Tag: writing

Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014 to Include “The Box Wife”!

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Apparently, this is the little story that could.

I’m very excited to announce that “The Box Wife” which originally appeared in Shock Totem issue #9 will also be included in the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014!

years-best-fantasy-and-horror-v5.web_

The full TOC is as follows:

  1. “Shadows of the Lonely Dead” by Alan Baxter [Suspended in Dusk]
  2. “The Changeling” by James Bradley [Fearsome Magics]
  3. “Soul Partner” by Imogen Cassidy [Aurealis 74]
  4. “The Bullet & The Flesh” by David Conyers & David Kernot [World War Cthulhu]
  5. “The Corpse Rose” by Terry Dowling [Nightmare Carnival]
  6. “The Oud” by Thoraiya Dyer [Long Hidden Anthology]
  7. “Metempsychosis” by Jason Franks [SQ Magazine]
  8. “Of Gold and Dust” by Michelle Goldsmith [Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 60]
  9. “1884” by Michael Grey [Cthulhu Lives: An Eldrich Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft]
  10. “Escapement” by Stephanie Gunn [Kisses by Clockwork]
  11. “Vox” by Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter [The Female Factory]
  12. “Of The Colour Tumeric, Climbing on Fingertips” by Gerry Huntman [Night Terrors III]
  13. “Dolls for Another Day” by Rick Kennett [The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows: Vol 2]
  14. “Chiaroscuro” by Charlotte Kieft [Disquiet]
  15. “Kneaded” by SG Larner [Phantazein]
  16. “Yard” by Claire McKenna [Use Only As Directed]
  17. “A Prayer for Lazarus” by Andrew J. McKiernan [Last Year, When We Were Young]
  18. “Signature” by Faith Mudge [Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi]
  19. “The Preservation Society” by Jason Nahrung [Dimension6]
  20. “The Box Wife” by Emma Osborne [Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre & Twisted #9]
  21. “Shedding Skin” by Angela Rega [Crossed Genres]
  22. “The Love Letters of Swans” by Tansy Rayner Roberts [Phantazein]
  23. “The Badger Bride” by Angela Slatter [Strange Tales IV]
  24. “New Chronicles of Andras Thorn” by Cat Sparks [Dimension6 Annual Collection 2014]
  25. “The Walking-stick Forest” by Anna Tambour [Tor.com]
  26. “Necromancy” by Kyla Ward [Spectral Realms #1]
  27. “Bridge of Sighs” by Kaaron Warren [Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror]
  28. “Lady of the Swamp” by Janeen Webb [Death at the Blue Elephant]

I’m thrilled to be included in such a great issue. If you’re inclined to do so, you can preorder the issue at Indiebooksonline.

“The Box Wife” is also slated to appear in PseudoPod in the near future.

Another Crack

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I sent my Clarion West and Clarion UCSD applications off last weekend. What a relief to have it finally done!

This is my fifth try for CW and my fourth for UCSD. I reckon I’ve gone through all of the stages of grief after being rejected in previous years. Right now, I’m feeling excited and hopeful. I don’t know why, but I have a great feeling about 2015.

I think it’s because, this year, I’m completely happy with my application and I feel ready on a personal level to attend. I’ve also experienced the rush that comes with working until you’re ready to scream and pushing through it (which yes, has happened in the past, but for many reasons, it isn’t quite the same).

I feel like I’ve leveled up just by getting my application together, and I know that whatever happens, this year is going to be exciting and filled with hard work and travel and beautiful people.

Wish me luck! Hurrah!

The Box Wife Now Available

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I’m very happy to announce that my horror short story “The Box Wife” is now available in Shock Totem #9! You can grab it on Kindle here, or pre-order a print edition (yes! It is in actual print! Swoon!) here.

Here’s what editor K. Allen Wood has to say about it:

With a touch of SF, Emma Osborne’s “The Box Wife” is sure to leave you uncomfortable. The box wife is one and many, but you’ll recognize all.

Yep. Spooky.

