Tales from the Ragged Edge

Let this serve as a warning. This is a dual-purpose post.

I recently received news that I story I submitted to the Human Tales anthology by Dark Quest Books, edited by Jennifer Brozek, had been picked up for publication. This is happy news, as it continues a recent string of anthology sales.

This is one of those all-too-frequent instances of a title informing the story. The original title (which will have to be changed for the anthology) was “Damn, It’s Hard Out Here for a Brownie.” Without that title, I wouldn’t have had a story. Originally had considered a completely different piece, abandoning the idea of a story about cobbler elves until it was pointed out that “Medusa isn’t exactly a fairy tale,” thus forcing THAT story idea onto a back-burner.

So there I was, nothing but a title and a vague idea about cobbler elves having a difficult time fitting into the new economy of disposable culture. Then I found my hook and oh what a bitter, dark hook it turned out to be. The ending was completely re-written at the editor’s request, which was a first for me, and more edits will be dictated. I’m fine with that. No story is perfect, and I’m sure this one can use some more work. But while I understand the need for a different ending, I still found the process fascinating. The new ending fits perfectly well with the needs of the anthology, and with the story itself. And it’s dark — just a very different kind of dark than what I originally intended. I’ve held onto that file with the original ending. It might see the light of day sometime in the distant future. One never knows, and I never throw ideas away.

The other news involves pancakes. Yes, you heard me right.

Next year I’m going on an exodus with a photographer friend in tow. We’re going to chart a course using pancake houses as our guides, and travel the heartland fork by fork. Our goal is to create a document in words and pictures chronicling our journey as a Short Stack of Americana, a bit of a love-letter to the American pancake house. We took a test run this morning, and it went pretty well. The logistics of our trip will be sorted out by the end of the year, including (fates willing) some kind of way to finance the journey. By some time in summer of 2011, we’ll be taking to the road for a month to do the legwork.

Look for Human Tales sometime in late 2010 or early 2011. Look for updates on the pancake journey on its own page.

Times, they are a changin’ — especially in Cobalt City, home of the heroes. With a tradition of capes and cowls that dates back to before the town’s founding, any time is a good time for adventure!

History comes alive with a time-swept agent of an invasive corporation, zap-gun wielding alien princess, faceless spy-smashing vigilante, Norse gods, young archer facing down steamwork ex-presidents, and a bitter heroine trying to recapture her youth.

There has never been a better time to visit the city!

Anthology contains –
A Newer Shade of Blue – Michaela Hutfles
Vengeance on the Layover – Erik Scott de Bie
Girl’s Night Out – Jeremy Zimmerman
I Blame Management – S. Aarron Kemp
The War at Home – Nathan Crowder
Daddy’s Little Girl – Dawn Vogel
Claws of the Dragon Queen – Rosemary Jones

Cobalt City Timeslip will be available October 1st, 2010. Limited copies will be made available at Foolscap Convention 12, September 24-26th at the Redmond Town Center, Redmond, Washington.

A handful of ARCs will be be available for review in PDF format by September 1st.

Cobalt City has been, from the very start, a shared sandbox kind of experience. The bulk of the Protectorate were created by friends and family. The stories we created together were never written down, the magic of temporary art and shared creativity. But the sandbox of Cobalt City remained when those stories stopped. And there were so many stories left to tell — more than I could ever hope to tell on my own.

That is why I started the Cobalt City anthologies. It was my way of inviting writer friends and fans of Cobalt City to play in the sandbox. They were welcome to use existing characters or bring their own creations in to play with. The whole point is to have fun, and to tell a story that the readers enjoy as well.

I’ve seen what’s on tap for this next anthology, and let me tell you — it’s going to be a blast. We have old friends returning, like Jeremy Zimmerman, and new friends like Dawn Vogel and the superlative Erik Scott de Bie. We even have a few brand-new talents between the covers.

But my biggest joy is a story featuring a character I sort of dropped in to Cobalt City Blues more as a plot point than anything else. While I always liked the look and the style of the Wrecker of Engines, I didn’t ever know what to DO with him. I needn’t have worried. Rosemary Jones took the character and gave him a story that took my breath away.

Honestly. I felt like Bob Dylan hearing Hendrix play “All Along the Watchtower” for the first time. I might have created the blank-faced pulp mystery man, but she made him come alive. And far as I’m concerned, he’s there in the sandbox anytime she wants to use him.

After all, isn’t that the point?

All submissions for Cobalt City Timeslip anthology are now in hand. Editor’s notes for revisions are already on their way out. I will have a full Table of Contents, complete with the order of appearance, in the next 24 hours, but for now it’s a nice, tight little line-up. A good mix of proven talents, emerging writers, and a few new discoveries, all packed into one 7 story digest-sized anthology with illustrations.

The road is not over yet. Once the writers finish their jobs, the hard work of assembling takes place. And since we’re on a pretty demanding self-imposed schedule, the next few weeks will be…let’s say “hectic.”

But when it’s all done, the first new book from Timid Pirate Publishing will be out there in the world. Words can’t really do justice to how happy this makes me. My partners and I are already talking eagerly about the next steps, the next projects, and some of the great promotional/marketing ideas we have.

And I’m eager to knock out a few more quick Cobalt City stories. I had forgotten just how much I love playing in this sandbox and sharing it with other creative people. Look for much more very soon.

Technically, Cobalt City Timeslip closed for submissions this weekend.

I say technically because I have a pair of stories straggling through the gate in the next day or two. Yeah, I could be a hard-ass and say “A missed deadline is a missed deadline,” but who does that benefit? Answer: no one. Anyway, one is the only story that slips forward rather then looking back. The second is a early cold-war piece staring one of my favorite — and under-explored — characters, the Wrecker of Engines which is being written by a good friend and proven talent.

I’m going to let the deadline slide a bit for those. Isn’t that what Timeslip is all about anyway? Flexible time?

In the meantime, contracts have been drawn up for the accepted stories and are going out with the requests for revisions, courtesy of Timid Pirate’s crackerjack editor. She and I are batting the back cover copy around like a wounded vole. I expect to have a finished draft of that within the week. Revisions will be coming back from the authors in time to get this all formatted and sent to the printer by end of month (or early September, at least). We should have a few ARC’s available for review in September, and PDF review copies even earlier.

The cover is done except for the contributor names. We have 2 pieces of interior art, and we hope to have more before we launch — as many as 5 interior illustrations, which is a first for us.

We really hope to have it all handed off to the printers as early as possible in September, as we’re opening the next anthology in then. I was thinking of announcing that one earlier, but until we have the our website how we want it, ain’t no point in rushing it.

That reminds me. Need to figure out the website. Time to change hats again! Ah the exciting life of the small publisher!