I’ve a couple new stories out today, which is a lovely way to start the year. Firstly is my six-word story that is in It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure
I also have a short story at Flashes in the Dark today. You can read Dive just by following that link, and Flashes in the Dark is one of those cool webzines that will let you leave a comment if you feel like it. A little bit about this story, but cut because here there be spoilers:
My short story, Hell Tempted Me, is online now at Yellow Mama. This is an erotic piece and thus is not suitable for anyone under 18 or who isn’t into that sort of thing. I wrote it as an entry for a contest at FanStory a very long time ago (it didn’t win) and just recently found the right market for it.
I’m getting ready to go on my writing retreat today. I’ve finally figured out what I’m going to be working on there. First I need to do a final revision of THERE and then I’m going to start the rewrite of SHADOWS. I’m also hoping to fit some flash work in around the edges as part of one of my sekkrit projects. Wish me luck and productivity 🙂
My flash fiction piece, “Why are the Clocks Melting?” is up at Everyday Fiction today. So far the readers haven’t been very fond of it, but I still like it LOL I think some people might be looking too hard for meaning or satire. It was just meant to be an amusing little piece that was inspired when I asked ‘What if?’
*shrugs* Can’t win them all I guess. 🙂
I am very addicted to Tim Horton’s coffee. Almost as addicted as I am to World of Warcraft. I always said I should take a camera with me on the walk to Tims (which I make at least once a day). There are three Tim’s within walking distance from my house, but my favorite is on 118th Avenue. It’s not that long a walk, about 20 minutes each way, but it takes me through the playground of the school I volunteer in, near the abandoned hospital that intrigues me (and is where Deadmonton starts) and through a small wooded park. I always see something interesting on my travels, but never have the camera to record any of it. Until this time.
I took the camera with me the other day, and managed to get a picture of this blue jay. I got a few other great pictures, including one of a squirrel who really didn’t want me near his tree and a magpie that was sitting at the very top of a giant pine tree, looking quite majestic.
This story, by the way, has nothing to do with the news I wanted to share today, but I wanted an excuse to post the picture, so there you go 🙂
So right, news. I’ve got some 🙂
Firstly, my poem, Fae, is in this month’s issue of Lorelei Signal. I love the illustration that Holly Eddy did for it. It’s very nice 🙂
Also, there has been a new review of Sister Margaret that I’m very excited about 🙂 Anna, of Genre Reviews said:
Is it possible for a story to be simultaneously grim and fun? Because this one pretty much is. In the spirit of urban fantasy, there’s equal parts intrigue and action, the battle against an evil vampire, and a plethora of folks living in a gritty reality. I loved Bayne, who isn’t really a sidekick but fills the quirky content nicely, and the plot twist at the end is a great one, unexpected but logical.
She said more too, of course 🙂 You can see the whole review here –> Sister Margaret by Rhonda Parrish
My last bit of news for today is that I’m going on vacation to San Francisco. Yay! We are leaving on Sunday and will be gone for a week. While I’m away I will be completely offline, I’m not even taking my laptop in order to force myself to not work, at least for a little while. I will see you when I get back though 🙂
I’ll leave you with a picture of Danica finishing up her ice cap from the aforementioned trip to Tims. Why? Because I think she’s awesome.
A couple months ago I was asked by Monsters Next Door editor, LB Goddard if I would care to contribute something to an upcoming poetry anthology. Would I? I was so flattered to be invited to submit that I practically turned myself inside out in my haste to say ‘Yes, yes I would!’. Then, of course, I had to think of something to write. Easier said than done.
I put a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself to come up with something -good-. Something scary but with depth, haunting and evocative. You know what I found out? You can’t force that and it wasn’t going to happen LOL So I went with cheesy. I love cheesy horror, and apparently LB doesn’t mind it either because everything I submitted got in 🙂
The first piece of mine is called “Zonnet” and is, as the name sort of implies, a zombie-themed sonnet. I don’t actually like sonnets because I dislike iambic pentameter (the extra foot makes it awkward, I prefer iambic tetrameter, but we’ll get to that later). Still, I do enjoy taking a traditional/pretentious format like the sonnet and writing it about something as irreverent as zombies. This specific poem was directly influenced by S.G. Browne’s zom-rom-com Breathers.
