Cate Gardner's Blog, page 27

Muddy Feet

Plans were drawn up for this weekend.

1. Fully edit my Bibliotheca Fantastica anthology story 'The Binding of Memories'.

2. Provide interesting, thought provoking and wacky answers to interview questions.

3. Write the first draft of another short story that has to be submitted by April 1st.

Then, the sun came out to play. Those of you in the UK will know that when it's sunny, the great British public don their shorts, get out their barbecues and open a can of lager. Okay, I did none of those things but there was no way I was locking myself inside the house all weekend while there were (much-fabled) blue skies outside, and thus, Saturday was spent at the beach with my nephew and niece as evidenced in the picture on the left.

Side-note: this explains why my post at work has been late for the past week, the poor postman is stuck in the sand.

Then today, I diligently edited my BF story but didn't quite tick it off the list as I want to have another read through and then maybe another and... Will you just let it go already. I also answered the interview questions though cannot guarantee my replies were interesting, thought provoking or wacky. Okay, there may have been some wacky. I'm still to write the story due April 1st though as I'm a fool...for the sunshine. I spent the remainder of the afternoon on a deckchair, soaking up the sun and reading.

Hey, in Britain this sudden sunshine may be all we get until next year. By the way, our heatwave topped about 68° F. Who shivered?

Sale Now On

DarkFuse are having a sale which means you can buy the Barbed Wire Hearts hardcover (it's a gorgeous looking book) for just $12.50 (previous price $25).

Half price.

I should probably have added exclamation marks to that last paragraph. Here are some!!! So if you're interested in reading the tale of a boy who loses his heart in a rather unfortunate way, a dead girl whose heart starts beating again and an evil heart-collecting goatish man, then you can pick it up over at DarkFuse.  (It is also available as an ebook).

And it would be remiss of me if I didn't point out that they also have many other excellent books for half price including novels/novellas by Lee Thompson, Gina Ranalli, Michael Louis Calvillo, Greg Gifune, Ronald Malfi, John Skipp and many more. You can find the full list here.

P.S. I forgot to say that it's a signed limited edition book

Do Not Adjust your Television Sets...

...or maybe that should be 'do not adjust your Kindle'.

My story collection, Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits, is currently unavailable to buy as a Kindle eBook (and my publisher's other books have also been removed from Amazon - this also affects the 52 Stitches anthologies). I don't know the full details, but hopefully the situation will be rectified soon...and if not, Strange Men is still available as a paperback in both the US and UK stores.

And paperbacks are prettier anyway.

It was a shock to find the book had disappeared from the store (I thought it a glitch at first and obsessively checked Amazon waiting for it to reappear) and I guess this is a little how it feels when a book goes out of print. Of course, mine is just one little book whereas my publisher is dealing with losing quite a few titles (he must be frantic).

Meanwhile... back to the story that refuses to be.

16 Days...

...that's how long there is until an anthology I want to write something for closes to submissions. I have a germ of an idea and three thousand words in notes (I actually thought I only had a thousand words until I checked the word count) most of which I'll throw away because they're thoughts in progress and things keep evolving.

I like that things are evolving. I just wish they'd evolve a little quicker. I also need to stop looking at my desk calendar and then twirling in my chair, eyes wide in fright.

Back in the heady summer of 2008, I wrote 4 flash stories and 6 short stories in my holiday from work (I assume it rained) - that is over 16 days - and although some were trunked (I shouldn't attempt tentacles or coffee) others sold to places such as Fantasy Magazine and Postscripts.

Thus, one story in sixteen days... Simple.

Okay, I need to check my calendar again.

Decapitating Gingerbread Men

To celebrate International Women's Day, Michael Wilson invited me over to the This is Horror site to talk abut horror and so I wrote a wee article... Decapitating Gingerbread Men. Caution: contains childnappers, flying monkeys and clowns.

What I did in February

I wrote a story about Eric Snow that's sure to melt your heart. He's out in the world seeking acceptance
I thought about things for Bibliotheca Fantastica (Dagan Books anthology - deadline March 31st) and made some odd little notes.

Those are the shorts for this month.

Completed the first draft of The Bureau of Them (previously titled Wicked, Full of Promises) at 21,876 words (20,000 words of which were completed this month) and I ended the month 12,786 words into the second draft and discovered that people are not necessarily called what you think they're called. The minor characters aren't playing ball but I will discover their true names.

