“Mrs. Zaberewsky” Rises Again

 

If you have ever longed to follow your artistic dream, only to have it squelched again and again, you will cheer on Witka, the protagonist of “Mrs. Zaberewsky.”

I was pleased to learn a week or so ago that the story “Mrs. Zaberewsky” was going to be published again, this time in a “Best Of” anthology from the free online speculative fiction magazine, Polar Borealis. Edited by Rhea Rose, it features short stories and poetry, and a fair whack of both; due to the tight word limit fr PB, there was room for more than the usual number of stories for a given anthology.

It features work by Y. M. Pang, Mary Choo, Taral Wayne and Walt Wentz, Lisa Timpf, Michael Donoghue, and many more.

Click HERE to reach Polar Borealis Magazine: A Free Online Magazine Devoted to Canadian Speculative Fiction

created by R. Graeme Cameron.

Pssst! Hey, you! Yes, YOU--the one who can't wait till the anthology comes out to find out about Witka in “Mrs. Zaberewsky.” Check out issue number one, here. 

"Delta Marsh" Free Online (read or listen)

Michael DeLuca, publisher of Reckoning, "An annual journal of creative writing on environmental justice", has been one by one releasing online the stories from Reckoning's second annual issue. My story, "Delta Marsh," became available this month. You can read it online (in a very clear and easy format) or you can listen to or download (!) the podcast--read by yours truly.

Enjoy "Delta Marsh" and all the other offerings of writing and art that DeLuca has pulled together for you.

Cheers!

Casey

“In Days and Nights the World is Spent”

I was delighted this week to receive a small package of books from Red Tuque. This is the seventh and final anthology in their Canadian Tales series: Canadian Tales of the Fantastic Volume VII. My story “Posture of the Infinite” appeared in number four, in 2014. In this volume my Scottish ghost story, “In Days and Nights the World is Spent”, has found a home.

Unfortunately for the masses, the print run sold out immediately and there won't be a reprinting. I suppose that is a bit disappointing for me, too. But c'est la vie.

If you are looking for a copy, let me know. I don't have many so it's first come, first served.

Cheers!

Coming Up Fast! VCon 41: Readings, Readings, & (OMG) More Readings!!!

It's that time again, folks--the time when you look at my blog and think, oh! She's not dead!

No, she's not. And this year I will be as active as ever at VCon. I am gathering my forces (two nieces, a nephew, a friend, and an honorary nephew) and storming the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel in Surrey for the weekend.

I've agitated until a panel I want to see (not be in) was organized:

Friday, September 30 • 18:00 - 18:50

Women Veterans of Vancouver Fanzine Fandom

This is special to my heart as I was once a reader of, and occasional producer of, fanzines (I still read faithfully a couple of zines, such as Bruce Gillespie's Science Fiction Commentary.) For years I had a beautiful Gestetner machine in my kitchen--indeed, as a young pup my main job at my place of employ was tending to the Gestetner room. Now I get to sit back and listen to tales of yore from them that was there. Yippee!

The following morning we are staging another Pallahaxi Players event:

Saturday, October 1 • 11:00 - 11:50

Pallahaxi Players Reader Theatre Presents 'Deep North' by Carlos Lozano Gilabert

I'm excited about this one. Carlos Lozano Gilabert has been widely published in Mexico and Spain, but this is his first performance in Canada. His play involves the crash of a rescue plane in the far north of Canada, and things that go AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! in the night.

Later:

Saturday, October 1 • 14:00 - 14:25

Reading: Casey June Wolf & Eileen Kernaghan

I love reading with Eileen. We have been reading together, critiquing each other's works, and generally getting buzzed on writing for many years now. I will be reading from my latest publication, "Fog". Eileen is being coy about what she will read, but as one of my all time favourite authors (and I really do mean that, I am not just out-gassing because she's my friend) I know I will enjoy whatever it is.

On Saturday morning I get to enjoy the usual In Camera Writers Workshop, which critiques I am almost finished doing now. This is followed by:

Sunday, October 2 • 15:30 - 16:50

Turkey Readings

Always a favourite for me, when we in the front of the room get to go over the top in reading aloud from, shall we say purple? science fiction novels of past glory, while audience members act them out, and others pay good money to make them stop. And start. And stop... A fund raiser for the Canadian Unity Fan Fund. A good last hurrah for me before I get to flake up to the hospitality suite for a cuppa joe.

See you there?

Coming Soon...

