...to Fiction and Other White Lies, my official-like corner of the web. I'm a Canadian writer of literary science fiction and fantasy with a love for mythic prose and an obsession with the secret hearts of cities. My bibliography, links, happenings, and snippets of writing projects on the go are here; day-to-day stuff, discussion, whimsy, and silliness are located at my journal.
Updated regularly, insofar as interesting and pertinent things happen.
July 28, 2010
So here's the big news:
ABOVE, a young adult novel about a girl with bee wings and a boy who grew up underground, will be published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic, with a release date somewhere around Spring 2012.
I am so looking forward to getting to give this to you guys I cannot even describe.
June 10, 2010
New story out: "A Thousand", which is a story about paper cranes, Vancouver, bad communication, and the subtleties of cultural-social expectations, is in the Spring 2010 issue of On Spec, which should be hitting newsstands about now.
Enjoy!
May 14, 2010
Sale news! "Stay", which is a story about wendigoes, pomegranates, Raven, and the ethics of cold-weather communities, will appear in the inaugural volume of Chilling Tales: From the Great White North, a new annual anthology series of Canadian horror edited by Michael Kelly and published by Edge. I'm really looking forward to this, as the company, from what I can tell so far, will be very good.
The book should be out in March 2011, premiering at the World Horror Convention in Austin.
February 16, 2010
That reprint mentioned a few posts down is available now: "Three Days and Nights in Lord Darkdrake's Hall" is in audio at Podcastle! Enjoy!
January 6, 2010
Well, happy New Year, folks!
Some notable news on an appearance that's worth mentioning on the front page: I will, along with a goodly chunk of the other Shadow Unit authors, be appearing at the Tucson Festival of Books in Tucson, AZ on March 13 and 14. We'll be doing a panel and signing, and otherwise just roaming the festival, being festive.
If you're local to it, hope to see you there!
December 16, 2009
This stuff apparently comes in waves.
In any case, a reprint to report: "Three Days and Nights in Lord Darkdrake's Hall", which appeared in Strange Horizons in early 2007, will be reprinted in audio at Podcastle. Dates provided as I have them!
December 13, 2009
Further to that last one, the February 2010 issue of Realms of Fantasy is being offered as a free PDF as part of the relaunch of the magazine under Tir Na Nog Press. So if you're nowhere near a newsstand, this is no longer a barrier; the link for the free PDF is on their new website. Enjoy!
December 3, 2009
Finally, something report-worthy for this space: "Mister Oak", a Wildean fairytale about an oak tree and the girl he loves, is available in the February 2010 issue of Realms of Fantasy, which is actually on newsstands until February 2010 (meaning December and January). Enjoy!
August 13, 2009
...unlike usual, I haven't neglected this because nothing's been doing. I've been neglecting this because everything's been doing.
The major news for this summer is, I suppose, that slightly after that last post down there I accepted an offer of representation from Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates. So: my agent, I show you her! Between this, the rewriting involved in it to get the book ready for submission, and doing two conventions (Readercon and Worldcon) in one month, well. I'm sure you can see how that all went down.
That being said, things are now a touch calmer, and I've done an overall tweak and update on the site this evening, barring changing out the fiction for something fresher and actually smacking all those reviews up into the bibliography (and I think there really needs to be a new approach to that at this point). So, updates all over tonight, and more in the next few days!
June 11, 2009
Clockwork Phoenix 2, which contains my "Six" as well as stories from Marie Brennan, Mary Robinette Kowal, Tanith Lee, Catherynne M. Valente, and a good handful of other seriously accomplished writers, appears to be available for preorder from Amazon now. Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and said:
Allen finds his groove for this second annual anthology of weird stories, selecting 16 wonderfully evocative, well-written tales. Marie Brennan's thought-provoking "Once a Goddess" considers the fate of a goddess abruptly returned to mortality. Tanith Lee puts a stunning twist in the story of a morose prince in "The Pain of Glass." Mary Robinette Kowal's "At the Edge of Dying" describes a world where magic comes only to those at death's door. In "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," Saladin Ahmed tells of a small village on the edge of a desert, a hermit and a woman who may be a witch. Each story fits neatly alongside the next, and the diversity of topics, perspectives and authors makes this cosmopolitan anthology a winner....so I'm excited.
May 31, 2009
Lone Star Stories #33 is live, and it includes short story "The Parable of the Shower", an outrageous jaunt of stunt-writing. Enjoy!
April 21, 2009
News springs eternal! "The Parable of the Shower", which is a paragon of stunt-writing, will appear in the June issue of Lone Star Stories. This is my first fiction appearance there and it's a zine I really enjoy reading, so I'm looking forward to it!
