How is it already August?
Find out what's new and upcoming for the second half of the year.
Before I get started, I’ve had a few people ask me recently where they can find links to my work, interviews, free reads, reviews, and more. The answer is my website, which is frequently updated and has pretty much everything you’d want to know about me and what I write. It’s easy to miss things on social media or if you don’t subscribe to this newsletter, so my website is the hub that holds it all. If you’ve never visited before, click the button. It’ll take you right there. Feel free to share the URL.
The start of this year was incredibly busy for me on all fronts, but things have started to calm down and I’ve been writing a lot more than I did earlier in the year. But more on that later.
In the meantime, Summer will be mostly relaxed for me. Next time you’ll see me make any kind of appearance will be for the Aurora Awards, which will be online later this month (August 11). I’m a finalist in the Short Story category with, “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont,” which is really exciting, as this is my first time being nominated for an Aurora.
You’ll see me again during the Flights of Foundry virtual convention (Sept. 28-29), where I hope to be a panelist, though as of this writing that has yet to be determined. But I’ll definitely at least attend as a guest.
Following that I’ll be at the World Fantasy Convention in person (Oct. 17-20). I didn’t apply to be on any panels for that, but I will be around and will likely bring a few signed copies of my novella Lost Cargo with me if anyone would like one.
RECENT FICTION SALES
I can’t officially announce it yet but my flash fantasy story “An Angel on the Train” has been accepted for publication in an upcoming anthology. I’ll share more details about that when I can.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
“Chief Scavenger’s Log in the Climate Apocalypse” was published July 5 by Interstellar Flight Magazine.
This is my answer to the question: Why must post-apocalyptic stories be so bleak? This one’s for the readers who just want a feel-good story about finding love after societal collapse. It’s short. It’s sweet. And if you missed it, you can read it here.
And while not technically a new publication, my story, “The Collective Memories of Dogs and Robots,” is free-to-read for the first time. This story was published in Augur Magazine, Issue 6.1 in July of 2023. Now the good folks at Augur have made the entire issue 6.1 completely free, which is amazing because it means more people will be able to read these great stories. This is just the beginning as they plan to make all their back issues free-to-read soon. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to catch up on a lot of stories I missed!
FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
WHAT I’VE BEEN UP TO
During July I participated in Codex’s Flash Savior of the Universe writing contest. If you missed my previous mentions of this, it’s a flash fiction contest run annually by my online writer’s group, Codex. This is my third time participating in this contest. It’s similar to the Weekend Warrior contest in that it’s also flash fiction, but this one has a slightly higher word limit of 1000 words. FSoTU has 3 rounds and I managed to write a story for each one.
In the past I’ve sold a couple of stories that got their start during this contest. “Shiny Things,” a story told from the point of view of a raven during a fairly benign alien invasion, which was published in 2021 in the anthology, Things With Feathers: Stories of Hope. And “Tabula Rasa,” about what happens when the entire world loses their memory every five years—until the year one woman is the sole person to retain hers. That one was published in 2021 by the dearly missed, Departure Mirror Quarterly, and reprinted in 2023 by Polar Borealis, where it’s free-to-read.
In addition to the three stories written for this contest, I also wrote three more stories during July, bringing my total to 15 new stories written so far this year (Plus 2 poems). So I’m definitely making up for the writing I didn’t do at the start of 2024.
One of the stories I finished last month was solicited for an anthology I’m excited about. I can’t really talk about this yet, but I will once they give me the go-ahead.
Speaking of solicitations, I was also recently invited to write a non-fiction piece for Write, the magazine of the Writer’s Union of Canada. I’m not a member (at least not yet) but it was an honor to be asked. I’ll be sending them an article on writing productivity this month and will let you know when it’s out, even though this magazine is only available to WUoC members.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map”
Spoiler Alert: Be sure to read or listen to the story before the following.
I grew up eating well. My mom cooked a good, nutritious dinner practically every day of my early life. Home-cooked meals were important to her, and they became important to me too as I grew into adulthood. That doesn’t mean we never went out for dinner. It wasn’t often, but when we could, we’d also enjoy the occasional restaurant meal or food-related event. The city I grew up in had a festival each year that showcased the various cultural backgrounds of its residents, and it provided us the opportunity to sample the culinary delights of countries from around the world. My background is Chilean, but because my parents valued what other countries had to offer too, I grew up eating the foods of the world. And thus, another foodie was born.
