catherineldf | Entries tagged with writing

I am very excited to announce that I am one of the recipients of the Alice B. Reader Award for 2025! I am in jaw-droppingly amazing company both past and present - I will freely admit that I was gobsmacked when I got the news. I mean Joanna Russ! Dorothy Allison! Emma Donoghue and so many other amazing writers in different genres! I want to thank all the lovely women involved in making this award happen - you ROCK! And huge CONGRATS to my fellow winners this year! You can read more about the award and the recipients here. :-D

I haven’t provided my updated bio yet, but here’s a few highlights:
2 time Goldie Award Winner
Rainbow Award Winner
Author of over 100 pieces of short fiction, a whole lot of nonfiction, 3 novels and 7 collections of short fiction.
Editor or co-editor of 3 anthologies
Author of the in-game scenario for World of Darkness: Ghosthunters and tie-in stories for Vampire the Masquerade and Wraith.
Publisher at Queen of Swords Press
Writing instructor, former GoH at several cons and about 2 million readings, panels, interviews and miscellaneous stuff.

And today, I am feeling like it was not all for naught. :-D

So, in the interval in which I did not go see Jana (last entry) and when I intended to, hospice reached out and said they think she is at end game. I went and sat with her for a while on Tuesday afternoon. She slept the whole time, but I gather she woke up briefly when her former PCA, now a hospice volunteer, stopped by. The hospice staff says she's been sleeping most of the time this week. I'm going by tomorrow and Sunday this weekend to sit with her. I read to her when she wakes up, but that's not very often. At this point, she's heavily medicated and seems relatively comfortable so I'm hoping she passes in her sleep very soon.

How do I feel about this? On most levels, I'm ready for her to move on. I think it will hit me eventually, but I've done a lot of my grieving as she disappeared. I hope that her spirit moves on to something better for her.

Shu (boy kitty) is handling the shots well, although I'm finding the schedule challenging sometimes. I've started working with my cat sitter to teach her how to give shots so I can get the occasional break. They're 16 year old cats now though, and he's lost weight and muscle mass so I don't really know what his prospects are.

I did two self-care things this week - a darning class at The Curiosity Studio and a visit from Costco's contractors to remove the 19 broken window blinds and install new ones and I love them so very much. the house looks very different and I did some overdue cleaning and clearout, both of which made me feel better. Last weekend, I finished reviewing 26 grant proposals (some of which were terrific) and completed and submitted my first brand new story in 2 years. I'm working on some other projects, plus Queen of Swords Press, but I'm definitely getting back to writing.

I can say nothing about the world situation that others haven't already said. I've been emailing my congress people, signing petitions, donating and supporting organizations and people in my own communities as much as I can. And that's what I've got for now.

Still alive! Still digging out from under various projects!

Queen of Swords Press stuff:
A Death at the Dionysus Club (Lynes & Mathey 2) by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold comes out on Thursday, but we have a deal running on Smashwords: buy it now for a discount and agree to sign up for our mailing list. It ends in 28 hours so move fast. When it comes out, it will be available everywhere, just like Book 1. And it's terrific!
Speaking of terrific, I just signed Michael Merriam's Weird West novella, Terror at Tierra de Cobre for a March release at MarsCon, where he is one of the Guests of Honor. It's an all-women spin on the Magnificent 7, with monsters. Good stuff!
And I signed Melissa Scott for a new edition of her Astreiant Series (Point of Hopes, etc.), plus a new novella in the series! The plan is to do an omnibus ebook of the original books (4 novels + 1 novella) in June, with a print book coming out each month, culminating in the new novella in print and ebook in December! Should be fun!
Also fun: Last table event of the year! Look for the Queen of Swords Press booth at the Minnesota Women's Art Festival this Saturday at the St. Mary's University Student Union in Minneapolis (across 26th from the American Swedish Institute). I'll be peddling Jana's work and my books (and bring others that people are interested in for purchase and pickup at the table). I'm going to be shutting down Jana's Etsy at the end of this month so if you're not local and there's something you want, now's the time. It's just too much work to maintain, alas, though I'll still have her work at our tables and at MCBA.
On the less jolly end of things, my beloved and terrific book designer, Terry Roy, has been experiencing some pretty bad health issues. Sending her all the best and hoping that she's doing a lot better soon.

Catherine writing stuff:
Blue Moon is inching along.
I've also been working on a project for my Patreon on the history of LGBTQ+ Publishing that I'll be continuing for December. Sign up for any amount or stay tuned for my next talk on the subject.

Catherine life stuff:
Where to begin? First, BIG thank you shout out to everyone who pitched in on my Ko-fi campaign for Capricon. I did make my goal so that's one obstacle hopefully out of the way. Rumor has it that day job is extending me at least through first quarter of 2024, so that will help a bunch. Still waiting on the CADI Waiver from the state, however. In the meantime, Jana has deteriorated further and there have been some exciting moments, so her PCAs and the social worker I work with got the county involved and turned the heat up under me to start looking at memory care. I toured a place the week before last and liked it and their nurse is coming to evaluate her on Thursday. However, Jana is the same woman who got kicked out of adult day care for being disruptive o all bets are off at the moment. If they're willing to take her, they'll take her CADI pending. There will still be significant upfront costs and I'll have to pay for furniture, etc. for her room. So that's one possibility of how things could roll in the next two months. After the eval, I'm going to talk to the company I talked to a few weeks back about 24/7 care at home and to the friends with healthcare experience who volunteered to stay here and herd her if we can't get her placed before February and Capricon. Fingers crossed that I can get some combination of these options sorted.
More bulletins soon!