April 5, 2009
After a quiet month or two, here's a double-header of good stuff: Realms of Fantasy's been bought by Warren Lapine's Tir Na Nog Press, and so will in fact continue publishing, and will in fact be running "Mister Oak". Which is a great relief to me.
More immediately, I've been doing some work this winter and spring with Shadow Unit, an interactive fiction project helmed by Elizabeth Bear, Emma Bull, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum, which they describe as fanfiction for a television series that doesn't exist. I'm one of two guest writers this season -- the other is the estimable Holly Black -- and my episode, "Sugar", goes live tomorrow at the site. It's a whole novella's worth, and free unless you're moved to make a donation, so check it out!
February 2, 2009
Good news, bad news: unfortunately, Realms of Fantasy has abruptly closed its doors this month, ending fifteen years of publishing. The April 2009 issue will be the last, which means "Mister Oak", as reported below, will not appear in its pages. Boo.
The good news, though, is that "A Thousand", which is about paper cranes, Vancouver, and the rather unfair traps of communication inherent in several fairytales, will appear in an upcoming issue of On Spec. Further good news is that Clockwork Phoenix has made the Locus Recommended Reading List. Yay!
January 12, 2009
Interzone #220 has been spotted in the wild! It includes novelette "Miles to Isengard", which is about a boy, a nuke, and a long drive to a volcano, and is available across the UK and from TTA Press directly or Borders Books.
January 6, 2009
Another sale to report: "Mister Oak", which is a Wildean fairytale about an oak tree and the girl he loves, will appear in a future issue of Realms of Fantasy. This'll be my third story to appear in Realms!
December 15, 2008
Sale news: "Six", which is a story about gardening, roof-sheep, and the apocalypse, will appear in Clockwork Phoenix 2, edited by Mike Allen! Other contributors who have announced their acceptances include Marie Brennan and Mary Robinette Kowal -- stay tuned for more!
December 13, 2008
Interzone #220 is going to press, and it includes novelette "Miles to Isengard"! Apparently it'll hit newsstands in early January, so keep an eye out!
October 24, 2008
"Furnace Room Lullaby", which originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine, is up at this week's Pseudopod. The folks there really did right by this story, getting together sound effects, music, and a really enthusiastic reader. Check it out!
October 9, 2008
Poem "Going Back" is now live in the Autumn issue of Goblin Fruit, along with a cornucopia of excellent stuff.
September 29, 2008
Two pieces of news: first off, short story "Kimberley Ann Duray is Not Afraid" is live in this week's issue of Strange Horizons (with a direct link here).
Secondly, the The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008 is out, and two stories and two poems have received Honourable Mentions: "Bears" and "The Girl From Another World", both at Strange Horizons; "Fitcher's Third Wife" in Mythic Delirium #17; and "Three Deaths", which was also nominated for a Rhysling, at Lone Star Stories.
Updates in all things have been made on the Bibliography pages.
September 27, 2008
Sale news! Novelette "Miles to Isengard" will appear in an upcoming issue of Interzone, with publication tentatively set for late this year or early next.
August 6, 2008
The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy, which contains short story "Lost Wax", has hit its official release date! It's available through the link here or the cover link on the sidebar, and includes fiction from Andy Duncan, Orson Scott Card, Howard Waldrop, Liz Williams, David D. Levine, Jonathan Lethem, William Hope Hodgson, Jeffrey Ford, Michael Moorcock, Michael Swanwick, Ted Chiang, and many other authors who could kick my butt 'round the block were they so inclined.
There's also a bit of website housecleaning tonight: The 2008 Rhysling Anthology, which contains nominated poem "Three Deaths", is now linked up on the Poetry page, and I've fixed the Appearances schedule to something final; alas, I'm not going to make the World Fantasy Convention this year.
August 3, 2008
"Bell, Book, and Candle", which appears in Clockwork Phoenix, is also available free online! It's been chosen as the teaser story for the anthology at Fantasybookspot.com, and is readable there.
Enjoy!
June 29, 2008
Clockwork Phoenix, which includes short story "Bell, Book, and Candle", has gone on sale at Amazon ahead of the release date! So it's now available and shipping -- you can click through to get a copy from either the link here or the cover link in the sidebar to the right.
June 28, 2008
More poetry news: "Andromeda in the Forest of the Suicides" will appear in the July issue of Chiaroscuro, and another untitled poem (yes, it's called "Untitled") in a later issue at the same 'zine.
June 11, 2008
The cover for Clockwork Phoenix, an anthology due in July (and containing my "Bell, Book, and Candle"), has been added to the cover roll located just to your right.
