all came down with a pretty harsh adenovirus…but honestly, there’s no way to know for sure. None of our symptoms were severe enough for testing, even if testing had been available at that time. What I can say for sure is: 1.) we’re all on the mend (slowly) and 2.) I am absolutely exhausted.
It’s been surreal watching the world this month while also being sick. I’m annoyed that I haven’t been able to take part in the virtual performances or do a bunch of live readings or take dance classes from Debbie Allen (and I’m SUPER mad that Mo*Con AND storm chasing were both cancelled), but mostly I’m just annoyed that we haven’t been able to fully enjoy what should have been a really great writing retreat. Even under quarantine.
Don’t get me wrong…it’s us. It’s still fun. But just think HOW MUCH MORE FUN IT COULD HAVE BEEN!! Streaming fun and joy Live to the world! Thankfully, I’ve been very glad to have had Tempest and Monica on hand for some of these really great announcements! Like:
Alethea Kontis Wins 2020 Jane Yolen Midlist Author Grant
The SCBWI is proud to announce the winners of the 2020 Jane Yolen Mid-List Author Grant: Tanuja Desai Hidier and Alethea Kontis. This grant of $3,000, split between two writers, was created to honor mid-list writers and help raise awareness about their current works-in-progress. The grant was named for legendary children’s author Jane Yolen, who also serves as judge.
Yolen said of the winners, “I was looking for true professionals who had slipped off their trajectory for whatever reason. Those two stood out above the rest.Both had award-winning and bestselling books from traditional top publishers and also side projects with small publishers, but suddenly had their careers yanked from under their feet. Both seem to be continuing to work hard despite this caesura in their writing lives. Both are still working on projects to help other women writers. Both seem to still be emotionally connected to the field and are eager to get back to publishing again.”
We’re featuring all of the Jane Yolen Grant-winning authors in a weekly FriendlyFriday feature on Patreon—we’ll condense those into a monthly digest form for you via newsletter later!
Don’t Turn Out the Lights Cover Reveal
I’m so excited to FINALLY show you the cover of this one! Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Edited by Jonathan Maberry)
My SERIOUSLY GROSS AND CREEPY story is called “The Golden Peacock,” and it’s based on a particular item that absolutely terrified me when I was a child.
It’s such an honor to be part of the Scary Stories legacy!
All OSCIGMS Stories & Audio Now Available for Free!
My first story published by Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show online magazine was the now-infamous “Blood and Water”, in Issue 3 (October 2006). My last story contribution was “The Chaos Crushers’ Day Off,” which appeared in Issue 69, July 2019, the very last issue.
Over the years I’ve also contributed reprints, a book review column, and multiple audio narrations to IGMS. Until now, you could only access these if you had a paid subscription to the magazine. But now that the magazine is done, there’s no need for a paywall…
VOILA! As of this week, all stories, articles, and audio previously published in IGMS are available for FREE!
Before You Go…
Need more free audio? I also have new narrations live on EscapePod, Pseudopod, and Clarkesworld Magazine. Click here to see the full list of my audio narrations!
Looking for a good read? I also have new NPR reviews of great YA books to check out!
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