“An Honorable Aunt” at Silver Blade
Silver Blade Issue #18 is live, and includes my fantasy story “An Honorable Aunt”. This was one of those stories it was fun to write simply because I was getting inside the heads of people who view the world so differently from me, that it was a stretch of intellectual–and perhaps empathetic–muscle to show their thoughts and feelings. I think once you read the story it’ll be obvious what I mean, but I will say, just about every character in the story did something...
Read MorePrint Books that are *Good* for the Planet
Being surrounded by the printed word (and intending to remain so my entire life–much as I enjoy ebooks, I like to keep paper copies for backup), I remain acutely conscious that it’s called “dead tree”s for a reason. Also, ever since my trip to Ghana I’ve had a horror of plastic. It’s bad enough seeing litter at the side of the road in the US, but I saw bags and discarded packaging piling up in places I never would have expected–water canals, forest,...
Read MoreDancing to Replace PowerPoint: A Modest Proposal
I confess it, I’m a TED Talk fan–the videos are short enough to appeal to my attention span, interesting enough to make me feel smart of watching them, and free–and this is now one of my favorites. If you also enjoy modest proposals, the Onion Talks are excellent,...
Read MoreBlogging from the Home Office
It’s very nice to have a room of one’s own, even if that room is really just 185 square feet serving as bedroom, office, and kitchen all at once. I’m not sure how productive I’ve been, but I feel productive because I’m sitting down at the computer at least once an hour to type, revise, or research something. In between I’m reading (but sparingly–I don’t meet the residency requirement for a library card and I don’t have much cash for buying...
Read MoreWisCon 37–A Partial Review
I was certain I wouldn’t make it to WisCon this year, coming as it did right before my moving trip to Washington, D.C. But with some last-minute crunch and a willingness to run around disoriented (I’ve learned these will get you far in life, or at least lead me very far afield), I made it for at least the weekend and Friday evening. Friday:After hurriedly packing for DC, I stuffed my backpack with my immediate needs for one weekend and set out to brave the Memorial Day weekend...
Read MoreHome to Wisconsin and Back to DC
I write this from my new laptop, a generous graduation present from my family. Yes, I’ve graduated, and will spen the rest of my life confusing people by telling them I have a (single, not triple) Batchelorate of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Or at least until I get a Master’s. But that’s far off in the future yet. Now begins the job search. I’ll be conducting it in DC, where I’m also working some internships over the summer. I look forward...
Read MoreThe Plants of Middle-Earth: Botany and Sub-Creation by Dinah Hazell
What a charming book! Like The Unimaginable Mathematics of Borges’ Library of Babel, this was a find made in the American University library shelves. It stood out not only for the title (of all things it was sub-creation I was drawn to; the concept is Tolkien’s gift to the fantasy genre far more than any number of medieval worlds and elves) but also its soothingly soft green cloth binding with gold letters. Inside, it is gorgeously illustrated with drawings and...
Read MoreIndieGoGo Campaign for Self-Publishing a Book on Publishing
Long story short, I’m living off what I earn through my writing right now. This isn’t so bad, except writing income tends to arrive over the course of months, and is less than helpful when you need money right away. So to meet some expenses in the meantime, I’m hiring myself out as a manuscript editor and self-publishing a guidebook for writers who want to get their work into print. The Starter Guide for Professional Writers is a whole-picture handbook that helps you finish your...
Read MorePromoting Your Writing: Now is the Time to Keep the Faith
In the story, that is, although it’s completely understandable if you’d rather kneel through a litany of novenas or light candles on the altar of the deity of your choice in hope of landing on the Times Bestseller list. You can’t effectively promote a story you don’t believe in. This is the most important thing to remember once your story is published and it becomes your job to spread the word about it. Driving promotion is the belief that people will buy your...
Read MoreOn 2500 Word Scenes
Depending on how you define “work in progress,” I currently have anywhere between 14 and 34 of them. And I expect to finish every last one in due time. Just how I’ll manage this at first seems a mystery of faith, but looking back, I’ve had twenty pots on the broiler for as long as I can remember. It’s not always the same buffet being cooked—I finish one piece and start on the next. For a while I had a rule that I could only count as many WIPs as I had...
Read MoreAbout Therese
Therese Arkenberg's first short story was accepted for publication on January 2, 2008, and her second acceptance came a few hours later. Since then they haven't always been in such a rush, yet her work appears in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Analog, Daily Science Fiction, and the anthology Sword & Sorceress XXIV. Aqua Vitae, her science fiction novella, was released by WolfSinger Publications in December 2011.
She works as a freelance editor and writer in Wisconsin, where she returned after a brief but unforgettable time in Washington, D.C. When she isn't reading, writing, or editing (it's true!) she serves on the board of the Plowshare Center of Waukesha, which works for social, economic, and environmental justice.