Just the Me things, not the world things. Because that would be way too much.
It's been a lively couple of weeks. On the cultural side, I went to:

The Minnesota Orchestra to see them play background for "Werewolf by Night." My friend Matt wore his new bespoke suit from Heimie's Haberdashery in St. Paul and looked amazingly dapper. Principal Conductor Sarah Hicks showed up dressed as a werewolf and a fun time was had by all!
Went to Theater Pro Rata's production of "Bernhardt/Hamlet" about Sarah Bernhardt's ground-breaking performance as Hamlet in 1899. really good performances and fine production.
Went to hear Boiled in Lead at the Hook & Ladder and it was, as usual, a fine show.
Went to a Prime Productions reading of "The Oldest Profession" at the Jungle. Prime is a local theater company dedicated to theater by and about women over 50. It was, as are all of their productions I've seen so far, very good. looking forward to the next two in the series, coming up at the Capri and the Gremlin, respectively.
Off to Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society at Bryant Lake Bowl tonight.

Teaching:

I taught my intro to genre fiction publishing class at Springboard for the Arts last Tuesday and it went pretty well. Lot of no shows though, so that was disappointing.
Both my class with Jennie and my Gothic horror class got canceled, which was disappointing and anxiety-producing. My day job just went Magic 8 Ball this week (I'll likely be looking for a new job at the start of the year, unless there is a minor miracle) and the microwave is going to be quite expensive to replace. Granted, I needed the rest too. But mixed bag.
Teaching again with Jennie at the Loft next month so please send your friends!

Everything else:

A Death at the Dionysus Club by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold is up for preorder in ebook and print! Coming out 12/7 - more gay, Edwardian murder mysteries!
Twin Cities Book Festival was delight, if pretty exhausting. Saw many people and sold books.
Big announcement about next year's books coming soon!
State of the Spouse - I've been trying to get on the CADI Waver for 8 months now. It keeps feeling longer. Still trying to get overnight respite care so I can leave town in February for Capricon, but no luck so far. Got an interview coming up this week though so fingers crossed.
Doing some writing again, finally.

Now to go prep dinner for spouse and deal with sundry hygenic things before I can leave the house. Sigh.

Or at least makes me feel like I'm making progress of a sort.
September so far:

Jana's dad, Charles, passed away right before Labor Day weekend. I only met him once (at her mom's funeral and memorial) and didn't have a ton of contact with him, but he did get pretty supportive in the last couple of years and I'll miss for her sake. He died at home in his own bed, surrounded by loved ones and with decent medical care and he went when he was ready to go so I think it was a good passing. J seems more disoriented than usual and does occasionally mention him in a way that indicates that she knows he's no longer around. Hopefully, that gets easier soon.
I got to fill out a bunch of paperwork for her examination by the country to determine whether or not she is sufficiently disabled to require assistance. The social worker seemed pretty clear on that, but there is, of course, several month's worth of backlog and one of the more immediately useful things would have been money for adult daycare...which she has already gotten herself kicked out of. She is being...extra right now so I'm hoping it's mostly her dad's passing and not a whole new phase of "extra" because I'm getting worn out.
We're getting a new roof and gutters due to massive hail damage and it will be happening soon, because everything must happen this month.
My new recliner arrives on Thursday. My hip and leg have not stopped screaming for weeks and have responded to absolutely nothing so here's hoping this is a big help.
Have managed to spend some quality time with friends, which has been lovely and pagan pride was fun until we got sort of rained out (just enough to drive people out of the park and require tarping up, not enough to help the drought much). I'm off to table at St. Cloud Pride this weekend so hopefully that goes smoothly.
Saw "Bottoms" and thought it was amusing.
Doing a little tiny bit of writing and working on getting the next Lynes & Mathey title by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold out by December. Also, working on my talk on LGBTQ+ publishing for Quatrefoil. And dayjobbing like a dayjobbing thing.

Just realized that there's been so much going on, I hadn't announced the THING so here goes: I just signed the contract to have my menopausal werewolf novels, Silver Moon and Blood Moon, recorded as audiobooks by Tantor Media! I am so excited about this! Not just because it is happening at all and because I'm getting a decent advance (first time in years on that!) and because they're a well-respected company that will do a good job and because they've already requested an option on the third book (in progress!), but also because these are my passion project books. And, furthermore, they've never won any big awards or gotten reviews at the big sites or anything splashy, but they've been chugging along for years, recommended by book bloggers and readers passing them around, telling their friends about them, coming to my readings, following me online. All of that was enough to push sales over the top and inspire Tantor to pick them up, so for all of you who helped me get here: THANK YOU!

