An excerpt: “What’s going to happen after I’m dead?”
“There’s one thing that’s bothered me.” He felt the camera’s gaze and flushed, knowing those at the window would hear. “Maybe I should ask you to excuse me for saying this…” “You will never have to apologize to me for anything.” “What’s going to happen after I’m dead, when John Kosichev keeps giving the Commonwealth hell?” Gloria released his hand and smoothly reached for her dropped pocketbook. “I couldn’t answer you for certain, but I do have a theory—don’t worry about them,” she said when...
Read MoreBook Review: The Great Ordeal by R. Scott Bakker
The Great Ordeal–penultimate volume of the Aspect Emperor No-Longer-A-Trilogy, the conclusion of which, The Unholy Consult, was released yesterday–is not only a compelling novel but also very useful as a physical object. A nine-inch by six-inch by three-inch rectangle with the words THE GREAT ORDEAL across the front in an emphatic font is basically the world’s best portable Demotivator. I read this book at the tail end of 2016. Which was not, by any possible standards, a...
Read MoreAqua Vitae
Jenes Inarya wants to live to experience everything, and it just might be possible. Her quest for immortality leads her through myth and legend to the farthest reaches of the galaxy (well, so the Jericho magazine article said, although it’s prone to exaggeration). And it’s only the beginning. The rest of a very long life is about to start–but Jenes doesn’t yet know how to live it. “Aqua Vitae is only 70-pages long, but manages to pack a lot…part...
Read MoreMore on the Starter Guide
Namely, you have the chance to win some free copies!2 print copies are available through a Goodreads giveaway that closes on April 7th.Ebook copies are also available at LibraryThing in a giveaway that closes to entries this Friday, March 28th. Also, I’ve put together a list of all the posts on this blog that wound up–substantially revised, but with some similarities in structure and content–in the Starter Guide. If you found any of these posts useful or interesting,...
Read MoreWhere You Can Get the Starter Guide for Professional Writers
I’m happy to announce that The Starter Guide for Professional Writers is now available at most online retailers! The Starter Guide for Professional Writers contains everything to know so that you can begin earning money for your writing. Ten chapters address every stage of writing, revising, releasing, and promoting your first (or second, or third) published story, including what you need to: Defeat writer’s block and finish your story Revise to make the strongest manuscript...
Read MoreWisCon Rapidfire Book Reviews #4: Aeon’s Gate: The Skybound Sea by Sam Sykes
I have a confession to make: I already took one review copy (Edge of Oblivion), but I couldn’t resist snagging this one, too. I picked it up and meant to page through it to pass the time before the auction, but then I could not put it down. The opening lines beat out a hypnotic rhythm. Gliding past them, I found myself in an oceanside slum near the home of an eldritch abomination. My inner Cthulhu fan’s tentacles twitched pleasantly. I found I liked the characters at once....
Read MoreWisCon Rapidfire Book Reviews #3: Edge of Oblivion by J.T. Geissinger
Among the delights of WisCon was the cardboard box of free review copies in the lobby. Diving in among them, I read the back cover copy of this ARC and snagged it, always one to enjoy the occasional romance. I was expecting fantasy in a historical setting, only to find paranormal romance instead. Paranormals aren’t usually my thing, but I figured I’d give it a shot. I sat up late reading it and carried it around the next day to browse in between panels. I did set it down once the...
Read MoreWisCon Rapidfire Book Review #2: A Stranger on Olondria by Sofia Samatar
Another one of the books I discovered through WisCon–in fact, I discovered Stranger in Olondria through the little sampler pamphlets Small Beer Press handed out out at WisCon 2012. This was daring promotional tactic–because the first 50 pages of this story don’t have much of the plot, though they gave a flavor for style. The style intrigued me enough that I was willing to wait for the plot, and wait I did: not only for a full year to see the book in...
Read MoreWisCon Rapidfire Book Review #1: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
Life is busy, what with the move, the job search, and the Starter Guide, but it’s unfair of me to hold off on these reviews any longer. So: a RAPID FIRE ROUND shall commence, where I give you my thoughts on the books I discovered at WisCon this May in a few hundred words each. I wasn’t able to purchase this book at WisCon proper, but I did see it in the dealer’s room and took note of it. I was especially interested in the setting after returning from Ghana. Chinua Achebe had...
Read MoreAnatomy of Successful Crowdfunding (or, How I made 700% of my Kickstarter goal despite a godawful cover image)
What makes a successful crowdfunding project? Any number of things, I’m sure. That’s the good news. A campaign doesn’t need to be 100% successful on all fronts to make its funding goal, it just needs to do enough things well enough. But a lot rides on certain key choices you make for your campaign. In the spirit of inquiry, I’ve conducted this–is it called a “postmortem” is it’s successful beyond my wildest dreams? -No, a friend reminds me...
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.