Home Posts tagged "Siri Paulson" (Page 4)

Tag: Siri Paulson

2018 at Turtleduck Press

Congratulations, you have survived another trip around the sun! Happy 2019 to all of you fine readers. We know 2018 was a bit of a dumpster fire for many; here’s hoping that this year is kinder. But the publishing industry doesn’t brake for dumpster fires — if anything, making art becomes even more important in difficult times. So making art is what we’ve been doing… 2018 was the Year of the Sequel at Turtleduck Press. We released two fantasy novels: In the Forests of the Night (Seize the Fire Book 2) — an M/M fantasy adventure series by KD Sarge (get Book 1 here) Fireborn (Reaper Girl Chronicles, Episode 2) — a straight paranormal fantasy series by Erin Zarro (Episode 1 can be found in our anthology Under Her Protection: Stories of Women to the Rescue) We’ve also been busy putting out free short stories every month. We have several fantasy serials going right now — “Sun Touched” by Erin Zarro, “Coat of Scarlet” by Siri Paulson (me), and “Curiosity Killed the Cat” by KD Sarge, mixed in with standalone stories by both Kit Campbell and Siri Paulson. If you missed them, you can find them all (plus excerpts from our novels) on our Freebies page. Look for another installment of “Coat of Scarlet” in February! And you can find out what all four of our authors are up to over here on our weekly blog. What does 2019 hold for us at TDP? More free short stories and blog…

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Real Life Strikes Back (Again)

Two months ago I told you about my annual writing retreat and how it felt. I also shared some strategies that I was working on to keep that retreat feeling going… set up a room in my house that has NO clutter and is used for nothing but writing, reading, and other Internet-free pursuits (not a pipe dream, I’m actually working on this one) set up a writing schedule (I had one, once upon a time) — not for product, but for time spent on the process Predictably, Real Life struck as soon as I got back. Strategy number one still needs work (I am pecking away at the clutter, one itsy-bitsy step at a time) but I’ve made some progress on strategy number two. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month as a “NaNo Rebel” — doing the challenge on my own terms. Like Kit, I set a time goal for myself. My goal was 25 hours. I made it to 9. Not exactly great. But also, not bad. It got me writing for solid chunks of time again, and pushed me to do more than I would have otherwise — not a lot more, but small gains are more sustainable anyway, right? I worked a bit on the novel that Kit and I are writing, but spent most of the time wrestling with an edit of the short story that I pounded out in less than a week during the retreat. (Okay, that was first-drafting vs. editing.…

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Contra Dance Geekery Strikes Again

It’s been a while since I’ve written about contra dance in this space. Rest assured, I haven’t stopped doing it! I just didn’t have anything new to say. But I have attained new heights of contra dance geekery. I just got back from a full weekend of dancing in another city — Friday evening, all day Saturday, all evening Saturday, and Sunday until late afternoon. (Why yes, my feet did hurt after that. But so did my smile muscles.) I carpooled in a minivan full of dancers, along with our dance shoes and twirly skirts and snacks and other, less important things. (Here’s a short YouTube clip from the weekend so you can see what I’m talking about. There’s a “caller” who has taught us the dance before the live music started and has continued to prompt us occasionally — you can hear her now and then. Contra is all about patterns of movement, rather than footwork.) We spent a good chunk of the drives geeking out — dissecting the various dances we’d done over the weekend, or talking about the finer points of technique (momentum. It’s all about momentum. Except when it’s about patterns), or plotting the best way to convince our local group to change some of the heteronormative terminology. (That last is a debate that’s sweeping the wider contra community across North America. Short version: We’ve traditionally called the two dance roles “lady” and “gent”, but those terms no longer map very well to the genders of…

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Writing Retreat vs. Real Life

