A story a day?

Now that I'm putting together my second fiction collection (Toxic Reality, available October 31), I'm looking through my files to make sure I haven't forgotten any stories. What this has shown me is that I'm really pretty bad at organizing--I have four or five files of "completed" and "submitted" and "in progress"--and that I have a ton of stories that are almost but not quite finished. One of the reasons for this half-assed, half-baked, half-finished state of affairs is that I often begin a story in one of the notebooks I carry around in my purse. I hate waiting around, so if I'm at a bus stop or waiting for my monthly shot at the eye clinic, I'll work on a story or play with a stray idea.  The problem is I'm not particularly disciplined about transcribing those pages into my computer. And I have a LOT of notebooks.  So sometimes stories get lost in the process.  I ran across one such story this morning. "Impersonating a Fairy."  It's lighter than my usual fare--I can't be noir girl all the time--and all it needs is an edit. 
My goal today is to finish that story. My goal this month is to track down any other stories in the same condition and finish them.
It's good to have goals.

Alt-Dead is in the house

I have my contributor's copy of Peter Mark May's Alt-Dead anthology in my hands and I am fondling it.  It looks really sharp--the blood-red font against the white backdrop. It's available as both an ebook and print and it is priced to sell!  If you love zombies, or just like short stories, check this collection out. Contributors include Stuart Hughes, Stuart Neild, Stuart Young, Stephen Bacon, Steven Saville & Steve Lockley, plus a whole crew of other writers who are neither named Stuart nor Stephen like Jan Edwards, Ian Woodhead, Zach Black, and more. 
Let me know if you'd like to review the anthology--I can hook you up with a copy.

September Six Questions Schedule

Jim Harrington's Six Questions For blog has scheduled next month's interviews. Here's the list:

Below is the schedule of posts for September at Six Questions For. . . . http://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com/

9/01—Six Questions for Sam, Editor, Spilt Milk Magazine
9/05—Six Questions for Anne M. Stickel, Editor, Black Petals
9/08—Six Questions for Gay Degani, Editor, Flash Fiction Chronicles
9/12—Six Questions for Tyler Gobble, Editor, Stoked Journal
9/15—Six Questions for Kristin Ginger, Editor, YoYoMagazine
9/19—Six Questions for Dena Rash Guzman, Editor, Unshod Quills
9/22—Six Questions for Doc O'Donnell, Senior Editor, Dirty Noir
9/26—Six Questions for Bjorn Wahlstrom, Owner/Editor, H.A.L. Publishing
9/29—Six Questions for Meredith E. Torre, Editor, Bumble Jacket Miscellany

I Tremble For My Country

This morning CNN.com posted a story about a Syrian cartoonist who was kidnapped, beaten, and threatened.  His abductors broke his hands as a warning to stop drawing.  He's now in the hospital. The story is here.
The story is horrible and a reminder to anyone reading that "freedom isn't free."  What's even more horrifying, though, are the comments.  There's the guy who thinks the story is made up. There's the guy who uses his comment to rag on "Shrillery Clinton." I read through dozens of comments and there were very few addressing the actual subject of the story--Ali Ferzat, a brave and idealistic man. Comment after comment spewing rage and bile and toxic ichor.  Comparing Obama to Hitler.
(Seriously?  Hitler?  Really?)
I'm particularly horrified by this display of  hate because two days ago, when CNN.com ran a story about a woman in dire financial straits, the story elicited almost 500 comments.  Most of them were of the "Poor woman, how can I help? variety, but a lot were ugly.  For some reason the one I found most damnable was an accusation that she probably had enough money to support her two-pack-a-day cigarette habit.  (Nowhere in the article did it mention that she smoked.) 
I know, I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I still am.  The utter conviction in these posts is as predictable as the bad spelling and specious arguments.  The people who write these posts are registered to vote. And there are more of them than me.

I've been Zombiefied!

Thanks to Christopher Grant and Peter Mark May who first got me thinking about zombies, I've now written a couple of stories about Zees.  One of them, "Dead Letter," which Christopher first published on Eaten Alive, has been accepted in the upcoming anthology Zombiefied.
Publisher is Sky Warrior Books. Planned pub date is October 1. More information as I have it. 

Pardon My French

About a month ago, I suddenly decided that I simply had to translate some of my stories into French. I decided to pick a couple of my fantasies because I am very fond of a French-language fantasy site and thought that I might be able to link up with them for a promotional hit or two.
My French is nowhere near fluent enough to translate anything more complicated than, "My name is Katherine." Fortunately, though, the talented Pauline Pangon agreed to do the work for a price that wouldn't zotz out my budget.
I am thrilled by the result but also bemused because who knew there were so many phrases in English that don't have exact French counterparts?  Pauline has been incredibly resourceful in finding French substitutions, and we're working on refining the material as I look for images I can give to Joy Sillesen in hopes she will design the cover for me.
As I read over what Pauline's done, I'm reminded again of what a lovely language French is.
Here is the opening of "The Smallest of the Summoner's Bells" in French.

Appelez ça hasard.

Appelez ça fatalité, destin, ou encore  karma.

Appelez ça comme vous voulez, mais quand cet adolescent trop hâlé a passé ma porte avec ce petit bout d'or prodigieux en main, j'y ai vu d'emblée l'opportunité d'une superbe cerise sur le gâteau. 

And here it is in English: 

You could call it coincidence.

You could call it fate or destiny or karma.

You could call it any number of things but when the too-tan teenager walked through my door with that little scrap of fairy gold, I saw it for what it really was, a big tasty slice of opportunity pie.

SinC25--the Fifth and Final (for now) Shout-out to Women Crime Writers

In Game of Thrones, John Snow asks Tyrion Lannister why he's always reading. "A mind needs books," he says, "like a sword needs a whetstone."
Writers need to read or their writing gets stale.
My parents refused to allow us to read comic books (we'd sneak them at friends' houses) but encouraged us to read anything else that struck our fancy. The result was that I turned into an omnivorous reader, devouring both good and bad books without judgment. 
When I discovered I could make a living as a "reader" for the movie industry, I felt like I'd been given my heavenly reward early. "I get paid to read books," I told my relatives, who kept asking me what my "real job" was.