Good morning!
I got snowed in yesterday (FINALLY!) and as it was Fat Tuesday, I'm kinda not alive yet sitting at my desk at work. But that doesn't mean you all miss out!
Welcome back to Wednesday Words, where I share with you all a piece of what I'm reading using Random.org to pick a page and some lines for me to read. Last week, most of the books I'd put on hold in the library (like 4 of 8, I think) came in, so I have begun Octavia Butler's Bloodchild and Other Stories, 2nd ed.
And even though Goodreads says there are 224 pages in this edition, there are actually 214. I wonder how they messed that up.
So, there are 214 pages in Bloodchild and other Stories, and Random has chosen...................page 12, a page from the title story, "Bloodchild"!
There are about 28 lines on this particular page, and Random has chosen......................line 9.
Now the pipe could be turned so that one half slid around the the other and a rifle could be stored inside. This wasn't our only gun, but it was our most easily accessible one.
"Bloodchild" was a pretty weird story that Octavia Butler wrote to overcome her fear of those flies in South American that lay eggs in your wounds. I liked the second story, "The Evening and The Morning and The Night," better.
What are you reading this week?
Greetings
- Debra Renée Byrd
- Delaware, United States
- Deborah Hawkins, penned Debra Renée Byrd, began writing after a blank book project in elementary school and never stopped, fashioning stories based on her favorite TV shows and movies before creating more original works. She studied at the University of the Arts and Florida State University before settling down and graduating from Temple University. She now resides in her hometown of Dover, DE, where she spends most of her time at work or at church. She loves fantasies, superheroes, is a trekkie and a brown coat. She loves television and lives for Final Fantasy video games, having collected most of them. She has read a myriad of authors, and her favorite authors change whenever she finds a new book that changes her life... "When you can't run, you crawl. When you can't crawl...well, you know the rest." -Tracey, Firefly, "The Message"
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Look for Me in Cactus Heart Press! (w/gifs)
I was trying to hold this news in until Friday for Freeday, but forget it!
My short story "Origin" will be published in the Speculative Fiction issue of Cactus Heart Press this March!
This is big for me, as it would be for any writer, so I'm extremely excited, and having bought Cactus Heart Press's last issue and seeing what they are about, I know it's a perfect fit. I'm playing it cool, but:
About Cactus Heart Press:
"Cactus Heart is, of course, a metaphor for how we believe literature and art should be. It should shock and wound and delight us; it should fill us with delight and terror and mystery. It should survive.
We are devoted to spiny writing & art—sharp, relentless, coursing with energy and able to thrive in the harshest of places, all while maintaining a vulnerable, succulent interior."
My short story "Origin" will be published in the Speculative Fiction issue of Cactus Heart Press this March!
So, how it happened. As you may have seen, I did a live write-up of "Origin" here 2-1/2 years ago (really? It was that long ago?!) based on the song "Origin of Love" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch (which I finally sat down and watched last week and LOVED).
Late December, Kate Sheeran Swed e-mailed me. She will be the guest editor for Cactus Heart's Speculative Fiction issue, and she had read "Origin" and invited me to submit to the publication. I immediately turned into
then asked if I could submit "Origin." She spoke with the main Cactus Heart team, and as long as I removed the story from here, I could submit. No problem there! So last week, I received the confirmation that they accepted my little short story.
(I can't even pretend like these aren't my actual victory dances.)
About Cactus Heart Press:
"Cactus Heart is, of course, a metaphor for how we believe literature and art should be. It should shock and wound and delight us; it should fill us with delight and terror and mystery. It should survive.
We are devoted to spiny writing & art—sharp, relentless, coursing with energy and able to thrive in the harshest of places, all while maintaining a vulnerable, succulent interior."
About Kate Sheeran Swed:
Kate Sheeran Swed loves hot chocolate, plastic dinosaurs, and airplane tickets. She has trekked along the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu, hiked on the Mýrdalsjökull glacier in Iceland, and climbed the ruins of Masada to watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea. Following an idyllic childhood in New Hampshire, she completed degrees in music at the University of Maine and Ithaca College, then moved to New York City. Her stories have appeared in Writing Tomorrow,Verdad, HOOT Review, and Words and Images. She recently completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Pacific University.
You can find her on:
Twitter @katesheeranswed
Facebook.com/KateSheeranSwedPinterest.com/KateSheeranSwed
You can find her on:
Twitter @katesheeranswed
Facebook.com/KateSheeranSwedPinterest.com/KateSheeranSwed
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Wednesday Words: "How Do You Think It Feels?"
Welcome back to Wednesday Words! Happy Hump Day. :)
This is the day I use Random.org to help me throw you all a few lines of what I'm currently reading. I'm still on these short stories, and I don't normally read on days off, but I should be done before the 2nd Wednesday of December (next week is IWSG).
I chose the next few chunk of chapters for Random to choose from: pages 159-231. Random chose...........page 198.
