Wiscon, The Nebulas, and the Ballad of Bloody Brigid!

So, I can yell about my short story sales now! In August, The Dark will be publishing another of my short horror fantasy stories, "Bobbie and Her Father."

Some time next year, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet will publish their second piece with me (and my first short story with them), "King Moon's Tithe to Hell."

May was some kind of month, let me tell you. 

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This past weekend, I attended my first Wiscon in a way I didn't imagine doing so a year ago: virtually. It was deeply fun.

The chaos of the discord server that served as the main socialization page had the same taste as a convention: tons of strangers, united by specific, common interests, all competing to talk to each other. Once I figured out how to mute and mark channels as read, it was much easier, though the overwhelming energy was absolutely still in the air.

There were less panels than I expected, but what was there felt very tight and well done. My favorite pieces of programming included Benjamin Rosenbaum's lecture, "Doctor Who as the Wandering Jew," THE NOT HUGO AWARD-WINNING BUT VERY IMPORTANT NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL, and Renaming the Otherwise Award. The last addressed some questions I had regarding the name change of what was formerly called the Tiptree Award in a thoughtful, nuanced way.

I had so much fun, I went ahead and registered for the virtual Nebula Conference. It was much more business-oriented and intimidating than Wiscon, but still enormously social (through Zoom breakout rooms, mostly) and full of amazing programming. My favorites included Finances for Traditionally Published Novelists, Publish SFF Romance: Pick a Seat, Not a Side, the rescue cat livestream, and The 55th Nebula Awards.

Wiscon also gave me the chance to meet fellow writer, Judith Huang, whose debut novel, Sofia and The Utopia Machine, has been added to my to-read list. We chatted a little and she was kind enough to read my story in The Dark, Brigid Was Hung By Her Hair from the Second Story Window. Then, to my shock and joy, she wrote me a ballad based on it! 

With her permission, it's my absolute pleasure to share it with you.

The Ballad of Bloody Brigid