Fran Wilde's Blog, page 28

Meet Novelocity & January Short Fiction Reads

Noveloceraptor… because books are delicious

A few weeks ago, ten intrepid authors began blogging about questions relevant to your interests. From tracking monthly science fiction and fantasy debuts to answering questions about reading, writing, and things in between, the gang at Novelocity is worth a read – or several reads.

Novelocity features authors J. Kathleen Cheney (The Golden City & The Seat of Magic [Roc, 2013-2014]), E.C. Ambrose (Elisha Barber & Elisha Magus [Daw, 2013-2014]), Beth Ca...

On Campbell Award *Ineligibility* and The Eligibility of Others

This year marks a new milestone. I’m no longer eligible for consideration for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. And I’m totally fine with that. Mostly.

I’ll tell you why: During the period when I was eligible, I published approximately 2500 words across three flash stories in Nature (2012) and Daily Science Fiction(2011). I enjoyed writing these stories; I learned from writing them. I heard from readers who said they enjoyed them too. That made me happier than I can possibly sum...

309,157

WIP, with coffee.

Colorwise, #309157 is a soft evergreen. Closest web-safe color is #339966.


309,157 is the 26,736th prime (this is me, squeeing because: prime number).




US Patent #309157 was awarded to one Eliphalet O. Norton of Boone, IL in 1884 for an improved hay-carrier. Which does exactly what it says.

For me, 309,157 is the number of words I wrote in 2013, minus those I’ll write this morning. It includes revisions to my novel, Bone Arrow, drafts of the first four chapters of Bone Arrow’s se...

Dragons! SF Mind Meld & SFWA reblogs Cooking the Books

This week, I’m a guest at SF Signal, where we’re talking Dragons –What makes dragons appealing? How do you use dragons in your own writing? What are your favorite depictions in fantasy? You should go check out the excellent answers from all the guests: Authors Scott Lynch, Sherwood Smith, Jon Sprunk, Peter Orullian, A.M. Dellamonica, Jamie Wyman, Tessa Gratton, Stellar Four’s Meghan B., Courtney Schafer, and L. Jagi Lamplighter.

The SFWA blog has reprinted my Cooking the Books interview with S...

The Necessities of Tea: Cooking the Books with Ann Leckie

Friends, perhaps you have heard of this amazing novel Ancillary Justice? If no, please read Liz Bourke’s review. I’ll wait….

Ok! Welcome back – and we are so pleased to have Ann Leckie as our guest for the final Cooking the Books of the year. That is Ann Leckie, friend to all, drinker of tea, purveyor of kindness at conventions, Ann Leckie, science fiction novelist whose first book has hit NPR’s Best Reads of 2013, and pretty much all the lists, everywhere. Including here. This Ann Leckie. Of...

2013 Favorite Reads

What did you read this year and where did you write about it?

I read a lot of different things, but I slacked and put only most of my reading on goodreads. I posted other things at the Between the Bookends columns hosted by Geekmom. And I posted about short stories, novellas, novellettes and novels I read right here on this blogover the course of the year.

So many amazing reads, short and long. As always, I know I’ve forgotten things. As always, I am still catching up on my short story reading...

Great Dangerous Voices!

Leanna Renee Heiber reads; a dalek looks on.

The inaugural Dangerous Voices Variety Hour was this weekend, and I am certain there will be many more. Once we got the definitions clear, “featured author” being quite different than “tortured author” and made sure that the organizers had not, in fact, ordered a dunk dank for the event, we, and the audience, were on our way.

Reading with Leanna Renee Heiber was a blast – she read “Charged,” from the Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells anthology, which w...

Here, There, and Baltimore

Dangerous Voices Variety Hour

Next Saturday, December 7, I’ll join Leanna Renee Hieber as a guest at the first-ever Dangerous Voices Variety Hour, put on by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. I have it on good authority from hosts Sarah Pinsker and Michael R. Underwood that we won’t be expected to dance, sing or spin plates atop sticks… unless we want to. Also, there will be a quiz show. And Mayhem.

So! Should you be in the area and wish to learn, along with me, exactly what goes into a Dan...

Time You Can Eat: Cooking the Books with Bee Ridgway

When you think about it, cooking and time travel have a lot in common. Preservation brings food forward in time. And occasionally, the act of dining resembles a race against time. Author Bee Rigeway, whose time-leaping novel The River of No Return debuted from Dutton Press in 2013, applied her knowledge of food to the problem of time travel. She joins Cooking the Books to talk about rot, cheese, canning, romance, and more.

Thank you for joining us, Bee!

My pleasure.

In The River of No Return, we...

NYRSF Wrap-up and Picspam

photo by Sam J. Miller

Last week was super busy. First, the NYRSF reading, then a very heavy writing week, and finally, Philcon. Today, I bring you picspam from NYRSF. I’ll talk about Philcon a bit later.

On Tuesday, I drove up to NYC with my friend Melissa Maddonni Haims. We met authors Nancy Hightower (check out her amazing book, Elementari Rising, fresh off the presses!), Ilana Teitelbaum, and D.T. Friedman for some great conversation and excellent food before we all trooped around the corne...