Nanowrimo 2014 is go!

Published on by Sara Norja Category: nanowrimo, novelling, personal babble

November is here, and Nanowrimo with it! Huzzah!

This year, I was going to have an Outline. A proper outline, with the main plotlines all neat and organised, and the major incidents all plotted out. Aww, self, so optimistic.

Well, suffice it to say that as a) I am more of a pantser than a plotter at the best of times, and b) my October was so full of academic busytimes (fun busytimes! good busytimes! but omg so busy!) – I didn’t have much time or energy to plan in great detail. Yes, I’ve had a lot of stuff about this forest world and had general ideas percolating for a while now. I’ve got some history thought out, and sort of a general plot idea, and some characters. But no detailed outline.

Now it’s Nano time, and I’ve decided, OK, screw it, I’m going the tried and true “just start writing and figure out the plot as you go” route. It’s going well so far! I had a horrible time trying to get started today, but once I got some crap written, I suddenly came up with an idea as to how FMC#1 gets to start on her journey. And now I’ve got Chapter 2 sort of planned, too. Also, I have an idea for an ending! So I think it’ll be all right. I’m hoping to have lots of fun, anyway.

Oh yeah, even though I failed at plot-prepping, I did make a map a while back, though! Check it out (still attached to my drawing board with beautiful masking tape)!

nano map 2014

Mmm, watercolours. I should actually shove the image into Gimp and see about actually indicating places on the map… I don’t want to spoil the pretty picture in real life. 🙂

In conclusion:
Word count: 1681
Beverages enjoyed: A glass of red wine
Feeling: Better than I was when I started today! Oh Nanowrimo, I’d missed you so.

Now for some more novelling. I want to get Chapter 1 done today.

Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2014

Published on by Sara Norja Category: promotion

Long time no blog! I’ve had an amazing although exhausting time of it lately, what with a trip to the UK to look at medieval manuscripts, plus two conference things. I was totally exhausted when I came home today, but then I ended up submitting several stories and poems anyway… Relaxation, so hard sometimes.

Anyway! To the point of this post! Which is to say that the Strange Horizons fund drive for 2014 is ongoing. SH is an amazing non-profit speculative magazine – and as can be seen from my rec posts, I often like the stuff they publish. Some of my SH faves from 2014 include:

It’s been a pleasure to have a poem published in SH (and another forthcoming), too, in the company of so many great writers. SH has been great to work with, and of course it’s pretty nice to be paid pro rates. 🙂

Please consider donating to help keep SH alive and publishing awesome, diverse stories and poems (reviews and columns too)!

Sunday recs: Two stories from DSF

Published on by Sara Norja Category: flash fiction, linkage, short stories

My PhD studies have kept me busy, but I’ve still made time for reading and writing fiction, too. For what is life without writing and reading? No, seriously, I don’t quite understand people who don’t read for fun. It’s just SO AWESOME.

Anyway, here’s two short stories that I’ve enjoyed during the past week, both from Daily Science Fiction:

Thrash by Deborah Walker. I really liked the twist in this flash story. The ending left me hankering for the story to continue, though. Intriguing world.

When it Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster. A haunting, beautiful story with delicious descriptions of dance. (I just found out that Eugie Foster recently passed away. I figure reading her stories is a good way of keeping her memory alive. So do go and read.)

Sunday recs: Fairytale, memory loss, alien chess

Published on by Sara Norja Category: linkage, novelette, short stories

Three awesome stories for you this Sunday.

How the Milkmaid Struck a Bargain With the Crooked One by C.S.E. Cooney (in Giganotosaurus). Gaaaah, this story made me have all the feelings. It’s long, but it’s SO worth it – what a treat to sink into a world like this. (Incidentally, it’s a sequel of sorts to The Last Sophia, which I believe I’ve recced here previously.) A gorgeous, detailed fairytale retelling with cool worldbuilding, a great first-person narrator, and gorgeous language. And rhymes! Basically: everything about this story is amazing.

Icarus Falls by Alex Shvartsman (in Daily Science Fiction). An aging protagonist suffering from memory loss – this story of space travel and a mother-daughter relationship is sad but in a very beautiful way.

