Ceallaigh's Blog
I've just 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:
I'm delighted to report that I've been asked to contribute to a forthcoming anthology of fantasy and science fiction entitled A is for Apocalypse and edited by Rhonda Parrish. This themed anthology will feature twenty-six stories, one for each letter of the alphabet, all apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic.
I have been randomly assigned the letter 'N', as in 'nanomachines', 'never', 'night' and 'noodle'. (♫ One of these things is not like the other... ♫) =P
To celebrate the coming of autumn, the autumnal equinox and the listing of The Ruin of Beltany Ring: A Collection of Pagan Poems and Tales on Smashwords, I'm offering it for 25% off from the Smashwords web site until September 22nd.
Your coupon code is: TF62U.
I recently passed the Smashwords autovetter and epubcheck with great effort using an epub file, and I thought I'd share what I learned with you so that you might have an easier time of it than I did. This tutorial presumes you have some knowledge of HTML markup and CSS styling or can acquire that knowledge without too steep a learning curve, though I've provided a number of screenshots and code examples along the way to help you get started.
For those of you who've asked, my short story and poetry collection The Ruin of Beltany Ring: A Collection of Pagan Poems and Tales is now available for Kobo. You can download it here.
And if you prefer, you can also download an excerpt of the collection on Goodreads. You know, to whet your appetite. =)
I don't quite know why I haven't posted an update about my writing life lately. I've been busy, though! TWSP is still out looking for a home, six reprints are out looking for new homes, and two new stories and a poem are out doing the same.
I've also been worldbuilding like crazy, which has been loads of fun. Yesterday it was the effect of far-future climate change on plant and animal species, and today it was Tuvan throat singing (Tuva is a minority language spoken in Mongolia and southern Siberia).
And in two weeks, I'll be at Harbour Con-Fusion in St. John, doing the guest-writer-panelist thing, which promises to be full of awesome and delicious win.
Anyway, sin sin, as my Gaelic teacher used to say. That's that!
And here's some Tuvan throat music for you, from Huun Huur Tu:
#writing #worldbuilding #tuvanthroatsinging
Friend and author Deborah Blake shares her very witchy blog space with me today so that I can natter on about 'The Ruin of Beltany Ring'.
...give up.
The latest Clarksworld Magazine editorial is an encouraging one for self-published writers. In it, Neil Clarke details some of the frustration the magazine faced at its inception; authors who wouldn't submit to online magazines, reviewers who refused to consider the magazine's stories, etc. He likens this early reception to the frustration independent authors presently face as they strive for respect in the marketplace and writes:
The Kindle promotion went really well! 161 people downloaded The Ruin of Beltany Ring on Beltane (Get it? Beltany Ring? Beltane?), and nearly a hundred have entered the Goodreads giveaway so far. Not bad for a wee chapbook out there in the world!
A couple of weeks ago, I began to seriously consider an MFA at Goddard College. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the school, Goddard is a small college in Plainfield, Vermont with a reputation for being on the bleeding edge of liberal study. Just my style. =) The MFA offered there is a distance program with required on-site instruction one week each semester and welcomes writers from all corners of the industry; from poets and screenwriters to hardcore genre writers like myself. I’ve considered it often over the years, usually when I’m feeling the need for a boost in my writing skills, but ultimately I’ve always decided against it for various reasons.