And a big THANK YOU to author and literary agent Jennie Goloboy who pushed me to try for it. I also pitched Jennie's hilarious and fun science fiction novel Obviously, Aliens, but the sales aren't quite there yet. I really want this book to find its people because I think it would make a terrific audiobook. Jennie is hitting the film festival circuit and starting to win awards and recognition for her scripts so this a chance to read someone's work on their way up. :-D

On a related topic, I have a Queen of Swords Press tradition in which when an author's book pass a given sales threshold, they get a mug with their bookcover on it. Michael Merriam's birthday is coming up on 2/19 and he's getting really close. We'd like to get him that mug next week so if you like urban fantasy, Welsh mythology, sapphic romantic fantasy, ghostly streetcars and Minneapolis circa 2007 nostalgia, Last Car to Annwn Station is perfect for you!

Otherwise, I finished a new f/f/ pirate/spy story for Heather Rose Jones's LHMPodcast, have nearly finished the preformatting and editing pass through Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold's Death by Silver (releasing soon!) and have worked with Melissa to assemble this year's Pride StoryBundle. In addition, Jennie and I are going to be teaching at the Rosemount Writer's Festival next month and some other things are afoot.

I also finished a 50 item To-Do list, which included various eldercare planning things for Jana, getting a new water heater installed, getting some things on my car fixed that have been making life somewhat less pleasant and getting in our new handywoman to work on the growing cracks in the kitchen ceiling which need to be patched, caulked, plastered and painted. I'm super tired, but have a great feeling of accomplishment. On a lighter note, have been to a couple of interesting performances and got to check out Owamni, the new indigenous cuisine James Beard Award-winning restaurant in downtown Minneapolis (it was amazing). Mixed bag otherwise on the personal front, but nice to have good news to report.

The big news for this week is that I got a new day job contract. It's projected to start on the 17th, so I'll get through exciting cycle of weekend book tables and classes before then. I'll also be going back to healthcare and some work related to what I used to do at the job I held prePlague. New companies (contracting co and renter of services), new software, etc. I made them laugh a few times during the interview and they wanted me immediately, unlike last year's endless cycle of "we like her, but we want 3 more interviews." In the meantime, I need to knuckle down and get a LOT done beforehand.

Last week's table at Open Streets Minneapolis went okay. Not, perhaps, the liveliest territory for book shopping but lots of interest by afternoon. And presenting at the Loft's Wordsmith Conference on Sunday went swimmingly. Next up, Columbia Heights Pride this Saturday 10/8, then back to Dancing Bear Chocolate on Sunday with books and Jana's handmade boxes and journals. Then next Saturday, it's the Twin Cities Book Festival - Michael Merriam (Last Car to Annwn Station) will be a featured local author and we'll be tabling. Stop by one of these - should be fun!

Accomplished in the last month, while unemployed:

Edits out to author, cover discussion launched, cover copy and description written
Discussions with other authors and contracts sent
1-2 events every week
Getting the process of selling some of Jana's tools moving along (these are the ones she already decided to shed)
Verbally contracted with a companion care PCA to spend time with her
Contracted with an elder care attorney who help me get stuff organized
Sent in class proposals
Did some writing
Began catching up with people I haven't seen in years, in some cases
Did 2 Patreon posts
Took Shu to the vet for an injured paw (he's doing better)
Started the fun of scheduling fall maintenance on the house and yard
Watched and read some things that have been on my list for a while
Dragged Jana out shopping and managed to get her some needful things.
Financial stuff that I need to wrangle.
Saw "The Woman King" and a couple of fun live performances.
Cleaned out my closet and starting getting stuff out to consignment shops
Opened a discussion with the MIA about donating a piece of art I inherited from Mom.

Need to finish:

A lot. Tomorrow, I start investigating green burial versus green cremation. I may have found a place to spread my mother's ashes in a meaningful way, though not as she originally intended. And start work paperwork and other fun. Everything else is pretty much in progress so more to come!

So far this year, I have the following things coming out:

"Grimwood" in Queer Weird West Tales edited by Julie Bozza (LIBRATiger, August 31, 2022). A story about grief, recovery and monsters.
"Ghosts of Yesteryear" in Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives Vol. 4 edited by John Linwood Grant (Belanger Books, May 2022). Sherlock Holmes is back from the dead and working with Mrs. Amitra Langford in a haunted French chateau to solve a mystery!
"Gothic Queer, Edward Gorey and Me" in Divergent Terror: The Crossroads of Queerness and Horror edited by Waylon Jordan (Off Limits Press, 2022). A personal essay about the great man, his Dracula sets and me! This is the first of the projects that I'm working on as the direct result of the grant that I got from Ladies of Horror Fiction last year to work on queer horror-related projects. :-D

Hopefully, more to come!

posting a couple of times a month thing is going well. Sigh. Like everyone else, I've been watching events elsewhere and like most people not collecting a side gig paid in rubles, I'm rooting for Ukraine and the Ukrainians. In case that needed saying.

What else has been going on? It's been very lively. I sold our second car, my solid, sturdy Corolla which we've been driving around since 2005 because we are down to one driver in the house. it is off to go live with the college-age daughter of friends of friends and I think it will serve her well. I've started some attempts to deal with some the various issues that have come up around me being the only driver in the house.

