Works Published In 2012

Short Poems (1-49 lines):

• Orpheus Ascended From Hell, Eternal Haunted Summer, Winter Solstice 2012
• The Last Fate, Eternal Haunted Summer, Winter Solstice 2012
• The Light of Dreams, Mythic Delirium #27
• Scheherazade Tames the Desert, Space and Time Magazine #117 (Fall 2012)
• Hemera the Day, Eternal Haunted Summer, Autumn Equinox 2012
• Hemera's Honey, Eternal Haunted Summer, Autumn Equinox 2012
• A Metamorphosis of Dream, Ideomancer, September 2012
• The Forgotten God, The Pedestal Magazine
• The Apple Thief, Polu Texni, 2012
• Give Me Pluto,  Strange Horizon (ETA: Nominated for the Rhysling Award 2013 in the Short Poem category.)
• Feral Dream Orphanage, Jabberwocky 12, 2012
• The Slain, Polu Texni, 2012
• Kepler's Music, Strange Horizons
• A Hero's First Task, Kaleidotrope Summer 2012
  
• New Worlds, Abyss & Apex
• Anubis Whispers, Eternal Haunted Summer, 2012
• Hades, the Gatherer, Eternal Haunted Summer, 2012
• Errant Water, Star*Line35.2
• The Girl With Bees In Her Mouth, Star*Line 35.2
• The Golem on My Tongue, Goblin Fruit (Spring 2012)
• The Forest King,  Mythic Delirium #26 (The issue was reviewed by Brit Mandelo at Tor.com. Brit about The Forest King: "The call-and-response lyricism of the alternating stanzas between the forest king and the narrator is an effective vehicle for the potency of the poem, shaped as it is by traditions of myth and story-telling.")
• A Different Scheherazade, Mythic Delirium #26
• The Fall Queen, Bull Spec #7, 2012
• Binnorie, inkscrawl #3, 2012
• Cerberus, Seeking Lethe, Strange Horizons, 2012
• Becoming the Sea, NewMyths.com Issue 18, 2012
• This Desert In His Soul, Eternal Haunted Summer, Spring Equinox 2012
• Isis Conquers All, Eternal Haunted Summer, Spring Equinox 2012
• The Djinn's Wife and Her Mosaic of Wishes, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #53, 2012
• The Tally Of Forgotten Dreams Kept By Morpheus, Dreams & Nightmares #91, 2012

Short Stories:

• All the King's Horses, All the King's Men, Jabberwocky #16
  
• A Lie Written In Scarlet, Cabinet des Fées Scheherezade's Bequest #16, September 2012
• The Castle of Ashes, Red Penny Papers

Devil Rhymes

I found a little something in my Drawer of Things Unpublished; enjoy, Reader!

Devil Rhymes #1

By Alexandra Seidel

The devil, devil spoke to me, spoke to me, spoke to me

The devil, devil spoke to me ALL Sunday morning!

Hush you sinners, rabble, pigs, I'll dye you a scarlet Styx!

These crooked teeth, the crooked skin, your crooked smile--

Come let me in!

And fill your hands with berries sweet, berries sweet berries sweet

ALL Sunday morning!

(In the garden--quite contrary--

where DID that magpie go??)

How To Write A Cover Letter

This is not the first blog post ever written on cover letters, it probably won't be the last. Blame annoyed editors who are trying to channel their passive aggressive tendencies into something productive.

What is a cover letter supposed to do? Well, it accompanies your story or poem, and it is often the first thing an editor looks at. Mind you, the editor actually wants to see the story or poem, so a cover letter should not be distracting. Also, the editor is so curious to read said story or poem that they can't wait, so the cover letter should be brief.

Here I have to defer to Hal Duncan, because he did one better than this post and actually tweeted a professional cover letter:

"Dear X, pls find enclosed "Y" (ZK words) as a submission for Yr Mag. Thx 4 yr time & consideration. The end"

Like this, please.

If you are not sure who will read your submission, write "Dear Editor." If there is more than one editor (you can find stuff like that out by, you know, looking at the guidelines and browsing the zine's site for a couple of minutes), write "Dear Editors." If you know who will look at the sub, it is perfectly acceptable to address them by name (Dear Ms./Mr. X).

Do not ever address an editor with "Dear Sir or Madam." Just don't.

If it's a cover letter for a poem, you can include line and/or word count (with most sf/f markets, it is acceptable to omit this part altogether when you submit poetry as they will pay a fixed amount in case of acceptance.)