There are also some really wonderful stories in the issue, including the following:

* Unacceptable Content, by Catherine Grant (Editorial)
* Buddy, by Kathryn Ohnaka
* Saturday, by Evan Dicken
* Morning Books and Evening Books: A Conversation with F. Paul Wilson, by Barry Lee Dejasu
* Thirteen Views of the Suicide Woods, by Bracken MacLeod
* Anteroom, by Peter Gutiérrez (Poetry)
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* Hey Man, by Tim Lieder
* The Nightmare Rolls On: A Conversation with Stephen Graham Jones, by Zachary C. Parker
* You Are Here, by Stephen Graham Jones
* Good Help, by Karen Runge
* Alan Roscoe’s Change of Heart, by S.R. Mastrantone

I hope that you enjoy, if you’re inclined to have a read.

Novel Draft Done!

~ emmakosborne ~ 3 Comments

Whew. So! I managed to finish writing the draft of the novel that I’ve been working on since GenreCon after Chuck Wendig gave me the challenge of finishing it in a year.

I am SO GLAD that I knocked it over. I’ve written a bunch of longer things throughout my writing life but have rarely (if ever) gotten close to the/an end and have never actually finished a novel-length story completely. Just almost. Which, I have discovered, is not the same at all.

I wrote the last chapter whilst sitting in a terribly expensive fancy organic cafe in Paris. Yep, I wrote on holidays (of course!) I wouldn’t have made my deadline otherwise, and what are holidays for if not traipsing around the world, sleeping in and writing?

That day felt amazing. The rush was incredible. I could finally see the whole shape of it. I have a bunch of things to work on when it is time for editing (it is being shelved for a couple of months at least) but overall, I’m really happy with how the story worked out in the end. And, you know, I’m really surprised with how some of it played out. When I got to the original end, I knew that there was more to tell, and the characters pushed the plot far beyond where my original ideas finished. Hmm!

So! Editing to come later, but until then, I’m going to start working on some shorter stories that have been tugging at my sleeve whilst I’ve been working on the novel.

Excelsior!

Cover Art for Shock Totem #9 Featuring The Box Wife

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I mentioned Shock Totem in my last post, and happily, I now have something to show off!

Behold, the absolutely GORGEOUS art for Shock Totem #9!

Shock Totem 9 Cover 04 (Mock Up) (1)

I have been completely spoiled with my covers from this year’s publications. Part of me wants to get this one (and hey, the delightful August Bastion SF cover) framed so that I can put it up in my house to swoon over.

My story in Shock Totem is called The Box Wife and it’s definitely the most disturbing thing I’ve ever written. I tend to write more fantasy and SF than horror, but this one came out of nowhere with an incredibly insistent voice that could not be ignored. Weirdly enough, when I made some edits (I ended up using this as a Clarion submission story for this year) I found that I could click into the voice pretty much at will. That’s never happened to me before, and it was rather disconcerting to have it happen with such difficult and challenging subject matter.

Shock Totem will be out shortly and when it is, I’ll trumpet the issue to the sky. I’m very excited and proud to share this story and I can’t wait to see what y’all think!

Long Haul Writing

~ emmakosborne ~ 4 Comments

I mostly write short stories. In the last couple of years I’ve been writing and editing and submitting and editing and submitting and reworking and trunking and occasionally finding success and writing and editing poems and short pieces of fantasy, horror and SF. This year, I’ve had a couple of things come out (in places like Apex Magazine and Bastion SF, no less!) which has been very exciting and fun. I still have a story due out shortly at Shock Totem…

Aaaaaaaand that’s about it. Nothing out on sub, except a reprint. I’m waiting for a couple of markets to re-open, and I’ve been tinkering with some stories, but mostly, I’ve been clawing my way through draft zero of the novel I’m working on.

The first 25,000 words were pretty breezy. I knocked out quite a bit during Nanowrimo last year (although November is basically MONTH OF DEATH for my day job, so that kinda makes it difficult).

Let me tell you, the next 10,000 words or so were like simultaneously pulling teeth and fingernails whilst riding a large excitable dog and trying to put on eyeliner.*

Luckily for me (and anyone who spends time in my company) things are getting (slightly) easier. I think I’ve finally broken through the tricky bits and the end is in sight.

So, with a bit of work and luck, I’ll have my draft finished by October, which is the deadline Chuck Wendig gave me.

He’s promised to steal the idea if I don’t write it all down by then, the bastard.**

So! Wish me luck writing my rather queer YA science fiction adventure! I’m having a blast and I hope that I manage to pull it off!

 

 

*I am really, REALLY not good at this. It’s basically an awful lot of poking and cursing.

