It’s a new year and normally around this time I might share some of the goals I have for the next trip around the sun, but the truth is, I haven’t yet set any goals for 2025, and if I do, I might just keep those to myself.
This is the year I turn 50, and I’ll do what I want.
I do think it’s important to set goals that are within your control though. I can aspire to something really cool like an award win or publication in a dream market, but those things are entirely out of my control, so they don’t make good goals. Something I can control is more along the lines of: finish a particular work (or works) in progress. Or maybe something like: read books that are different from what I normally read — or by authors that are new to me.
So I’ll give it some thought and try to narrow down what I want to accomplish in 2025.
SOME RECENT NEWS
2024 was a busy year for me and December was no different, with much of it spent reading for awards consideration, as well as for blurbing purposes.
But despite that, I managed to write a brand new story inspired by my husband’s birthday, so that’s out on submission now. I also started a new science fiction story, which I’ll continue to work on now that it’s 2025.
In addition to that, I cleaned up my website a little. My Interviews and Buzz pages were starting to get a little unwieldy, so I pared them down a smidge and now it’s much easier to find recent and more relevant stuff on them. I might tweak things a little more going forward, but for the time being I’m happy with how they look.
Also, last month I sent subscribers a free story as a little holiday gift to thank you for being with me month-to-month. If you didn’t get it, check your spam for email from pacornellauthor@gmail.com. For those of you who received it, I hope you enjoyed it.
On a more personal note, I recently reconnected with one of my high school English teachers. It was really nice to be able to learn a little about what he’s been up to in the more than 30 years since we last spoke, and to let him know that something of what he taught must’ve gotten through since I’m doing this whole writing thing now and things are going alright. If you’ve had someone like that in your life that you’ve thought about over the years, and have the means to contact them, I highly recommend it.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
I didn’t have any new fiction publications in December, but I did publish some non-fiction. “A Long Time Ago…with P.A. Cornell” is a piece I wrote for Harvey Hamer’s series on some of my favorite things about Star Wars, as well as a favorite historical site located in the area where I grew up. These things might sound like they don’t go together, but in a weird way they do. In any case, it was really fun to write and I hope a fun read for you. Find it here.
RECENT FICTION SALES
I’ve recently made two different fiction sales I can’t yet talk about, but I should be able to in the near future, so keep an eye out for that. I can tell you both were solicited and one of them will be announced within the week.
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
PRO TIP
People are always asking authors what advice they’d give someone just starting out. I tend to shy away from giving too much advice, because what applies to one person might not work so well for another. Advice can also quickly become outdated, so something that was super helpful to me when I was starting out, might be useless to someone starting out today.
That all said, when I began publishing, someone did give me some advice that I feel can apply to anyone, new or not, at pretty much any time. That thing is to keep a file of some kind of all the nice things people say about your writing. What form this file takes, is up to you, but it’s a great thing to look back on at the end of a year. It’s also a great tool to refer to when imposter syndrome hits, or when you’re feeling like no one cares, or no one is reading your work.
I’ve been keeping track of such things for years now and it’s been wonderful. Some comments I can look back on came from people who are no longer with us, and it’s nice to have a little piece of them in this form and know that my fiction had an impact on their lives.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: “Side Effects May Vary”
Spoiler warning. If you haven’t yet read “Side Effects May Vary,” go ahead and do so before continuing.
Before I get into the plot, I thought I’d share the behind-the-scenes of this story’s somewhat complex journey to publication.
“Side Effects May Vary” was originally written under the title, “Short-Term Side Effects.” This was during the Codex writing group’s Flash Savior of the Universe contest in 2022. I tend to use Codex contests for motivation, with the stories that get written serving as a bonus on top of any stories I plan to write more deliberately throughout the year. The plots of these stories are determined in the moment, and the results can be surprising since we don’t know in advance what the prompts will be.
2022’s contest was a little different because going into it I knew that if possible, I wanted to use the contest prompts to write something for a specific themed anthology I’d recently heard about. I couldn’t be sure any of the prompts would work for that, but I was keeping an eye out for any that might inspire an idea.
I actually can’t find the specific prompt that inspired this story. Normally, I keep track of stuff like that for future reference, but for whatever reason I didn’t keep that for the 2022 contest.
Whatever it was, it yielded a somewhat different story than the one you just read. For one thing, it was originally written in third person, and while the premise was similar, it wasn’t quite as dark. The story scored fairly well in the contest and eventually I did end up submitting that version to the anthology I’d had in mind. Then, as you do when you’ve sent a story on submission, I waited. Then waited some more. And then waited even more.
Some markets are faster responding to submissions than others, but generally speaking, you get to know what a reasonable wait is, and what most definitely is not. Things come up and often there are few people involved with these projects, most often working for no pay, so I’m willing to cut them some slack, but it’s nice when they at least give authors an update so you know why there’s been a delay, and how much longer you can expect to wait.