I wrote and submitted a new Weird West story on Monday. This is significant because I haven't sat down and blitzed through 600 words of new fiction in a week in far too long. Is it any good? Well, I like it, so there's that. I got to go to the "Supernatural" show at the Minneapolis Institute of Art with a friend and really enjoyed it. I introduced another friend to "Black Sails," so that's all good. Apart from getting sick yesterday, we've been relatively healthy. I'm making keffir in the yogurt-maker I got for Xmas and dehydrating herbs and fruit in the dehydrator. Taxes are in progress to go to the account. We have enough to eat and people who care about us and no one is doing anything really terrible in our vicinity, so that's all good.

Other things:

I have a story in Vol. 4 of Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives edited by John Linwood Grant and the Kickstarter is doing pretty well. 20 days left to get your mitts on some fine Sherlockiana and bonus Carnacki stories.
I'm looking forward to 13 Gears Steampunk this weekend. First in person event of the year! I'll be tabling with Michael Merriam and Patrick Marsh and there'll be deals on Alex Acks's steampunk books and our tea! Also, crafts, music, tea dueling and other fun.
Next Wednesday (the 9th), I'll be on Querying Tips, a Q&A hosted by Dot & Dash with author Jenna Miller, literary agent (and Queen of Swords Press author!) Jennie Goloboy and a publisher (me). Register if you want to join us.
After that, I'm Author GOH at Marscon here in Minneapolis. It is in person and promises to be fun! Come join us if you can!
Then, on the 15th, Jennie Goloboy, Michael Merriam and I will be guests on Write On! Radio on KFAI Radio talking about ta-da, Queen of Swords Press, and our work as authors. It will be streamed on the web too!
Then, we wrap the month with SMOLFair, an online small press book and zine fair. We'll have an FB Live event and do a book giveaway and a virtual table and all that other fun stuff.
Finally, Queen of Swords Press author, Rem Wigmore, has had a couple of stellar interviews this week. Here they are on Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester 1066 FM (U.K.) - streaming link is at the bottom of the page. And on the Queer Words Podcast, also out this week. Listening to people excited about writing and books and their work is a balm.

More news coming when I have it. I just sent an acceptance to an author and when we finalize things, will be making a cool Queen of Swords Press announcement!

It's been quite the month. Lot of stress, lining up new events (teaching at Clarion West Online! Author Guest of Honor at MarsCon! Etc.), lots of projects in various stages of completion! Here's the big stuff:

I started the next menopausal werewolf novel! If you've heard me talk about this, you may recall that I always planned on 3 books, for a generous interpretation of "planning." Well, Blue Moon has some words on the page now. Onward!
I have a Capricon 42 schedule with a virtual panel on queer science fiction and a reading for next Saturday!
I have an r/Fantasy StabbyCon schedule for 2/8 too! I'll be talking about Gothic Fantasy and Queen of Swords Press author Rem Wigmore will be on the panel about gender in speculative fiction.
Queen of Swords Press is officially 5 years old. I have piloted this little ship for 5 whole years now! Huge shoutout of thanks to my authors, my staff, our interns, our cover artists, our webmasters, our editors, our reader, reviewers, Patreon supporters and everyone else who helps us spread the word! Come check out the Birthday Sale, which ends tomorrow!
Uncle Hugo's Bookstore is coming back to Minneapolis! Losing Hugo and Edgar's was a huge, crushing blow to the owner, the staff and the community as a whole, geeky and otherwise, and I think we've all had a rough time with it. Planned reopening spot is the current Glass Endeavors building, next to the field where the Post Office, MIGIZI and Gandhi Mahal used to be on 31st just off Lake Street, across from Moon Palace Books, Arbeiter Brewing and the Hook & Ladder (and the burned out shell of the 3rd Precinct). Big Longfellow shoutout for a neighborhood that suffered so many loses and is still trying to come back. The Glass Endeavors owners, who managed to keep going despite the lockdown and losing all their immediate small business neighbors to fire during the riots and everything else have decided to retire so selling the building is a happy thing for everyone. :-D
I'm going to have a story in the next set of Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives edited by John Linwood Grant! More news coming soon!

On the personal level (next post), 2021 was pretty traumatic, but on a small press level, it was stupendous. Post the first is here, post the second follows.

As a writer, I:

saw my novel, Blood Moon, out into the world. Moar menopausal werewolves, found family and other fun stuff! Reader response has been good so far and it gained an Honorable Mention at the Rainbow Awards.
I saw a new story in my ongoing serial about queer female pirates and spies in the 17th Century Caribbean up at Heather Rose Jone’s Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast! Check out "The Adventuress" here.
My story, “A Cry in the Night,” appeared in the latest World of Darkness game book, Ghost Hunters, marking my first in-game appearance.
I had articles at Library Journal and Dream Foundry as well as a short essay in Mark My Words: read the Submissions Guidelines and Other Self-Editing Tips edited by Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith (produced for Stoker Con).
I got my first writing grant for a queer horror project from the Ladies of Horror Fiction.
I also saw 2 Emily L Byrne reprints appear on the Nobilis Erotica Podcast: "Heart's Thief" and "Diplomacy."
I also wrote 4 new chapters and a guide to my novel in progress, plus a couple of short stories and an essay for my Patreon, which supports Queen of Swords Press.
I taught 8 workshops at the Rambo Academy, Springboard for the Arts and the Novel in Progress Bookcamp, appeared on the WROTE Podcast, the Writers Drinking Coffee Podcast, multiple webcasts, 5 online conventions and a couple of online readings and FB groups. Also, my first two gaming conventions and an short clip for the Edelweiss Bookfest. And Skepticon, the Pride StoryBundle (co-curator), the Story Hour, FAE Productions, two book festivals and more! It was a lot.

