The books I have read thus far in 2008 are:

( Books behind the cut... )

Welcome to the first installment of Tales from the Wishing Well, inspired by you! I am surprised (yet pleased) to tell you that the first story has actually gone over my word limit and will be split into two posts. You get the first half of "In Extremis" today and the second half on Monday.

Read, enjoy, tip if you're moved, and comments are welcome!

* * *

In Extremis
Part 1
by Deborah J. Brannon

     Marshall tossed a coin into the well, and upon this coin was inscribed: Abaddon.

They only come in winter or summer. In extremis, by extremes. In summer, my door opens upon Baghdad alleys, in dunes southwest of Mut, upon the infernal wastes of Ifrin and the trackless breadth of Death Valley. In winter, penitents must come through Moscow sewers, walk leagues north of Helsinki, dig through snows in the Ice Queen's realm, or steer fifth star to the right and straight on till morning toward the Antarctic.

They always know the ordeals, the way. They find the broken-latched door in shadows and water and snows and collapsing waves of heat. Though iron or wood, banded in silver or leather, it always bears my sigil: the staring hollow eye and the insatiable locust splayed across the pupil. The sigil is a chain, burned into my flesh as well, an invisible connection that means the door will always lead to me.

No matter where I run to, in this world or any other, they will always find me with their blazing eyes and their scrabbling hands. So full of burning guilt and freezing desire, they will never let me forget why it must be me.

Abaddon. Title, name, and purpose.

( Continue reading... )

Tales from the Wishing Well

Introduction
A couple of weeks ago, I invited all of you to give me writing prompts: one prompt per letter in the alphabet, in keeping with the Alphabet Meme going around Livejournal at the time. Originally, I planned to mix my responses to the meme, either writing a journal entry or a short essay or doing something more creative, however the mood struck me. My more creative responses could encompass flash fiction (up to 750 words), poetry, photography, or jewelry-crafting.

After pondering my current situation, however, I have decided that every reply to the Alphabet Meme-- or every installment in Tales from the Wishing Well, as the project is now called-- will be creative. Some installments may have a visual component (either photography or jewelry), but all installments will have a written component (mainly flash fiction and poetry, with forays into song-writing and essays possible).

My reasons for doing this are several. First, I'd like to encourage myself to start producing creatively to a schedule (no matter how busy I am otherwise). In addition to this, I'd also like to generate more interest in my writing. On the business side of things, I'd like to experiment with cyber-funded creativity. Finally, on a personal note, I am sadly in dire financial straits.

Schedule
The plan is to start posting installments this Friday. Thereafter, installments to Tales from the Wishing Well will be published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I would also like to say up front that this is a flexible schedule and the schedule will flip to twice a week if necessary. This is due to the fact that I am currently preparing to move between states and start graduate school. I'm dedicated to producing creative work consistently, but I'm not crazy. Much.

Topics, As Provided By You
( behind the cut )

Donations, or The Cyber-Funded Part
Each installment in Tales from the Wishing Well will have a Paypal Donate button located at the bottom of the post. This is a tip jar, an up-turned top hat, an open guitar case. It is not a bill, an invoice, or a demand.

I ask only that, if you enjoy the fruits of my labor, that you consider throwing a bill or two into the jar.

Those who do donate, however, will have first crack at purchasing any jewelry made for this project. Or window-box prints of my photographs, with the photo surmounting the text of the accompanying installment. There may be other incentives to come over the next couple of months!

Coming Up Soon
On Friday, you'll get a short flash fiction piece inspired by afterimage's prompt: Abaddon. Come back and read the story entitled "In Extremis" (or "Lady of Locusts" as it's been rattling around in my head). Brought to you by the phrases "place of destruction," "land of the dead" and "where the damned lay half in fire and half in ice." I hope to subvert your expectations.

My Plea
If you know some people who enjoy free short fiction and poetry, would you mind directing them here? They can check out the first installment of Tales from the Wishing Well this Friday (and read some other free fiction and poetry on my site) and decide if they'd like to hang around for the whole carnival.

Thank you!

(I would be remiss if I did not mention the local trailblazers in cyberfunded creativity: ysabetwordsmith, haikujaguar, and shadesong.)

Today's wordcount: 1505 (1113 usable)
Current project: "Child of Midnight"
Description: "At midnight, every stone was a poet." - Mia Nutick.
Reason for stopping: Some pieces rattled around and fell together in a way that will necessitate immediate revision, plus there was dinner.

