L.D. Colter's Blog, page 14

Last Day to Nominate for the Hugo Awards

Final updates on my Hugo nomination ballot - DONE.
Now I'm going to start reading 2016 works so I don't have to cram during the whole month of March next year!

Up and Coming

In my last year of eligibility I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the John W Campbell award with three of my stories: "The Ties That Bind, The Chains That Break" edited by Mike Resnick and published in Galaxy's Edge Magazine, "The Clouds in Her Eyes" edited by Dave Wolverton and published in Writers of the Future v 30, and "Echoes" edited by Katrina Forest and published in Urban Fantasy Magazine.
A huge anthology containing many of the stories eligible for the award will be coming out March 1st with a free download available during the month of March only. Information on the anthology and how to submit can be found here: Up and Coming: Stories By the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

My Reading List Keeps Growing

According to Goodreads, I read 26 books last year. There may be more that I didn't log before I started using Goodreads to keep track of my books, but if so, not many more. So about a book every two weeks. Not great, but not terrible. Until you consider that I already have 69 books on my to-read list for this year. The SFF year-end lists have contributed heavily to my backlog: Best of 2015, Best of Upcoming in 2016, etc, as did winning a fantastic book bundle through Clarkesworld Magazine - The Vandermeer Winter Tape Mix, which included a number of books I'd heard about and new ones I'm excited to explore. Add to that the number of folks I'm privileged to know, personally or peripherally, who have new books recently released or coming out soon, and my list keeps growing. Below, are just a few I'm looking forward to from favorite authors, books by authors new to me that are getting good buzz, and books out soon from folks I know. 
And here are just a few links to some of the lists for recommended books:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/25-of-the-best-sff-books-of-2015/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/42-sff-books-we-cant-wait-to-read-in-2016-in-2-sentences-or-less/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/2016-books-sff-editors-want-you-to-read/
http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2016/01/favorite-books-of-2015/

Steal the Sky by Megan O'Keefe Is Out Today

The first book in Megan O'Keefe's Scorched Continent series is out today. And look at the great reviews: Steal the Sky

An Author Spotlight Interview with eSpec Books

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – LIZ COLTER (THE WEIRD WILD WEST)DECEMBER 18, 2015 ~ ESPEC BOOKS
 

eSpec Books interviews Liz Colter, author of “Sundown” from  The Weird Wild West  edited by Misty Massey, Emily Lavin Leverett, and Margaret S. McGraw.

eSB: What is your favorite western movie and why?
LC: I don’t think I could choose between my two favorites, Unforgiven and 3:10 to Yuma. I love them for the same reasons; both movies are well-written, well-acted, and are fabulous character studies. In fact, those two movies rank not only as favorite westerns but are among my all-time favorite movies, period.

eSB: What is your favorite spec fic/western mash-up?
LC: Daniel Craig was great in Cowboys and Aliens. Serenity, though, is my perennial favorite. It takes place in space instead of the old west, so may not strictly qualify as a Weird Western, but it definitely has that spec fic/western mash-up thing going for it. Not that mashing spec fic and westerns is a new concept either – I mean, who could forget Yul Brynner in Westworld?

eSB: Can you tell us anything about your story for The Weird Wild West?
LC: Not much if I want to avoid spoilers, except that I wanted to write something unexpected. Westerns often follow a common plot arc. I decided to mess with that. I liked the result enough that I may even have some additional “Sundown” stories yet to write.

eSB: How do you research to capture that western feel?
LC: I sort-of live it. Hubby is a Texan and an ex-cowboy. He’s full of stories of things like riding into Mexico when he was young and working on remote cattle ranches all the way from Texas up to Canada. As far as my personal experience, I farmed for about five years with my team of draft horses, and my husband and I still own and ride trail horses. And if I ever needed historical facts, my brother has written and published an entire series of non-fiction books on the old west.

eSB: Have you had any weird western experiences of your own? Please tell us about it.
LC: Weird experiences, check. Western experiences, check. Sadly no weird western experiences yet.

eSB: Which Wild West archetype (Gambler, Outlaw, Saloon Girl, School Marm, Railroad Man, Pioneer, Cowboy, Lawman or Indian) would you chose to be and why?
LC: Guess it would have to be Cowboy what with the riding, ranching, and farming experience I mentioned. There were some fabulously independent and interesting women who fit the archetype (far more than just the few famous ones) from pioneers to gun-wielding, pants-wearing cowboys, but I think I’d have to choose your basic Rowdy Yates (Rawhide) or Dan Evans (3:10 to Yuma) cowboy. Something so poignant about that hard-working, hard-luck classic cowboy.

