It’s March, and that means Spring is just around the corner!
While we're waiting, here’s what’s new since my last newsletter...
SALES & PUBLICATIONS
I’m happy to say my flash story, “Things Most Meaningful,” recently sold to Julia Rios’ Worlds of Possibility. This is a literary fantasy piece inspired by a box my dad carved for my mom when I was a kid. My story includes the gorgeous illustration below by Mexican artist, Ana Rubio. Additionally, the cover art for the February issue is by Ukrainian artist, Lesia Korol. A year into the war, Ukraine still needs our support. For those who’d like to help, Lesia suggests donating to The Prytula Foundation.
This latest issue of Worlds of Possibility went out to Julia’s paid subscribers on February 27 but the stories (including mine) will eventually be available for free on Julia’s website and on their OMG Julia! podcast. If you’d like to become a subscriber and download the full issue (and past issues) now, you can do so here. There’s also an anthology in the works that will include the stories published in Worlds of Possibility, so keep an eye out for my announcement when that happens.
Today (March 1) I have a new short story out in ZNB: Presents. It’s called, “The Smell of Sawdust,” and it’s about a female cage fighter in a post-apocalyptic world. This story deals with aging and living with chronic pain. It’s about sisterhood, music, hope in a seemingly hopeless situation, and about the fight we all have inside us.
This story’s currently only available to ZNB patrons, but if you’re interested, you can find it here. (The post should be live later today)
I also have a non-fiction publication coming tomorrow (March 2) in Writers Helping Writers. The piece is called, “10 Things Lego Has Taught Me About Story-Building,” and it marries my love of Lego with my passion for writing. Check it out on the blog tomorrow. I’ll even log-on for a bit to respond to questions and comments from readers.
And if you haven’t yet read my SF/humor short story, “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map,” you can now do so by downloading the entire first issue of The Tentaculum for free, here. If you prefer your fiction in audio, listen to my story on The Drabblecast here.
FORTHCOMING FICTION PUBLICATIONS
INTERVIEWS
I mentioned last month I’d recorded an interview with Matthew Wayne Selznick for his Sonitotum podcast. That interview is out today, and you can listen to our discussion on creating while staying healthy here. Please note this link won’t be active until 12 PM PST/3 PM EST so make sure to try it then.
If you missed it, my interview with The Halfling and the Spaceman podcast is now available wherever you get your podcasts. Here’s a link to make it simple. This is a really fun one where we talk about everything from Lego to tea, and I somehow manage to promote another author’s book. I even talk about that time I embarrassed myself with Octavia Butler. You won’t want to miss it.
Finally, I have a print interview coming out soon in Horror Tree’s Fantastical Five series about my love of science fiction as both a reader/viewer and writer. I’ll announce that publication when I have a concrete date.
WORKS IN PROGRESS
The Codex “Weekend Warrior” flash fiction contest is now over. The point of this contest is to encourage Codex members to write new stories, and it’s always worked well for me. This year I finished the contest with six new stories (the last two written in February), one of which is the one mentioned above that sold to Worlds of Possibility even before the contest was over. The rest of the stories are either already on submission, or I’m reworking them a bit before I send them out. Some may stay flash-length, while others will inevitably grow to short story length.
In addition to these, I wrote a flash horror piece that I’m currently reworking a little and might become a short story. I also wrote three short stories: a fantasy piece that plays with time (that may be my favorite thing I’ve ever written), a science fiction piece for an upcoming anthology call, and in a bit of a departure for me, a solarpunk story. I can’t tell you much about any of these stories yet, but suffice it to say, I’ve been busy.
I’m still making progress on the novel but between that, the new short stories, and the flash contest, I was getting a bit burned out, so I put the novel aside temporarily to work on my short story collection. The collection is nearly complete, so I’m mostly just waiting for rights to revert on a few of the stories and then I’ll start shopping it around to publishers. I’m very close to a novel first draft though and anticipate having that done soon now that most of the demands of earlier in the year are behind me.
JUST FOR FUN
This past month my cats, Jax and Rebel, were featured on SFWA’s Instagram for “Mascot Monday.” See the post here, and if you crave more cat content, check out Jax and Rebel’s own Instagram page, here.
Thanks again for reading, and I’ll see you next month!
P.A. Cornell