This isn't the story I'm supposed to be working on! I'm supposed to be working on "Burier" and then I'm supposed to be researching for another story that's due very soon. However, this one leapt on me last night and I could not say no.



I also have a new Word Cloud to share with you, this one based on "When Death Dances," a Dia de los Muertos fairy tale I currently have sent out:


"When Death Dances"
(click for larger version)

Wow. Seriously: wow. The sale over at chimera_fancies was one of the most frenzied free-for-all sales I've seen outside of Christmas season retail. I could say that sale resembles a bone cleanly-picked by the finest pirahna in the Amazon and that wouldn't be much of a stretch.

Mia's work speaks for itself, literally: the poem-pendants are little sirens in the realm of wearable art. I'm so happy that something my friend loves to do is selling so well: she's even scored a feature on a fashion blog!

I threw myself into the fray with her today, gladly helping sort out who got what by virtue of their claims. And now that the furor has died down, I'd like to bring attention to a few pendants still in need of homes:



If you'll click on each pendant above, you'll be taken to the sale they were featured in. In some cases, there are a couple of other pendants still available as well. Browse around and see what beauty you can find!

Two awesomely fantastic things are happening on Livejournal today.

One: The auctions over at livelongnmarry have started! Hopefully, everyone has heard about this; if not, it's a number of auctions for the express purpose of raising charitable donations to help defeat the initiative gunning to make same-sex unions in California null, void, and illegal.

There are all sort of cool auctions: get your stories critiqued by pros (such as Elizabeth Bear, Kate Elliot, and Rachel Manija Brown)! participate in an erotica-writing boot camp with Hanne Blank! win a tabby cat hat! get care packages or hand-written letters or custom icon sets or signed books or baked goods... the awesomeness is nearly unlimited. There's even a custom chimera_fancies pendant up for grabs!

That brings me to the second fantastic thing happening on Livejournal today:

A new chimera_fancies sale is going to live!

Any long-term readers of my journal know of these remarkable fairy tale poem-pendants. If you don't, check out my Chimera Fancies tag.

Absolutely not to brag about getting to see some sneak previews, but there are some gorgeous pendants in today's sale. And Mia's doing something new: she's posting the sale in advance of the sale actually going live, which should give people time to browse and pick which ones they want to go for without that frenzied free-for-all fear dogging their browsing. Look for it to go up soon! (The sale opens at 2 PM PST!)

Go forth and buy something shiny!

Well, let's try this. Claim a topic from A-Z and I'll blog about it. If I'm inspired, I may even create some art for your topic: anything ranging from photography to jewelry to poetry to short fiction.

For each post that contains an artistic endeavor, I'll put a Donate button at the bottom. If my creativity brings you some joy and you feel like it, toss me a dollar. Or, y'know, don't. I'll be glad to share either way.

A: Abaddon (afterimages)
B: Brothers (blackspirit86)
C: Crow (quadrivium)
D: Desire (caudelac)
E: England (sarabystarlight)
F: Falling (mommiemilo)
G: Gallow's Humor (catwalk)
H: Hopeful (ellenmillion
I: Imperium (themaskeddragon)
J: Japan (copperwise)
K: Kitsune (jessicamelusine)
L: Lust (moonvoice)
M: Mythic (keilexandra)
N: Nebulous (sirandrew)
O: Obstinate (void_dragon)
P: Predestination (worshipper)
Q: Question that should never be asked (jackbabalon23)
R: Rain (mlion)
S: Style (roomette)
T: Tactile (ironed_orchid)
U: Underworld (lola_mcrary)
V: Virtue (sonicanimus)
W: Wistful (caelum)
X: Xanadu (tithenai)
Y: Yarrow (cadhla)
Z: Zombies (budclare)

As many have, ever since I saw the Wordle application on nineweaving's journal, I have been playing with various texts. Below, you can see one representing my short story, "The Trees of Trellan":


"The Trees of Trellan"
(click for larger version)

Sadly, this short story of piratical and alien lovers has been rejected once again. I have a couple more venues in mind before it goes down for a rewrite, however.

In much better news, I have had a poem accepted for publication in the September issue of Scheherezade's Bequest on Cabinet des Fées! The poem is entitled "My Small Army of Souls" and both the title and text of the poem were inspired by elisem's lovely bracelet, "My Small Army of Souls."

I'll also be reviewing Oscar Wilde's fairy tales for that edition, so look forward to it.

Finally, I've been promoted to the status of Master Reviewer at Green Man Review and also started writing blurbs (only for the book reviews) for their biweekly issues.

