Tag: writing

Update: Story Sale to Escape Pod!

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

UPDATE 3/7/15: “Voices in Solitude is schedule to come out one March 31st, 2015 at DSF and “Beyond the Trenches We Lie” is scheduled for May 2015!

I’m excited to announce that my story “Beyond the Trenches We Lie” is going to be published by Escape Pod magazine. This was my winning story from the Codex contest Setting the Stage back in 2013. The goal of this particular contest was to write a story based on the scene given to you by another contestant. So, special thanks to James Beamon for giving me such an awesome setting to work from and to all my beta readers and fellow Codexians who believed in this crazy story even when I didn’t.

I don’t have a date of publication yet for this piece or for “Voices in Solitude” which got picked up by Daily Science Fiction in December. But when I do, I’ll be sure to post an update.

 

Tag! You’re It! The 777 Challenge Edition

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings3 Comments

Hooray for friends prompting me to write blog posts occasionally. Tam MacNeil was kind enough to tag me for the 777 Challenge.

The rules are simple: Post 7 sentences of your work, start on page 7, count 7 lines down. But because I’m a rule breaker and/or don’t want this sample to end mid-thought, I’m going to post a few additional sentences. This is a short story I’m working on with the placeholder title: A Non-Hero’s Guide to The Road of Monsters.

I climb the nearest tree, which is not an easy feat one handed, let me tell you. But what I lack in abs I make up in triceps and quads of steel. Within five minutes I’m sitting in the tree’s crown looking down at the most amazing monster I’ve ever seen.

Forget its enormous size and its many, many talons on its many, many feet (that’s what heroes notice first, anyway), it’s neither a newt or hawk or even a snake.

It’s all of them.

From my perch, the monster looks like a starfish, with each arm containing the torso, forepaws, and head of a different creature. (You’ve guess it, a lion, a snake, a newt, a hawk and a hyena.) I can see now why the heroes were so confused. From the ground, depending on the angle the monster stood at, it either would appear to be one of these animals or a combination of a few of them.

Most heroes would be shaking from nerves or adrenaline or whatever right about now. But me, I’m wearing a smile that stretched ear to ear. I have yet to meet a monster that I couldn’t reason with and this one was going to make a fantastic blog post.

And now I just need to figure out how the silly story ends. In the meantime, I’m tagging (challenging?) Karl Dandenell, John D. Murphy and Laurel Amberdine next.

Publishing Update – October 2013

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing UpdatesLeave a comment

Just a quick update to report some good news. My story “I’m Still Here” just got accepted for publication at Buzzy Mag! This story was my submission to Viable Paradise last year and I’m thrilled that it’s found a good home.

Special thanks to the Bridge people and to the instructors and fellow classmates at VP who gave tons of useful feedback as well as lots of encouragement as I worked through the early drafts of this thing.

I don’t have a date for publication yet, but I’ll keep you updated!

Publishing Updates: May 2013

On By A. T. GreenblattIn Publishing Updates6 Comments

So remember when I said I was bad at keeping up with my blog? It’s true, I’m awful at it. As much as I love reading articles and other people’s opinions, I enjoy writing stories more than blog posts. But this post is an exception, I’m thrilled to be writing this because, dear reader, I have good news: I’ve had three stories accepted for publication!

The first is a story called “Letters from Within” and it’s going to be in a little project called the One-Sentence Mini Anthology. This was an interesting challenge – telling a story in one sentence and in less than 350 words. In some ways, it was like the Twitter stories I use to write, except, you know, different. Regardless, it was lots of fun and I’m glad I got to be a part of this project. The anthology should be coming out soon and I will add a link when it does.

The second acceptance is for a story called “The Aorta”. It’s going to be in an anthology called Andromeda’s Children put together by Fringeworks. My piece is going to be in Volume 2 and the anthology is expected to come out Winter 2013. I couldn’t be happier that this story has found a home and is now going to be haunting someone else’s dreams.

Lastly, I sold a story to Daily Science Fiction! The piece is called “Tell Them of the Sky” and this is my first professional sale. I’ve known about this acceptance for a little while now but I’m still bouncing off the walls with excitement. I don’t know yet when it’s suppose to come out, but I will absolutely post an update as soon as I find out.

So sorry, dear reader, I don’t have any links yet to the actual stories themselves. But after a long stretch of stillness, they are coming.

News and Updates

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings4 Comments

Last month I resigned from my position as Editorial Assistance at Every Day Fiction. I had been reading for EDF for over two years and learned so much about storytelling and the industry while I was there. But I wanted to spend more time writing and move on to other things.

It seems though, I wasn’t off the hook that quickly. Another opportunity presented itself mere days after I handed in my notice (more or less). Flash Fiction Chronicles (EDF’s sister site) was looking for an interviewer that would talk to the author of the top story at EDF each month.

I don’t have much experience interviewing, but I guess I didn’t have much experience when I started writing either. So, naturally, I accepted.

If you would like to see my very first interview, it can be found here. My first victim (not really – I hope) is Dustin Adams, author of the story The Gift. This was lots of fun and I hope you enjoy it too.

Viable Paradise: The Aftermath (With a present for you, dear reader)

On By A. T. GreenblattIn General Ramblings5 Comments

Viable Paradise = A fantastic experience. Really I could stop there, but I’m assuming you’re here for the details. So quickly, because I still have a hard time describing it in words, here’s what VP was like.

Imagine yourself sitting in a room with 40 some people. 23 are new and nervous like you, the others are old hands who are thrilled to have the opportunity to teach you. And they will. They’ll fill your head with so much information, you’ll walk away wondering how you ever could have been so ignorant. You’ll exchange recommendations for books, movies, podcasts, and booze and you’re “MUST TRY” list will grow to legendary lengths.

At VP, I was a Thing, I saw a sunset and a sunrise, drank my share of scurvy cure, survived the horror that was Thursday and I got some of the best advice about writing and life.

I highly recommend VP to anyone interested in speculative fiction. You’ll not only learn more than you think you can in one week, but you’ll make dozens of new friends that you know will be there as for you as you continue to write and grow.

Too vague? Yes, I know. The most incoherent post I’ve ever written? Probably. But I’ll make it up to you with a present. Jim MacDonald and Debra Doyle generously gave me the promo code for a free copy of their story Philologos; or, A Murder in Bistrita on Smashwords. And now I’m sharing it with you (with their blessing, of course).

The link can be found here
The code is: QF86G

The code is good until November 9th, 2012.

And now I must get some writing done and deal with the plot tomatoes in my story. Want to know what plot tomatoes are? You’re just going to have to ask the instructors yourself at the next Viable Paradise.