Publishing Me:

Queen of Swords Press put out 3 books in 2021: Blood Moon, Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore and Obviously, Aliens by Jennie Goloboy
We have our own new chai tea blend from my fabulous local tea shop, Bingley's Teas.
Our 2020 title, The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater won a Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collection, was a Runner Up for Best LGBTQ Collection and for Best Lesbian Book at the Rainbow Awards and was a featured title at Edelweiss Bookfest.
Foxhunt earned a starred review in Publishers Weekly, was included as an essential work of solarpunk fiction in this Tor.com piece on "The Solarpunk Future," and was a Runner Up for Best Transgender Book and Best Transgender Science Fiction at the Rainbow Awards.
We all participated in a r/Fantasy Small Press AMA (first time!).
Between us, we did a whole bunch of literary festivals, online cons, online readings, panels and more.
Queen of Swords Press had our first university intern, the awesome Shannon, who helped Alexa and me get a ton of stuff done.
Laya Rose and Terry Roy created amazing covers and book design for us.
DragonByte/Andi C. Buchanan redesigned our website to make it scalable and added Square payments.
We doubled the size of our mailing list, added direct preorders and nearly doubled our sales from 2020.

I am so, so proud of all the work we've done and the books we've put out! I hope you'll give them and us a try as we enter our 6th year!

It has been an absolutely wild couple of weeks. New job is in Week 4 and it's okay? The people are reasonably nice and I'm learning a different part of the forest, kind of. Still stuck in QA Land, just the biz side of it this time, which does not fill me with delight and honestly, I'd rather be writing and publishing so it's been hard to switch gears. But it is what is and I've had worse gigs. Still wrangling insurance (new contracting co. will partially insure me, but not Jana, so I have to do stopgap again until I can get her on the ACA. Good times!).

So what else is going on, Catherine? I won a writing grant from Ladies of Horror Fiction! After I finish digging my way out from a few more contracted obligations, I'm planning on doing an expended version of my queer horror historical survey which originally ran in Nightmare Magazine's Queer Destroy Horror. :-D And my short story, "A Cry in the Night" is now a game scenario in the brand shiny new RPG World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters, which just came out from Onyx Path Publishing last week! And my novel Blood Moon got an Honorable Mention (finalist, essentially) in the Rainbow Awards yesterday!

I've also had a swell month as a publisher. Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore has been getting some great write-ups, including this one from Tor.com that includes it in a list of 5 essential solarpunk novels. And Obviously, Aliens by Jennie Goloboy is up for preorder now and will be out on 11/1. It's already getting some nice buzz too. The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater also got a Rainbow Award Honorable Mention. :-D

And I did most of these events, except for my upcoming Gothic horror class and my next book club appearance. Still room for signups for both!

WROTE Podcast - October 9th. I'll be a guest and talking about small press publishing and Queen of Swords Press.
Columbia Heights Pride - October 9th, 11-5PM CST. Columbia Heights, MN. Queen of Swords Press will have a table and I and my staff will be around.
Writers Drinking Coffee Podcast - midOctober air date. Interview about my writing, Queen of Swords Press and more.
North Country Gaylaxians Book Club - October 11th, 7:30PM CST. Quatrefoil Library/online, Minneapolis. They talked about my novel, Blood Moon.
Twin Cities Book Festival - October 16th, 10-5PM. St. Paul, MN. Queen of Swords Press will be there! I'll also be on the Local Author Showcase, talking about Blood Moon.
Lambda Sci-Fi Book Club - Thursday, October 28th, 7:30PM EST. The Book Club is discussing Silver Moon and I'll be joining to chat with them online in the second half of the discussion.
Crimson Peaks and Menacing Mansions: Writing Gothic Horror - Saturday, October 30th, 9:30-11:30 PST. Online class at the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. Writing Gothic horror! Tips, tricks and techniques.

Plus a few more things. I am...exhausted, but have miles to go before I sleep and all that. Stay tuned!

Got a new article up today at The Dream Foundry - "Words that Sell: Writing Marketing Copy for your Novel."
I'm working on another couple of pieces for them that will run in the coming months.

Otherwise, still waiting on delivery of my new work laptop, now hours later than original estimated time, so canceling plans for the afternoon and wrangling book edits, other things and a ton of useful information for a personal issue I'm not ready to talk about yet.