Last week I was away at the annual writing retreat that my critique group holds. We rent a cabin on a lake (called a “cottage” in these parts), bring our laptops, take turns cooking, and sit around typing in companionable silence all day, with breaks for long walks and swims (well, not this year, too cold) and talking about craft and publishing. It’s also my Internet and news detox week for the year. I’ll read books, but that’s all. It’s always wonderful. (I wrote a first draft of a longish short story that you’ll get to see early next year, fiddled around with an edit of a different story, started brainstorming some new stuff, and even wrote some poetry.) My absolute favourite place to write is on the deck surrounded by forest, or down on the dock, or somewhere on the wooded slope in between. This year was mostly too chilly for that. But on several of the days it was crisp-not-cold, nice enough for long walks through the changing leaves. It’s like magic. The mental and physical clutter of daily life is gone. Normally I have wrist issues and confidence issues. Somehow, on retreat, the one gets managed* and the other just…vanishes. *Okay, it’s not a mystery. I managed by being very careful. I took lots of breaks, switched between my laptop keyboard and my external keyboard, did lots of stretches including solid 15-minute sessions of yoga each day, and also switched to Dragon dictation software at the first…

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Farewell to Summer and Good Riddance

This is the way my summer has gone… I worked all summer, and most of the weekends were either miserably hot or rainy (or both!) so I didn’t get out and about very much. I sort of feel like I missed the summer. I did get some glorious long weekend afternoons on my shady back patio. We sprang for some good-quality patio furniture a few years ago, and that was an excellent decision — I swear that couch is more comfortable than the one in our living room (though my spouse would beg to differ). The vegetable garden was fairly minimal, but delicious as usual (more about that next time, probably). Writing was also fairly minimal, but better than it had been in the previous half-year, so that’s something. I have stuff in the works now that you’ll be seeing at TDP in 2019…stay tuned! Springtime here is usually grey and rainy, and I’m solar-powered, so I always wait for summer to arrive and my mood to perk up. Except this year, that last part didn’t happen. I think I’m pulling out of it now, but that was a long haul of just hanging in there. I’m looking ahead to a very busy September. That’s due to some happy events that I’m really looking forward to (including family stuff and my annual writers’ retreat with my in-person critique group!). But right now I’m still in the “all the prep aaah” stage. I strongly dislike winter, but as long as I’m…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 2

by Siri Paulson Read Part 1 first! Two days after the visit from the airship pirate, Marius was engrossed in the tiny stitches of a buttonhole when the shop door darkened. There was Niko again, frowning at the vest Marius was holding as if it had personally offended him. Today he wore a blue damask justacorps coat, snug enough through the torso to hint at his muscular shape, then flaring over the hips to end at the knee and show his finely turned legs in their white breeches to best effect. The fabric and cut of the coat were high-quality, Marcus saw, but the gold trim and other finishing details were not nearly as fine as on the coat he had left for mending. “What is that?” the pirate demanded, gesturing elegantly towards the vest. Marius realized he’d been staring. He set his needle hand moving again. “It’s a commission. Something for a party, I understand.” He’d been lucky to get such a complex job. Maybe, just maybe it would lead to more, extravagant outfits with details like cuffs and pleats and lots of fiddly little braids, or even a mantua for a lady, where he could really shine… “And what of my coat?” Marius looked up, blinking as his concentration fell away. Niko looked as imposing as he had the first time they had met, and he moved with an ease that implied that Marius’s stitches on his injury were doing their work well. But something about the way…

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Fits and Starts

Did you know that writers are not just brains-in-a-jar? We actually have bodies. I know, I’m shocked too. It turns out that bodies have needs. I’m fairly good at remembering to feed, water, and rest mine (mostly because I turn into a giant grump if I don’t). Moving is harder (see this Awkward Yeti comic). I’m currently trying to establish a daily yoga habit…again. Here’s how it has been going: Last fall/winter: Okay, I can’t stand inaction anymore. It’s too painful (literally). I have to make a lifestyle change. January: Did a “30 Days of Yoga” challenge. It took me slightly longer than 30 days because I missed one here and there, but I was pretty consistent and finished within an extra week or so. It felt great! I was less creaky and sore! More flexible! Yay! February: 30 days is over and I feel much better. Now to keep it up! But I don’t have the challenge to guide me anymore. I have to make up my own yoga practices (or at least make decisions about which online yoga video to follow). This is hard. March: Down to once or twice a week…maybe. But I still feel a lot more limber. Now I don’t have to do yoga ever again! … June: I’m getting kinda creaky. Better pick it up again. Once or twice a week will be enough, right? July: No it will not. Ow. August: 30-day challenge, here I come again! OOPS, I got too enthusiastic. Ow.…