There is no need to give any sort of summary or background info. Say you have a poem or story that heavily relies on the myths and folklore of some small island somewhere. Interesting, but no need to mention it. The piece should always work on its own, your storytelling skills still need to be solid, no matter where your muse hails from. The editor will in most cases be able to tell that there is folklore or myth in there anyway, and if they have a specific question, they will get back to you. If you feel the editor won't be able to tell that folkloristic aspects are important to your writing, it might be better to consider another market altogether. (Reminder: stories and poems are supposed to work on their own merit.)

And the winners are...

From within the hat two names have been drawn : Ash Krafton will receive the signed copy, the unsigned one goes to James S. Dorr. (In case you are wondering what this is about, read up on the Niteblade Blog Train.)

Congratulations Ash and James!

The Niteblade Blog Train: Poetry Central

Welcome to the Niteblade Blog Train. Hop on, hop on! In case you are really only getting on now, here's the previous post.

This blog train is a celebration of five years of Niteblade, so at the end of this post, there will be PRESENTS.

But first things first. What to write about? Right. I can start with a quick introduction.

Hi, I'm Alexa, the person who reads all the poetry slush for Niteblade and selects the five poems that we publish in each issue (aka the poetry editor). I also lend my eyes for first reader duties every now and then.

When it comes to poetry, our guidelines are not very specific in regards to what we want and what we don't want, and intentionally so. But hey, since y'all are here now let me tell you what I like and don't like to read in my slush.

1. Dir Sir or Madam.
Yup, that one I don't like. You can address your correspondence to the Poetry Editor, to Rhonda (the beloved boss editor), or of course to me (which will tell me that you took the time to firgure out who's actually gonna read your work.)

You can also just say Hi or add a simple note like "Please consider my poem ___ for publication."

It's all about first impressions I guess, and while I often read a poem before I look at the cover letter, a professional sounding cover letter can't hurt.

2. Formal stuff.
That's something I really like, partly because these days free verse is the norm. I like villanelles (like this one) and sonnets in particular, but that doesn't mean I'm bored by sestinas or the odd couplet. Do sent me formal verse

BUT: don't just make stuff rhyme. Formal verse is more than just lines of words with matching meter put together in the shape of stanzas that come with rhyming words dashed in to spice things up, it's more than just the sum of its parts. There is a reason why we consider Shakespeare a Bard and not a writer of silly doggerel. Poetry (or any writing) conveys information, but also emotion. Why else would the reader care?

3. Cliches.
Especially in a horror venue you get these, a lot. That's not to say I don't enjoy zombie apocalypse tales or your average nocturnal bloodsucker with a European accent (cf. the vamp special poetry selection of our June Issue), but unless you can throw me off balance with something new or unusual, well. Know what you are writing about, but also be sure to write something no one has ever written before.

4. LGBTQ/QUILTBAG
Yes, please. Do send me more of that. POC, too.

"This world is wide and wild
and full of wonders,"

says Seanan McGuire in her poem "Baba Yaga Said," and any work that reflects that will be warmly welcomed at Niteblade.

Okay, I seem to be running out of things to put on my little list here, so perhaps just let me remind you that you should always go with the guidelines (remember what they say about guidelines in Pirates of the Caribbean? Won't fly in publishing.)

Also, if you have any questions, you can get in touch through the contact form on this blog, or drop me a line at alexa@niteblade.com.

Niteblade Spec Poetry Ed

And before the blog train leaves, didn't I mention PRESENTS at the beginning of this post?? I did, but actually, they are more like prizes: two issues of the Niteblade Special Poetry Edition, one of them signed by both Rhonda and myself. The prizes will be drawn (from a real hat, if you must know) once the blog train has ended, that is Sep 2 (the last post goes live on Sep 1). All you have to do to enter is comment here (or if for some reason that doesn't work for you, drop me a line) and let me know of a poem you really liked, old or new, from Niteblade or elsewhere, doesn't matter (for example, "The Raven" by Poe would be a valid entry.) Comments will close on Sep 1, Midnight EST.

Okay, all that's left to say is Happy Birthday Niteblade, thanks to Rhonda for five fantastically scary years, thanks for allowing me to be a part of this, and man am I looking forward to the next five!

The Niteblade Blog Train. Next stop: Brenda Stokes Barron.

Announcing "All Our Dark Lovers"

It is of course a deliriously happy author who may announce her very first book, that much goes without saying, doesn't it?

