Leap Day Post

Only once every four years I'll get the chance to write one!

So far, February has succeeded in being busy and eventful. For one thing, the combined power of the Fantastique Unfettered slush piles (fiction and poetry) has tried to overwhelm me (unsuccessfully, I still like correct grammar and spelling). I could write a post alone about cover letters and such, just not today. But hey, getting the editor's name right, that's always a great start!

Eventfulness: another one of my pieces was nominated for a Rhysling this February! "Lanterns," first appeared in Raven Electrick Ink: Jack-o'-Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy marks this year's second nomination for that most prestigious of spec poetry awards. This means I have one poem nominated in the "long poem" category (a post on that), and "Lanterns" in the "short" category. I know, bragging sucks, but I'm just mighty happy, is all.


Adding to my state of happiness is the Strange Horizon's 2011 Reader's Poll. My poem "If Alice..." came in second after Rose's "In the Third Cycle." My congrats to Rose, whose poem is one of the most beautiful pieces I've seen in a long time.


(If you think the bragging is over, not quite yet.)

A bit of coolness and fruitful art begetting (yeah!) As Mike Allen explains in this part 2 of the Mythic Delirium 26 preview, I'm talking about this awesome illustration for my art inspired poem "The Forest King." (Don't you just wanna see that on real paper? Smell the ink? Feel the texture under your fingertips? You must SUBSCRIBE!)

On a final note, tomorrow a new issue of Niteblade will premier. It is a fine issue, with fine poetry, if I do say so myself. The poets published in this issue were wonderful to work with, where editing was undertaken, the results are stunning (I know I'm biased, so what). Thanks, guys!

I did dare February to "bring it" in my last post...already looking forward to March. :)

January 2012

I post to catch up is overdue.

The year has barely started and so much has happened already. The first week of 2012 saw another acceptance of what I would call an early Night Cycle poem: A Metamorphosis of Dream will appear in Ideomancer. That felt like 2012 was kicking off just fine, I thought to myself, but it got better. My prose poem A Maquerade in Four Voices got nominated for the Rhysling Award! This is just way cool! It made me talk in all-caps for about three days or so, and I feel the need to shout out in joy whenever I think about it, too, so YAY! (In case you wanna see all the eligible work of 2011, look here.)

Story-wise, two tales will appear this March, The Castle of Ashes in Red Penny Papers (edited by the wonderful KV Taylor, full line-up here) and A Lie Written In Scarlet in Scheherezade's Bequest (where Erzebet YellowBoy does a no less wonderful editing job).

And then there is this thing called editing I do. Over at Niteblade, I finalized the first poetry ToC I did all on my lonesome. Now, I could say a lot of things about the March Issue, I really could, but I won't; there simply is no need. Read the poems contained therein, and you will understand why.

January was also the month of major Change at Fantastique Unfettered. Brandon Bell--beloved founder and most capable editor of the zine--has stepped down from his position as Managing Editor, and he entrusted me with carrying on this thing-like-no-other that is FU. These are some big shoes to fill, I'm well aware of that. I come prepared, and I come wearing passion like a witch's hat; let's do this! Brandon isn't gone however, he'll still be around as general assistant (soon to be replaced by kick-ass title), and FU is lucky to have someone like him. To add to the general climate of change, we are moving from print to online publication, which I think is gonna be really, really cool. The site is already looking all new and spring-timey and we have a poll up there which will help us determine whether to call our weekly news section "FU Weekly" or "The Weekly FU." Yeah, seriously. That's how mature we are.

So that was January. So, February. Bring it.

Works Published In 2011

It is the time of year to do a post listing all work eligible for awards, isn't it? All the pieces below have been first published in 2011.

Short Poems (1-49 lines)

Broken Towers, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #52
City of Clay, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #52
The Dirty Vampire, A Recipe, Bull Spec #5
Her Mother's Bees, Electric Velocipede
The Girl and Her Cloud, Electric Velocipede
The Little Red Tarot, Enchanted Conversation
Ereshkigal, Eternal Haunted Summer
Acteon's Hunt, Eternal Haunted Summer
Bacchanalia, Eternal Haunted Summer
The Eagle, Eternal Haunted Summer
Orpheus, Turning, Eternal Haunted Summer
The Words of Seshat, Eternal Haunted Summer
Before the Villain, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
Eulogy, inkscrawl
Cages, inkscrawl
Curses, Jabberwocky
Bei Nacht--A Demon Song, Jabberwocky
Tricks and Treats, Raven Electrick Ink: Jack-o'-Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy
Lanterns, Raven Electrick Ink: Jack-o'-Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy  ETA: Lanters has been nominated for the Rhysling Award! Squeee!
It Was Beauty, Kaleidotrope #13
In the Arms of Scheherazade, Kaleidotrope #13
Weaving Loneliness, Liquid Imagination
Cloth Demon, Mythic Delirium #25
Babylon, NewMyths #14
The Djinn's Lover Paper Crow (Volume 2 Issue 2)
The Doll and the Needle, Polu Texni
The Princess Who Knew Fire, Polu Texni
In the End, All They Have is Words, Polu Texni
Fairy Tale Cursed, Scheherezade's Bequest
The Witch of the Third Night, Scheherezade's Bequest
The Demon in the Pool, Silver Blade
Beast Touched, Silver Blade
Little Ghosts, Star*Line 34.1
Dwarf Universe, Star*Line 34.2
Japanese Muse, Star*Line 34.3
Puppet Minds, Star*Line Interplay
The City That Wasn't There, Strange Horizons
The Honey Man, Strange Horizons
Desert Princess, Strong Verse
The Tiger in My House, Strong Verse
The Words CLung To His Lips Like Honey, Like Hemlock, Strong Verse

