Throwback Thursday

Whew! July was a packed month. Holiday weekends, Shark Week, Olympics, Comic-con, the apparent heat death of the universe with 100 degree temps for weeks on end. Busy busy busy. While I spent the month working on a lot of new projects, a bunch of my older projects got some love and attention, too! So, this month’s newsletter is dedicated to a Throwback Thursday for news on my 2024 backlist (and it’s actually a Thursday when this is getting sent out. Destiny, methinks).

“They Will Dance Among Planets” is on the Nebula Reading List!

Just as the title above says, my sci-fi flash story “They Will Dance Among Planets” has been recommended to the 2024 Nebula Reading List under the category of Short Stories. This is only the second time something I have written has been added to the list, and I am thrilled that it is this story that means so much to me personally and that went on quite the journey to publication. Huge thanks to Flash Point SF, the magazine that gave it a shot and published it, and massive thanks to the folks who recommended it to the list.

If you haven’t read “They Will Dance Among Planets” yet, it is FREE to read with Flash Point SF, and if you are a SFWA member, you can upvote the story on the list to help it gain more readers and make my day.

Three Phrase Thursday with SFWA

Continuing with SWFA news, they featured one of my stories for their Three Phrase Thursday post on Instagram. “Draconis astronomus” as summed up by me is: Sisterhood of Scientists, Childhood Dreams Come True, and Space Dragons! (I will never get tired of writing and/or shouting Space Dragons. Please, if you read my story, feel free to also randomly post and/or shout Space Dragons. It’s a lot of fun, I promise.) 

If any of those things sound interesting to you, might I recommend giving “Draconis astronomus” a read. You can find it inside the pages of Dragon Gems Winter 2024, which you can purchase in print or ebook versions from your retailer of choice.

“The Fine Art of Spellweaving” is the Top 10 Most Read

I’ve won my first award! Sort of. Stupefying Stories, which published my story “The Fine Art of Spellweaving”, took a look at their data and found out which of the stories were the most read this year so far, and “Spellweaving” made the Top 10! It sits at #8 specifically. This means that readers like you liked the story enough to talk about it with your friends, on socials, etc., and more people went to read it, too! Word of mouth is well and truly the best way to spread the word about stories and support authors. This may be a small, snapshot achievement in the grand scheme of SFF awards, but it means so much to me that readers have found and enjoyed my little witchy tale.

You can check out the full list of the Top 10 as well as links to read all the stories on the list FREE, including “The Fine Art of Spellweaving.”

Summer School Is Over

Sad news: My latest publication “Ms. Anaria’s Classroom Rules for W̶e̶l̶l̶-̶B̶e̶h̶a̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶K̶i̶n̶d̶e̶r̶g̶a̶r̶t̶n̶e̶r̶s̶ When Alien Ambassadors Dock with the Wrong Ship” is no longer free to read with Nature Futures. But fear not! You can always subscribe to Nature, access it through your institution, or buy just my story as a standalone article. Ms. Anaria is still there, waiting with a scientifically inaccurate gold star sticker for you.

Behind the Scenes with “The Fine Art of Spellweaving”

(No story spoilers, just authorly embarrassment.)

In honor of “The Fine Art of Spellweaving” placing in the Top 10 Most Read, I decided to give a little backstory on its creation.

“Spellweaving” began as a response to a flash fiction contest. It was my first time participating in this contest. I read the prompt, wrote the story, felt great about it, sent it in…and then withdrew it in a panic almost immediately.

Something you need to know about me: when I write, I edit stories to nearly the best I possibly can before I send them to trusted readers for feedback. This contest, though, gave me a mere two days to brainstorm, write, and edit an entire story before I then had to send it in to be scored by strangers! And my rough drafts are…rough. That’s why I edit so much before inflicting them upon others’ eyeballs. I don’t normally let anyone see how the story sausage gets made.

So, I had a bit of an anxiety attack about it all. What if everyone hates it? What if when we reveal the authors behind the stories everyone hates me? What if this story becomes the stain on my writing career for all eternity! (My anxiety brain is highly dramatic.) I withdrew the story and spent a week clearing my head before I jumped back into the contest the following round where I had a blast and absolutely none of my anxious predictions came true.

But “Spellweaving” still existed, nagging at the back of my brain. I left it mostly alone for the better part of a year before pulling it back out to use as practice for writing holiday themed stories. (“Spellweaving”, of course, was for my Halloween practice.) As I played around with it, I liked where the story was ending up, and as I edited and polished it and let it breathe through my normal writing process, I found confidence in it again. So, I sent it out…and it was promptly rejected.

Fine, fine! That’s the nature of the submission game. I kept at it and was very excited when Stupefying Stories picked it up for their Showcase features. Now “The Fine Art of Spellweaving” has a home and, apparently, a decently large readership. Since its creation, I’ve worked on producing much better first drafts, easing my anxiety around seeking critique partners for my stories, and gaining confidence in my work at all stages of the writing process. 

So, please, give “The Fine Art of Spellweaving” some love and attention for being a learning experience for this anxious writer.

And that’s it for this Throwback Thursday!

Keep on writing on.

—Catherine