November news

So much going on this month!

Little Blue Marble has reprinted my Far North Queensland epidemiology adventure story, “Trivalent,” originally published in Ecopunk (Ticonderoga Publications). I still love my grumpy virologist and I’m glad this story is free to read now.

And Strange Horizons has published my very personal dybbuk story, “Whom My Soul Loves.” It’s not only queer and Jewish, but is set in the community that brought my parents together, making my existence possible. (Meta!) This one is also free to read and there’s an excellent podcast version, so I hope you’ll check it out.

I mentioned this in my last post, but to reiterate: GenreCon is coming up on 22 November. I’m on two panels (“Love in Strange Worlds” and “Overcoming the Monster”) and I’m running a seminar, “Writes and Rituals”, about religion and ritual in fiction, and how ritual can be useful to writers in their own practice.

Convicts, conferences and… other things that don’t start with “con”

So many things! First and foremost, at long last I can announce that my alternate history convict short story “These Rebellious Hussies” is forthcoming in Other Covenants. Edited by Mark Shainblum and Andrea D. Lobel and published by ChiZine Publications, this is a volume of Jewish alternate history. The line-up is pretty gob-smacking, and some hyperventilating might have been involved when I saw it. Publication is slated for May 2020, but it’s up for Amazon preorders.

Also announced today is the GenreCon program. It runs 22-24 November in Brisbane, and is a conference that encourages wonderful cross-pollination between writers of speculative fiction, romance, crime, and other genres. The theme this year is “thrive in your genre”, and I’m thrilled to be on two panels (“Love in Strange Worlds” and “Overcoming the Monster”). I’m also running a seminar, “Writes and Rituals”, about religion and ritual in fiction, and how ritual can be useful to writers in their own practice. Tickets are available now, including discounted early bird tickets that won’t last long.

I’m also the publicity manager for the forthcoming CSFG anthology, Unnatural Order. Edited by Alis Franklin and Lyss Wickramasinghe, it will be a wonderful book by Australian citizen and resident authors about monsters and the monstrous. Our Kickstarter campaign is full of some great goodies that are selling like hot cakes, so hurry over to check that out. And submissions to the anthology are open until 31 October (again, Australian citizen and resident authors only; read the guidelines, kids!).

Last but not least, the very delightful and talented Bruria Hammer recently pointed her camera at me and made magic happen. My new author picture is over on my About page. If you’re in Sydney and need a photographer, book her.

Mother of all award ceremonies

(Yes, I am going to beat that pun into a dead mixed metaphor.)

This week I returned from Continuum 15, where I had the usual fabulous time of attending and presenting on panels, and hanging out in the bar with friends. The undeniable highlight, however, was Mother of Invention taking out three awards:

  • the Norma K. Hemming Award for excellence in the exploration of themes of race, gender, sexuality, class or disability in speculative fiction (long work category, jointly with Sam Hawke’s City of Lies)
  • the Ditmar Award for Best Collected Work
  • our amazing cover artist Likhain took home the Ditmar Award for Best Artwork for the cover

My brilliant co-editor Tansy Rayner Roberts also won Best Novella or Novelette for the very lovely Cabaret of Monsters, so it was a great night all round.

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The obligatory award eligibility post

First, let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. I had just one story of my own published in 2018, ‘To Rain Upon One City’ in Resist Fascism (psst, have you seen this gorgeous cover by Geneva B?) It’s eligible for the short story categories of the Locus, Hugo, and Ditmar awards. I was deeply honoured that my editors Bart Leib and Kay Holt saw fit to open the anthology with my far-future, Jewish refugee jiu-jitsu story of community and kindness.

Mother of Invention has already garnered some great reviews and nominations, including being listed on the 2018 Locus Recommended Reading List and being shortlisted for an Aurealis Award (additional congratulations are in order for Lee Cope, whose story ‘A Robot Like Me’ is shortlisted in the best YA short story category). Reviews are up at Tor.com, Books and Publishing, and elsewhere.

Things get a little more involved for Mother of Invention eligibility, so I’ve included more detail below, including voting eligibility and deadlines. Thank you to anyone who considers voting for my writing and editing work, and for getting through this labyrinth.

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Mother of all updates

At long last, Mother of Invention is on sale! You can pick up a paperback or ebook from Twelfth Planet Press directly, or via Amazon. If you’d like an idea of what Tansy and I were trying to do with this anthology, Tor.com very kindly reprinted the introduction. Also on Tor.com, Tansy and I waxed lyrical about books that give voice to artificial intelligence. This is the first book that has my name on the cover and I’m quite proud of it, so I’d love it if you had a look. Also, check out the gorgeous cover by the amazingly talented Likhain.

As for my own fiction, I have a story forthcoming in a Crossed Genres micro-anthology, Resist Fascism. This story is about building community through kindness and jiujitsu (Jew-jitsu, if you will). The Kickstarter has just a couple of days to go, so now’s the time to hit that BACK THIS PROJECT button. I also have another story slated for publication next year, in [embargo]. Continue reading