Flame Tree Publishing’s gorgeous hardcover Heroic Fantasy anthology will be released July 31st. As the date approaches, contributors are sharing the inspirations behind our stories at the Flame Tree blog. From writing challenges to a love of H.P. Lovecraft and Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog to pure stubbornness because someone said you should never do something, it’s…
Book 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…
A Checklist to Start Publishing Short Fiction
This post originally went live on Fictionvale in 2014 and was reprinted in Short Story Writer Magazine. Unfortunately, Fictionvale has since closed and the article is no longer available online. I’m taking the opportunity to repost it while I’m moving to my new apartment and have less time available to blog. While it’s focused on…
“Of the Generation” in Heroic Fantasy Anthology from Flame Tree Publishing
Flame Tree Publishing has posted the Tables of Contents for its new Gothic Fantasy anthologies: Time Travel and Heroic Fantasy. It’s pretty unreal to be on the same list as the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The full ToC for Heroic Fantasy is: A Matter of Interpretation by M. Elizabeth Ticknor Burned Away by Kate O’Connor Dragon…
Living with Imposter Syndrome
This post originally went live on Fictionvale in 2014. Unfortunately, Fictionvale has since closed and the article is no longer available online. I’m taking the opportunity to repost it while I’m moving to my new apartment and have less available to blog. If you’re currently battling a bout of imposter syndrome, I hope it proves…
“John Kosichev” in Storyteller magazine
As I said in my last post, it turns out that when you send stories regularly in answer to calls for submissions, you sometimes get stories accepted! I’m very excited to break my long publishing silence with a release in a new magazine, Storyteller, with a story that’s been a particular favorite of mine (even when…
2017 already!? (On second thought, thank goodness)
It is with considerable chagrin that I realize I haven’t published a new blog post since March of 2016 (though it is with some pleasure that I work the word “chagrin” into a sentence). 2016 was not the most productive of years, and that’s the kindest thing that can be said for it. My feelings toward it…
Aqua 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…
Short Stories: A Dark and Wonderful History
Dark fantasy stories based in the same secondary world, centered around women. “The Gallows Wife,” Semaphore Magazine & 2009 anthology, reprinted in Shadows Within Shadows. Find it at: Amazon Alibris Barnes and Noble Better World Books “The Loving and Keeping of Wolves,” WolfSongs 2 EPPIE Winner Best Anthology of 2011 Find it at: Amazon Powell’s Kobo Barnes and…
Short Stories: Across the Curse-Strewn World
Stories featuring Aniver, a wizard of the city Nurathaipolis-that-was, now lost to rogue time, and Semira, the sailor who joins his quest to save it. “The Storms in Arisbat,” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #110 (available on Kindle) Recommended review from Lois Tilton, Locus Online “For Lost Time,” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #165 (available on Kindle) “The Grace…