Okay, first the big news for those who may not have seen my last post: I got a job offer! I'm scheduled to start a week from Monday once all my paperwork and drug test (happening tomorrow) clear. It's a contract gig, not clear on how long it will run, but estimated at several months, moving into next year. I'll have to juggle insurance plans because my new contracting company doesn't do family insurance, so that'll be a thing in the next week or so. At the moment, mostly just relieved. I also got a writer's grant from the Ladies of Horror Fiction (see last post), so very pleased about that.
In addition to that, this week I:

Had a lively and successful book table at St. Cloud Pride, despite our table banner breaking and my Square card readers no longer working with my phone.
Got Jana's art event at Dancing Bear Chocolate rescheduled to 10/10.
Got asked to be a judge for a local arts grant (the funder turned me down last cycle, but I guess my application was impressive? Anyway, accepted).
Had a lovely time at the Parkway Theatre with friends watching "Big Trouble in Little China" for the umpteenth time.
Went to an outdoor Minnesota Book Publishers Roundtable/Professional Editor's Network networking event and had a nice time.
Posted the cover reveal for Obviously, Aliens by Jenny Goloboy to the Queen of Swords Patreon. Working on having ARCs available this week. Let me know if you like humorous science fiction.
Got invited to be on the Writers Drinking Coffee Podcast this week - will post air date when available.
Threw my hat in the ring for vending at Columbia Heights Pride.
Did some edits, reading of submissions and writing. Almost done with an article draft due soonish.
Filled out paperwork for new job and wrangled unemployment.
Got interviewed for and quoted in a piece in Modern Retail about book publishing and supply chain constraints.
Met with Julia from Bingley's Teas and made progress on the Queen of Swords Press tea blend. More info coming soon!
Did the sporadic Costco run and stocked up on some needful things.
Did a lot of administrative tasks.
Became a small business endorser of Yes 4 Minneapolis, which is the amendment that supports creating a new Department of Public Safety in lieu of the current arrangement in which the police department tells the City how high to jump on a regular basis. No, for the two hundredth time, it does not "defund the police" or "fire Chief Arradando," despite what you may have heard on Next Door. At present, one reason that it's impossible to reform the police department is that many things, including head count, are controlled by the Minneapolis Charter Commission, an unelected and non-transparent body that has no obligation to the people actually living here, and the Mayor's office. Every other department is managed the Mayor's office working with the City Council, and the MPD is the only exception. Spoiler alert: that's not going so well.

And that's it for the moment!

It has been a week of job rejections and interviews and financial anxiety and other fun stuff. Jana's event at Dancing Bear got canceled due to potential COVID exposure (not ours), so we both had crap Fridays. But today brought better things in the form of a reprint acceptance, a lovely lunch with friends, a nice trip to the farmer's market and some time at Twin Cities Pagan Pride where Michael and Sherry Merriam were kind enough to put out some Queen of Swords Press titles for sale. Everyone had a good day and decent book sales, so good all around.
Other stuff:

Submitted another story.
Worked on more publicity-related things for Foxhunt and Obviously, Aliens.
Met with my intern, Shannon, who's back for the Fall (yay!).
Talked to yet more recruiters, had another couple of interviews and applied for multiple jobs. Also, finished a nonIT resume and sent it out a few places.
Saw The Legend of Shiang-Chi and liked it.
Spent Labor Day in a canning haze - spaghetti sauce, apple sauce and salsa. Then roasted a tray of beets for funzies.
Mailed copy of Foxhunt off to the Library of Congress (obligatory when you get a catalogue number).
Saw Ladyhawke at the Parkway. Best line from the audience: "But what if she wants to be a hawk?" A question we did not ask in 1985.
Went to see "The Unplugging" performed by New Native Theatre. This was an interesting play about two middle-aged women, cast out of their community for being too old and forced to make their way through a post-apocalyptic landscape (after everything has "unplugged"). It was staged in a field in one of the burnt out parts of Lake Street that is not yet being rebuilt and was very well done.
Wrote a lengthy Twitter thread about small press finances and, for the first time in 5 years, met our baseline goal for monthly support on Patreon. Thank you, lovely people, for making that happen!
Spent time with friends and watched sundry things.
Next up: tackling the project backlog.

Well, I was doing pretty well at weekly posts. Will try and get back to them this month. I've been doing more writing and sundry other things as well as more interviews and more job applications. So far, some interest, but no results on the job part. Sigh. There was a brief COVID exposure scare last week that turned out to not be a thing, some time with friends and other fun stuff though. So here's what I did do:

Author Reads at Fae Productions - I got interviewed about my work and Queen of Swords Press and did a reading from the Wolves of Wolf's Point books in full Goth regalia. Follow the link to the video!
Got a new piece up at the Sirens Conference blog about some books that feature queer monsters and magic.
Interviewed for a couple of jobs, applied for a few more. Continue to be unemployed.
Finished one new short story and revisions to a second and submitted both. Talked to the Twin Cities Book Festival and will be included in the local author's showcase (previously, I was hoping to go to Multiverse Con in Atlanta). Talked to sundry entities about book reviews, author interviews and possible classes and got the ball rolling on some of this. Applied for some more events and got into a few more.
Worked on novel edits for the next Queen of Swords Press book and read submissions.
Went to movement class (I've been taking a weekly movement class at the Cassandra School for about a year now), the MN Arboretum and the Apple House and the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.
Made chocolate goat's milk ice cream and canned fresh apple sauce. The latter necessitated borrowing a canning pot from someone in my neighborhood Buy Nothing group since mine has vanished. I also bartered a couple of books for a bag of vegetables, which was somewhat coincidental, but handy. Might try and can spaghetti sauce this weekend too, while I have the pot.
Watched the "Long Kiss Goodnight" again and it holds up pretty well.
Some reading for fun, some tv watching for fun and a LOT of kitty cuddles.
Did some yardwork and rehomed some things via the Buy Nothing group. This is pretty fun - I recommend joining or starting one where you live. Before our big group seeded (broke into smaller, more local groups), people furnished several apartments for folks moving out of shelters into permanent housing as well as helping raise a bunch of mutual aid packages and assisting some neighbors who were food insecure. Mostly, though, it's an opportunity to pass along stuff you aren't using and get things you do need while meeting some of your neighbors.