I have been sawing away at a tremendously huge poetry collection for the last couple of years, sending out the odd one but mostly just writing and writing and editing some more. All very different from the story writing that used to be my focus. However, I did pop out one story recently in response to a call for submissions, and had "Fog" accepted for the upcoming anthology The Nettle Tree, a collection of strangely different westerns. I have also had several poems accepted for the upcoming Your Death Full of Flowers, and yes, flowers are pretty much the main focus, but in myth and spirit settings. Both of these are poised to be published in the fall.

Also in the fall, VCon 41. Looking forward as usual to the fun and frolic.

Theme: Muppets, Puppets and Marionettes Friday, September 30 – Sunday October 2, 2016.
At the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.

Here's a wee spot from Co-Op Radio about VCon 41.

See you there!



Image: By Steve Hillebrand, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

"This is for Mrs Zaberewsky" in Issue #1 of Polar Borealis

R. Graeme Cameron, known and loved by SF fen the world over (especially on the Wet Coast), has launched a new semi-prozine called Polar Borealis, in which he hopes to feature beginning writers, with a few oldtimers like myself to help out.

To my delight, my niece Flora Jo Zenthoefer has the lead story in the zine--"Paperwork for Mazes". My own silly story, "This is for Mrs Zaberewsky", falls somewhere around page 38.

Thanks to Graeme for his energy and encouragement for young writers--Graeme has been running the VCon Writers Workshops for some years now, among his many other fannish offerings.

Download a free copy of Polar Borealis and get reading!

New eStory: "Finding Creatures"

Here it is. My second venture into epublishing: the title story from my collection, Finding Creatures & Other Stories. Follow this link for a free download.

"Bernadette is a lonely little girl...until she meets Angel, a horse nobody else can see, a friend like she has never known before. But is she really the only one who can see Angel? Is she really Angel's only friend?"

Story Sale: "Eating Our Young"

Happy news!

I've sold my story "Eating Our Young" to Chase Enterprises Publishing for publication in their new horror anthology, The Speed of Dark. There is still time to submit if you are interested--the deadline is 30 December 2012, at midnight.

"Eating Our Young" is a sad and grim allegory about the way families can unthinkingly consume their members, not out of hatred so much as out of an angry reflexiveness that, once settled into, seldom allows for compassion or heartfelt connection with those around us. It's told from the perspective of the youngest members of one particular family, Kenda and her brother Kenny.

I'll keep you posted as details arrive--publication date and all that jazz. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from the story:

Morning arrived with the shout of her biggest sister, Enid. “Up! School! Come make our lunch!”

Kenda tripped on tangling sheets as she leapt to the door. All seven kids would stampede to the washroom but she was closest and with luck might not have to wait.

Too late. Enid was mean again and wakened James before the rest. He was the biggest boy and Enid’s favourite and slower in the bathroom than anyone. Kenda faltered at the closing door. “Can I come in, Jamie?”

“Wait your turn, Turd-Drop.”

She sighed and looked at the bristling line of bigger kids squeezing toward her, and remembered Kenny last night. It was not going to happen to her today. She ran back to her room and began to change clothes, then climbed out the window, down the rose trellis, to the dirt. No one guessed her use of the garden. Here behind the rose she yanked her shorts down, piddled, and covered the pee before climbing the trellis again. At the window she listened, peeking cautiously over the sill.

The door had drifted open. Children cried and shouted, doors slammed, water ran. Enid yelled orders. Kenda wanted to climb back in and burrow in the blank oasis of the laundry-room where she and Kenny slept. (Her idea. They’d been sneaking in to sleep together on piles of laundry for so long nobody thought about it anymore.)

No one was in the room.

 The Speed of Dark is being put out by the same folk who published Writers on the Wrong Side of the Road, in which I placed three stories (one co-authored with Paivi Kuosmanen -- the "a" should look like this: ä). 

The ebook version of WotWSotR is currently available for a mere $0.99.

P.S.! The gentleman in the photo above actually has nothing to do with the story. His was just the scariest face in my photo library when I stumbled there at 7 AM in search of an appropriate pic. Wouldn't want an actual pic of the content of this story. Although... I could make something...

"Claude" on Beam Me Up! Podcast

Today Paul Cole uploaded Beam Me Up!, his weekly SF radio show on WRFR. "Claude and the Henry Moores" is the feature story. It was fun to read, and Paul has added Stirring Music to the sound track to fun it up yet more.

I really like Paul's show. He finds weird fannish music (like this week's "Cube Land"by Laura Shigihara), chats about science and SF news, and features one or two short stories a week. Have a listen!

New Feature: Short Story on Blog

Cool! I just noticed I can now add pages to this blog, so I've added a short story for you to read at your leisure. You'll find the tab just below the blog header above.

The story is "Claude and the Henry Moores".

Cheers,

Casey