Multi-Tasking and Time Travel

I forgot I was blogging at Turtleduck Press today. Part of that is the long weekend (Memorial Day here in the U.S.) and the end of the school year. Both together have thrown off my sense of time. Part of it is how I just can’t seem to keep numbers straight in my head. One month I was absolutely certain I was to blog on the 28th and my fellow Turtleduckers had to hold me back. Nearing our fifth wedding anniversary, I argued the exact date with my husband for an hour, till I went and got our marriage certificate and found that we were both wrong. The biggest part, though, is that my brain was elsewhere. I’m working on a final before-approvals edit of His Faithful Squire (coming August 1st; I’m so excited!), the sort-of sequel to Knight Errant, so I’ve been spending a lot of time on a luxury cruise ship in deep space far in the future. I’m also working on an excerpt from a book that took place when Taro was twelve, to post as our July free fiction offering. That book was written some fifteen years ago and the excerpt requires a lot of work and some time spent on a planet embroiled in civil war. Also, I’m writing a short story (growing into a novella, sigh) for a group challenge on Goodreads. The story is quite a stretch for me—it’s set in Italy, a place I know little about, it’s contemporary which I never…

Continue reading

Irons in the Fire

It started with a dream. A few nights ago, I dreamed I self-published my current novel-in-progress (which is going through its final revision), Pirouette, as a duology. When I woke up I totally dismissed it, but then I began mulling it over. See, when I began publishing with Turtleduck Press, it was for my poetry only. I was going to write a third chapbook and publish it through TDP. Then I discovered that poetry is a hard sell. Not a lot of people are into it, and while publishing my two chapbooks has been very rewarding, I’m not sure I want to invest more time into writing another poetry chapbook that may essentially disappear into oblivion.  

Continue reading

Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition: A Review

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition (Twitter) which occurred just outside of Toronto. (Steampunk in a nutshell is a revival of Victorian-era sensibilities, often with a rebellious (“punk”) edge. It manifests itself in fashion, music, and machinery, as well as in fiction.) Unfortunately, I was only able to go on Sunday, so this is not a comprehensive review. From what I was able to see, the convention was well attended, the programming excellent, the dealers many and varied, the guests well dressed and very friendly.

Continue reading