Didn't touch Cobwebs at all. Permission to slap my wrists granted.

Those are the longer things.

Jeremy C Shipp accepted Dreams of a Ragged Doll for the Attic Toys anthology
The story I wrote last month The Mechanical Heart of Him found a home (Daily Science Fiction)
An old story The Scratch of an Old Record (originally published in Necrotic Tissue) is to made into a podcast (that's a first for me)

So that's two and a bit acceptances.

Other things...
- I wrote a Women in Horror post for Damien Walters Grintalis's blog.
- I lost 8 pounds. In weight, not money. I lost far more money, I'm sure.
- I finished watching season 3 of Fringe and now have to wait until about September for season 4 to be released on DVD. Next up, I'm going to try Broadwalk Empire, which I bought on DVD a few months back. Damn Sky and their darn exclusive Atlantic channel.
- I danced like a mad woman to The Muppets theme tune.
- Armed with a laptop and a debit card I hunted down the lesser-spotted blue guitar just in time for my nephew's 5th birthday. I ate cake. Actually, I ate two cakes because my niece was 7 the same weekend. Well not the whole birthday cake, obviously...Small people would have bitten my hands off if I'd tried. Hands don't taste as good as cake.
- Davy Jones died, which made lots of people :(. I had the pleasure of seeing The Monkees (minus Mike Nesmith - I ♥ Mike Nesmith) in concert in the late 80s. They were fekkin' brilliant.

The Mechanical Heart of Him

I am delighted to announce that the folk at Daily Science Fiction have accepted my short story The Mechanical Heart of Him.

Third acceptance of the year. Need to write more short stories. Bites fingernails and looks at looming deadlines...no, seriously, I do. Writers should be given special clocks at birth that they can use to slow down time when they have a ton of things to write.

This will be my second story published at Daily Science Fiction. My previous story Exit Stage Life  (a very wee flash) was published last September.

Barrel Organ Phil & His Marvellous Monkey

It's strange what we remember and what we don't.

I recall going to a hospital with my nan when I was small and that the lobby area was a large circular room. I can still recall the echoing sounds of our footsteps. My mum says this never happened and there is no such hospital in Liverpool.

I also recall a man with a monkey playing an organ in the city centre when I was little. To which I was told to stop being silly and such things hadn't existed since the early 1900s... Muahaha.

While trawling the internet today, I somehow found myself at You Tube searching for old videos of Liverpool and came across this...



...check out the video at about 4:05.

Now all I need to do is find that darn hospital. My quest to prove I am always right continues...


*Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Coulrophobics Beware

Behold the freaky cover for the forthcoming anthology 'Attic Toys', edited by Jeremy C Shipp, published by Evil Jester Press, and which will be available from March 2012. It includes my story Dreams of a Ragged Doll along with stories by Jeff Strand, Piers Anthony, Gary McMahon, Kate Jonez, Mae Empson, Lisa Morton, SS Michaels, Joe McKinney and others... You should click on the cover to see it in all its splendour.

The End

I've finished the first draft of my novella The Bureau of Them (previously titled: 'Wicked, Full of Promises' thanks to misheard song lyrics) and typed those magical words 'The End'. Only, it's not really is it? I mean, I'm a wee liar claiming to be done and all that. For those willing to happy dance with me with regards to this false end, I warn you, like the apocalypse, it comes in many shapes and forms.

A warning to family and non-writing friends re 'The End'.

We are currently here... First draft finished - 21,876 words
My reaction: Happy Dancing, Dreaming of Stardom
Your (possible) reaction: Excellent. Woot! Can I dance too?

In a few weeks we will be here... Second draft finished - 23,500 words
My reaction: Happy Dancing, Dreaming of Stardom
Your (possible) reaction: Fabulous. Woot! Then mid dance (arms flung up in the air, shaking that bum)... Wait, didn't she already tell us this? Then, back to the dance and... I must be mistaken.

Several weeks later... Third draft finished - 24,428 words
My reaction: Happy Dancing, Dreaming of Stardom
Your (possible) reaction: Now wait... I know you already said you'd finished this book... My hips are still aching from the last bout of wooting and squeeing.

Several more weeks later... The edits are finished - 22,000 words
My reaction: Happy Dancing, Freaking out that I may have to write a synopsis. Maybe I should tweak a few more words/sentences/chapters.
Your reaction: Shut up already.

I apologise in advance.