Mostly good news there, I should say!

Last week, the Mythopoeic Society announced the finalists for this year's Mythopoeic Awards. You can find out who the finalists are by going to the relevant page or you can see the list below the cut:

( And the finalists for the Mythopoeic Awards are... )

Note: Just for kicks, I have bolded the ones that I have read and italicized the ones that I've been wanting to read.

I would now discourse knowledgeably on the finalists and predict who would win in each category, but I can't. I just haven't read all these books and don't have the experience to make any well-founded predictions.

However, just for fun, I will put my totally random predictions as a comment to this entry. I invite you to do the same!

P.S. A possible note of interest for those who are interested in past Mythopoeic Award-winners and like random reading projects: the Foxy Writer has started a Mythopoeic Awards Reading Challenge, which sounds brilliant to me. (Mostly because it has tons of books on there that I've been wanting to read anyway! This gives me a good excuse to move them up in the to-read pile.)

P.P.S. And for those who were wondering, the winners will be announced during Mythcon XXXIX (held August 15-18, 2008).

Do you enjoy shiny, beautiful objects, or know someone who does?


The Cultivation of Fire-Forests

Because elisem is having a sale. And, when Elise has a sale, her gorgeous pieces go for jaw-droppingly low prices. Seriously. Her works are worth every penny she normally charges, so getting them at a discount is a little bit of grace.


The Village of Bacchus-under-the-Sea

You've got two hours left to check out her sale: please do! Even if it's just to trail your eyes across some lovely work and, perhaps, find inspiration in the interstices of name and shiny. (Not that I'm guilty of that or anything.)

P.S. Just under two hours left now! The sale ends at 6 PM Central!

This week, Green Man Review features three reviews by me:

Examining a recent example of successful cyberfunded creativity, I have the following to say about M.C.A. Hogarth's The Aphorisms of Kherishdar:

"It is remarkable to me that M.C.A. Hogarth is not more widely spoken of than she is, for she is writing some of the most imaginative social (and alien) science fiction currently out there. If I were forced to use one word to describe her as an artist and a writer, it would be -- ascending. If I were to use one word to describe her latest offering, The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, it would be -- illuminating." [Read the rest of the review at this link.]

Subterranean Press has been creating some lovely editions of Ray Bradbury's work and, this past February, they decided to publish Bradbury's The Golden Apples of the Sun in its 1953 format:

"It is well-established that Ray Bradbury is one of the finest writers currently working today, and that honor extends beyond the science fiction genre to distinguish him also in fiction, magical realism, fairy tales, and, really, the list goes on. Besides being one of the founding fathers of social science fiction, one could also suggest Bradbury to be a leading explorer in the interstitial arts, being a writer who has always done what creators did best: eschewed borders, ransacked the nooks of the brain and the crannies of the soul, and gave form to what came." [Read the rest of the review at this link.]

Recently nominated for a Nebula, Vera Nazarian also had a novella entitled The Duke in His Castle come out in hardback yesterday. I was privileged enough to receive an ARC and so was able to give you an immediate review:

"For years, I had nibbled at Nazarian's work, first through various Sword and Sorceress anthologies and finally through Salt of the Air last summer. I hadn't ever found the opportunity to sit down to a fuller feast -- until, that is, The Duke in His Castle fell into my grasping hands.

The Duke in His Castle is philosophy couched in a fairy tale couched in a murder mystery tinged with children's games. It's a kaleidoscope of thought and emotion, the howling winds of despair, and the sometimes soft, sometimes fierce flow of life. Not only is it quickly absorbing and a quick read, but it sits up and begs for repeat visits." [Read the rest of the review at this link.]

As always, I have archived all these reviews at my personal website.

Terri Windling announced today that the Endicott Studio will be closing (although the archives will continue to be available, thank GoD).

I am honestly reeling in shock. I first encountered the Endicott Studio sometime in early '98, I believe. It has been a large fixture of my online life for the past ten years and, in a way, could be considered one of my Mythic Arts/Fairy Tale parents. (The other parent, of course, being primary source texts.)

I'm just... excuse me.

Yesterday, the Special Froud Edition went live at Green Man Review.

It's a fantastic edition, beautifully laid out and composed. Mia Nutick interviewed Brian, Wendy (and Toby!) Froud: the resulting transcriptions are enchanting. We even have a guest interview by Terri Windling that's not to be missed.

On top of that, you'll find links to all the materials by the Frouds we've reviewed over the years-- including some exciting new ones, like World of Faerie and The Art of Wendy Froud.

