Tag: essay

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!

New Essay Up at Fantasy Magazine

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

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.

Theodore Sturgeon Finalist and Other Updates

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General RamblingsLeave a comment

Okay, so how cool is this: “If We Make It Through This Alive” is a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award! This story was originally published in Slate Magazine’s Future Tense Fiction and came out in January 2022. I’m thrilled its on a finalist among so many amazing stories and authors. (Seriously, the list of finalists is fantastic this year.)

In other news, I’ve been writing some new things again. Or rather writing and being able to reach “The End” on smaller projects. I’ve spent most of the 2023 working on a longer piece, which is one of the hardest things I’ve ever written and consequently, the going is painfully slow. But I’ve been writing long enough to know that this is my process when I’m pushing the limits of my writing abilities. Stories have minds of their own and they will take as long as they need to sometimes.

Except I had to take a break and tackle some solicited work this summer. Some of which I’m not going to talk about just yet. But I can share that my essay “More Than a Journey: Reflections on Polyvocal Storytelling” will be in a forthcoming issue of Fantasy Magazine (possibly in August). I’m also writing a story for this anthology. Mad science written by disabled and chronically ill authors.

One last thing, I’ll be at Readercon this year! The schedule in not final yet, so I’ll post again when it is.

As always, if you’d like to support a magazine, Strange Horizons is currently running its annual Kickstarter. And my short story recommendation this time is “The Golden Hour” by Jeffery Ford.

Overdue Post: Essays, Classes, and Recommended Reading Lists

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings, Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

It’s been a while since I posted and I definitely should have put together a few blog posts for these announcements instead of lumping it all into one. But it’s been a busy few weeks and I’d rather spend the rest of the day working on fiction rather than writing blog posts, so here we go…

In the last few weeks, I’ve had:

  1. An essay published!
  2. I’m teaching an online class and registration is open!
  3. Two of my stories made the Locus Recommendation Reading List!

1. “The Magic of the Right Story” – New Essay in Uncanny Magazine

I’ve been experimenting recently with writing more essays and I’m excited to share that “The Magic of the Right Story” is now free to read on Uncanny’s website

This is a personal one – written over a few months while I struggled to get back into writing again after upending my life. It explores what makes a story resonate both as a reader and a writer.

2. Clarion West Online Class – “How to Write Emotionally Engaging Characters in Short Fiction” – April 15th, 2023

Back by popular demand, I’m teaching this class again for Clarion West Online. It’s an hour and a half lecture with some tips, tools, and tricks for making the characters you’ve made up really come alive for readers in a short story.

Clarion West also has a whole host of other cool online classes too.

3. My stories are on the 2022 Locus Recommend Reading List!

Every year Locus Magazine publishes a list of all the books and stories that reviewers have enjoyed throughout the year. And from that long list, the finalists are chosen for the Locus Awards. I’m thrilled that two of my stories are on that list this year: “A Record of Our Meeting With the Grand Faerie Lord of Vast Space and Its Great Mysteries, Revised” and “If We Make It Through this Alive”

If you’d like to vote for either of those stories or any others on this excellent list, you can do that here.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this – My short story recommendation the week is “Clay” Isabel J. Kim over at Beneath Ceaseless Skies

New Essay Published at AAPD

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates1 Comment

Hello Friends!

This is simply a quick post to say that I have a new essay published on the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) blog. It’s called “A Million and One Different Ways to Find Your Artistic Voice” because apparently, I have a thing for long titles.

Here’s the description.

A. T. Greenblatt, a Nebula Award winning writer and mechanical engineer in Philadelphia, shares insights into her own journey in finding her artistic voice. Her essay includes plenty of nuggets for other disabled creatives about perseverance, introspection, and community, each important parts of the journey towards finding a unique voice as an artist. Greenblatt also shares about her internal dialogue over disabled characters in her writing and what meaningful representation means

AAPD Newsletter

I had fun writing this essay and hope it’s helpful!

New Essay “How To Send Your Disabled Protagonist on an Adventure in 7 Easy Steps”

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates2 Comments

This is a first for me. I usually prefer to spend my writing time working on fiction, but for Uncanny Magazine’s Disabled People Destroy Fantasy Issue, I made an exception. Today, I’m pleased to say I have an essay in this issue called “How to Send Your Disabled Protagonist on an Adventure in 7 Easy Steps.”

This is something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years and have been trying to incorporate into my own fiction more often. The essay was surprisingly fun to write, because unlike the essays I wrote for school, now I could be sarcastic.

I hope you like it and find it useful. And as always, if you enjoy the content that Uncanny Magazine puts out, please consider supporting them.