Another Trip Around the Sun
This month I’ll be completing another orbit of our star. Read on to find out how you can help me celebrate.
Welcome to all my new subscribers! I’m so glad you’re here. If this is the first monthly newsletter you’re receiving, I hope you’ll enjoy it and stick around for more to come.
Without further ado…
RECENT NEWS
Last month I had the privilege of being able to share with you that my short story, “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont,” is a finalist for the Nebula Award. This month I have even more good news as this same story is now also a finalist for Canada’s biggest speculative award, The Aurora Award.
If you’d like to see the complete Aurora ballot in print form, find it here.
Voting for the Auroras opens June 8, 2024 and CSFFA Members have until July 13, 2024 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time to finalize their ballots. Any Canadian citizen can vote for the Auroras by purchasing a $10 CSFFA annual membership here.
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
If you’re a member of the World Fantasy Convention (or were a member in 2022 or 2023) you have until May 31, 2024 to vote for your favorite stories for the World Fantasy Award. If you’d like to help me celebrate my birthday (which is 3 days earlier), I’d love a vote for “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont.”
OTHER WAYS TO HELP ME CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY
RECENT REVIEWS
Abyss & Apex reviewed Lost Cargo early in April. Here’s an excerpt, but you can read the full review here.
“Good characters, good plot, good setting. If you want something pleasant to help fill up your eReader, this will fit the bill.” - Abyss & Apex
Additionally, “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont” was mentioned in an essay for SciFi Journal.
RECENT FICTION SALES
I’m still keeping some things under wraps, but I can tell you that I recently sold my story, “Chief Scavenger’s Log in the Climate Apocalypse,” to Interstellar Flight Magazine. This is a flash story about love in apocalyptic times.
I also sold my story, “Short-Term Side Effects,” about nanobots gone rogue, to the anthology, A Crack in the Code: Cybernated Stories of Rebellion.
Looking forward to seeing those stories out in the world soon.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
My sci-fi/humor story, “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map,” was also recently reprinted in Dragon Gems Spring anthology, which can be ordered through various retailers here.
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
INTERVIEWS
I recently read an excerpt of my novella, Lost Cargo, on Strong Women, Strange Worlds. During this reading I also held a giveaway for an epub copy of my book. Congratulations to Kay N. for winning the giveaway. I hope you enjoy my book, which you should have received last month. If you haven’t, please send me a message.
The complete episode will eventually be posted on the SWSW YouTube channel. In the meantime, I shared my own portion of the reading on Facebook and Instagram. (Note that since Instagram only allows you to share short reels, the reading is in 5 parts there. The link takes you to the first one, scroll for the rest)
I also did a short interview with Alibris for their “Author Corner” series. You can watch it on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO
I’ve been super busy this year, working hard on new writing, while also planning my upcoming trip to California for the Nebula Awards ceremony.
I usually work on one story at a time, but this year I’ve had things going on all the burners. I’m working on a science fiction novel, got some ideas for a second novel, and I currently have six short stories in the works.
I’ve also completed about as many stories so far this year, a couple of them outside my wheelhouse, one about vampires and another about werewolves, both cozy horror. These are currently doing the submission rounds and will hopefully find a home soon.
I also recently made my very first poetry submission ever. I don’t write a lot of poetry because I’m actually not great at it, but I’d written this one a while ago that I was happy with, and it fit a submission call I came across, so I figured I’d send it in. It’ll still be a while before I get a response for this, so in the meantime, cross your fingers for my little poem.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: “Nine Lives”
Like several of my stories, the inspiration for “Nine Lives” came from my children. I have three kids and they’ve grown up playing videogames, thanks largely to their father, who’s also a gamer. In videogames it’s not uncommon for your character to “respawn” after they’ve died, thus allowing the game to continue.
I combined this idea with the well-known saying that cats have nine lives. At the time, we had a cat named Rocket. I remember telling my kids, “wouldn’t it be great if cats really had nine lives and could respawn like in games?” The kids agreed that would be awesome.
Sadly, Rocket passed away unexpectedly in 2020 at the still young age of six. He was my kids’ first experience with losing a pet, but far from the first for me. I’ve had cats all my life and losing them has been a difficult part of the experience. So I wrote “Nine Lives” as kind of a tribute to some of the cats I’ve known and loved, as well as cats that belonged to other people, but who likewise stood out in my memory.
The cat in my story represents them all, though not all the deaths are inspired by actual events. One that is, is the cat that falls into the well after saving the little boy. This one was actually inspired by a cat my maternal grandfather had as a child, who saved his life in the same way. Had it not been for that cat, I wouldn’t be here writing this, so I figured he deserved to be immortalized.
I ended up writing this story during my second Codex “Weekend Warrior” flash fiction contest in 2020. I wasn’t sure then how readers would receive a story in which an animal repeatedly dies, but it ended up scoring well in the contest and the editors at If There’s Anyone Left also saw the story for what it was, a celebration of the bond between a human and their cat. I end the story with the cat still alive, albeit on his ninth life. I don’t say whether that’s actually his last life. I don’t think it matters, because it’s his life that matters. Just as the real life cats I’ve known throughout my life remain with me.
This story has resonated with many readers who have experienced the bond between humans and their pets, several of whom have reached out to tell me what the story meant to them, or who have shared it with others.
“Nine Lives” was originally published in 2022 in the anthology, If There’s Anyone Left: Volume 2 (If There’s Anyone Left LLC).
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please like, subscribe, and/or share.
P.A. Cornell