For this particular anthology, there were no updates and the date they’d listed on their website as when writers could expect to hear back, had come and gone. When things like this happen, you reach a point where you start to wonder if the project will go ahead at all. Many writers gave up and sent their stories elsewhere. I hung in there because I knew the editor a little, and at any rate, I’d written this story for this anthology, so I hoped it would work out.
After about a year and a half, I received notice that my story had been held for further consideration. Not an acceptance, so that meant more waiting. I again didn’t hear a thing for a really long time, despite occasionally contacting the editor to see if they had an update. In the end, it took nearly two years before I finally received an acceptance email. Despite the long wait, I was glad this story had finally sold, and to the market I’d intended it for.
Until I received the contract.
Contracts are tricky things and people in this business really need to learn how to read them, and to ask questions or request changes as needed. While I’m no legal expert, I’ve signed enough short fiction contracts that I’m familiar with standard clauses, and I know what sorts of things I might push back on. For this one, I wasn’t happy with the terms, and they were such that a simple change in wording wasn’t going to fix things.
The problem for me was that while the submission guidelines had stated this anthology would pay professional rates, this was actually now dependent on a successful Kickstarter campaign. It wasn’t really clear on what would happen if the fundraising was unsuccessful, though the contract did state that there was a chance authors would be paid significantly less, while the publisher would still be asking for the same publication rights, in this case first rights in various formats.
So, after waiting nearly two years to sell my story, I didn’t have a guarantee the anthology would even be published, and if it was, I had no idea what I was going to receive in payment.
I felt like I was essentially being asked to all but give away my work as if it weren’t something of value. As if the time I’d invested in creating it and then waiting so long for an acceptance wasn’t something of value.
I’m an artist, but I believe very strongly that art has value, and that if you want it, you should pay what it’s worth. I also don’t believe in signing a contract with uncertain terms, such as what you might expect to be paid. To put things in dollar values, they were saying, we might pay you as much as $93.44 USD, or as little as $11.68 USD. Math isn’t my strong suit, but even I could see that was a significant difference. And since just working through submissions had proven such an ordeal, to be completely honest, I had little faith the Kickstarter would be successful.
Are there reasons to sell a story for little or no money? Sure. It’s not just about the money. Lord knows, even pro rates aren’t making any of us wealthy. For me, holding out for the most money a story can earn is a way of saying, I believe in my work, and I won’t settle for less if I don’t have to. That all said, I have sold stories for less than pro rates. Other considerations can include things like, the prestige of a market, the visibility the story will get, if it’s something for a charity, or maybe you just really want to work with a particular team. And these are just a few things to consider. What a particular author will prioritize at any given time is up to them. It’s not really a right or wrong answer thing, it just depends on what works for you. Many other authors accepted to this particular anthology signed the contract without hesitation. I wish them the best.
As for me, I considered my situation. Yes, I’d written this story for this particular anthology because I liked the theme, but did that mean I’d be happy with potentially getting only $11.68 for it when I hadn’t even given it a chance to be considered by another market? Not only that, but print anthologies aren’t generally free-to-read anywhere, which means they may or may not find many readers. So was I willing to sell my story to a venue where it might not even get read, and for a pittance to boot?
It just felt like a bad deal all around. And that was assuming the anthology even got published. Because the even worse alternative would have been to continue allowing them to waste my time. And time is precious.
The other concern I had was that after two years, I wasn’t sure I even liked this version of the story anymore, or that it was representative of my current skill level. So even if everything went well, did I want my name attached to a story I felt was okay at best, knowing I could make it better? No. I did not.
With all these things considered, I ultimately decided to withdraw my story. It was a bit of a risk. After all, this could mean I might not be able to sell it at all. But I had to do what felt right for me.
Last I heard, the Kickstarter for this anthology failed, and I have no idea if there are still plans to publish it. I hope the authors that accepted the deal will see their work out in the world at some point, and that they’ll be fairly compensated.
I ended up rewriting my story, adding over 300 words and making changes like switching to first-person, present, and darkening it a bit. I added more detail as well, and changed some plot points and characters a little. I was happier with the results, and decided to retitle it “Side Effects May Vary,” which I felt had better flow than the original title, and without the hyphen, looked better in print as well. It was now ready to send out on submission.
That’s when I heard about the Unicorn Mech Suit Short Story Contest. My story fit the word count and type of story they were looking for, so I figured, why not? I submitted it and didn’t give it much more thought after that, so I was very surprised when I received an email informing me that my little story had beat out over 300 other entries to win the contest. And the prize money? Well that was about three times what the story would’ve earned at standard pro rates. So my gamble had paid off. Not only that, with the story free-to-read online, more people have access to it than they would’ve in the anthology I’d originally intended it for, which I love.
All’s well that ends well.
