Mary Soon Lee's Blog, page 5

Rhysling nominations

I am delighted and honored that three of my poems have been nominated for the Rhysling Award :-) :-) :-)

The poems are What Dragons Didn't Do, Right to Shelter, and The Blackthorn (first published in Dreams and Nightmares, not available online).

Goodreads giveaway

Possibly a little redunant to announce this here on Goodreads itself, but my first ever Goodreads giveaway started today. I'll be giving away five copies of the print edition of The Sign of the Dragon.

For the curious, I spent $99 for the giveaway, and I have no certainty it will increase sales at all, but at least a whole bunch of people have entered!

February update

For the curious, here is my February update.

Favorite January Reads

On the reading front, my 3 favorites in January were...

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley, historical fiction set in Soviet Russia, very good but wrenching.

Sorcery and Small Magics, by Maiga Doocy, warmed me through and through. Book one in a trilogy and the only one published so far.

Iorich by Steven Brust, a re-read for me. Still very good. Book 12 in his fantasy series about the assassin Vlad Taltos, a series that deepens as it goes on.

What did other folks read that they loved?

The Sciku Project

I'm very happy to report that The Sciku Project has reviewed How to Navigate Our Universe. Their review may be read here :-)

Chat with Brandon O'Brien

Brandon O'Brien, who will be the Poet Laureate for the upcoming Seattle Worldcon, chatted with me about speculative poetry on his Worldcon blog. You can read it here.

January update

For the curious, here is my January update.

In print! The Sign of the Dragon

The first print edition of The Sign of the Dragon has been published!! Better yet, it contains 40 extraordinary illustrations by Gary McCluskey.

Of all the things I've written, The Sign of the Dragon is the one that matters most to me. It tells the story of Xau -- spoiler warning! -- chosen by a dragon to be king. There are monsters, demons, fire, flood, earthquake, wars, horse magic, and a hero whom my family kept warning me was too perfect. FYI, Xau's story is told in poems.

I wrote the first poem back in 2013, so this has taken a while :-)

The Sign of the Dragon

The illustrated print version of "The Sign of the Dragon" will be available very soon! Maybe even by the end of the week!

In the meantime, the Kindle edition has already been updated to include Gary McCluskey's wonderful illustrations and cover art :-) :-)

Favorite December reads

December reading report: my favorite book this month was Overcaptain, by L. E. Modesitt, Jr., book 24 in his fantasy series, The Saga of Recluce, though the book I'm reading right now, The Half Life of Valery K (Natasha Pulley) might be better yet.

What did you read in December that you loved? 🦙📖