**I actually wildly adore Chuck and would never question his lineage.

 

Zip out at Bastion Science Fiction Magazine/Yay Diversity in SF!

~ emmakosborne ~ 1 Comment

I’m very happy to announce that my short story Zip has recently been released in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine’s fifth issue!

August_cover

Cover art by Milan Jaram

You can download the issue right here, for less than the price of a cup of coffee:

Bastion SF Issue #5

There are some wonderful stories within, so please do check it out if you can. It is so lovely for me to show people my stories, as writing is so often a solitary process.

Bastion SF have been a delight to work with, and have been incredibly supportive and encouraging of my work. They are proud and excited to publish my military SF story, which, unlike many, features a gay protagonist yearning for his lost love. My story also includes a genderqueer character, which was also something they were very happy to see.

There has been a lot of talk about diversity in science fiction and fantasy lately, and I think we can all agree that diversity in race, gender, sexuality and religion is only ever going to make the field stronger. I’m very happy that my story can in some small way contribute to this diversification.

I’m lucky enough to have been positively reviewed already – Alexis A Hunter blogged about issue #5 kindly saying the following:

This story had to be my very favorite of the issue. It’s hard to find a single thing to dislike about this one. It hit all my favorite buttons: military sci-fi, a gay protagonist, so much glorious tech perfectly woven in, and true heart, true meaning.

I’m so happy that this story has struck a chord with people, and I’d like to thank Bastion SF for being amazingly positive about it all!

To everyone who has gone out of their way to purchase an issue, thank you. And thank you also to the spectacular people who critiqued the story for me. You guys are the best.

‘Clean Hands, Dirty Hands’ Reviewed!

~ emmakosborne ~ 1 Comment

My story ‘Clean Hands, Dirty Hands’ which appeared in Aurealis #71 has been reviewed by Tangent!

You can read the positive and lovely review here.

This is essentially my first major review and I’m thrilled that the story has been called ‘excellent’ and ‘highly recommended’. It’s also the first story I’ve had published which meets the criteria for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. My forthcoming story in Shock Totem #9 will be the second for 2014.

It’s a hugely exciting time for me and I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who has given me words of encouragement and support, especially in terms of critiquing.

Aurealis #71 is available to purchase here.

‘Clean Hands, Dirty Hands’ Out Now at Aurealis

~ emmakosborne ~ 2 Comments

I couldn’t ask for a lovelier thing to have happen on a dreary Monday morning – my fantasy story Clean Hands, Dirty Hands is now available in Aurealis #71! You can purchase a copy through Smashwords here.

And look at the pretty cover! Allow me to gush.

aurealis_71_cover_small

I’m really excited that this story is out in the world. It was originally written a couple of years ago with the applications for Clarion Writers’ Workshop and Clarion West in mind. I haven’t managed to sneak into a workshop yet, but I’m very happy that this story managed to find a home regardless.

I set Clean Hands, Dirty Hands in and around my home town, Castlemaine, albeit at a time when there were more tents than solid buildings. At its heart, it’s a story of loss and grief. Charmingly, Aurealis called my story ‘Australian Gothic writ large’. I must admit that I’m quite stoked with that.

Aurealis is also looking for subscribers to enable them to pay pro rates for their stories. They’re gunning for SFWA status as a pro market, so consider a subscription if you like what you read. It’s only $20 for a year of great fiction, and will go a long way to supporting the Australian speculative fiction community.

Edited to add: I forgot to put up a shout-out to my issue-buddy, Michael Grey. Congratulations, Michael!

“Crashdown” in Apex #60

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I’m beyond thrilled to announce that my science fiction poem Crashdown has been included in Apex Magazine’s 60 issue! Hurrah!

It has been a while since any of my poetry has seen publication (the last one being Throwback at Star*Line) and I’m delighted that Crashdown found such a prestigious and beautiful home. Apex has a history of publishing fascinating, incredible work (which shows in their impressive collection of award nominations – a Nebula and two Hugo noms this year!) and I’m exceptionally pleased to be featured in such a robust line-up.

Most of Apex #60 is up for free online here, but you get the benefit of a few extras if you purchase the issue for $2.99. It’s worth it.

I’ve switched my brain into poetry-mode quite a lot lately, and I’m hoping to have some more announcements of this ilk in the future.