Writing: The Playground of Lost Toys

Writing Update Writing Update and Free Book Giveaway

Writing: The Playground of Lost Toys

Hi, World. Sorry I’ve been away so long. I’ve been going non-stop since Spain in April and haven’t even had time to post. I think I already mentioned the editing, the writing, the editing and the writing, not to mention grant applications, oh, and regular work.

writing, publishing, playground of lost toys, SF, fantasy, horror

Mary Beth Griffo Rigby, Flickr

Ursula Pflug and I finished our selection and edits of the stories for The Playground of Lost Toys. We’re now discussing cover art with the publisher but none of us can agree. Still, we’re looking at a November release from Exile Editions. Initially we were worried because people did not seem to be expanding their imaginations when it came to thinking about toys or games. We wanted unusual. Too many creepy doll stories have been done to death, and we did get a few. Then there was the stuffy barrage, and oddly enough bunnies more than bears. People seemed stuck in the same old tropes and there was little that excited us. I began to worry but I should have known better. When a submission period opens, people will often pull out their trunk stories, ones that have been languishing without a home, and send them in.

Some may be suitable and others are a stretch. We received several very good stories from authors but there was either no toy or game, or there was no speculative element and we had stipulated that both were required. The speculative element had to be integral to the piece. Otherwise, if you can remove it and the story still runs, then you have a story that is not fantasy or science fiction. I figured with the topic that we would have a majority of fantasy stories. In the end we ended up with 22 stories, 8 or 9 of them SF, depending on how you interpret that. We have 12 women and 10 men so not a bad split in gender. They are all Canadian writers, except for Rhonda Eikamp. The mandate was that 90% had to be Canadian, due to funding rules.

The tales themselves: yes, there are two doll stories and one bunny stuffy tale. There are also stories about chess, wooden games, time travel, parallel times, dragon toys, trains, compasses, daggers, puzzles, dice, rattles, nursery rhymes, hide and seek, and show and tell, transforming toys, swings, make-believe, online games and godly games. It’s a good mix, which involves everything from nanotech and police procedurals to ghosts, magic and wishful thinking. We have a range that Ursula and I are pleased with. They’re funny, thoughtful, poignant and terrifying. Over the next few months I hope to do short interviews with the authors and post them here.

Here is the table of contents:

FUN THING FOR AGES 8 TO 10

Chris Kuriata

THE COMPASS

Joe Davies

HIDE AND SEEK

Catherine MacLeod

SHOW AND TELL

Kate Story

THE DIE

Meagan Whan

THE FOOD OF MY PEOPLE

Candas Jane Dorsey

CHAYA AND LOONY-BOY

Rati Mehrota

THE GHOST RATTLE

Nathan Adler

THE GARDEN OF OUR DECEIT

Rhonda Eikamp

HACKER CHESS

Robert Runté

AND THEY ALL LIVED TOGETHER IN A CROOKED LITTLE HOUSE

Linda DeMeulemeester

BALERO

Kevin Cockle

LESS THAN KATHERINE

Claude Lalumière

GOODBYE IS A MOUTHFUL OF WATER

Dominik Parisien

TREASURE

DVS Duncan

OF DANDELIONS AND MAGIC

Christine Daigle

WHAT NOT TO EXPECT IN THE TODDLER YEARS

Melissa Yuan-Innes

WHEN THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME

Shane Simmons

MAKOUR

Lisa Carreiro

WITH ONE SHOE

Karen Abrahamson

WHEATIESFIELDS IN FALL

Geoffrey W. Cole

BETWEEN THE BRANCHES OF THE NINE

Alex C. Renwick

My next posts will be another writing update but also about the urban archeology adventure I did in April, for my birthday. Happy Reading!