A daemonibus docetur

Someone clue me in. What is meant by "associational fiction/literature"? It seems to apply broadly to a number of different genres, but I haven't come across it before.

Is this cognitively, syntagmatically associational in the Interior Monologue mode of cats like Joyce and Woolf? Or could it be paradigmatically associational in the sense of, say, Kelly Link's "Lull," where each plot element is more-or-less cognitively associated with the elements previous and post?

Is it about things written by . . . uh, associations of people?

The help. Please.

Yesterday I received a call from Agent Kris, wherein he delivered the news every writer breathes, eats, and blinks for.

My first novel* Amaranth is now forthcoming from Bantam/Spectra, courtesy of Juliet Ulman.

I am the stunned. The speechless. The pleased.

There were three highlights of the experience: 1) Calling Scotch Mentor, Thomas R. Preston, who told me, amidst stammers and tears, that he wanted to pour scotch all over my head 2) Telling my father, who has always been my greatest and truest adventuring buddy 3) Two solid days of excitement shared with roxana, Lizzie the Wonderbeagle, and Alli the Adventure Kitty.



*I join the ranks of those whose second novel sells before their first

Cover concept for The Lone Star Stories Reader, edited by ericmarin and forthcoming from LSS Press.

Membra Disjecta is looking for an article on "activisim or the trickster," that explores activism in transformative/mythic literature and/or literary criticism.

If you've got something that fits the bill, or are interested in writing something that does, let me know. I'll put you in touch with the right people.

Three Things:

• Kumquats are tasty. Who knew?


• Beagles gain weight too easily. The Wonderbeagle is back on a diet (despite her two walks per day).


• Today, I turn 29, which strikes me as one of the more boring ages. Does anything exciting happen at 29?

Addendum

I'm writing this from the campus where roxana and I work. She's teaching now—clearly, I'm not—and she's doing it on the lawn outside this building.

Some things are cool. Like watching your wife being all Age-of-Reasony on the lawn with her adoring learnlings.

Farrago's Wainscot has been named the recipient of the storySouth Million Writers Award for Best New Online Magazine or Journal:

"Farrago’s Wainscot wins the award for best new online magazine. With an amazing sense of both design savvy and what makes for a compelling story, . . . the FW editors are showing the great heights which can be reached in online publishing."

[more]

The fiction in Issue 6 of Farrago's Wainscot has been reviewed over at The Fix.

We're still trying to figure out if it's a positive review or not. We think so. The intro. paragraph confuses us a bit—it's doing a sort of extrapolate-the-nature-of-the-whole-'zine-from-these-six-stories kind of . . . thing. We're not sure if the reviewer likes the conclusion he reached or not. We'll let you decide.

In any event, the reviewer clearly put some thought into his analysis, which comes across very well in the commentary on the stories—Team Farrago appreciates the time, effort, and attention, as always. Check out some other reviews at The Fix while you're there clicking around. They're worth it.

The full transcript of my interview, conducted by Julie K. Rose, is now live at Writers and Their Soundtracks.

Cover design for joshrountree's collection, Can't Buy Me Faded Love, forthcoming from Wheatland Press.



This one was a lot of fun because the aesthetics that suited the collection were somewhat outside the usual range I get to work with. I felt, often, more like I was creating an album cover than a book cover (which, after you read the collection, will make perfect sense).

Josh's collection wins the Awesometown Award, so keep an eye on the Wheatland site for release dates.

First, the much-anticipated Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, edited by Ekaterina Sedia and published by Matt Kressel (Senses Five Press), in which my story "They Would Only Be Roads" makes an appearance, is now finally available. You can order your copy here.

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Second, over at Writers and Their Soundtracks, Julie K. Rose has released a podcast of an interview-by-correspondence she conducted with me regarding my work and the tunes I listen to. Please to check it out—full transcript forthcoming.

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Third, Part 6, "Obscura" of the 2008 Farrago's Wainscot Exhibition is now live, featuring work by Jessica Reisman, E.C. Myers, S.C. Bryce, Nancy Jane Moore, Catherine Lundoff, Deena Fisher, Adrienne J. Odasso, Kristine Ong Muslim, and Toiya Kristen Finley.

You know you want to read it . . . it won't cost you nuthin.

