End-of-year Update

Not very much to recap this year. The one big piece of news was my publication in Realms of Fantasy in April. Meanwhile, my agent has been pitching two of my novel projects. One of those is a four-book set, of which I had written and sent her the first two, so I’ve gotten back to work on book 3. And that’s been my year! Hopefully 2012 will bring many more successes and things to report. Happy New Year to all!

Pre-quarterly update

I’ll do this before the quarter ends, since I missed the last one. No publishing news to report, although my agent is working on a pitch for a 4-book set of which I’ve written the first two. Hoping that publishers are taking a cue from the e-book world and pushing up publications dates for series, I decided to get cracking on the rest of the series. Since I wrote those two manuscripts a while ago, I have to knock the dust off, re-read them to remember what the heck I wrote, put together a more reliable index/story bible than my memory, and start planning the next two volumes. More news at such time as I have it.

The only other thing going on is a URL/email address change. Note the new email in the right column. The michellemwelch.com domain name will likely be canceled, although this website will still be here at mmwelch.wordpress.com (which is where the other URL redirected anyway). Update your links if necessary. Also, the website for the Theme and Variations anthology is going away, but never fear – both volumes are still available at Podiobooks.com. See the Theme and Variations link on this site for more information.

Still more short story news: Now available

I’m happy to announce that the April 2011 issue of Realms of Fantasy, which includes my story “The Sacrifice,” is now available in print and PDF formats. The PDF issue can be purchased from the Realms of Fantasy homepage or from this link.

I’d also like to thank editor Doug Cohen for his kind words about my story: “And I should add that if there was ever a story that deserved to be published in Realms of Fantasy, it’s “The Sacrifice” by Michelle M. Welch. Michelle submitted this story to us back when Sovereign Media was still the magazine’s publisher…” (Read more of Doug’s post.) Thanks to the folks at Realms for hanging in there with me!

More short story news: a cover and an early review

The cover for the April issue of Realms of Fantasy, which includes my story “The Sacrifice,” has been posted over at RoF’s Facebook page. Isn’t it nice? I’d like to say it was inspired by my story in particular, although that probably isn’t the case, but it’s a good match anyway, I think.

Also, Locus reviewed a pre-pub copy and has a rundown on all the stories, which you can read here. I’m thrilled to have received a RECOMMENDED tag.

The issue has gone to press and should be for sale soon.

The long-awaited publication date

Finally, news about my short story! (Subject to change, as always.) I’ve been slated for Realms of Fantasy‘s April 2011 dark fantasy issue, which should be available in March.

Now comes the tough part – writing a synopsis to post on my Stories page. Those two-liners are always the hardest…

End-of-year update

I have one! Sort of. It’s not entirely official, but after Realms of Fantasy‘s re-reopening, I’m told that they really do still intend to publish my short story “The Sacrifice.” No date yet – that’s the “not entirely official” part – but I’ve gotten the check, which puts us closer to actual publication than we were last November when I first announced the sale. While it would be intensely amusing to be able to say I killed a magazine three times (I got a verbal acceptance of the story from Realms back in 2008, before Sovereign shut it down the first time), I have the best of hopes for Damnation Press and the lasting success of the magazine under their ownership.

Meanwhile, my agent is busily shopping two novel projects, an original fantasy series that I call “what happens when I read too much Patrick O’Brian” and a children’s fantasy novel co-authored with my husband, Lejon A. Johnson. Meanwhile, I’m occupying my time working on a manuscript that I call my Big Fat Historical Fantasy, a project set during the English Civil War. It’s rapidly becoming either my latest 10-year labor of love or 10 years of my life that I’m not getting back; only time will tell which one, I guess.

TusCon schedule

I will be at TusCon in Tucson, November 13th and 14th. Here’s my preliminary schedule:

How does co-authoring work? A happy marriage, or daggers drawn? – Saturday at 12pm
Mass autographing – Saturday at 2pm
Reading – Saturday at 3pm
Buddy stories: A kind of romance? – Sunday at 12pm
Geeking out and being a Jim Butcher fangirl – TBA

Convention Season

I could have posted my CopperCon schedule much sooner than now – 4 days before the con starts – but here we are anyway:

Sat noon-130p, Court B: LIT- Book Repair
Sat 3p-4p, Dealer’s Room: FAN – Autograph Session
Sat 4p-5p, Court A: LIT – Highbrow vs. Lowbrow
Sun 9p-10p, Court C: LIT – Science Fiction and Fantasy for Your IPOD
Mon noon-1pm, Court A: LIT – World Building

I’ll also be at TusCon in November, although I haven’t received that schedule yet. I might overcome my general disinterest and incompetency at gaming, and hang out with my friends who are running the Dresden RPG.

A little later than quarterly update

Yes, it is August, not July, and well past the end of the quarter, but I was waiting on some information before I posted this. I wanted to talk about the two anthologies I was invited to, and although I won’t be appearing in either of them, I think they deserve a mention.

The first is 2020 Visions, an anthology of near-future stories from M-Brane SF, guest edited by Rick Novy. Rick has just announced the table of contents for the anthology. He’s got an amazing lineup – I look forward to it coming out and I’m sure I can recommend it highly to any speculative fiction fan. It’s slated for publication in November.

The second project is from Michael A. Stackpole and is a fascinating experiment in online publishing. The Chain Story project is a loose collaboration among a number of well-known writers, all working within a frame story of “The Wanderers’ Club” – a gathering place for adventurers to congregate and tell of their latest exploits. While roughly Steampunk in tone, the stories in the anthology are wonderfully varied in style and setting. The stories premier for free on their authors’ website, which you can find linked to the Chain Story hub site. Enjoy!

Quarterly update

I hate to let this page go so long without posting something, so I’ll post my news for the first quarter of the year, which isn’t much.

My story “Hard for Us” appeared in the January issue of M-Brane SF. Their one-year anniversary issue is packed with some wonderful stories by a variety of fine writers, so I suggest you check it out. Issue #12 is available in PDF for $2.00.

I’m still waiting on a publication date for my story “The Sacrifice,” which should appear sometime this year in Realms of Fantasy, probably July or later.

I’ve gotten invitations to a couple of anthologies and I’ve started work there. I haven’t yet submitted the stories or been accepted, however, so I don’t want to say too much about them at this point. Still, I’m quite excited about the invitations.

I’ve also started putting together the next volume (or “Opus,” if you will) of my Theme and Variations podcast anthology. I’m not ready to confirm authors quite yet, but I’ll post that information as soon as I’ve got the lineup finalized. If all goes well, I plan to launch in August.

And as always, I’m waiting on news about my three novel projects that are being shopped. I’m hoping that 2010 will be a successful year!