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The Gardening Saga Resumes

If you were around these parts last year, you might remember that my spouse and I kinda gave up on our vegetable garden for a year, covering it over with landscape fabric and mulch to try to suppress the perennial weeds (bindweeds) that had overtaken it. This year we’re trying again. But we’re trying to be smarter about it. Half of the vegetable bed is just plain covered over again. The other half has been divided into a grid system invented by my spouse, with strips of fabric surrounding 1′ X 1′ squares of open soil. (Think plaid.) The fabric parts have been mulched again, and the rest of the mulch will cover the open soil. That way, there will be a strong weed barrier over much of the garden, a weaker barrier over the rest. and we should be able to keep up a little better. At least that was the plan. But due to our work schedules, we can’t do much (or any) gardening during the week, and our last three weekends have looked like this: out of town; rainy; hot as Hades. So we haven’t finished the mulching, and the bindweed has popped up again in the squares. At least the fabric is holding them back for now. Despite our neglect, most of what we’ve planted is thriving. (Thank goodness for my in-laws, who water diligently while we’re at work!) The tomatoes in particular are loving the heat. We still have some squares to fill; I’m thinking…

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Fear of Change

I’m staring down the barrel of some rather scary changes at my job (the job I do when I’m not writing or editing or doing other stuff for TDP, that is). First of all, I’m in the civil service, there’s an election this week, and we’re anticipating a change of government for the first time since I started working here. Second, my office is moving early next year, and our work environment is set to change rather dramatically. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t facing both of those things with fear and trepidation. I’ve gotten…if not always comfortable, at least used to the way things are now. I know what to expect. I know which direction to turn when I get off the elevator. I know what the current government’s priorities and positions are, and how those translate to my job. I can see the CN Tower from my cubicle. Did I mention I’ve been in the same job for, um, a while? And that I’m not great with change? But change there will be. I can be dragged towards it kicking and screaming, or I can face it with hope that eventually, somehow, something better will come of it. The former is awfully tempting, but the latter involves more grace and more self-kindness. If I hadn’t taken the plunge and quit my former job and moved to Toronto way back when, I wouldn’t be sitting here in this 95-year-old brick house that I love. If I hadn’t…

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Looking Back

The other day, I made a list of all the stories I’ve written for Turtleduck Press. The purpose of the exercise was to have a handy reference to use for possible reprints (reselling the stories to other markets). But along the way, I got to reread some of them and remind myself what I’d done… Assuming I haven’t missed anything, I’m up to 18 (!) stories published through TDP. (Some of them are in our anthologies, others are freebies, and we decided to take the oldest ones down.) Yeah, that’s a lot…even I was surprised! But the math adds up. We’ve been publishing short stories since January 2011, and I’ve published 2-4 stories here every year since. (Okay, the math doesn’t quite add up. There was the serial that spanned a year, and now I’m embarking on another….) They’re all lengths, from under 1000 words up to 10,000, and all genres, secondary-world fantasy and Gothic and post-apocalyptic and steampunk and even poetry. Doing our anthologies has taught me how to write in the 7,000 – 10,000 word range (technically known as novelettes). Lacking inspiration with deadlines looming has taught me how to write very short, but still complete, stories. 😉 Oddly enough, I haven’t done much in the traditional short story length, 2000 – 5000 words, for a while. (Less oddly, I haven’t yet sold any stories in that mid-range length to markets outside of TDP, either.) Rereading my old stories has made me realize that I write with a…

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