Here’s something about me that you might not know: I used to be a Physics major. I started out my university career taking courses like astronomy and calculus, before I realized that a creative writing/English degree was a much better fit. But those two areas are closer than you might think.
Two years ago in this space I wrote about attending Nuit Blanche, a one-night-only arts festival that runs from dusk until dawn. If you think this sounds magical, it is…or at least it was. Picture an urban downtown transformed, sculptures in alleys, multimedia installations projecting onto buildings, performance art on the street, location-specific works of art making the most of the spaces that, for one night only, they are allowed to take over. Wandering around with friends at night, finding art in the most unlikely places, I felt like I was getting away with something, like I was discovering a secret part of the city, like I was sharing a private experience with the other attendees.
Just a quick post today to tell you that we have a new story up. Still Waters Run Deep: Part 3 is the latest installment of a fantasy serial by Siri Paulson (me!). It’s set in a quasi-Thailand and follows a pedlar who’s been wandering the jungle waterways for many years, selling charms from village to village…but something magical has gone very wrong in the city, and he can’t hide from his past any longer. If you missed the beginning of the story, start here. Part 2 is here. We’ll be back with a proper blog post next week. Stay tuned!
I’m nearing the end of my first year of vegetable gardening. After starting from zero and learning a lot while slogging through the middle of summer, I’m finally seeing rewards. My household has had a steady (but not overwhelming) supply of zucchini for the last month. Zucchini grow fast, did you know? We picked the first one a month earlier than we were expecting after last year’s tomato crop. And we could have picked it even earlier, only we didn’t notice it. They’re good at hiding. By the time we realized we had one, it was thicker than a baseball bat. Whoops!
This month we’re thrilled to be celebrating the third anniversary of Turtleduck Press. Three years ago, several writers came together and decided to create a publishing house of our own, aiming to combine the quality control of traditional publishing with the flexibility and autonomy of self-publishing. We chose a name and a mandate, and got to work.
It’s almost August, and that means we’re busy putting the finishing touches on a new Turtleduck Press book. This summer’s release marks a special occasion. To celebrate our first three years as an indie co-op publisher, we’re releasing The Best of Turtleduck Press, Volume 1. Stay tuned for a cover reveal, more details, and a BUY link, all coming on August 1!
Two months ago, I told you about my latest “ooh, shiny!” obsession — vegetable gardening. So…is it still shiny, or have I moved on to something else? (Besides the rocks and gems store. That was only a vacation fling. We live too far apart to make it work.) Once the initial infatuation with my garden wore off, I realized how much work it was. The weeds came back! (Who knew?) The plants needed watering when it didn’t rain…and we haven’t even hit the hottest part of the year yet! Even my front hedge has weeds in it! I bought more tools to fight the weeds. More “new and shiny” plants to make myself feel better. Some of the seeds (spring onions!) never came up. Some of the plants (zucchini!) died, while others (hot peppers!) are on death watch. Still others are getting nibbled on…and not by us. Our spinach was a total failure. Out of ten feet (rows) of seeds, we got two plants. One didn’t look healthy, so we chucked it. The other got picked at the last minute before it got too old too eat…then languished in our fridge while we forgot to eat it until too late. Oooops. But…
One of our favourite things here at Turtleduck Press is the oddball, the unusual, the out-of-the-ordinary. Give us an arcane fact or something cool about the universe, and we’re happy. (Which is why we’re looking for oddball novels. But I digress.) I’ve just come back from a road trip through Western Canada. We poked into lots of wonderful shops that I wanted to buy in their entirety — yarn shops, indie designer clothing stores, art and photography stores, independent bookstores — but the best one by far was the rocks and gems store in Banff, Alberta.
Are you the “ooh, shiny!” type? The sort who picks up a new hobby or fascination, runs with it for a while and possibly learns everything there is to know about it, and then drops it for the next new thing? I am. My latest obsession? Vegetable gardening. Now, I know this isn’t an earth-shattering hobby. But I own land for the first time, or more precisely a house with a big backyard that was a vegetable garden for years. The soil is great; there’s no grass, and it seems a shame to put in new grass and cover up even some of that rich earth. So I’m gardening. We actually moved in last spring, but we were a little busy with other life stuff, so we had a minimal garden. Our next-door neighbour, a very kind and very Italian grandmother, planted tomatoes and basil for us, and her mint crept under the fence to join them. All of it grew like crazy. And I have to tell you…the satisfaction of picking and eating food out of our own yard was amazing. We didn’t have to buy any tomatoes for weeks…and we eat a lot of tomatoes. We were hooked.
Instead of a blog post today, we bring you some exciting news: Turtleduck Press is expanding, and we want YOU! Starting in May, we will be looking for new members. If you’re a writer of science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction, you have a polished novel manuscript, and you’re interested in joining a publishing co-op, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll be opening to submissions shortly — stay tuned for details!