I really like small presses.  I like when someone has established a niche, built their community around it, and takes a lot of care putting work out into the world that is not necessarily market-driven.  (I say that as a business major; hey, I also majored in creative writing!)  I’ve been extremely fortunate so far in that I’ve had two books traditionally published, both by small presses, where my experience working with them was overwhelmingly positive.  Seriously, I count my lucky stars and wish that every writer could have that. 

You have a chance to show your support for Sword & Kettle Press, publisher of my Elgin Award-winning chapbook The Inca Weaver’s Tales.  Today they’re launching a Kickstarter campaign for Ten Years of Sword & Kettle Press, an anthology sampler of the chapbooks they’ve published over their first decade!  It will include an excerpt of my poetry chapbook, along with stories and poems from many others, all speculative, all crafted through a generous and inclusive lens of feminism.  Please check it out and help spread the word. 

It’s Poetry Month and Earth Month!  I have a new nature poem out today, “Avenue of the Peaceful Giants” in The Ranger’s Almanac Vol. 1.  This poem was inspired by my family’s visit to see the redwoods in Northern California a couple of years ago. 

The Ranger’s Almanac showcases national parks through stories, poems, breathtaking photography, and other art forms.  It also celebrates the work of park rangers and other professionals in the parks & rec industry. 

Wondrous, soothing, wild places are out there.  Your local parks & rec agency is toiling to preserve these lands and provide access to them.  Go out, enjoy them, and support this crucial work. 

Glockenspiels and clockpunk and snack time, oh my!  I’ve got another interview, this “time” a very brief contributor one on the Clocks anthology Kickstarter page.  Admittedly I don’t delve much into the story itself…  I’ll save that for when the book comes out.  But in the meantime you can learn about my motivations for wanting to be part of this project. 

I also want to share that Sword & Kettle Press, the publisher of my Elgin Award-winning chapbook The Inca Weaver’s Tales, will soon be launching their own Kickstarter campaign, this one for a 10-year retrospective anthology!  I’ll post more about it soon.  For now, you can sign up to be notified when it launches. 

My poem “I Write a Rite of Pyrite” is part of the Cursed issue of Emerald City Ghosts.  This poem first appeared in HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. XII. 

They also included interviews with each of the contributors.  In mine, I talk about writing in a flow state, how my career as an analyst plays into my process, and what I’m currently working on. 

We’re finishing up Oregon’s spring break, and while I worked for most of the days, I took yesterday off to go with my family to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center an hour and a half north in Washington.  My older relatives recall the ash from the 1980 eruption landing in yards and gutters here in Beaverton.  We can see the flattened peak on clear days from Portland, but this was the closest I’d ever gotten to it.  We got gorgeous weather for our visit.  In the gift shop, they had glass ornaments handmade in Ecuador, so I had to bring one home with me. 

This morning we stuck closer to home and went to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  We lucked into more great weather.  My older son commented as we walked about how peaceful it was, and then he shared with me how he thinks there are various types of “Oregon peaceful”:  beach peaceful, forest peaceful, desert peaceful, mountain peaceful, cave peaceful.  (I was very tempted to tell him he has the makings of a great poem in that insight, but that doesn’t seem to be his thing.)  When we got home, I realized that a lot of my novella, Thrice Petrified, is about restoring some of those types of peacefulness to the landscape and the creatures (fantastical and otherwise) inhabiting them. 

We interspersed additional types of fun into the other weekend and evenings of spring break, such as basketball games and a couple of movies.  I also received the proof of the Clocks anthology to review, plus I just got an acceptance for a poetry reprint.  And I’m making slow but steady progress on my current writing project.  All in all, a great week. 

The Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming Clocks anthology has officially launched!  This is your chance to get early bird rates and directly support the authors and artists contributing to this themed exploration of clocks and what they can represent, as shown through speculative fiction.  The book comes out later this year from Little Key Press and includes work by the following: 

Chantell May Saunders, Charlotte Van Ryswyk, Courtney Raines, Elizabeth Jaffari, Erin Hall, J.S. Mercer, James Carraghan, Katherine Quevedo, Katrina Jax, Madi Haab, Mia Dalia, Niyyah Ruscher-Haqq, Raymond Brunell, Reign Reeves Pearson, Rose Wilde Hall, Sarah Walker, and Susan E. Rogers. 

I’ll have a new story, “Gearheart,” in the upcoming anthology Clocks, from the press that brought you Claw Machine.  What can you expect this “time” around?  According to the editor, “As you move from one narrative to the next, you’ll find yourself lost in fog, grasping at a young love, risking it all to save a dying world. Pages will swallow you whole as you slip through time, challenge what it means to live, and create an automaton.” 

We’ve got a Kickstarter campaign launching later this month.  You can sign up to be notified when that happens (I’ll also post about it, of course). 

I’m also involved in another exciting project that will have a Kickstarter later on.  More to come on that.

My story “Venom in the Cloud Forest” (first published in the anthology Myriad Lands Vol. 2) is this week’s featured story over at After Dinner Conversation.  They’ve included a video of philosopher Nalini Jacob-Roussety discussing a core concept of my story: the risk of bringing to light a hidden, uncomfortable truth.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m simultaneously pleased and dismayed that “Venom in the Cloud Forest” continues to be relevant.

If you’re interested in more info. about this story, I discussed it with Michelle Murray on her podcast Pages on the Tongue.  If you want more of my rainforest settings, check out “Ree in the Domain of Scavengers” (Flame Tree Publishing’s Sun Rising Short Stories) and “Discount Night at the Haunted Eco Lodge” (Triangulation: Habitats and the podcast Scary Stories Whispered in the Rain). 

Some very nice person out there has nominated my poem “The Emerald Tapestry” for the Rhysling Award.  Many thanks for lifting up a narrative fantasy ballad that doesn’t shy away from end rhyme!  This is my first time being nominated in the long poem category. 

For those unfamiliar with this award process, members of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) can nominate one short poem and one long poem.  These nominees are then verified, longlisted, and later reviewed by a committee.  They determine which poems become finalists and appear in the annual Rhysling anthology.  Then SFPA members vote for the winners. 

You can see the full longlist of this year’s nominated poems.  And if anyone’s looking for poems to nominate for the Nebula and/or Hugo awards, may I suggest perusing this list for ideas?  There are so many poets whose work I adore on this list!  

Each February, you can hear recordings of members of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) reading their speculative love poems.  It’s a delightful take on what can sometimes seem like a well-trodden topic for verse.  This year’s selections, curated by Jessica Lucci, include my poem “The Poison Dart Frog Prince” from SpecPoVerse.  Yes, this is also the same recording that SpecPoVerse first posted on their website.  You don’t get quite the same effect as the visual—my poem is in the shape of a frog—but it was really fun for me to read aloud and give it a life of its own. 

There are lots of delightful readings to listen to, so settle in and prepare to get swept away.