Tag: BCS

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

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General RamblingsLeave a comment

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!

Story to Be Reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy, Vol 2!

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

So, I took a break last week and didn’t post on this blog. And by “take a break” I mean I took some time to wander the city and do some fun things. Then, I used the remaining hours of the weekend to finish revisions on a story I owe. Which, if it all works out, should be available to read sometime in February or March 2023!

I’m such a party animal.

But I do have some news I can talk about publicly this week. I’m excited to share that my story “A Record of Our Meeting with the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised” is going to be reprinted in Paula Guran’s Year’s Best Anthology! This story was originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies and in terms of structure and voice, it’s one of the most ambitions pieces I’ve attempted to date. So I’m thrilled it has been chosen!

The full list of stories in the anthology can be found here. I’ll share the release date of the book when I know when it is.

Short Story Recommendation of the Week: We, the Enchanted Castle by Mae Juniper Stokes over at Strange Horizons.

Year End Eligibility Post 2022 and Where Else to Find Me

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings, Publishing Updates1 Comment

It’s that time of year again and I’m not talking about the holidays, though I’m excited for American Thanksgiving next week. (Four day weekend and homemade cranberry sauce!) Award season for the science fiction, fantasy, and horror community has begun, and it’s good practice to post a year end round up of your work and where to find it.

Also, since Twitter seems on the verge of collapse, I thought I’d mention that you can find me on Mastodon at @atgreenblatt@wandering.shop.

Also, I’m hoping to post on this blog weekly.

Okay, onto the stories. It’s been a bit of a rocky year for me in terms of writing, but three stories of mine were published and in some excellent venues.

A Record of Our Meeting with the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised

Published March 2022 in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 7,600 words (novelette)

“It should be noted here, at the beginning of the record, that the decision to invite such an esteemed and unknowable entity was not made lightly nor without a great deal of heated debate among the crew. [Addition: Upon reflection, Pilot Uma and Navigator Wilson conducted most of the debate and, ultimately, made the decision. The events that followed could have perhaps been avoided had they sought wider counsel.] However, it was agreed by all that the potential results were worth the risk. The crew was eager to

Cover art. Astronaut like explorers in foreground, giants in the distance
Ancient Ones by Jose Borges

If We Make It Through This Alive

Published January 2022 in Slate Magazine. 7,000 words (short story)

“The open road is just potholes and misery, but Sabrina loves it anyway. Not that she has anything against the national train system, trains are great. But it’s the challenge, the potential to rebuild everything, that has her doing final checks on Gran’s old Jeep at the starting line of the Great American Road Race.

Not that Gran would’ve recognized her beloved car.”

Cover art. Tricked out Jeep with solar panels
Photo illustration by Natalie Matthews-Ramo/Slate. Photos by Ruben Hanssen/Unsplash, Ravi Sharma/Unsplash, Brandon Green/Unsplash

The Music of a New Path

Published June 2022 in the Bridge to Elsewhere Anthology. 4,000 words (short story)

“Tessa rubbed her face. Click, click went her teeth, but now, her only accompaniment was the ship’s deep hum. The junkyard man had warned her she was on borrowed time with The Castaway when she’d bought it, but there was something, something that Tessa couldn’t quite name, that whispered, Don’t give up on the ship. Not yet“

Cover of Bridge to Elseware

That’s it! What have you read this year that you’ve loved? Have you published something that you’re proud of? Please feel free to leave a comment!

Weird Dream Society Anthology!

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

Things have been quiet on this blog for a while, but then again, life has been fairly quiet since I started quarantining mid-March. I’ve been writing. Slowly. But I’ve also been taking time to take care of myself. (Lots of walks, yoga, good cooking, and books.)

Which is all to say, that I do have some news to share today. I’m excited to say I have a story in the Weird Dream Society anthology! What’s particularly exciting about this project is that it’s a charity anthology benefiting RAICES. And it’s available for pre-order right now. It contains many, many amazing writers and benefits a fantastic organization. It also has a reprint of my story “They Said the Desert” with was originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies!

That’s it for now. I hope you are all safe and healthy and finding some time to do the things you love.

Year End Eligibility Post 2017

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings, Publishing Updates2 Comments

So it’s that time of year again, where some of us are trying to catch up on the stories that we’ve missed in the last 12 months. As it happens, I’ve had two stories come out in 2017 that I’m quite proud of.

The first is “A Place to Grow” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

“She knew what the rational decision was. She understood that letting this world go was the safer choice.

But.

There was a small, insistent part of her that wouldn’t let her give up so easily.”

The second is “Listen and You’ll Hear Us Speak” in Flash Fiction Online.

‘“I have what you’ve lost,” you whisper in my ear when I serve you your drink, all sugar, all lies. “We’re going to be good friends.”’

