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Part of this year’s resolutions is getting everything up on line. So far I’ve reformatted everything that I’d put up because it didn’t look as nice as it should and today added some more stories.

The new stories, which I’m working on putting up on Smashwords as well, are:

• Amid the Words of War – (Twicefar Station) An exiled alien mourns for the race that will no longer accept it.
• Can You Hear the Moon? – (The World Beside Us) A teenage girl in smalltown faces one of the most difficult challenges she’ll ever endure: upcoming adulthood. As she stands on the brink between innocence and experience, will magic be able to help her cope with what lies ahead?
• English Muffin, Devotion on the Side – (Closer Than You Think) George leaves copies of himself to his friends and family when he dies. The problem is — what happens when you’re only a copy?
• Flicka – (Closer Than You Think) Inhabitants of a small Idaho town have trouble adjusting to their new neighbors, a family of genetically modified humans who have chosen to become more equine than human.
• I Come From the Dark Universe – (Twicefar Station) Life on tumultuous TwiceFar station is much the lonely existence same day to day for Bo. But when he comes upon a mysterious woman who claims to come from an alternate universe, he must face his strange attraction to her.
• Love, Resurrected – (Tales of Tabat) General Aife Croffadottir is acknowledged one of the finest military minds of her time — which is why the sorcerer Balthus commands her to her service even after her death. How will she come to terms with her new existence?
• Of Selkies, Disco Balls, and Anna Plane – Small-town Indiana in the 80s is an uncomfortable place for Arturo, who has a secret life at the local gay bar. When he introduces his best friend, Anna, to the place, he finds both of them swept up in a story of magical obsession and servitude.
• So Glad We Had This Time Together – (The World Beside Us) Television executives come up with a reality series starring supernatural creatures — only to find it enjoying unnatural popularity.
• TimeSnip – (TwiceFar Station) Plucked from the 19th century, Victoria finds employment negotiating with civilizations for the same technology that’s responsible for her existence. What happens when she’s dispatched to a civilization whose ways she finds oppressive in this story of the far future? Contains adult themes.

I’ve been putting some stories up on Amazon and Smashwords – I’ve got close to 75 that could go up there, so it’s slow slogging but eventually everything will be up on Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords. Here’s the categories they fit into:

Altered America series: These are steampunk stories, and include Rappaccini’s Crow, which originally appeared on Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Previously unpublished Her Windowed Eyes, Her Chambered Heart is part of that series, and so are two stories that are yet to come: “Laurel Finch, Laurel Finch, Where Do You Wander?” and “Snakes on a Train”. You can see some of the images inspiring the stories here on Pinterest. Currently in progress is “Blue Train,” which takes place in this world although over in a France beleaguered by fairies, vampires, and werewolves.

Tales of Tabat series: These fantasy stories are set in a world I often write in, and so I won’t list all of them. Most have been previously published. Right now the only ones up are “Narrative of a Beast’s Life” and “How Dogs Came to the New Continent.”

Women of Zalanthas: I’ve written a number of stories based on Zalanthas, the world of Armageddon MUD, so I’ve put them together. Right now, stories up include “Aquila’s Ring“, “Karaluvian Fale“, and “Mirabai the Twice-lived“. Others to come include “Besana Kurac” and the title story from Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight.

The Villa Encantada series: None of these urban fantasy stories are up yet, but there’s a slew of them, primarily horror. Slightly related to them is previously unpublished horror story, “Jaco Tours.”

SF Stories: I haven’t made the SF stories a series because there’s no real link between most of them. Up so far are “Grandmother“, “Tortoiseshell Cats Are Not Refundable“, “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” “Bus Ride to Mars,” and “Elsewhere, Within, Elsewhen.”

Remember that if you want fresh stories from me each month in your mailbox, you can get them via my Patreon campaign.

#sfwapro

One of the things 2014 is bringing is all sorts of interesting and awesome changes, but part of that is a need to trim down drastically. So I’ve been going through my books getting ready to sell a lot of them. Many are from teen years, college, or grad school. Others are gathered at cons, sometimes with stories attached. Some sparked stories, or were gifts from, or were written by people I respect and admire and sometimes love. Some are signed. Some have notes jotted in them. Some are books that changed my life.

So far I’ve winnowed 700 or 800 books from the collection and there’s still a lot left. Not to mention there’s a storage locker holding at least another 1000. Argh.

But rather than dump them all at Value Village, I’m taking these last days to sort through them. Because some of these books are old, old friends. So I’m checking them on Amazon (and finding a few worth unexpectedly more, which is nice) and listing all the ones for sale in a spreadsheet, with a few notes and a price. A few I’m putting aside to give to specific people. There’s two boxes laid aside already for my godchildren.

My plan with the ones for sale is to give my two best friends, my brother, and my mom first crack to see if there’s any they want. (Or any that are actually already theirs, in mom’s case, since the boundary between my mom’s books and mine has been pretty fluid from time to time.)

After that, time to see if I can get a little filthy lucre for them. I’ll offer to share the spreadsheet with my writing group, students, other friends, and anyone else interested. (Drop a line here if you are.) Lots of fiction, particularly short stories, a lot of Women’s Studies texts, assorted odd bits and interesting historical stuff. The usual round of books about writing.

I’ll be blogging about some of the books as I hit them. After this comes a similar pass at all the knick-knackery I have accumulated. Not looking forward to that too much, but there’s also a good feeling, a wind-through-one’s-soul feeling that comes with shedding stuff.

I’ll keep you posted.

These are noteworthy writing or publishing related links I’ve found recently:

Writing Links

• Anne Rice talking about plot. Found via Fran Friel. Rice talks about conversations with herself about the plot as part of the planning process.
• Fascinating Atlantic piece talking to Mohsin Hamid about a passage from Haruki Murakami.
• Silvia Moreno Garcia talks about writing your own culture in your science fiction.
• Is epic fantasy crushingly conservative? Some interesting thoughts from Liz Bourke.

Publishing Links

• The Finkbeiner Test. I worked with Ann while I was at JHU so the minute I saw that term I thought she might be behind it. I’m going to be using this term for sure.
• I haven’t read WOOL yet. This piece about its underground success makes me want to read it even more.
• You may or may not be aware of the hubbub about Random House’s electronic imprint lines and their contracts. If you’re thinking about signing with them, you might want to look this over first.
• Used e-books seems like an odd concept, but Amazon and Apple are pursuing it.
• Amazon’s also looking to bring out domains like .book and .read.

If you're test driving your new Kindle, here's a collection you could try on it….I'm just saying.

Amazon.com: Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight eBook: Cat Rambo, Lawrence Schoen, Michael Livingston: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight eBook: Cat Rambo, Lawrence Schoen, Michael Livingston: Kindle Store