Asimov’s Guest Editorial and Locus Award Voting

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This is going to be a very quick post because I really want to finish revising a chapter of my novella this morning. So, two speedy, but exciting announcements!

  1. I wrote about what it’s like to be an engineer at a vertical farm for a guest editorial in Asimov’s Magazine May/June 2024 issue! You can read it here. This is the first time my engineering career and my writing career have crossed paths.
  2. “Waystation City” is on the Locus Awards Reading List and you can vote for it here until April 15th! This story was originally published in Uncanny Magazine and was picked up for podcast by LeVar Burton Reads last December. There’s so much great work on this list and I’m thrilled to have this story among them.

Okay, I’m heading back to my imaginary world. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Locus Magazine Needs Some Help

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I’ve written before about how speculative magazines are struggling to survive right now because of the double punch of the Amazon ending its Kindle Newstand Services, which reduced subscriptions, and Twitter’s collapse which reduced outreach.

Though while not a fiction magazine, Locus Magazine has been a vital part of the SFFH publishing industry and they are struggle to reaching their fund raising goals this year. Locus is a magazine focused on publishing news in the genre with monthly issues that have interviews, essays, reviews, and spotlights on new and established writers. Last November they published my essay “Writing Short Stories in the Margins” in their special short fiction issue. They are like no other magazine in the genre and their absence would leave a large and gaping hole not easily, if ever, filled.

They are currently in the last days of their Indiegogo Campaign and there’s a lot of cool things up for grabs like signed books, art, and author chats. So if you can, please consider helping Locus out. It would not only be helping the magazine, but many, many writers and editors in the industry.

New Story: “A Black Spot Among the Chaos” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies!

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I’m excited to share that a new story is now online and free to read. It’s called “A Black Spot Among the Chaos” and it’s part of Beneath Ceaseless Skies’ science fantasy issue.

For those who don’t know, BCS is a fantasy magazine that specializes in stories set in imagined worlds (what’s often called secondary world fantasy). But every two years, they put out a special double issue of stories that blend science fiction, fantasy, and that other worldliness. Back in 2022, they published my story “A Record of Our Meeting with the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised” which was a huge experiment in voice and complexity.

This time around, I took some of the core set pieces of “A Record of Our Meeting” – space ships, spirits/faeries, and jumbled, chaotic places and challenged myself to write a story where everything in that world went sour, including the characters. It was also my first time attempting an omniscient-like point of view, which was quite a learning curve for me. It took a couple of drafts to get this story right.

My writing soundtrack through the drafts was Eluvium’s Phantasia Telephonics, which always felt a little too hopeful for the story’s mood, but whatever, it worked. The process of creating a story on a blank page is still a mystery to me, even after all these years.

As always, if you like this story and want to support myself and other writers, please consider subscribing or sending a few dollars to Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

My short story recommendation also comes from this issue: “Doctor Souvenir” by Elly Bangs.

Hope you enjoy!

New Story “Mindfulness and the Machine” in Lightspeed Magazine

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One last post in 2023 to wrap up an exciting month of publishing news. I’m happy to share that a new short story is now up and free to read over at Lightspeed Magazine. It’s called “Mindfulness and the Machine” and it was one of the only things I was able to write in my first six months in NYC. I talk a little more about that in this essay and I also have an Author Spotlight interview to go along with the story.

My short fiction recommendation this time is a story from the same issue To The Waters and the Wild by Izzy Wasserstein.

I hope 2024 will be a safe, healthy year for you, and a little more joyful too. Happy New Year and as always, thank you for reading.

Story on LeVar Burton Reads and New Essay Up at Locus!

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates3 Comments

I’ve been sharing this news on social media this week, but am only now getting around to writing a blog post about it.

First, I’m thrilled to share that my story “Waystation City” is featured on the latest episode of LeVar Burton Reads! For those who aren’t familiar with this podcast, Mr. Burton handpicks and reads twelve different short stories every season. As someone who has been a longtime fan of the podcast and of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I was absolutely floored when I found out this story was selected for Season 12 of the show.

“Waystation City” was originally published in Uncanny Magazine earlier this year.

Second, I’m also happy to share that the essay I wrote for Locus Magazine’s special short fiction issue is now free to read online. It’s called “Writing Short Stories in the Margins“. It’s about how short stories were the perfect art form for me when I started writing and how that opportunity is under threat for newer writers. Unfortunately, many SFF magazines can still use some help staying afloat and if you’d like to do so, here’s a good list to start from.

I’ve fallen off the wagon with adding these to the end of my posts lately, but my short fiction recommendation this time is The Sound of Children Screaming by Rachael K. Jones. (Warning it’s seriously dark, but timely and potent. CW:  Gun violence, child death, child endangerment.)

Thanks for reading!

Award Eligibility Post 2023!

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I finally decided just to post this sucker. I was originally waiting for a story and an essay to become available online, but I’ll just update this post when they do.