Zugzwang by Curtis C. Chen (also in DSF). A middle-aged woman is challenged to a game of alien chess to save the crew of a spaceship. This story could’ve been bleak, but instead it made me happy and hopeful.

Sunday recs: Strange stuff

Published on by Sara Norja Category: linkage, short stories

Three strange stories for you this Sunday.

Seven Commentaries on an Imperfect Land by Ruthanna Emrys (at Tor.com). A haunting, weird story about a magic land that exists in the interstices of life, and the people who live in it. Gorgeous illustrations too.

Speaking to Skull Kings by Emily B. Cataneo (at Betwixt Magazine). The world of this story is bleak and bizarre but fascinating, with strange skull kings rattling in a forest.

Observations About Eggs from the Man Sitting Next to Me on a Flight from Chicago, Illinois to Cedar Rapids, Iowa by Carmen Maria Machado (at Lightspeed). Eggs and parallel universes. Weird but intriguing.

Sunday recs: Two poems

Published on by Sara Norja Category: linkage, poetry

Two poems for this sun-warm Sunday.

‘Song for an Ancient City’ by Amal El-Mohtar (in Mythic Delirium): gorgeous, makes me feel the sand and spices, the heat of the sun.

‘The Sea King’s Second Bride’ by C.S.E. Cooney (in a 2010 issue of Goblin Fruit). For me, the poem works more magic as a performance: here is a video where Claire Cooney brings it to life with such vigour, such amazing acting-magic. I was totally bowled over by her performance – I was just watching and listening with my mouth open. Do watch. It’s breathtaking.

Sunday recs: Happy-making stuff

Published on by Sara Norja Category: linkage, poetry, short stories

It’s still Sunday even though it’s past midnight, since I haven’t gone to bed yet, right?

Here’s three recs that I hope will make you feel as fuzzy inside as they made me:

Turnover by Jo Walton (at Lightspeed Magazine): beautiful, optimistic SF set in a spaceship called Speranza (the name isn’t subtle and I don’t even care).

Witch, Beast, Saint: an Erotic Fairy Tale by C.S.E. Cooney (at Strange Horizons): a strange and beautiful love story with a great narrator. (Note: it is indeed erotica and thus fairly explicit.)

Freyja by Nina Pelaez (at Goblin Fruit – vintage GF from 2011): a golden poem filled with summer-happiness.

Sunday recs: Everything Martha Wells has ever written

Published on by Sara Norja Category: books, flailing, review

I was introduced to Martha Wells’ books earlier this year through this squee post by Kate Elliott (whose work I love, as I’ve mentioned before on this blog).

I’m so glad I discovered Martha Wells! I’ve been reading everything of hers that I’ve been able to get my hands on. Wells is an amazing worldbuilder – such unique, well-thought-out worlds – but more than that, she’s a great storyteller. I’ve nommed all her books really quickly, because the plots progress with such addictive pacing that I don’t want to put them down.

I’ve especially loved the Fall of Ile-Rien Trilogy (among the best books I’ve read this year, by far! such amazing characters and world and asdgjhsdgl squee), and the Books of the Raksura. I’m currently reading the third book of the Raksura, The Siren Depths (after swiftly devouring the second book The Serpent Sea), and had to consciously stop myself from gulping it down all in one sitting. (I had things to do today, after all.) I just love Wells’ characters, her settings, just, all of it. I can only hope to be as good a writer as her some day.

In conclusion: wow, much awesome, such addictive. Do yourself a favour and read Martha Wells. I’m going to go and read some more of The Siren Depths in bed now. Will try not to stay up too late…

Poetry sale to Stone Telling

Published on by Sara Norja Category: finnish, poetry, publication

My poem ‘Kuura (extract from a Finnish-English dictionary)’ will be published in a “new poets” issue of Stone Telling. Huzzah!

I’ve admired Stone Telling’s thoughtfully compiled and beautiful issues for a long time, so I’m thrilled to be part of this future issue. I’m also very glad that ‘Kuura’ has found a home; it’s part of a series of poetic definitions for Finnish words that either defy single-word definitions or are very strongly Finnish in nature.