By the time I moved out on my own, I was spoiled. I was used to eating delicious foods. Healthy foods made by hand using natural ingredients grown in home gardens when possible. I’d already learned the basics of cooking by helping my mother and grandmother, and by occasionally cooking a full meal on my own, but now it was all on me. If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t say I enjoy cooking. It’s a chore I’d gladly hand off to a personal chef if I could afford one—and if I thought they could replicate the foods I love exactly the way I’m used to. Like my mom, I cook most days though because I like to eat well. These days, I eat out a lot more than I did growing up, but I’m choosy about where I eat and how my food is prepared. And yet, I’m not a food snob. I’ve enjoyed meals in Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as from food carts on the street. Good food is good food no matter where you get it.
My desire to eat delicious foods from around the world led to a lifelong interest in all things culinary. I spent a good deal of time learning about nutrition and gardening, but also about cooking techniques. And more than my share of hours watching the Food Network back when cable TV was still a thing.
I give you all this background because all this food knowledge would lead not only to my being a pretty decent home cook, but eventually, it was bound to end up in a story. “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map,” is the result. It’s only surprising that it wasn’t written sooner.
Fun Fact: “Chef” is one of several main characters I’ve written that don’t have proper names. Others include, “The Girl” in “They Fell to Earth in a Downpour,” “The Earworm” in “Face the Music,” and “Boy” in “The Life You’ve Given Me, Rusty,” soon to be published in Lightspeed Magazine.
I’ve written a lot of science fiction but not much that falls under the SF/Humor umbrella. Humor is tough. I’m known to be a fairly funny person but having a bit of wit is not the same as writing a joke, or a funny story. Humor can be so subjective, and what makes one person laugh out loud might fall completely flat with someone else. When I write humor, it’s not something I can plan. It tends to come as a surprise to me. And that’s what happened with this story.
Writers, as you may know, are really great at avoiding writing. I was actually supposed to be working on an entirely different story one Saturday morning, and my plan was to avoid that like the plague (this was back when we still avoided plagues). But for whatever reason, I opened my laptop and started typing. Obviously, not the story I was avoiding, but something…else.
It started with the voice of the holographic guide, a cartoonish little piece of tech that leads our heroic Chef through the culinary gauntlet as he tries his damnedest to get his restaurant listed in Rothman’s Galactic Gastronomy—my answer to the Michelin Guide or the now-defunct Zagat Guide. Just as the holo leads Chef on his epic quest to find ingredients, he led me along too, my fingers typing madly though I had no idea where this story was headed.
Within about an hour, I had the first draft done. But when I say first draft, I have to add that the version that was ultimately published is almost exactly the same as what I’d ended up with during that initial writing session. Some stories just seem to know what they are, and the writer only needs to get out of the way and let them do their thing.
When it was finished, I sat and stared at it for a while. What was this bizarre little tale of the ridiculous side of fine dining? Who was going to buy it given its length and dialogue-heavy form? But I loved the light, silly tone, so hoping some editor out there would too, I sent it out on submission.
The sale of the story ended up being an adventure of its own. I’d sent it off to The Drabblecast and didn’t hear back for some time, but when I finally did, the response came from Cameron Howard, editor of a magazine called The Tentaculum. I was very confused. I’d never heard of this publication, nor had I submitted my story there, so I replied saying pretty much that. Cameron replied saying there had been some kind of mixup and that he’d thought I’d been contacted earlier. As it turned out, The Drabblecast—known for their podcast format—was about to launch a new print magazine called The Tentaculum, and my story had been selected to be in the inaugural issue. What’s more, it was also going to be published in audio by The Drabblecast, making it the first time one of my stories would be published in two places at once. This also meant getting paid for both venues, putting this story’s first sale over pro pay.
Just like the story itself, its sale came about in an unexpected way, but the result was much more than I’d even hoped for. I absolutely loved the way it worked in audio, where I think this story truly shines, especially with the full cast and sound effects they used in the production. I highly recommend listening to it if you didn’t earlier. Several of my stories have been podcast since, but this is still among my favorites. When I listened to the story the first time, I found myself laughing as if someone else had written it. I’ve also had some great reader feedback on this one, including a couple of people who consider it their favorite story, which just makes my day.
I was very pleased this year that I was afforded the opportunity to once again share this silly little tale about an intergalactic quest for rare ingredients with its recent reprinting in the Dragon Gems anthology series. The book is filled with great stories to get readers laughing, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
I hope that in reading (or listening) to my story, your day has been brightened. There’s nothing better than bringing a smile to someone’s face. If you’ve read this far, you’ve brought a smile to mine, too.
“How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map” was originally published in 2022 simultaneously in both The Drabblecast and their print magazine, The Tentaculum. It was reprinted in the Spring 2024 edition of the Dragon Gems anthology series (Water Dragon Publishing).
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P.A. Cornell