Beth Cato's Blog, page 72
March 21, 2017
Start Writing Poetry (Again?) During National Poetry Month in April
Some people describe poetry as a lost art, the sort of effort confined to previous decades or ennui-filled teenage years. Poetry isn’t dead, though. For writers of science fiction and fantasy poetry, the opportunities abound.
Since National Poetry Month is coming up in April, this is a good time to sharpen your pencils (or blow the crumbs out of your keyboard) and embrace your inner poet for the first time in years. Here’s some advice to get you started.
1) Take advantage of Poem-a-Day Challenges
I have published over 100 poems in recent years. I write almost all of those works in the months of November and April, because that’s when the Writer’s Digest Poetic Asides Blog runs the Poem-a-Day challenge. The full challenge involves submitting a collection of works to be considered for chapbook publication, but I just use PAD for the daily poem prompts posted by Robert Lee Brewer each morning. Some participants post their work in comments there, but I don’t advise doing that if you want to submit your poems for magazine publication. You don’t want to give away your first rights for free!
If a prompt doesn’t click for you, find inspiration elsewhere. I usually need to do that a couple times during PAD. I find substitute prompts by scrolling down on the Poetic Asides site to look at the weekly prompts Brewer posts year-round. After all, the ultimate goal is to write a poem each day during the month. The original prompt doesn’t really matter in the end.
When the month is done, I go through my poems to cull, and then I start to revise the salvageable ones.
2) Say it out loud
Revising any work of writing can be a frustrating effort. With poetry, rhythm and flow is vital. Reading out loud helps you to find the flow and eliminate excess words. It’s a good way to find typos, too.
3) Know where to find markets
The Science Fiction Poetry Association’s site offers a good (but not comprehensive) list of poetry markets. New markets open all the time. Other venues will shut down for periods. Others shut down permanently. As you track your submissions, keep up with favorite markets so that you know when they open or close to submissions. The best way to find out about new magazines is to network with other writers through web forums or social media like Twitter.
4) Guidelines to submit work
I wish this had a straightforward answer, but there is no industry standard. You have to carefully read the guidelines for each publication–and don’t trust those guidelines to remain the same from week to week, either.
Many markets use Submittable as their submission platform, so it’s worthwhile to set up an account there. Others rely on email, and requirements may include sending poems in the body of the email, or to only submit poems via attachments in certain file types. Most markets allow a poet to send in anywhere from 3 to 5 poems at a time. This is great after an effort like Poem-a-Day, when you have a batch of poems ready to send out into the world. The only bad side of that is the responses often come in batches as well, so brace yourself to get the lot rejected in one fell swoop.
5) Submit, submit, submit
When I first started writing poetry again a few years ago, I wasn’t confident in my poems. I was becoming an old pro at short story rejections and sent my works out right away after they were turned down, but I had a harder time doing that with poetry. Poetry rejections felt more personal because my poems were more personal.
Here’s the thing. Editors have different tastes and different moods. You never know when a poem will resonate with an editor; you have to make yourself vulnerable, submit your work, and submit again if necessary. Expect rejection.
I have had several poems that racked up ten, fifteen rejections before finding a home. Some have made a circuit of markets over periods of two and three years. A poem might wallow in the slush pile of a magazine for several months, get rejected, wallow on my computer for a few months as I wait for an appropriate market to open, and so on. The long wait is worth it to get an acceptance at long last.
Best of luck in April, poets!
March 20, 2017
Locus Awards 2017 – Novel Consideration
It’s time to send in nominations for the Locus Awards! As you might recall, Clockwork Dagger was a finalist two years ago. It’d be spiffy to make the list again. My novel Breath of Earth is already on the ballot in the Fantasy category!
One thing that sets these awards apart from the other major genre awards is that ANYONE can vote. All you need to do is fill in your name, email, and vote in whatever category you want. The ballot is huge. You don’t have to fill in everything.
Take a look and vote! The deadline is April 15th.
#SFWAPro
March 19, 2017
Sunday Quote is in family birthday season
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
~William Wordsworth
March 15, 2017
Bready or Not: Slow Cooker Korean-Style Beef Short Ribs
I’m presenting to you the recipe for one of the best dishes I’ve ever made in a crock pot: Korean-style beef short ribs.
I have made this many times over now. I’ve even tried it using cheaper cuts like chuck roast and rump roast. Those worked out okay (though the meat really dries out before its soak in the juice at the end), but they are nowhere as delicious as the short rib version.
It turns out amazing whether you use boneless or bone-in ribs–a mix is a great way to go, too! Don’t trim the fat. You want all that flavor. The end result is a sauce that tastes like you added red wine, but you didn’t. It’s like MAGIC.
Seriously, these ribs taste like something from a great Asian restaurant. Pair it with some broccoli and a good spoonful of the sauce, and YUM.
Whenever I see beef short ribs go on sale, I do a little dance of joy because it means I get to make this recipe again.
Modified from Heather’s Bytes.
OM NOM NOM!\n","cookTime":"P","prepTime":"P","totalTime":"P"}
Bready or Not: Slow Cooker Korean-Style Short Ribs
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This recipe makes rich, savory short ribs that taste like a dish from a great restaurant! A 5 or 6-quart crock pot is necessary to fit the ribs. Note: A chuck roast or rump roast can be substituted for the ribs and it tastes okay, but the fatty ribs create a much deeper and richer flavor.