Back to the grind tonight - I'm hoping to finish another big project this weekend, then finish an on demand class I owe Cat and get an Ebay stores setup for selling some things that aren't giveaway items. More news as I have it!

These were going to be weekly, honest. I don't really have a good excuse, just wandered into other things and started planning for the book release for Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore, which came out on Friday, as planned. Okay, so it was kind of a lot. This is Queen of Swords Press's 12th title and I'm learning things, hopefully useful ones. It's lovely to see people so excited about this book! (Sidebar comment: ever wonder why all my other sites are much more graphic heavy than this one? It's because I haven't been able to get graphic to load out here for years. Pointers appreciated!).
So in the last week and a half, I:

Published a new book and hosted an online release that included an author video, a Twitter interview and am currently doing a book giveaway.
Successfully pitched a couple of short articles on writing and publishing topics to The Dreamfoundry so now I have to write them.
Talked to a YouTube book and fannish blogger about an interview/book profile that is tentatively scheduled for Friday, talked to several different book reviewers about Foxhunt and nominated it for a couple of awards.
Taught No More Lone Wolves: Writing Characters in Community at the Rambo Academy.
Finished responding to Queen of Swords Press submissions.
Interviewed for one day job and applied for another. Talked to a couple of recruiters.
Got to spend time with several friends in person and several more online.
Worked on a new story and submitted another story to something else.
Worked on the next novel chapter for the Queen of Swords Patreon.
Sent my assistant the next newsletter info and discussed sundry bits of Queen of Swords Press work.
Took some nice long walks.
Dropped off a year's worth of accumulated household donations at MN ARC.
Read another author's charming fantasy romance that I need to review.
Did some event planning for various things.
Moderated an enjoyable horror panel at Skepticon.
Went to my friend Dave Christenson's remembrance of life, which was very nicely done.

And that's about it, at the moment. I need to panic about job hunting so I will try and do that this week. And get other stuff done. More bulletins soon!

This week had been a LOT, even by my standards! I left last Wednesday for the wilds of Wisconsin to teach at the Novel in Progress Book Camp: Speculative Fiction Edition so I could spend the night in Lake Mills, Wisconsin and drive in fresh and rested in Thursday morning to teach and panel and such. Lake Mills is very charming midAmerica: I stayed at a lovely Victorian B&B run by an older gay couple and their charmingly crabby elderly kitty, had a nice conversation with one of the other two guests, visited the farmer's market, did a very tiny amount of shopping at a couple of local shops and had a very pleasant time. It was my first time away from home overnight in nearly 2 years so it was a bit of an event! And from there, it was on to NIP and an action-packed schedule. The grounds were beautiful, the students very focused, the other pros interesting and engaging - 10/10, would do again. Which is good, because I've been invited to teach there again next year if we can get scheduling to work out. After that, I got to drive back in a horrible series of rainstorms that doubled the drive time (bearing in mind that I haven't been more than an hour and a half away from home in nearly two years). But made it home, despite having to miss my planned lunch with Madison friends.

The rest of the week

So the Very Cool Things: on Thursday night, I discovered that a Queen of Swords Press book had received its first starred review from Publishers Weekly! Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore will be out on 8/20 and it is glorious queer hopepunk/climate fiction (and up for preorder now!) with a bi trans protagonist and an all-queer cast. :-D
Next bit of news hit early the next day: The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater won New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collection! This was A.J.'s first book, our little Pandemic Book and Queen of Swords Press first award win (A.J. has won multiple times for their short fiction)! We are very psyched. :-D
Then on Friday night, I finished polishing up an article on writing marketing copy and submitted it and it got accepted the next day. So by the time I left NIP, I looked like the one very successful small press publisher/author. :-D
Had a fun time doing an author reading from Blood Moon at OutwriteDC on Sunday.
Got Jana a tiny show at Dancing Bear Chocolate's Sunday Artist series (9/12 12 -4PM). We'll be in a tent outside selling her handmade boxes and books. Dancing Beat is in the Victory Neighborhood of North Minneapolis, the owners are lovely and their chocolate and baked goods are amazing.
Pitched some more nonfiction and have almost finished tweaking a story to submit.
Worked on a couple of other fiction projects.
Interviewed for 2 jobs - 4th time for 1, second time for another. Did not get the 4 time interview one but they may pull me in for something else. Don't know about the second one, may have a 1st interview at a third place next week. At any rate, still unemployed, tired of interviewing and rather frustrated.
Cancelled on Multiverse Con with reluctance, but had to be. 3.5 months of unemployment + dicey insurance situation + COVID surge in Georgia + Delta Airline's attitude about vaccinations and safety (that being "screw it and screw you; we don't care" - we are a hub city for Delta so it's generally our best option for direct flights) was just a bridge too far. :-(
Applied for a couple of other events - more news when I have it.
Read submissions.
Saw Suicide Squad 2 and mostly enjoyed it.
Had a complete crash and burn day and spent it icing a mysterious foot injury, nursing a migraine and binge watching Season 3 of the BBC Three Musketeers series. Not quite as well written as the previous 2, but still fun and I thought they handled the ending well.
Took toxic waste (batteries and old paint) to country drop off today.
Took on moderation duties for a horror panel at Skepticon tomorrow (see pinned post)

And now back to virtual Readercon and hopes for another round of good luck next week.