Here’s what the contest editor had to say about “Side Effects May Vary”:
“I really enjoyed both the concept of the medical nanobots developing sentience and the tightly formatted execution. You were able to tell a full story in 1500 words, which is not easy.”
But aside from a mystery prompt, now lost to time, where did the story come from? Well, there are a few things in here that are subjects I’ve thought a lot about. The first is what it is to put your trust in medical professionals, a situation of the utmost vulnerability. Once you’re in a doctor’s hands, you’re trusting them to “do no harm” as the Hippocratic Oath dictates, but is that always the case?
I wish I could say I’d never had a bad experience under the care of a medical professional. Unfortunately, I’ve had several. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t see them as the enemy. In fact, I have close loved ones who work in such professions. But things can still go wrong, and often do.
Things tend to especially go wrong when you’re a female minority. It’s a sad truth, but most women I know (myself included) can point to times their pain was ignored, or times they described symptoms that weren’t believed. And those are just two common things. Fairly benign, given some of the horror stories you hear.
I won’t get into detail with my own personal bad experiences, but suffice it to say, I’ve had them, and some have had lasting impact.
I’ve also often been prescribed medication with serious side effects that have not been explained to me, nor have alternatives been offered for consideration. I’m pretty good about asking questions and reading the information that comes with new medications, but it’s not my job to research pharmaceuticals. Doctors should at least send you home with an idea of what some common side effects may be, or the most concerning things to look out for. In my experience, that has been hit or miss, depending on the doctor and the day.
And if discontinuing your medication is a big problem, they need to tell you that too, because when you’re a layperson, you might not realize that waiting a few days to pick up your prescription refill when it’s more convenient will result in something serious and possibly permanent.
I’ve also experienced what it’s like to go to a doctor with symptoms of something undefined and have them be as stumped as I am. Fortunately for me, it’s never been anything too serious. But it’s frustrating when they don’t have any answers to give you. I understand that medical professionals, even specialists, have limitations. Modern medical science has its limits as well, and sometimes there really isn’t more they can do. I don’t blame anyone for that. But knowing it doesn’t make your mystery ailment any better.
So this story explores some of that. The patient is partly at fault for not following the doctor’s instructions, which leads to a terminal condition even the doctor wasn’t expecting. But the doctor also failed to highlight the importance of the patient following instructions to the letter, and now it’s the patient who must suffer.
The other thing I wanted to explore is our relationship with emerging technologies. As a science fiction writer, I’m excited about technological advancements, but not at any cost. I want the tech we implement to make our world better, not worse, and I don’t want it to be put out in the world before it’s ready, especially when people’s lives (or livelihoods) are at stake.
We’re seeing a lot of AI talk these days, and this is something I don’t feel is ready to be used in the ways it’s being used at the moment. I’m also not a fan of how things like LLMs are trained in violation of copyright law. And I’m really against AI being used to replace people in the arts, who do this for the love of the creative process, not because we have to. If AI is going to take over jobs, it should be the jobs no one wants to do, and even then, we should have a system in place so that as jobs go to machines, people are still able to financially meet their daily needs.
But I digress. The thing is, as sophisticated as these things are (and they still have a good way to go, if you ask me) they aren’t true artificial intelligence. ChatGPT and Alexa aren’t sentient. It’s not an artificial person in any way, no matter how real it might sound when you ask it something.
But maybe one day we will reach a point where our technology does become a true artificial intelligence. When it is sentient. And if that happens, are we ready to share our world with our creations? Will we treat them like people, equal to ourselves, or will we follow historical patterns of how we’ve treated each other for even superficial differences?
What will be the moral and legal implications of machines achieving personhood? And where will that leave us?
So I took all these things and turned them into a story in which a man seeks help for the increasing pain he’s in, only to discover that his problems are outweighed by this new technology emerging as a sentient being.
Do we prioritize the person? The bots? Will any of these decisions be made before the clock runs out for our poor MC?
To be honest, I think the results would be far worse in our real world. Some super powerful tech company would be behind the bots and do whatever it took to protect their property. They would also decide whether or not they share such a discovery with the world, and then only if it could make them even more rich than they already are. I feel that both the humans and sentient machines in this equation would come last on their list of priorities.
Am I being a negative Nelly? Maybe. I certainly hope that if technology ever reaches that height, that ethics are considered. I hope it doesn’t come at the cost of our environment, or of people, or any new artificial but sentient beings. In short, I hope it doesn’t happen until we’re ready to do it right.
“Side Effects May Vary” was originally published in 2024 as the winner of the Unicorn Mech Suit Short Story Contest.
Thanks, as always, for reading, and may 2025 treat you well.
P.A. Cornell
May 2025 treat you well too! Thanks for sharing that story about the anthology Kickstarter. Now I know to look out for things like that. And thanks for mentioning A Long Time Ago... again! Glad you found that in a weird way the two facets do go together!