publication

Flash fiction sale to The Flash Fiction Press

Published on by Sara Norja

My flash fiction piece “Memory” (fantasy, of sorts) will be appearing in The Flash Fiction Press on 21 September. I’ll post a link when it’s up!

After a bit of a fallow period during my all-too-busy summer, I’ve been increasing my fiction & poetry submission volume during the past couple of weeks. I’ve also got a lot of new – and some old – stories brewing, including a sequel to Moss. In fact, since I just spent the past hour and a half trawling through my notebooks and typing down ideas into a file for later consultation, I actually feel a bit overwhelmed by ideas. 😀 Always more ideas than time to write! And so many projects I’m working on/want to work on! (I really need to revise my poetry collection and actually send it out. I’ve been sitting on it for far too long…)

However, now out for a walk to brainstorm one of those story ideas.

Coming up later today: Sunday recs! I’ve been reading SO MUCH good stuff this week.

Watching the City origami chapbook!

Published on by Sara Norja

Yay! My mini-chapbook for the Origami Poetry Project is out!

Well, it’s been out since last week, but since I was away and internetless at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival,(*) I only found out about this last night when I got back.

My chapbook Watching the City is on the home page right now, but you can also print it from my poet page. After printing, fold it according to the instructions here and ta-da, you have a mini-chapbook! Tiny poetry!

As I mentioned in my previous post about this: consider this mini-chapbook a prelude to a longer Helsinki-inspired chapbook/collection that I’ve got in the works. So much in the works that it’s basically already done, all that’s left is sending it out to potential publishers. That’s required enough energy that I’ve had the project on hold for quite a while. Will do my best to get it sent out this summer!

(*) After a series of ridiculously unfortunate events, my folk dance group finally got to perform. And we danced well!

My novelette “Moss” out in Silver Blade!

Published on by Sara Norja

Eeeep!

I didn’t realise that my novelette “Moss” had already appeared in Silver Blade Magazine – but it has! This is my longest published story to date – a novelette, eeee! I feel so happy it’s out and I can share it with everyone!

Read “Moss” here!

Note: trigger warning for (implied) incest: the story was inspired by the fairytale “Donkeyskin” and some other variants of Aarne-Thompson motif #510B. It’s not graphic at all in “Moss”, just implied, like I said, but I thought I’d warn about it anyway.

“Moss” is set in the forest world of “Boat-husk” and “The Ruin” . Timeline-wise, this novelette is set way back in the world’s history compared to “The Ruin” – the apocalyptic event mentioned in “The Ruin” is still far, far in the future for the protagonists of “Moss”.

I really enjoy this world I’ve built/am building! I hope you do too. 🙂 (I should do something about the zero draft of a novel I wrote last Nanowrimo, also set in this forest world…)

Poems, poems! (inkscrawl & origami)

Published on by Sara Norja

The June issue of inkscrawl is out! (Well, it came out last week already, but I was busy travelling so didn’t have the chance to post about it.) Huzzah! It looks wonderful and I can’t wait to read the rest of the poems. So happy to be a contributor – I’ve loved inkscrawl for years.

Here’s my own contribution: “Betweening”

This poem was first born years ago, back in the summer of 2009. That first version was much longer, and it took me eight edits – the eighth happening after a four-year break from the poem – to pare it down to what it is now. It’s quite rare for me to have so many versions of a poem. But I’m really happy with the version now published! Eight lines is much better than the original 20-line version. The last three lines are the only ones that have remained virtually unchanged throughout the process.

*

And then some forthcoming poetry news: the Origami Poems Project will be publishing a micro-collection of my poetry! I love their concept and am so glad to have a small collection coming out. It’s called Watching the City, and contains six Helsinki-inspired poems. Consider it a prelude of sorts to my still-in-the-works “proper” chapbook. The origami collection will be free to print from the website. Open-access pocket poetry!

Story sale to Silver Blade Magazine

Published on by Sara Norja

Good writing news to start off May: my novelette “Moss” will be published in Silver Blade Magazine!

I’m really happy that this 14,200-word baby is going to go forth into the world – it will be my longest published story to date. It’s set in the same forest world as “Boat-husk” and “The Ruin” … although in a completely different part of that world, and a different time period. It’s so much fun to write stories and poems set in the same secondary world!

Poem sale to Goblin Fruit

Published on by Sara Norja

Some lovely news I’ve quite forgotten to share – my poem “Village Woman” is going to appear in the Winter 2015 issue of Goblin Fruit!

So happy to get that poem out, and to be included in GF again. I lovelovelove that magazine.

Poem up in The Stare’s Nest

Published on by Sara Norja

My poem “The World in Springtime” is now up in The Stare’s Nest. Yay!

Here is the direct link to the poem.

It’s still not very spring-like here – it’s rainy and grey today. I wrote this poem in late April 2013, though, so there’s always hope that in about three weeks’ time even Finland will have some proper spring action going on. I think it’s so unfair that here in Helsinki we had an unsatisfying winter with way too little snow, but now the weather isn’t even compensating with a warm, lovely early spring. Bah, I say!

The crocuses in my apartment block’s yard seem to be ready to burst into bloom though, so we may have hope yet. 🙂

Three short poems in Snakeskin!

Published on by Sara Norja

Three of my poems are included in April’s Short Poems issue of Snakeskin:

Read “Pomeranian”, “Lauttasaari Bridge”, and “Human Nature” here!

“Pomeranian” is part of a silly series of dog poems I’ve been writing occasionally, with an emphasis on cuteness and word-play. I really like other people’s dogs (would not have the time or inclination of one of my own). I’m glad to see this little doglet-poem see publication! Also, I absolutely adore the Pom picture that the editor George Simmers has added. 😀 SO CUTE.

“Lauttasaari Bridge” is one of my Helsinki poems, written last summer while – surprise – I was biking across Lauttasaari Bridge, near-ish my home. The sunset was incredible, and thus, I poemed.

“Human Nature” was written in January 2013. I was upset about news of some sort, desperately needed comfort that wasn’t available at that moment.

Poem to appear in The Stare’s Nest

Published on by Sara Norja

My poem “The World in Springtime” will appear in The Stare’s Nest in about a week’s time! Huzzah!

Springtime seems very far away in Finland right now, though. We had horrendous sleety weather yesterday (which I biked through heroically); today it’s grey and rainy, and I’ve got a sore throat and a cold. Siiiigh. Come on, spring, hurry up!