Long Pomes (50+ lines)
Beloved Witch, Jabberwocky
Golden Things, Elektrik Milk Bath Press: In the Garden of the Crow
A Masquerade in Four Voices, Stone Telling 5 ETA: Masquerade has been nominated for the Rhysling Award! And I am one happy poet!
If Alice..., Strange Horizons

Short Stories
The Job Interview, The Red Penny Papers
How Red Riding Hood Stole The Moon, Beyond Centauri Issue 32 (Sam's Dot Publishing)
The Girl Who Chose The Other Road, Shelter of Daylight Issue 5 (Sam's Dot Publishing)
The Story of the Apple Tree, Sounds of the Night (Sam's Dot Publishing)
Tumbling Out the Hatch,  Poe Little Thing

Fantastique Unfettered #4 and Beyond

Among other things that happened in the last week, we finished FU#4, our one year anniversary issue. It is now at the printer's, and we hope the ink dries soon so physical copies can make their way into the world.

FU#4 was by no means an easy issue, but it's here now (well, almost,) and I believe here to stay. I for one know that I'll remember this issue for a long time, not just because of its sheer outward appearance. It has a certain gravity to it, a resonance. And a kick-ass magenta cover!

In the last week, we also announced our Pushcart Prize nominees for 2011, six authors, three poems and three stories from issues #2 and #3. As we told these authors about their nomination, we asked them if they wouldn't perhaps like to do a guest post or--in two cases--offer a short comment/reaction to their nomination as they had already done guest posts. Lisa M. Bradley was the first to share her thoughts with us, and let me tell you, greenhorn editor that I am, this was moving, the thing you hope people are thinking, but can't be quite sure they are. On top of this, another poet told me that upon finishing a poem, they cut the last stanza, thinking that "Alexa would say that's too much of a tell."

*sniff*

I guess I must be doing something right. I guess we at FU must be doing something right. That's all totally amazing, and I? Speechless.

Speechless, and hopeful as hell that the new Aether Age eZine will be as well received as FU. The official reading period for the eZine will start as the New Year begins here in the West, which is auspicious. Gods of the Hellenes, gods of Kemet, let there be prose and verse fit to move this editor's heart!

Niteblade #18

Two posts in less than 24 hrs? Inform the earthly distributors of a faith of your choosing, for it must be a miracle.

And now, let me tell you about Niteblade #18, lovingly called Spec Ed, which is short for Special Edition. And it is! It's a whole issue devoted to fantastically dark speculative poetry. Seeing as how I am a co-editor of this baby, together with Rhonda Parrish, it's not really my place to speak objectively about the quality of work in this little book. What I will say is that publishing a poetry-only edition takes guts and credit here goes all to Rhonda. Hopefully, readers of the genre will show the same degree of gutsyness in picking up these poems and giving them a chance--even if they don't normally read poetry. Did I mention that the packaging is really cool? Packaging, you ask, since when does Niteblade need packaging, being online and all. Well, listen up. This thing is not only deeply lyrical, it also comes to you as a real physical booklet that you can flip through and put on your shelves or give away. How cool is that?

If I have gotten you the least bit excited at all, please consider pre-ordering, because if you do so before November 30th, you won't even have to pay any shipping costs. So please, click me!

Good News

I'm pretty excited to see two more poems of my Dream Cycle (though Night Cycle is probably more appropriate) finding homes. Yesterday, I learned that Cerberus, Seeking Lethe will be forthcoming from Strange Horizons, and only a few hours ago, Erzebet YellowBoy wrote to let me know that Feral Dream Orphanage will be published in the "new" Jabberwocky in 2012.

Squeeee!

(And if you haven't read Erzebet's announcement yet, especially the part concerning lyrical prose, you should!)

What You Can Do For Unfettered Voices

This is a little booster post for Fantastique Unfettered's first Annual Halloween Fundraiser. Follow the link to find out what your money will be used for (as little as $5 will support a poem!) Alternatively, we're also grateful to you if you help us spread the word so the voices of our authors will reach even more people all over the world.

Thank you to everyone!


If you followed that link above, you saw a couple of projects for 2012 mentioned there. For one thing, we will celebrate FU's second anniversary with a specially scrumptious edition of the zine, Shakespeare Unfettered. The name makes this one kinda obvious, and those of you who have been following other publications earlier this year may guess where we got the inspiration to do this. While SU will not be solely dedicated to LGBTQ, we certainly welcome it! Also, imagine Shakespeare reinvented with a different cultural background: we wanna know all about it.

Then there is the launch of the Aether Age ezine: imagine a world around two millennia ago with something so different in it that history took a decidedly steampunky turn: the Aether, a (seemingly sentient?) substance that connects the planets and allows space travel. Now, where would that take humanity? Wanna find out, better keep your eyes peeled for that new zine. Or, if you're of a writerly persuasion, go check out the AeA guidelines. New talents welcome.

For now, that is all, though I will end on saying that our one year anniversary issue, FU#4, is turning into quite the heavy hitter...