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 Tb sesame oil
2 Tb rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
4 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
5 lbs beef short ribs; boneless, bone-in, or a mix
1-2 Tb cornstarch
sesame seeds, optional
In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Place the ribs in a 5 or 6-quart slow cooker; pour the sauce over them. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or on LOW for 9 hours. Depending on how the ribs are stacked in the cooker, you may want to quickly stir them at some point halfway through.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the ribs from the cooker. Place a tablespoon of corn starch in a small bowl and add some juice from the cooker. Whisk them together to create a slurry without lumps, and add back into the crock pot. Stir. If the juice doesn't start to thicken, repeat the process with some more corn starch.
Either keep the ribs intact, or pull meat into chunks and discard the bones and fat. Place meat in cooker again on WARM setting for 10 minutes or so to soak in flavors. Serve. Great with rice, broccoli, and perhaps a sprinkling of sesame seeds!
OM NOM NOM!
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March 14, 2017
Pi Day! Celebrate with Bready or Not
It’s March 14th and that means it’s PI DAY (3.14). Therefore, it’s only right to celebrate by making and eating some pie, right? I have a whole subcategory of pie recipes in Bready or Not, but let’s highlight some favorites.
Maple Pecan Pie Bars
Maple Apple Pie
Snickerdoodle Pie
Peppermint Brownie Pie
No-Bake Cookies and Cream Chocolate Pie
No-Bake Triple Layer Lemon Pudding Pie
Om nom nom! #SFWAPro
March 12, 2017
Sunday Quote is at the Tucson Festival of Books
“There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien
March 10, 2017
See me at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend!
Tucson Festival of Books in 2016
I’ll be in Tucson this weekend for my 3rd visit to the city’s wonderful Festival of Books. The University of Arizona campus plays host to 100,000 book lovers. It’s a fun place to just walk around, take in sights, and do some shopping, but the panels are a special sort of awesome.
Both of my panels are on Sunday, and each is followed by a signing. My books will be for sale there, but you can bring copies you already own as well.
Sun, Mar 12, 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Writing Hurdles
Crafting a novel can be a tricky endeavor. What problems have these authors encountered and how did they solve them?
Koffler Room 216 (Seats 89, Wheelchair accessible)
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area – Koffler Patio (following presentation)
Panelists: Beth Cato, Sam Sykes, Michael Tolkin
Sun, Mar 12, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Ladies of Steampunk
Steampunk ladies talk about steampunk society. (Note that this is a ticketed panel.)
Modern Languages Room 350 (Seats 318, Wheelchair accessible)
Signing area: Sales & Signing Area – Central Mall (following presentation)
Panelists: Marie Brennan, Beth Cato, Nisi Shawl
#SFWAPro
March 8, 2017
Bready or Not: Chili Spice Chocolate Brownies
This recipe, originally posted at the Holy Taco Church, adds a kick to regular ol’ brownies.
If you’ve browsed the candy aisles of late, you noticed that gourmet chocolate bars are all the rage. Take advantage of this when it comes to baked goods. Flavored chocolate adds an extra level of nuance to brownies and cookies.
For these Chili Spice Chocolate Brownies, I chopped up a combo of Green & Black Spiced Chili Chocolate and World Market’s Dark Chocolate Chipotle, but any type of amped-up chocolate will work here.
Note that I can’t handle really hot stuff–hello, burning skin and inability to breathe and feeling like a taun-taun kicked me in the intestines–but these brownies aren’t spicy in THAT way. There’s an occasional zing of chili here and there, but the main flavor is of the cinnamon and the milder chocolate.
Modified from Cinnamon-Spiced Chocolate Brownies at King Arthur Flour.
OM NOM NOM!\n","cookTime":"P","prepTime":"P","totalTime":"P"}
Bready or Not: Chili Spice Chocolate Brownies
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These Chili Spice Brownies are modified from a King Arthur Flour recipe. Use gourmet spiced chocolate bars to create brownies with a special kick!
1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups baking cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 3-ounce spiced chocolate bars, such as chipotle or chili, chopped
6 ounces milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
[toggle the chocolates to be more or less spicy based on your tastes, but equal 12 ounces total]
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and grease the surface.
In a medium-sized saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar. Stir to combine. Heat the mixture briefly, just until it's hot throughout; it'll become shiny as you stir it. Set on a cool burner or trivet.
Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth. Add the flour, again stirring until smooth. Fold in the chopped spicy chocolate and mild chocolate.
Spoon the batter into the pan, spreading it to the edges. It will be extremely thick and lava-like.
Bake the brownies for 34 to 36 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and just barely set in the center.
Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting.
OM NOM NOM!
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March 7, 2017
Stories out in Uncanny Magazine & in book Little Green Men–Attack!
Today’s a big double-whammy publication day! I have two brand-new stories out in the world, both in awesome publications.
First of all, my story “With Cardamom I’ll Bind Their Lips” is in Uncanny Magazine! Not only can you read the story, but it’s also featured in their podcast along with an interview with me. I kinda love this story. It’s about a girl sleuth/apprentice ghost sealer who happens to talk to animals, and like so many child sleuths, her investigation leads her down a very dangerous path indeed.
My other release is in a humorous anthology from Baen: Little Green Men–Attack! All of the stories use little green aliens in some way. Mine happens to be about a violent take on Victorian roller derby, “A Fine Night for Tea and Bludgeoning.” And it’s funny! With an alien named Elvis! (I don’t have much luck with funny stories. I try to write funny, and I’m told it’s “whimsical”. But this story actually turned out to be humorous, and now it’s in an anthology with my literary hero Elizabeth Moon. So forgive me if I need to flail and dance.)
You can buy this book at Amazon, B&N, and pretty much anywhere.
#SFWAPro
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March 5, 2017
Sunday Quote is in Tucson next Sunday!
“There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”
~Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