My second poem is “Lycanthroku” which is a series of three shapeshifter-themed haiku, followed by “Lycanthrick” which is a werewolf limrick Jo and I composed while I was using him to bounce poem ideas off. I’m a fan of “Lycanthrick” all by itself, but it’s got an extra special spot in my heart because it’s the first time Jo and I have shared a byline. Awww /gush
I rounded out my submission with “The Sepultress” which is a reprinted poem I wrote in iambic tetrameter, because I like it far more than pentameter. Just sayin’ 😉
The book, Scattered Verses, Moonlit Curses, also features the work of Alexis Child, Charlotte Gledson, Natalie Sin, Julie “Cannibal Rose” Thielen, LB Goddard, Shells Walter, Richard Fay, Benjamin Bussey and Brian Beemer. I’ve not read it all yet, but I have looked through enough to suspect that cheesy horror wasn’t the style of choice for most people, happily, I don’t mind being different. I hope to read it sooner rather than later and share my impressions, but I haven’t had a chance yet. In my defense, the book just came out yesterday LOL
Recently while at brunch with some good friends, one of them looked at me and said “Rhonda, why don’t you just write a bestseller and buy a villa in Tuscany already?”
Write a bestseller.
Just like that, easy peasy.
Now why didn’t I think of that?
🙂
In other news, it’s not a bestselling novel but I’m the six word memoirist of the day at Smith Mag today. That means my picture and one of my six word stories is featured on their front page at http://www.smithmag.net
I used to play Dungeons and Dragons…and one time when I was the DM two of the characters (my brother Jay’s and his best friend Nick’s) became far too powerful for effective gaming. It was a rookie DM mistake, letting them get that overpowered, but once it was made I had to find a way to take them out of the game.
My story, There’s Always a Catch, which is now available at Sorcerous Signals was inspired by that expirience. It is not a retelling by any means, because the fictionalised version is a better story 😉 I hope you enjoy it.
Eep! Dude, it’s like the 14th already. How did that happen?
I’m working on my newsletter and I think I may pull it off on time this month (yay!). There’s still time to sign up if you haven’t already –> Newsletter <– . It’s pretty fun. I include one piece that hasn’t been published before, snippets of my works-in-progress and a poem as well as just updates and such. C’mon, all the cool kids are subscribed 😉
In other news, on the 11th my poem, Ballerina, was published on Every Day Poets. I’ve been published by their fiction site too and I have to say I really enjoy the format. I love the fact readers can comment and rate pieces — feedback from strangers is good. Good I say! 🙂
Right, I need to stop procrastinating and work on the newsletter or I won’t have anything to mail out tomorrow.
I admit it. I like Pamela Tyree Griffin which makes me biased, but I also like The Shine Journal. My work has appeared in it numerous times and I was honored to be one of the judges for their ‘Show Us Your Shorts’ contest earlier this year.
I’ve got two pieces in this month’s issue. If you were to judge them based solely on their titles it might seem as though they were similar, when in fact, they aren’t. Not even close.
The first, Sheltered, is a reprint of an amusing little flash which was originally published by the Mennonite Publishing Network last year.
What?
It really was. 🙂
The other is a sad poem I wrote entitled “A House Not a Home“. My great-grandmother was a poet and she wrote a poem after her beloved husband died which compared herself to an empty house; lonely and alone. Not so long ago my own husband was out of town on business and I saw a writing prompt that included a picture of a decrepit house. My loneliness, my great-grandmother’s poem and that picture all combined to inspire this short poem.
I hope you have time to check them out and let me know what you think 🙂
My poem, Inspiration, is in this month’s issue of NewMyths.com . I’m a fan of NewMyths.com, and not just because I’ve had my work in two issues…though that definitely helps :). Really, though, if you’re a writer it’s a paying market with a wonderful and personable editor, and if you’re a reader it’s a great venue for reading fantasy works — free.
Anyway, Inspiration is online there now. I’d like to tell you what inspired it, but ironically, I can’t remember LOL However, I do remember that when Scott accepted it he said ‘How could I say no to a poem that starts with the line, Her thighs are spread and trembling?’
How indeed 😉