Farrago friend and contributor mattkressel has released the latest issue of Sybil's Garage, which I reviewed here (Behind the Wainscot, Issue 4), saying (and I quote myself), "With the strength of the material in Issue 4, Issue 5 will, no doubt, be highly anticipated in the world of small-press weird."

It seems I was not wrong, as the blogosphere is rightly abuzz with the news of this release. Matt and his team have lined up a killer T.O.C., which you can check out here.

Order a copy. Srsly.

Happy Birthday, ripperbard

Do I get your hand-me-down walker one day?

Received the excellent news this morning before heading to work that my short story "Slipstring" has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of Sein und Werden.

We are muchly pleased, as this marks the last of what I think of as my "original" stories, meaning it was part of the batch with which I first began playing the submission game about . . . two and a half years ago.

Shown to me by experimeditor:

Theory Trading Cards.

Want.

Scene:

The second of two daily walks that Lizzie the Wonderbeagle and I* go on because the house we rented when we moved out here does not have a fenced yard.

We've made it all the way down to the turnaround point, the churchyard, and Lizzie has wonderbeagled all over the grass. We're on the way back up the long, long hill.

Today has been a very, very rainy day in Upstate S.C.

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Me: "Gee, self, those clouds sure are moving very fast, and they're getting much darker than they were when we left."

Lizzie: *trot trot sniff*

Me: "I wonder why there's that weird, luminous wall of white where the clouds end."

Lizzie: *trotting harder against the rising wind, ears aback*

Me: "Oh, Shit." *pulls cellphone out of pocket, dials up roxana back at H.Q.*

Roxie: *taken aback by receiving a cell call from me while I'm walking* "Hey."

Me: "L.W.B. and I need an emergency evac. I think we're about to get caught in something nasty."

Roxie: "Copy that. On my way."

Meanwhile, L.W.B. and I greet the storm face-first. Within seconds, we are drenched and can't see. The wind is so strong that it keeps blowing L.W.B. backward, into my shins. I hurry us under a tree, watching for lightning so I can take us back into the rain if needs be.

Woman from across the street: *at the top of her lungs* ". . . stand . . . the garage?!"

Me: "No, it's okay—my wife is coming!"

Just then, Roxie shows up in Klaus Von Klaus, our Passat, and L.W.B and I duck into the back seat. It's raining so hard that Roxie can't see to pilot Klaus.

Eventually, we make it back. Successful operation. Medals all around . . . and a biscuit commendation for bravery under precipitation for L.W.B.

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*Roxie now normally accompanies us, but she was visiting with a student who had come by, one who will be watching our girls while we're out of town.

Here is a picture of me and L.W.B. on a Cold Weather Training Operation earlier this year, for those of you haven't met her/seen pictures of her. She is adorable and loving and five kinds of awesome.

Has anyone else noticed that a barthanderson from the future seems to appear in the advertisements for the History Channel's new series, Ax-Men?

Here he is on the left, looking . . . aged, tattooed, and pissed off.

Now we know why he's been hard to come by, internet-wise: he's been cutting down the baby trees!

If anybody has (or is interested in writing) some nonfiction work on "transformation," Membra Disjecta is looking for some material on the topic, and I'm helping to wrangle it. Transformation in this sense could be about a genre, a piece, a reader, etc. It should probably at least nominally nod toward fantastic themes.

If you're interested, let me know. We're looking for a moderately quick turnaround time.

Edit: The opportunity has been seized.

My pal mattkressel has put together a trailer for Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, edited by another pal, E. Sedia.

My cyberpunk-cum-fantasy story, "They Would Only Be Roads," makes an appearance in the antho.

For to watch:

My article, "The Magic Mundane: Re-examining the Supernatural in Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon" is now live at the newly re-released The Internet Review of Science Fiction.

Go for to read, if you're interested in the materialist worldview, feminism, and/or Arthuriana!

I have decided that I need a hobby. Something that has nothing to do with writing, reading, publishing, designing, editing, imaging or any of the other related activities that keep me at the computer all. day. long.

I used to be into computer games, but iTunes somehow ate my sound card—still don't know how that happened. I'm also into drinking beer, but that's not a hobby.

I'll think of something.