Check it out! And write in to let us know what you think of the issue.

I meant to post this when I first saw it, five days ago, on Neil's journal, but it's only now when I should be tucking myself into bed to yawn sleepily (but with great delight) at Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin that I think to do so:

"The second draft is where the fun is. In a first draft, you get to explode. The objective (at least for me) is to get it down on paper, somehow. Battle through the laziness and the not-enough-time and the this-is-rubbish and everything else, and just get it written. Whatever it takes. The second draft is where you go and gather together the fragments of the explosion and figure out what it is you did, and make it look like that was what you always meant to do."

It's incredibly inspiring to know that Mr. Gaiman goes through the exact same things I do when we sit down in front of that blank, virgin page. To hear him say this frees me in some ways.

The auction for my necklace, "And Then She Flew" based on K. Tempest Bradford's "Black Feather," is closing tomorrow (as in Wednesday)! If you're interested, get your bids in now!

Elise's fantastic piece, "Willow Pattern," based on the Jon Singer story of the same name, is also closing tomorrow!

And while you guys are checking out the Interstitial Art Foundation's auctions, be sure to check out the "Timothy" set by Sarah Evans and the "Post Hoc" piece by Leslie What (based on her story by the same name). These pieces have yet to receive any love!

Finally, make sure you appraise Rachel Pollack's piece, "Burning Beard" (based on her story of the same name) and Mia Nutick's latest poetry-pendant based on yuki_onna's "A Dirge for Prester John."

I have several announcements for you guys today!

Congratulations to my youngest brother, Joseph, for placing third in the 2007-2008 Student Poetry Contest organized by the Alabama State Poetry Society! He got $15 out of the deal. Nifty.



ALSO, the winners of the first ever chimera_fancies pendant contest have been announced! The wicked fairy apologist, pretty little dead girl, and myself (the jack) deliberated long and hard to pick the top three winners and a selection of "honorable mentions." (Any and all rumors that either drugs or snark were involved in the allegedly free-style salonesque evaluation of pieces are complete hokum.) Go and see!



There are only two days left to bid on my necklace, "And Then She Flew," in the IAF auctions!

Speaking of the IAF, the Third Interstitial Salon is now open! Come and chat with myself, Mia Nutick, Elise Matthesen, Kris McDermott, K. Tempest Bradford, and others as we discuss how art relates to jewelry relates to writing relates to creation.



And, lastly, my website is now live with the May Surprise! Stop by and check out the twisted parody of Virgil's Aeneid and then wander back over here to tell me what you think. Unless that involves throwing rotten vegetables and then, please, don't bother. ;) (By the way, the surprise is Part 1 of 2: I hope to have the second bit of the Corrupted Aeneid up by this weekend.)

Also, there's now a splash page for Magpie Missions, but it's pretty simple.

The IAF has enough donated jewelry to keep their auctions going for nearly a month!

However, your time is running out on a few lovely pieces:

Mia's "Like a Cat" is finishing up on the auction block today: you have less than two hours left to bid!


"Like a Cat" by Mia Nutick
based on "Timothy" by Colin Greenland

Click on the pendant above to visit the auction.


The same goes for these "Rainbird" earrings by Kris McDermott.



My own necklace only has a few days left: that auction will be closing on Wednesday, May 14th. Won't you please consider bidding, if you've a mind, or show this to friends who might find my jewelry lovely?


"And Then She Flew" by Deborah J. Brannon
based on "Black Feather" by K. Tempest Bradford

Click on the necklace above to visit the auction.

Thank you!





Pssst! Great news! The results of the Chimera Fancies pendant contest will be posted today! Be looking out for it!

Today, the necklace I made for the IAF auction is live. I have impressed a few people with my first necklace (including the author! Eee!), for which I am so grateful-- now let's convert those good impressions into bids for the IAF!

And Then She Flew by Deborah J Brannon

Based on "Black Feather" by K. Tempest Bradford, from Interfictions.

The Wood, the hill, the cave, the sky: compelling elemental presences evoking the Hanged Man, the lost girl, the ravens, and what redemption we can find. These were the threads that asked to be woven in wood and glass, semi-precious stone and gleaming metal. I like to believe that I gave Tempest’s story another method of flight.

Opening Bid: $15

Click here to bid and see the other Interfictions auctions.

And don't forget to check out the other auctions-- an incredibly gorgeous piece by Elise Mattheson based on Jon Singer's "Willow Pattern" went up today and one of Mia's delightfully enchanting pendants is currently live, among so many other pretty things!