Publishers Weekly says about it:
Author and editor Allen (Mythic) has compiled a neatly packaged set of short stories that flow cleverly and seamlessly from one inspiration to another. In "The City of Blind Delight" by Catherynne M. Valente, a man inadvertently ends up on a train that takes him to an inescapable city of extraordinary wonders. In "All the Little Gods We Are," Hugo winner John Grant takes a mind trip to possible parallel universes. Modern topics make an appearance among the whimsy and strangeness: Ekaterina Sedia delves into the misunderstandings that occur between cultures and languages in "There Is a Monster Under Helen's Bed," while Tanith Lee gleefully skewers gender politics with "The Woman," giving the reader a glimpse of what might happen if there was only one fertile woman left in a world of men. Lush descriptions and exotic imagery startle, engross, chill and electrify the reader, and all 19 stories have a strong and delicious taste of weird. (July)
— Publishers Weekly, May 12 2008
Purchase details to follow, as I have them!
June 3, 2008
Another poetry publication: "The Pack Rat's Manifesto" is in the Spring 2008 issue of On Spec, which should be hitting newsstands as we speak (read?).
May 27, 2008
Sale news! Poem "The Murdered Woman Comes Home" will appear in the June issue of Flashquake, and poem "Going Back" will appear in Goblin Fruit this fall.
April 8, 2008
What's that? In the sky?
A Welcome header with some text!
March 21, 2008
Website spring cleaning! Some major revamping of website components tonight: the Bibliography page is now subdivided tidily into short fiction, poetry, and a new subpage for novels, both finished and in progress.
The Appearances page is also updated, and holds what should be my final 2008 convention schedule.
February 18, 2008
More sale news: Poem "Kryptonian International Remembrance Day" will appear in new online magazine Oddlands.
Also, on the Where To Not Go If You're Avoiding Me front, I'll be at this year's Readercon, July 17-20. Eventually I will update the Appearances page to reflect this (and to be actually readable).
February 11, 2008
Another sale! Short story "Furnace Room Lullaby", which originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine issue #5, will be "reprinted" in audio at Pseudopod.
Also, cover art is up for The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy, where "Lost Wax" will be making a reprint appearance. It has joined its merry compatriots on the cover sidebar.
February 3, 2008
Sale news! Short story "Bell, Book, and Candle" will be appearing in Clockwork Phoenix, a new anthology edited by Mike Allen. Publication's tentatively set for Spring 2008.
That, and a review of "The Sorceress's Assistant", added to the Bibliography page.
January 17, 2008
More updates to the Bibliography page: reviews, this time, of "Bears", "Fitcher's Third Wife", and "His Other Wives".
Also, the convention schedule is coming closer to completion. I can say that I will definitely, entirely, totally be at Wiscon 32, May 23-26, in Madison, Wisconsin. Hope to see you there!
January 3, 2008
Sale news again: poem "A Brief History of Night, Before Sleep" will be appearing in a future issue of Chiaroscuro.
ETA, 12:18am: Actually, it appears to be this issue. Fastest sale-to-publication ever. Well...look! Poem!
Also, at some point soon I will sort out my concrete 2008 Public Appearances schedule and put it up here for your delectation, or so you know what places to avoid. Keep watching the skies. *g*
December 9, 2007
Two more sales added to the Bibliography page: "Kimberley Ann Duray Is Not Afraid" (under a different title, when I think up a new title for it) will be in a 2008 issue of Strange Horizons, and "Lost Wax" will be reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy in mid-2008. This will probably require me to bribe Amanda for another natty book-cover link on the side there.
Also, I got off my duff finally and changed the Online Fiction. As well as Apres Moi, Le Deluge, two older stories are up now: Midnights on the Bloor Viaduct and Sonnets Made of Wood.
November 18, 2007
More updates to the Bibliography page -- "The Sorceress's Assistant" is in the new issue of On Spec, where I'm fortunate enough to be the Featured Author.
October 31, 2007
Two new pieces hitting print in the next week: "Bears" will be appearing at Strange Horizons on Monday the 5th, and a poem, "Fitcher's Third Wife", is in the current issue of Mythic Delirium, which is mailing to subscribers as we speak. Those updates and a review or two are linked on the Bibliography page.
October 3, 2007
By the good graces of Amanda Downum, web-designer extraordinaire, we have New Website. Yes, the old website was a perfectly good website, but white print on black background -- hacked together with my own ghetto HTML -- is very nineteen, and while I was nineteen when I made it, I am no more.
So welcome to the newest incarnation of Fiction and Other White Lies, poke around, and enjoy!