It has been a full week. I'm finally starting to come out of my mental fog of recent weeks enough to recognize that I was very, very run down. I'm by no means caught up with much of anything, but I'm making progress and am giving myself regular breaks, which helps. I'm still fretting about being unemployed and not getting everything done, but so it goes.
Since last Wednesday or so, I:

Went to Rush River Produce for the annual picking of the blueberries. We got 5 pounds of really tasty ones, which are now in the freezer and will get used over the coming months.
Had 2 job interviews on Friday. One may result in a job offer if the manager can get funding (I'd be replacing a friend who got moved to another position) soon, the other one I thought was okay, but had some issues. So, naturally, I got a call back for that one and have interview 2 tomorrow. No word on the one I was hoping to get called back for so I suppose I need to let it go.
Went to the Midtown Farmer's Market on Saturday and ran into friends I haven't seen in months and months. Had a lengthy chat and got pesto fixings, which is what I did when I went home.
Grabbed lunch at a taco truck on Lake Street and went to the Twin Cities Antiquarian Book Fair. It was odd, as I expected, but I ran into some people and Greg from DreamHaven gave me a book. And Patrick Coleman to drop off my latest titles for the Catherine Lundoff collection at the MN Historical Society this week before he retires so that's another thing on the list. Really nice to see him and hope retirement treats him well.
Had dinner at the Riverview Wine Bar during an unexpected Machinery Hill concert and barely got to eat before going to "Black Widow" at the Riv. Enjoyed all of it! Except for that end credits scene which just reminded me of how badly the MCU failed her character. So maybe skip that part if you share my sentiments.
Worked on my Teachable class, recorded a short reading for the Queen of Swords Press Patreon, pulled together some bonus material for Scarlet Ferret Books (small indie U.K. ebook store that carries CInrak and is adding Silver Moon), worked on my next Sherlock Holmes story and my next novel in progress chapter, worked on edits and promo and so forth.
Went to Lark Toys in Kellogg, Fair Trade Books in Red Wing and other fun spots on Sunday with Matt. Made a veggie stirfry when we got back and we all watched "Cast a Deadly Spell," an early HBO Lovecraftian noir flick. Found the premise interesting, but some things really do not hold up well.
Doing a reading at Strong Women, Strange Worlds tomorrow night (see pinned post for links) and supporting Alex at Madame Askew's Virtual Steampunk Book Club this Sunday (link above).
Yard work and sundries! This included selling off the expandable ladder that we don't use and giving away an ancient craft tent that I found in the back of the garage.

Off to go finish a few things before calling it a night.

Feeling better, finally, though still wrangling a bit of a cough. Spent today picking blueberries and traipsing around farms in eastern Wisconsin, which was delightful. Last weekend's drag show was a lot of fun too! I also got to have lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a year and a half, picked a bunch of tart cherries and currents in the Bancroft Meridian Garden and made cherry-current chutney. And I gave some things away on the neighborhood Buy Nothing group and was gifted with some herbs from a neighbor's garden.

Other items of note:

Had a screening interview for the job I applied for last week and felt like it went well. I find out tomorrow or Monday if I made it to Round 2 (I expect there to be at least 3 interviews for this).
Have a phone interview tomorrow and followed up on a referral for a different job.
Did a practice run for the Strong Women, Strange Worlds reading on 7/15 (which reminds me that I need to do a timed practice run).
Sent Foxhunt out for reviews and discussed the finalized interior design. So excited about this book!
Started talking to cover artist Dian Huynh about the cover for Jennifer Goloboy's Obviously, Aliens, which we'll be publishing in December.
Read some submissions for Queen of Swords Press; we're getting a lot of things that do not fit this reading which is your reminder to read the guidelines and try to familiarize yourself with what a publisher actually publishes and is looking for.
Did lots of fiddly administrative things and worked on the new short story and the next novel chapter for Patreon.
Did not make much progress on the Teachable class and need to dig into that tomorrow.
Going back to the Twin Cities Antiquarian Book Fair for the first time in two years this weekend, but this time on a tight budget and just a few months after the death of my friend, Dave Christenson. Feeling a bit iffy about it, but will see if I can go and think of it as a semi-new event, rather than a familiar one with big loses.
Going to see "Black Widow," because of course I am. Part of this week's cold recovery has been watching the earlier Fast & Furious movies so I'm clearly in an action frame of mind.

And now to bed and hopefully sleep off this trailing bit of cough that I haven't shaken yet.

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Dwelling in Probabilities

Catherine Lundoff's blog

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