The Imago Machine (7/10/20) - a summationesque
in which I attempt to get back to newslettering by clearing the decks
So, pandemics, right? Amazing for the old concentration. Remarkable, really. I am so on top of everything. Including newsletters. That’s absolutely why I’m about to show you a whole group of marvels that have been gathering excessive dust in my browser tabs for weeks now. Yes. Definitely. Here we go.
(I promise if you read to the end there will be a small A Desolation Called Peace-themed treat.)
COVER REVEAL FOR A DESOLATION CALLED PEACE
Would you like to see the cover for A Desolation Called Peace? Because io9 has the cover for A Desolation Called Peace, and the entire prologue and first chapter as an excerpt, too. (The book is out in March 2021, and I can’t wait to share it with you. But for now, here’s your preview … and there’ll be something more at the end of this email…
ONLINE CLASS TOMORROW (7/11) - “MOVING FROM THE NOVEL TO THE SHORT STORY (AND BACK AGAIN)” @ CLARIONWEST
I have the pleasure of teaching for the first time at a Clarion West Writer’s Workshop short session tomorrow, which I’m incredibly excited about (though I’ve never taught through Zoom before — o my students, I shall endeavor not to fail you). But I’ve been wanting to talk about the craft and career complexities of shifting between short and long-form fiction for a while now, and I’m delighted to get to do it for Clarion West, and in support of the Write-A-Thon, which provides scholarships to Clarion attendees.
The class description and link are here: Moving From the Novel to the Short Story (And Back Again)
I think the class is currently full, but if this goes well, I certainly plan to give it again.
HUGO VOTING IS OPEN!
Voting for the 2020 Hugo Awards is now open for members of the 2020 WorldCon ConZealand. While I’m sad I won’t have an excuse to go to New Zealand in August (… this damn pandemic again!) I’m also still overjoyed to have A Memory Called Empire nominated for Best Novel. If you’re eligible, and so-inclined, I’d absolutely appreciate your vote!
THE BEST OF SHIMMER AVAILABLE NOW
Shimmer was one of my favorite speculative fiction magazines, both to read and to submit to, before it closed a few years ago — and one time, I not only submitted to it, but had a story accepted: “All the Colors You Thought Were Kings”, my teens-in-a-space-empire-with-gladatorial-combat-nanites-and-anti-imperialism short. (It may be the closest I ever get to writing YA). That story has been collected, along with a whole group of other marvels, in a Best of Shimmer volume which is available now.
PRE-ORDERS FOR RECKONING 4
Last year I got to edit an issue of the environmental justice creative journal, Reckoning, which was one of the best and most informative experiences I’ve ever had in this industry. The ebook has been available since January, but print copies of the issue are pre-orderable now and will be available later in July.
“A sobering burst of dynamic stories, poems, and essays that struggle with our overheating world. Arkady Martine and Danika Dinsmore have assembled a powerful collection for our unique time.” —Tobias Buckell, co-author (with Paolo Bacigalupi) of The Tangled Lands
Featuring poetry, essays, fiction and art by Arkady Martine, Leah Bobet, Jude Wetherell, Anna Kate Blair, Lissa Harris, Brigit A. Truex, E. M. Wright, Deborah L. Davitt, Waverly SM, Nicole Walker, Fran Wilde, Juliana Roth, Shikhandin, Emery Robin, Kaye Boesme, Rebecca Campbell, William Squirrell, Holly Hughes, Don Dussault, Noa Covo, Laurinda Lind, Geoffrey W. Cole, Tim Fab-Eme, Hal Y. Zhang, Alan Bao, Sydney Rossman-Reich, Commando Jugendstil and Didier Graves.
AND ONE LAST THING … A Desolation Called Peace epigram previews!
March 2021, you may have noticed, is exceedingly far off. (Also time in this plague year of 2020 is a flat circle, and melting around the edges.) I know a whole lot of you are very excited about Desolation — so am I — and in lieu of simply hoping we all survive moderately unscathed for another nine months, I’m going to send you all tiny excerpts from the book. Starting right now.
What excerpts? Oh, nothing exactly plot-relevant. (You may imagine the steepled fingertips here, and the smile.) Just the chapter-opening epigrams. Only for newsletter subscribers. Every two weeks, another set of epigrams, until we run out of epigrams and get to the actual book.
(There may be prizes later for those of you who can predict the plot from the epigrams alone…)
For today, Chapter One and Chapter Two (since Chapter One’s epigrams were in the io9 preview!)