I’m also looking for recommendations! What have you read this year that you’ve enjoyed?

“A Place to Grow” is Live at Beneath Ceaseless Skies!

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates1 Comment

I’m happy to announce that my story “A Place to Grow” is now free to read at Beneath Ceaseless Skies!

I’m pretty excited about this one. It was a huge technical challenge for me and took many, many drafts to get right. I’m not exaggerating when I say it took years for me to learn how to pull this story off. (I think I wrote the opening paragraph back in December 2013?) I’m extremely grateful to my very patient friends and very patient editor who help me through the iterations.

The song I played on repeat as I was writing and revising this story was “Outro” by M83. Because, naturally, my characters needed an epic soundtrack as they were trying to rebuild the world around them.

Hope you enjoy!

Clarion West and Upcoming Publications

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings1 Comment

As usual, I’ve been neglecting this blog again, so as usual, I’m cramming several good news announcements into one post.

The biggest announcement is that I’ve been accepted into Clarion West’s Class of 2017! For those of you who are not familiar with the program, Clarion West is a six week writing workshop in Seattle for speculative fiction writers. Each week is taught by a different writer or editor who’s established in the field. This year the instructors are Daryl Gregory, Kij Johnson, John Chu, Connie Willis, Daniel Jose Older, and Pat Cadigan. Every week students are expected to write a new story and only 18 students are accepted into the program every year.

I am SO. EXCITED. I’ve been hoping to have the opportunity to go to one of the Clarion workshops since high school.

Okay, so I’m also thrilled to announce that two stories of mine have been accepted for publication! The first of which is called “Five Meters Ahead, Two Centuries Away” which has found a home in Upper Rubber Boot’s Broad Knowlegde: 35 Women Up to No Good anthology. The second is a flash fiction piece titled “Listen and You’ll Hear Us Speak” which has been accepted by Flash Fiction Online (one of my favorite flash fiction markets!) I’m not sure when these pieces will be out yet, but I’ll update the “Publications” page when I know.

Lastly and on the topic of stories coming out, “A Place to Grow” will be live in Issue #225 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies next week! Of course, if you’d like to read it RIGHT NOW you can get a copy of the issue here. This time, I’m sharing a Table of Contents with the fabulous Caroline M. Yoachim and her heart-wrenching story “Carnival Nine.” (Seriously, go read it.)

That’s it for now! I’m planning on having a short post about “A Place to Grow” up in a few days.

2016 Year End Post

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings1 Comment

Even in the best of times, these types of posts are always awkward for me to write. And 2016 has been a rough year on many different fronts. It feels a bit selfish to be posting this today (especially today) in the wake of all that’s happening in the world.

But terrible global events shouldn’t negate our small triumphs. So we fight on.

In terms of writing, 2016…hasn’t been bad to me. I had three short stories I’m proud of published in markets I really loved. These stories are:

They Said the Desert – Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 2016

A Non-Hero’s Guide to the Road of Monsters – Mothership Zeta, May 2016

Dido, Retold – Strange Horizons, September 2016

And as if that wasn’t awesome enough, “A Non-Hero’s Guide to the Road of Monsters” is going to be reprinted in Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017. How cool is that?!!!!

horton-yearsbest2017-cover

(Here’s the full Table of Contents.)

I’m hoping to post a “Fiction I Loved This Year” compilation here soon. Maybe in a few weeks, when I’ve caught up a bit on my “To Be Read” pile.

Special thanks to all my friends who offered encouragement, read rough drafts, and just listened when I was frustrated. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Story Link Love #4 + New Story Up At DSF.

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates, Story Love1 Comment

This should probably be two separate posts, but whatever. First, if you like short fiction and are looking for some recommendations, here are a few stories I’ve read recently that I’ve enjoyed.

The Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron Saves the World Again by A. C. Wise
(It’s the first one and I’m already cheating. But I’ve been a fan of the Glitter Squadron for some time now and I’ve just gotten my copy of the collection this weekend! You can read the first story here.)
The Closet Thing to Animals by Sofia Samatar
Bones at the Door by John Wiswell
Moogh and the Great Trench Kraken by Suzanne Palmer
Geometries of Belonging by Rose Lemberg
Summer in Realtime by Erica L. Satifka
Dear Monsanto CEO, This is the Sentient Strain of Corn You Developed and We Need to Talk by Tyler Young
Glaciers Made You By Gabby Reed

Second, one of my own stories is now live at Daily Science Fiction. It’s called “8 Steps to Winning Your Partner Back (From the Server)”. You can read it here. And if you’re wondering, the song I listened to while writing it was this.

Hope you enjoy these stories! Also, I’m always looking for recommendations. What are some of your favorite stories that you’ve read recently?