There are about 28 lines on this page, so Random has chosen...................line 24...a long sentence that goes into the next page.
I have never been a sculptor, but something took shape beneath my fingers that night: block hands and grinning head, stumpy wings and twisted legs: I made it of my lust and self-pity and hatred, then I baptized it with the last drops of Johnnie Walker Black Label and placed it over my heart, my own little gargoyle, to protect me from beautiful women with blue-green eyes and from ever feeling anything again.
Everyone have a wonderful Turkey Day! Eat lots of cranberry sauce. :)
This is the day I use Random.org to help me throw you all a few lines of what I'm currently reading. I'm still on these short stories, and I don't normally read on days off, but I should be done before the 2nd Wednesday of December (next week is IWSG).
I chose the next few chunk of chapters for Random to choose from: pages 159-231. Random chose...........page 198.
There are about 28 lines on this page, so Random has chosen...................line 24...a long sentence that goes into the next page.
I have never been a sculptor, but something took shape beneath my fingers that night: block hands and grinning head, stumpy wings and twisted legs: I made it of my lust and self-pity and hatred, then I baptized it with the last drops of Johnnie Walker Black Label and placed it over my heart, my own little gargoyle, to protect me from beautiful women with blue-green eyes and from ever feeling anything again.
Everyone have a wonderful Turkey Day! Eat lots of cranberry sauce. :)
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Wednesday Words: "Other People"
Happy Wednesday!
This has been a fairly long week. Hallelujah for Hump Day. On a good note, I've been revising up a storm!
On Wednesdays, I share with you all a piece of what I'm reading using Random.org to choose a page and line for you.
I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things (blame the Sherlock Holmesian/H.P. Lovecraftian piece that it started with. I hate Sherlock Holmes.), but I've read some really cool things so far. The story I've started is only two pages, which I imagine I'll be done with in the next hour, so let's move a little further down.
I'll be using the next few shorts, Page 65 - 164. Random.org has chosen........................Page 109.
That actually is the beginning of a short story called "Other People." Sounds interesting. There are about 20 lines on that page, so Random has chosen..........................Line 15.
"Now," said the demon, in a voice that carried with it no sorrow, no relish, only a dreadful flat resignation, "you will be tortured."
As my old classmate Aubrey used to say, "Damn." Can't wait to see where that story takes me. Might have to pray afterwards. ;)
This has been a fairly long week. Hallelujah for Hump Day. On a good note, I've been revising up a storm!
On Wednesdays, I share with you all a piece of what I'm reading using Random.org to choose a page and line for you.
I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things (blame the Sherlock Holmesian/H.P. Lovecraftian piece that it started with. I hate Sherlock Holmes.), but I've read some really cool things so far. The story I've started is only two pages, which I imagine I'll be done with in the next hour, so let's move a little further down.
I'll be using the next few shorts, Page 65 - 164. Random.org has chosen........................Page 109.
That actually is the beginning of a short story called "Other People." Sounds interesting. There are about 20 lines on that page, so Random has chosen..........................Line 15.
"Now," said the demon, in a voice that carried with it no sorrow, no relish, only a dreadful flat resignation, "you will be tortured."
As my old classmate Aubrey used to say, "Damn." Can't wait to see where that story takes me. Might have to pray afterwards. ;)
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Wednesday Words: Fragile Things
Good morning!
Welcome back to Wednesday Words, where I use Random.org to help me show you all what I am currently reading. Today (or tomorrow, because I left my book at home and usually read at work) I will begin Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. It is a series of short stories, so this week, in case I'm still reading it next week, I will be choosing a line to read from the first story in the set, "A Study in Emerald." It sounds interesting.
There are 26 pages in "ASiE." Random.org has chosen.......(In my Monica Gellar voice) 7!
There are about 30 lines on Page 7 (I don't know why I always count the lines, because I'm almost sure there are always about 30 lines), and Random has given me........(I had a feeling it would do this) line 2, which starts in the middle of some type of article or something, so up one line I go.
BRINGING LIFE TO THE DEAD: FROM AN OLD FAMILY RECIPE AND THE BEST OF MODERN SCIENCE.
Hm....Can't wait to see what's happening there.
Welcome back to Wednesday Words, where I use Random.org to help me show you all what I am currently reading. Today (or tomorrow, because I left my book at home and usually read at work) I will begin Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things. It is a series of short stories, so this week, in case I'm still reading it next week, I will be choosing a line to read from the first story in the set, "A Study in Emerald." It sounds interesting.
There are 26 pages in "ASiE." Random.org has chosen.......(In my Monica Gellar voice) 7!
There are about 30 lines on Page 7 (I don't know why I always count the lines, because I'm almost sure there are always about 30 lines), and Random has given me........(I had a feeling it would do this) line 2, which starts in the middle of some type of article or something, so up one line I go.
BRINGING LIFE TO THE DEAD: FROM AN OLD FAMILY RECIPE AND THE BEST OF MODERN SCIENCE.
Hm....Can't wait to see what's happening there.
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