So, the Interstitial Arts Foundation is hosting a pretty amazing art auction to benefit the organization, in particular their efforts to put out an anthology of interstitial fiction each year (my story "The Score" is in the current edition, Interfictions 2).

All the art they've had up so far has been pretty amazing, but I admit that this week's offering is closer to my heart: it's a pair of earrings based on "The Score." I love these things, they are incredibly beautiful, and if you like them or (or any of the other currently-open auctions) you should bid, because you will be benefiting a great organization and scoring (ha) some seriously amazing art for relatively little money. What's not to love?

And, related, the IAF has posted an interview I did with them a few months ago about some of the political stuff behind "The Score." I don't know if it's at all interesting, really, but here's a snippet:


So, take a look and think about bidding if you like something!

So, the most awesome reading ever was...completely awesome. I'm not sure how much you can see of my own presentation in this, but at least you can get a flavor of how interesting--dare I say "interstitial"-- it was to have the live band improvising behind the readers. Everyone else was much cooler than I, and I was still pretty cool ;)

(Also, I am wearing the world's hottest bright orange silk bubble skirt I pinned up myself and afterwards I went to the surprisingly packed opening of skeeball bar in Brooklyn, so basically, you all wish you had an evening as cool as mine on Friday).

I am the fourth clip in, if you click forward, but, yeah, everyone else is better than me, so watch them first :)

For now, back to the daily grind. And by "daily grind" I mean writing until four in the morning and having interesting adventures on the subway. You all weep for me, I know, I know.

I cannot believe that I'm up now (and you wouldn't either, if you knew the kind of 48-hour day I've had), but I seem to be in the grip of some post-World Fantasy Convention emotion. Usually the post-con feeling is depression, but I'm just...really happy. Seriously fucking happy. I had such a great time, I watched one of my best friends accept a fucking Howie for an anthology he busted his ass to publish, I hung out with a few dozen of my favorite people, I discussed Tang dynasty Chinese poetry and the differences between that and Heian-era poetry with Guy Gavriel Kay (well, that, and why he likes the Yankees), and I had just about the best tour of a Rosicrucian temple ever. "We should split up!" (fist bump). "Here, have an apple." and, even better, "Vodka tonic for the road?" God, it's so late, and I am so tired and I'm sure none of this will make any sense to even me in the morning, but I guess I have some latent impulse that makes me want to commemorate the awesome in my life, so here you (I) go.

Dear World Fantasy Con, San Jose: 

You were awesome.

Sincerely,

Alaya

so long as the poem has an imaginary author. Like this one:

Will her brothers mourn
the loss of their jeweled seed?
Her mother has baked all night
dead silent in the kitchen.
The ashes are bitter as cacaotl grounds
But give no liminal visions.
Sunrise: the bread is dense, each slab gray as evening moss.
The father will not eat his slice—
It’s salted with his tears.

That's the opening to my short story "A Song to Greet the Sun," which was the piece that helped me win the awesome Gulliver's Travel research grant to go to Mexico and research ancient mesoamerican civilization for a novel set in the same world as this short story.

You can read the rest here at Fantasy magazine.

Also, if any of you are anywhere near the New York area, and can make it here the evening of Friday, November 6, I am doing what will probably be my most awesome reading ever at the Housing Works, along with a bunch of other great authors from Interfictions and Interfictions 2. Here's the announcement. There is included a live band that will be interpreting the music that's pretty integral to my Interfictions 2 piece while two actors (and me) read from it. Seriously, guys, I cannot wait to see how this turns out. You should come.

Enjoy:



ETA--

For those not in the states

So, a few things happening in the wild world of publishing.

MOONSHINE's pub date has been changed from February 16 2010 to May 11 2010. They've also changed the format from hardcover to trade paperback.

It's honestly a pretty big move this late in the game (galleys have gone out with the original format, price and date) but the good news is that the reason the publisher has decided to make such a big change is because all the big accounts (publisher-speak for Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon) have promised to buy a lot more books in trade than they would in hardcover, and in this market, that kind of interest shouldn't be ignored. So, all's good! But I know a bunch of you have either requested a book or indicated that you are happily awaiting its publication, so I thought I should say something.

Also, I now have to formally stop my offer of putting you on a list to give the publisher for galleys, as the publisher doesn't have so many copies and I can't promise you'll get them. I'll let you know if that changes, but for now if I haven't been in touch with you about your address, it's probably too late :(

The only thing that makes me a little sad is that it keeps feeling like the publication date of this book is continually receding in the distance, but I'm sure I'll be a ball of stress when it comes out, so maybe that's a good thing?

In LA, Santa Monica. I have now taken a train from New York to Seattle, and from Seattle to LA.

And I could write a lot about it, I suppose, but what it all comes down to is the utterly quotidian, cliched observation that even so I never really understood until the last few weeks:

America is beautiful.

Really fucking beautiful. North Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California: jaw-dropping gorgeous. I saw the sun rising over cornfields in Indiana, and all I could think of was that song in Oklahoma, "Oh what a beautiful morning..."

Writing retreats don't get much better than that.

but I have to make anyway.

I've spent the weekend attending the Vancouver Fringe Festival, which was an awesome experience that involved walking for hours across the city and seeing some pretty amazing (and, unfortunately, also some bad) theater.

But tonight I saw one of the best things I've seen in my life, on stage or anywhere else. It's Jonno Katz's The Accident. The full Fringe Festival is over now, but I have a feeling that this one will be in the "pick of the Fringe" best-of showcase next weekend. It was that fucking amazing. It garnered my only standing ovation.

