Greetings Everyone,
Welcome to Issue #10 of my quarterly newsletter, posted to csmaccath.com and e-mailed to subscribers on Imbolc 2014.
Teaser!
A is for Apocalypse editor Rhonda Parrish has graciously permitted me to share with you a teaser from my forthcoming story in the anthology, entitled N Is for Nanomachine. As you might recall from the Samhain newsletter, I've written an epistolary tale, and this is the first correspondence in it:
VARDIGEN MEMORIAL ARCHIVE
ENTRY: Desans, Madame Chaell Gebares
COURIER: Gresetz, Jederen ID COU-045
CONTAINS: Text and Attachments
Dearest Readers,
There is magma in the music.
You will not understand this; the way it flows, bright and hot, through the cavern of the ear and settles in the hollow chambers of the mind. When my Opera 'Tribute To His Excellency' (which earned an Obsidian Medal) premiered, not even the fathomless Dormissart Plance was ready to shape the viscous rock at the bottom of his aria. But I cannot blame him. He was poorly conducted, and there is a reason why President Incien called my work the coda of a people. I am igneous. I am of the deep inferno in the world.
Even my ballets have been called 'heavy', though I am not a serious writer of ballet. Still, the bourrée en couru of the Vardigen Colonial Dancers must be mentioned. Such grace, the way they flickered across my music like flames over coal. I loved them for it, love them now, will love them wherever I am after I drink the death this handsome young courier has traded for my diaries and manuscripts. Do not ask your own dancers to perform my trifles; they will not know how to lift the mountain into fire, and it will only embarrass them.
We valued the fire and the mountain here; pyroclastic reminders that we were breaking the bones of this planet and distilling its marrow for you. It was the gift your predecessors augmented us to give. But the music, the dance, the art, those things we gave to one another, and they were exquisite. So you, whose skin has never silvered, hungry for an ash fall, who cannot bear the blessed heat your nanomachines have siphoned away, you will not understand them. Celebrate them anyway, remember that we were, and know that I forgive you.
- Madame Chae
2 ATTACHMENTS
* Madame CGD Diaries
* Madame CGD Manuscripts
I'll be sending a special notice to subscribers when the book is released, and I'll also be posting a note to my blog.
News
I've recently received word by post that I've been accepted to the council of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia. Requirements for membership on the council can be found on the membership page, which includes the following:
Members who meet the professional writing standards defined in the By-Laws of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia may apply for Writers' Council membership. Only Writers' Council members may participate in the Writers in the Schools program, serve as workshop instructors, and feature in our 'Writers in NS' listing.
Applications for membership in the WFNS Writers’ Council must be submitted to the Membership Committee c/o the Executive Director. Complete applications must include a curriculum vitae, a detailed bibliography, and a cover letter demonstrating how the applicant’s CV meets Writers’ Council criteria as copied from the By-Laws below. Please note: for applications based on periodical publications, applicants must clearly identify which of their periodical publications make up the eligible body of 30,000 words the Membership Committee is being asked to consider.
This is exciting for me, because it means that I might have the opportunity to participate in the Writers in the Schools program and teach writing workshops. It also means that I have a greater opportunity to interact with other writing professionals in the province, which is something I value.
You can find my WFNS bio page here.
Vegan Recipe of the Quarter
Okay, so it's the freezing cold middle of winter, and we're not outside as much, which means more movie nights, which means more popcorn. I pop the corn, and Sean spices it with a superlative seasoning mix of his own creation. Here it is:
Sean's Superlative Popcorn Seasoning
- 3 TBSP Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 1/2 TSP Paprika
- 1/4 TSP Cumin
- 1/8 TSP Ground Mustard
- Salt and Vegan Margarine to Taste
Mix, sprinkle on popcorn and eat it up, yum.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back at Beltane with more news and nomz.
All the best,
C.S. MacCath