Let Me Spam You

First: my flash fiction story "Dear Conqueror" was published last week at Daily Science Fiction. It's the sordid tale (do I have any stories that aren't sordid, really?) of a future American tyrant and his equally tyrannical wife. Enjoy!

Second: I now have a mailing list! And you can sign up for it with the handy form below! It will contain information about recent publications, cons I'll be at, upcoming classes at Portland Community College, and other stuff, I'm not sure what. Updates will be rare and sporadic, so you don't have to worry about me blowing up your email. Anyway, form is below and also on the sidebar:

Erica Satifka's Magical Email List of Mayhem and Wonderment

Third: From February 18-22 I will be at the Rainforest Writers Village in Lake Quinault, WA. I'm a bit worried that I'll get there and "run out of ideas," or worse, that everything I write there will be unpublishable crap. Even if it is, I guess I get a vacation out of the deal. I'm shooting for 5000 words per day, all in short stories. Wish me luck!

Links, with Occasional Exclamation Points

1. I have a new short story out! "The Speaking Ground," published in AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, is a flash fiction tale of madness on an alien world. Enjoy!

2. You can now order a copy of the Bundoran Press anthology Strange Bedfellows, including my story "The Afternoon Revolution," from Powell's Books and the Bundoran web site. Black Gate calls my story "a grim and relentless look at humanity and inhumanity and how the US is really f&*king it all up with the economic misdistribution of resources driving the decay of America, wrapped in an exciting kidnapping tale." Seems legit!

3. Hate Star Wars? I know I do! Over on SF Signal Mind Meld I bloviate about my least favorite epic science fiction movie. Okay, I don't like any epic anything, but Star Wars holds a special spot of hatred in my pitch-black heart.

4. I will only be on the East Coast for seven more days. Unreal.

5. Saturday's night State of Short Fiction roundtable at BSFS was a success. We discussed the differences between print pubs and online pubs, crowdfunding, podcasting, rising short fiction stars, diversity in the slush pile, and the current popularity (or possible lack thereof) of the short form. Couldn't make it out? Watch the link!

The BSFS State of Short Fiction crew.

6. Are you using Habit RPG? You should be!

December Randomness

First, a sale: my flash fiction piece "Real Plastic Trees" will be appearing in the upcoming speculative fiction issue of Spark: A Creative Anthology, alongside such writers as Alex Shvartsman, Annie Bellet, Brad R. Torgerson, and more! You can pre-order it here at a discounted price, if you'd like.

I just finished writing a novella, my first stab at long-form writing in over six years. And you guys, I... kinda hate long-form writing. I wrote no short stories while I was in the process of writing the novella, and I really miss the instant (or maybe not so instant) gratification of doing that. Yesterday I had a large chunk of time blocked out to finish two short stories, but I just couldn't work on them. My brain felt completely fried, everything felt hopeless, everything I put down felt stupid and wrong. This is not unlike the problems I had after finishing my novel. Hopefully I don't quit writing for as long this time! I'm not going to unilaterally say that I'm never going to write a piece of long-form fiction again, but it will be awhile before I try it.

Plans for the great Baltimore-to-Portland move continue apace. Nothing new to report, but I have decided to start a new tag, "movelandia," which might give some of yinz a glimpse into the coast-to-coast moving process. I may also then compile the posts into a zine because there is nothing more Portland than writing a zine about moving to Portland and that will help me acculturate into my future home*.

In topical news, Crossed Genres magazine is in need of your help! They need to get 300 more subscriptions before the end of the year or they'll have to close. It's a great magazine that publishes a ton of new writers (at professional rates) and subscriptions are only $15/year for the digital version. In the common exchange rate of the times, that's only four visits to Starbucks, or one semi-fancy dinner out, or one-thousandth of the cost of a new car! (Seriously, don't do this.)

Also, as this is my first year as a SFWA member, I will be voting for the Nebula Awards for the first time ever. If you have a short story or novelette you'd like me to consider, feel free to link it in the comment section, or email a copy to satifka at gmail dot com if it's not available online.


*Real talk: when we were talking about what city to move to, I wondered if I'd fit into Portland because I'm not nearly as involved with zines as I used to be. "Do any fiction writers live in Portland?" Ha-ha. Hahahaha. Ha!

Spammers Live in Vain

Hey guys, the Lovecraft anthology I'm in is out! Whispers from the Abyss (.01 Publishing) includes stories by Nick Mamatas, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Greg Van Eekhout, Tim Pratt, and many more. My story "You Will Never Be the Same" is a mash-up of Lovecraft and the seriously weird SF of Cordwainer Smith. It was a real departure for me, trying to ape someone else's style while using yet another someone's plot elements, but I think it works. (Besides, Nick already got dibs on DFW.) I'm thrilled to be sharing a line-up with these folks, and I hope you check it out!

In fund-raising news, the speculative fiction podcasts PodCastle, Escape Pod, and Pseudopod (collectively known as the Escape Artists) are in financial trouble and can use your support! My story "Hand of God" appeared in PodCastle last September, and while I don't listen to very much audio fiction myself (most people seem to listen on their commutes, and I ride a bicycle to work on the most dangerous streets in North America), these three magazines are a great resource. They podcast everything from new fiction to classics. If you like audio fiction, do yourself a favor and chip in a few bucks. Specific links to each magazine are here.

Writing Progress, Stories That Aren't Mine, PDX Trip!

Apparently I continue to crank out work to make up for the time I wasn't writing. I'm currently finishing up revisions on a novelette, which is the longest thing I've ever written that isn't a novel. Also have two short stories and several pieces of flash in the revision pile. So if you've been missing my posts here (which have never been very frequent to begin with), that is why.

If you like opera and/or Hungarian mythology, check out my friend Samantha Kymmell-Harvey's new story "Cadence" in Waylines Magazine! I'm sure this is only the first of many stories for Sam.

In non-writing news, I am thrilled beyond words to be traveling to the adultlescent dreamscape of Portland, Oregon next month. September 20-26, right after my birthday. Rob will be attending the Rose City Comic Con, and we will both be conducting more exploration of residential neighborhoods than one normally does on a vacation. Any tips on can't-miss sights? We already know about the Tardis Bar, the Lovecraft Bar, the Japanese Garden, Voodoo Donuts, and of course Powell's World of Books, surely one of the few destination book stores in the country. And I will of course be visiting a handful of zinester hubs, which I hope is okay considering I don't necessarily consider myself a zinester anymore. (But I don't NOT consider myself a zinester. It's complicated! I still love you, zine world, I just have so many hours in a day and I prefer to spend most of the free ones writing speculative fiction right now.)