Now, maybe I'm just primed for stories about brothers, but holy crap (ha), people, this was astonishing. It was gut-bustingly funny, with Katz managing to imbue a shy, artistic younger brother, a brash, insenstive older brother and his World of Warcraft-obsessed girlfriend with mannerisms so perfect and specific you always knew exactly which one he was portraying. There is a scene where little brother dances salsa with extremely drunk girlfriend (with Katz dancing both parts) that is so funny I nearly fell on the floor.

The brothers build a giant machine they call "The Crapper" that turns gourmet food into, well, you know. It starts out as funny as you would imagine and ends in a lake full of shit, in one of the most emotionally affecting denouements I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. I almost cried.

There is also interpretive dancing.

Frankly, I'm having a hard time trying to capture exactly what made this so astonishing to see, so I guess I'll leave it there. I don't know anyone who lives in Vancouver, so probably this will have to be a rec in the wind, but just in case there's a chance you could make it here next weekend, I can't recommend this show highly enough. And if you ever, EVER hear of Jonno Katz performing something in your area (he's Australian, but he seems to have done a big Canadian tour), go see it. Seriously. The man's a mad genius.

P.S. For some reason, this has now made me have a crazy seed of an idea to turn one of my short stories into a stage play. The gay zombie love story, for those playing at home.

 

So, I know I should be offline and detoxing while enjoying the scenery and the world's longest train ride, but of course I have a layover for about two seconds in Chicago, wandered into downtown, found some free wifi and had to indulge my sad internet addiction.

Thus: the second half of my story "The Yeast of Eire" is up at Strange Horizons. (Hope you) enjoy!

(PS, Chicago friends, the next time I'm here you must tell me where to find food that is not from a frakking yuppie chain. I feel like I'm in the first ring of hell, and it's called "tasteful lunch hour.")

and my (still) favorite show on TV is starting its new season in less than 24 hours, here's by far the best fan video I've found. It's seriously amazing-- just watch it:

Okay, it's up! Read it if you have time. This could alternatively be called, "Where have all the black folks gone?"

ETA: I should add, though I don't normally request this sort of thing, that if you thought I had anything useful to say in this letter, could you mention it on your own journals? Just because the issues are kind of important to me and I'd like for as many people to see it as possible.

I thought I'd mention that the first part of my short story, "The Yeast of Eire" is now up at Strange Horizons.

Here's the first paragraph:
It's a domestic high fantasy story all about bread baking. If that sort of thing interests you.

I first got into fandom via Sailor Moon, which I always wince at while saying out loud, but to be frank I still adore that show and don't regret a minute of my involvement in its sprawling, crazy fandom. It was a great place to start, because the show had already finished its run (both in the manga and the television show, which was what I watched) and so elements of it had had time to coalesce and mature. In other words, I was still several years away from a highly traumatic fandom implosion of the type that can occur when a beloved show ends its run in fucking disaster (Veronica Mars: my ultimate bad fandom breakup).

There were many layers of Sailor Moon fanfiction (and I assume there still are, since, as I said, it's a mature fandom with a lot of the same people who were big back when I was doing it still writing now-- take Alicia Blade!) There was, of course, the het, which I guess makes Sailor Moon unusual in the larger fan verse, though I didn't know it at the time. Usagi/Mamoru (or Serena/Darien, if you preferred the dub flavor) probably comprised about seventy to eighty percent of the fanfic. Most of that was 95% crap, fluffy romantic type-stories with plenty of AU "Serena is the Duchess of the Serenity Moors and Darien is the handsome stable boy!" (Or, even better, one of my favorites at the time, called Masquerade by Crystal Heart: Serena is the Attorney General and Darien is the Surgeon General and they are both younger than thirty and they fake a relationship even though they hate each other and omg this was the BEST FIC EVAR when you are sixteen).

( the highlight of my literary career, and even more girl power )

(Much of this was brought on by a very strange/offensive survey being variously responded to and commented on by many fannish people, all far more famous than I. No need for me to link to it here, but I'm glad that it inadvertently made me contemplate my own experience in fandom.)

Fair warning: the following is a fanfic.

( It seems disingenuous to even apologize for this stuff anymore, really )

So, as you might have heard, my novel MOONSHINE is coming out in February 2010. The publisher has galleys, and one of the things I really wanted to do with this book is use the Power of Livejournal Fandom (or something) to help stir up some interest (assuming that it's there to be stirred).

Here's the cover:



( description, quotes and free books! )

ETA: I am going to leave this as an open offer (possibly even a sticky, if I can figure out how to do it) essentially until my publisher tells me to stop bugging them. So if you're reading this, then you can still request a copy. If you do request a copy, please make sure to PM or email me your mailing address, otherwise I'll have to rely on my seriously rusty powers of telekineses. And if you know of someone who might be interested in this, please tell them to come here and comment!

Daughter of ETA: Well, party's over, folks. I'll let you know when/if something changes, but for now, I can't offer any more galleys. (However, if you have some crazy-big friends list, like more than 4000 people, then PM and we'll talk).

Looky! Looky!



That's the paperback edition of RACING THE DARK, hot off the presses (ahh!! so soon!!) and the final-pass pages of MOONSHINE. Both were dropped on my doorstep today.

I was going through some of my old LJ entries and realized that I for some reason f-locked a kind of fanfic for Veronica Mars. I had my reasons at the time, I suppose, though lord knows I can't remember them. In any case, if for whatever reason that sort of thing interests you, I have now made the post public. It's a script-format fic/alternate beginning of season three.

http://utsusemia.livejournal.com/9279.html