Capclave finished up today. It was a lot of fun; any weekend where I can have serious conversations about Darwin, Spiderman, and how the Abbott and Costello "Who's on first?" routine get's translated into Klingon is a good weekend. And, I got to cap it off tonight with dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant. Bonus!
I mentioned here a few weeks back that I was a nominee for the WSFA Small Press Short Fiction Award. I am pleased to report that the winner of the story was: "The Absence of Stars: Part 1" by Greg Siewert, published in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, edited by Edmund R. Schubert, Hatrack Publishing. Intergalactic Medicine Show and Ed Schubert have been very good to me in recent years; if I have to lose an award, I'm glad I lost it another IGMS author; it sort of keeps things all in the family.
Any way, I got a consolation prize on Friday before I left for the con, when the latest Codex Halloween Contest results were announced. I won again, with a story currently titled, "Return to Sender. But, this was my closest squeaker ever. I had amazing competition; the top four stories were virtually a four way tie; I finished only a single point ahead of Second Place: “Stan Musial, Therapeutic Mathematics, and the Physics of Curve Balls” by Gray Rinehart. Third Place was tied, only one point behind Gray: “Counterclockwise” by Alethea Kontis and “Clockwork Fairies” by Cat Rambo. If I'd come in behind any of these, I would have regarded it as a fair result. Expect to see all of these stories soon in magazines.
A note about Return to Sender: Back in August, I asked readers to chip in names for a magic weapon that I could use in my new novel. Cindy from Fantasy Book Critic offered a couple of suggestions including Crystal Lance. I made a joke at the time that this sounded like the protagonist of an urban fantasy novel; she could be the first ever female Knight Templar. When the Halloween contest rolled aroud, I got a prompt from Christine Amsden to write a story about "The Order of the Golden Dawn." As I sat around trying to figure out what my story might be about, I suddenly realized that the perfect protagonist would Crystal Lance, Knight Templar. The story is kind of a fish out of water tale, as Crystal, who has been raised in strict isolation by the secret order of monks who train the knights, must undertake a mission in the modern world in which she navigates the unknown dangers of snark, snake handlers, and Elvis. It's a fun story; I'll make an announcement once I place it.
Coming soon: More news about Greatshadow.
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