I take the fact that I am writing this as April has just turned into May with Beltaine (or whatever it's called in your neck of the woods) as a good omen, and present to you with delirious elation All Our Dark Lovers, a collection of stories and poems (it contains the Masquerade poem, but also new things).

Many, many thanks to Mark Deniz of Morrigan Press for giving my manuscript a chance (have I mentioned the official announcement?) Also, thanks to Katey Taylor for general supportiveness ;)

All Our Dark Lovers will be released into the wild in 2013, on Valentine's Day. Get a black magic marker please and draw a cute black heart around Feb 14, 2013, on your calendars, will you? Or let your phones and smartphones remind you, that's fine too.

*happy dance!*

ETA 7/6/15: After more than three years, I can now say that the collection is not going to be published by Morrigan Press. A post on the matter will follow, but basically there was hardly any forward movement in the preparation of the manuscript or anything related to it from the side of the publisher, and my emails regarding this were hardly ever answered. I didn't want to be told the same excuses over and over again and so asked to void the contract.

ETA 7/11/15: That post is here now.

April Poetry

A lot of catching up to do! And since so much of it is poetry related, I better get all of it in order while there's still some April left (I love Eliot btw).

Okay, so way back when the folks over at Strange Horizons had their readers poll, it turns out "If Alice..." made second place, something I was totally delighted by! Even better, Rose Lemberg's wonderful "In the Third Cycle" won, which just shows what excellent taste people reading Strange Horizons have (well, the editors are also gifted with some good sense for lyrical awesomeness if you ask me).

(Not that it really matters, but I am writing this post by following my facebook timeline. I don't know about you, but on my scale for disturbing, this rates a comfortable seven. The end is nigh!)

The Spring equinox saw two of my poems go live over at Eternal Haunted Summer, "The Desert in His Soul" and "Isis Conquers All." Yes, I do know gods outside of the Greek pantheon.

Now, sea poems! "Becoming the Sea," which resides at NewMyths.com, and "Binnorie," harping away over at inkscrawl. The second of these two is the one I'm really excited about, not just because of the poem itself though. Inkscrawl, a beautiful zine of spec poetry of ten lines or fewer was about to fold after just two issues, but along came Rose Lemberg (aka The Amazing Rose). She bought inkscrawl, founded a press along the way, and well, she just spreads Amazingness with everything she does. She even got Sam Henderson to take over editorship of inkscrawl. Very nice.

I mentioned earlier the excellent taste of the poetry editors of Strange Horizons. This poet was then of course immensely honored that these same editors saw fit to choose another of her pieces for publication. "Cerberus, Seeking Lethe" is another one of my Night Cycle poems (they are like dreams, little critters, just keep happening).

Stone Telling published Bridging: The Queer Issue. The poetry selected is wonderful, and I am hereby doffing my hat to Rose and Shweta. One piece stands out though. Lisa M. Bradley's "we come together we fall apart" is epic, and it tells a story that cuts deep. I was lucky enough to be allowed to read the part of Marguerite for the audio version, a production of the ST cast well worth listening to.

April also saw the release of Bull Spec #7 (I do love rude acronyms!) In the poetry section, readers will find "The Fall Queen" by yours truly. Very much looking forward to future issues of BS.

April being what it is, the Rhysling Award nominations were released. I am ecstatic about being on the list and about being in such good company! *silly grin*

And because Good Things just did not stop happening, I woke up one morning to find my copy of Mythic Delirium in the mail. It does not just look pretty, it's also pretty awesome from the inside. I have two works in it, "A Different Scheherazade" and "The Forest King" which was inspired by art created by Anita Allen only then to inspire art in turn. I am particularly proud of the inspiration part. The whole issue also got a very nice review at Tor.com. Made me wish that there'd be more general awareness of spec poetry. This genre just has to offer so much stunning work from talented and dedicated people.

Appearing hand in hand with Mythic Delirium (also, note the coordinated covers) was Goblin Fruit's Spring 2012 Issue. I have my first evah poem accepted by the editorial team in there, so wow. Hopefully, readers will enjoy "The Golem on My Tongue."

I'm going back to celebrating the rest of April now, if you don't mind :)  If you want to celebrate along, hop over to Fantastique Unfettered (ah, these acronyms!) and check out the daily prompts. Perhaps you'll just get a poem out of it.



Images taken from oldbookart.com and commons.wikimedia.org.

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