eSB: What are some of your own works readers can look for?
LC: Some of my short stories in anthologies include Writers of the Future, Volume 30, Athena’s Daughters 2 from Silence in the Library, and Fae from World Weaver Press. Magazine publications include Galaxy’s Edge Magazine (issue 13) and Urban Fantasy Magazine (August, 2015).
​
eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?
LC: I have two fantasy novels currently under consideration and a third nearly completed. They run the gamut from epic fantasy to urban fantasy to weird fantasy. The weird fantasy is the current project, as I find my work drifting further toward the fringes with every new project.

The Weird Wild West - Book Giveaway on Goodreads

Goodreads is hosting a giveaway for this upcoming anthology of weird western stories, that will include my short story "Sundown." There are three copies up for grabs, so if you'd like one check out The Weird Wild West on Goodreads and scroll down to the giveaway info. One week left to enter!

Happy Hump Day

I know that I've blogged/posted very little over the past few months while I've been absorbed in finishing my latest novel. I've also written hardly anything new except this WIP novel. My short story inventory is lower than it's been in many years. And here I am today, just like yesterday, with more free time than usual, procrastinating the edits on my last 7 chapters. I'll blame it on 5 days of muscle relaxants for a vicious neck spasm, whether that's the root of it or not. Maybe I'll chug over the hump of my inertia soon and a massive burst of productivity will kick in by this afternoon. I sure hope so. Goal for this novel is to have the final draft done by early December, and I probably have one to two more read-throughs after these last chapter edits.

I did manage to accomplish a few things this week. I re-read my entire novel #2 over the past few days in preparation to submit it to an especially good-fit open call. It felt good to find so little I felt needed line editing - even after not reading that novel for a very long time - and to find that I still enjoy the characters and story as much as when I wrote it.

Yesterday, my main accomplishment was on a much smaller level - I organized "My Books" on Goodreads. I found I have 48 novels in my "to read" list (47 now that I started "The Martian" yesterday.) I wanted some sense of the order of the next few I plan to read. I'm tired of doing the same searches every time I pick a new book: looking through Amazon for Kindle version that offers Whispersync, checking Audible if e-book with Whispersync isn't available or costs more than a monthly Audible membership, then checking library audio catalogs if I can't find an audio version to buy. If all that fails, then an internet search for MP3 options or out of circulation or used audio versions for sale ensues. As a last resort, I'll do Kindle text-to-speech if I absolutely have to.

I don't actually HAVE to read in audio. My only reading disability is my time-limit for dedicated reading. Audio while I walk the dogs and drive and maybe do things around the house - if they don't take much attention away from the book - is my primary reading time by a huge margin. As of today, I have my Goodreads list organized into 'already own', 'already on wish list', and 'can't find in audio' so I won't keep repeating my searches every time I finish one book and go to start another.

A new tool I discovered on Goodreads is stats, where I learned that of the books I've tracked on Goodreads, I've read 20 novels so far this year. Not impressive by any means, and I probably tracked most of them, but a couple of books or so a month isn't terrible for me either. If I double my effort, I could get through my current to-read list in about another year (by which time it will have grown by at least as much again). On the other hand, I love, love, love that there is so much good reading out there waiting for me to get to it!

But first, back to those chapter edits.

16 Graphs That Introverts Will Totally Understand

16 Graphs That Introverts Will Totally Understand
Follow the link to see them all. She nailed it!

"Writing While Female" by Catherine Nichols

Depressing but not surprising. Depressing that it isn't surprising.
Homme-de-Plume

"Echoes" featured in August Issue of Urban Fantasy Magazine

The August issue of Urban Fantasy Magazine is out. My short story "Echoes" is included this month along with writing buddy Samuel Marzioli's story "A Thing in All My Things." Other features include another installment of "Dead Records" and the non-fiction articles: an interview with Lev Grossman on "The Magicians", "What is Urban Fantasy", and reviews of "City of Fae" and "Loose Changeling."
I'm delighted to be a part of this issue and it was fun surprise to receive the author's copy last week and see the cover art from "Echoes."