INTERFICTIONS Jewelry Auction Begins Today!

. . . So head on over to IAFAuctions.com to see our first two wonderful pieces based on stories from the first Interstitial Arts anthology, bid on these collectible one-of-a-kind pieces, and support the IAF.

*****

April 30, 2008 marked the one year anniversary of the Interfictions anthology release. This groundbreaking anthology showcasing nineteen writers from four countries gave a glimpse into what interstitial fiction might look like (without drawing any clear borders).

To celebrate the anniversary, the Interstitial Arts Foundation (IAF) invited jewelry makers to further blur the borders by creating pieces based on the stories in Interfictions, which will be auctioned off to benefit IAF beginning May 5th.

Interstitial artists and admirers of Interfictions have come forward with some truly stunning pieces based on Interfictions stories by Matthew Cheney, Catherynne M. Valente, Jon Singer, Veronica Schanoes, and Colin Greenland. Participants include artists Elise Matthesen, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Mia Nutick, Kris McDermott, and many more.

And, most remarkably, some of the authors themselves have created unique pieces based on their own work! Keep an eye on IAFAuctions.com to see wearable interpretations of their own work by Interfictions authors Leslie What, Rachel Pollack, and K. Tempest Bradford.

Our auction launches on May 5 with complex and elegant pieces from Sarah Evans and JoSelle Vanderhooft, based on the stories "A Map of the Everywhere" and "A Dirge for Prester John".

New pieces will go up every two days and auctions will last for 4-7 days. Bid early and often--bids start as low as $10! All proceeds will go to supporting Interstitial Arts projects, including the second Interfictions volume, Interfictions 2, to be published in Fall 2009.

And please help support Interfictions and the IAF by spreading the word about the auction.

To see the pieces currently available, please visit IAFAuctions.com. Subscribe to our RSS feed to be notified when new pieces go live.

FAQ
How long will the auction last?
For about three weeks, or until we run out of jewelry.

Can I still contribute a piece inspired by Interfictions before the auction closes?
Yes, if you contact us by May 10th.

Who should I contact with questions about the auction?
Write to: IAFBead @ gmail . com

The call went out a month ago: your jewelry, it cried! Bring us your jewelry in support of the Interstitial Arts Foundation! At the time, I was just beginning the expensive fabulous addiction hobby of jewelry-making. This siren call then just dragged me into deep waters, with only a ship of silver wire and hidden caves of beads for my comfort.

I like to think I didn't embarrass myself on my maiden voyage.

The IAF auction called for us to interpret any of the stories in Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing through the lens of precious metal and stone. Choosing wasn't difficult for me, for all that there were many fine stories and engendered ideas. Still, it was a piece inspired by K. Tempest Bradford's "Black Feather" that immediately asked to be given form.



"And Then She Flew"
a piece inspired by
K. Tempest Bradford's
"Black Feather"
from
Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing

K. Tempest Bradford's "Black Feather" is inarguably interstitial: is it a re-imagined fairy tale? A dream story? Magical realism? I can't say for sure. Yet it is most certainly a tale of the Wood, for all that therein the Wood exists only in dreams and one small wooded park in an obscure corner of Manhattan. In this wood is a hill and, at the top of this hill, is a cave. The Wood, the hill, the cave, the sky: compelling elemental presences evoking the Hanged Man, the lost girl, the ravens, and what redemption we can find. These were the threads that asked to be woven in wood and glass, semi-precious stone and gleaming metal. Using fancy jasper, Australian jasper, jet glass, wooden beads, sterling silver, and one wooden feather, I like to believe that I gave Tempest's story another method of flight.

You can see other views of it in the gallery.

Please, if you've a mind, let me know what you think! I crave feedback.

Check out what other lovely work will be featured in the auction as well:
copperwise's three pieces are based on "Timothy" by Colin Greenland, "A Dirge for Prester John" by Catherynne M. Valente, and the Interfictions anthology over all.
elisem's piece is based on "Willow Pattern" by Jon Singer.
d_aulnoy's piece is based on "Rats" by Veronica Schanoes.
upstart_crow's first two pieces are based on "A Dirge for Prester John" by Catherynne M. Valente (and she's finishing one up based on Bradford's "Black Feather" as well).
ebess' piece was inspired by K. Tempest Bradford's "Black Feather" as well, and-- wow!

These awesome pieces of jewelry will start going up for auction at the IAF Auctions site today!