This year has been a bit of a rollercoaster, both in writing and in life, with some really cool moments, experiences, and opportunities, as well as some really low ones where I seriously questioned if all the work I was doing was worth it.

I think it is worth it. But I’ve also cut back on social media and have been trying to spend more time with friends and outdoors.

Which is all to say, I wrote some things this year that I probably haven’t talked about enough online. Some of which I’m very proud of, including a few essays, which I’ve been writing more of lately and have been enjoying.

So, if you’re still with me and are reading for the Nebulas, Hugos, or just want to check out more of what I published this year, here’s what I got:

The Stories

I was finishing the last of my nightly coffee when the nineteen-seventies twins approached my table and asked me to bear witness to their disappearance.

– Short story, 4500 words

The slender ones are tapping on the dividing glass. It sounds like rain – if rain was sharp, insistent, and determined.

-Short story, 3700 words

You ran alongside the ever-moving Dragon, carrying nothing but an oversized tote bag with lunch’s leftovers and rarely used lip balms, grabbed onto one of its massive legs and called up “Need some help?”

-Short story, 1700 words

The Essays

Whatever the reason you find yourself here, I hope you check out something on this list. And as always, thank you for reading!

Schedule for Capclave 2023

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As promised, here’s the second post of the weekend. I’ll be at Capclave on Sept. 29th – Oct 1st. As always, I’m so excited and it’ll be wonderful to meet up with old friends and make new ones.

Here’s my schedule:

  • Rejections Happen – Saturday, Sept 30th @ 10am EST
    • The life of a writer involves hearing many variations of the word “no.” Rejection comes with the territory but that does not make it easier to experience. Panelists discuss coping with rejection, how to continue writing through them, and what you can learn from receiving a no.
    • Panelists: A. T. Greenblatt, Ef Deal, Nate Hoffelder, R. Z. Held, Scott Edelman
  • Author Reading: A.T. Greenblatt – Saturday, Sept 30th @ 12pm EST
    • Don’t know what I’ll read yet. Open to suggestions.
  • Friendships in Science Fiction and Fantasy – Sunday, Sept 30th @ 10am EST
  • Writing Through Adversity – Sunday, Sept 30th @ 11:30am EST
    • Writing is hard enough but writers are also full human beings dealing with obstacles that can make it difficult to maintain a creative practice. From financial and family responsibilities to chronic pain and other mental and physical challenges, panelists talk openly about coping with daily pressures that often interfere with one’s writing life
    • Panelists:  A. T. Greenblatt, R. Z. Held, Samantha Katz, Sarah Avery, Scott Edelman

If you’re going to be at Capclave this year, please come say hi!

New Class Available at the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers!

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This is the first of two posts coming this weekend. Also, the first of a series of posts about writing related news over the next few weeks.

I’m excited to share that I’ll be teaching a new class on Oct 14th, 2023 called “Hitting the Road: How to Send Your Characters on a Road Trip.” It will be about 2 hours long and will be held online. There will also be a recorded version available if the timing doesn’t work for you. There’s also scholarships for students.

This is a completely new class for me and while I’ve taught a few classes for Clarion West Online and this summer at the Alpha Writing Workshop for Teens, this will be my first time teaching at The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. I love journey stories (if you couldn’t tell from my work) and if you do too, I hope you consider signing up for the class!

New Essay Up at Fantasy Magazine

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I wanted to put a quick post up today that I have a new essay online at Fantasy Magazine. It’s called “More Than A Journey” and it’s about storytelling that’s shaped by more than one character. I’m thrilled to have a piece in this magazine. I’ve adored Fantasy Magazine’s fiction and essays and I’m heartbroken that they are closing shop in October.

If you read or care about SFF short fiction, please subscribe to some magazines so that this doesn’t happen to others venues. Here’s a list of some you can support.

One last note, I made a mistake on my last post. I’ll be reading at Story Hour tomorrow, August 30th at 7pm PST, NOT Thursday.

Correction: Reading at Story Hour on 8/30!

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Update: Reading is on Wednesday, 8/30 NOT Thursday 8/31

I hope this blog post finds you well and that these summer months (in the northern hemisphere, at least) has been kind to. you.

It has been an incredible busy season for me. I’ve been working on several writing projects such as a story for this anthology and an essay that is going to be posted online at Fantasy Magazine later this week. I also attended Readercon in July and Fourth Street Fantasy in June. And this year, I was lucky enough to be asked to be a staffer at the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers.

So, yes, I’m both surprised it’s the end of August and also not.

But before the month closes out, I do have one more event. I’ll be doing a live reading this coming Wednesday, August 30th at 7 pm PST for Story Hour! I’ll be reading alongside Jean-Paul Garnier and we will each be sharing a short story. This event will be livestreamed for free over on Zoom and Facebook Live.

Hope you can make it!