Category Archives: Blog

Back to Work After the Halloween Mini-Holiday

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Alas, my five-day Halloween weekend is over, and it’s time to get back to work. “The Girl Who Drew Cats” is now officially a first draft. Still dwelling on whether I want to change a couple story elements, then I’ll do another editing pass and decide whether I want to send it out for critique. Been out of my various writers group short story critique loops for a while—due to spending the last couple years working on the novel. Sorta feel guilty submitting something for critique when I’ve been so inactive. Meh, will see how I feel after another editing pass.

Then it’s back to work on “The Art of Victory.” Hopefully, a few weeks distance will aid my ability to re-focus it…and also keep it from becoming a novella.

Finally, I gave myself until November to not fret, dwell upon, or panic about my forthcoming reading for the Georgia Tech Science Fiction Symposium on the 17th. It is now November, and I am in deep panic mode. Have no idea what to read. Leaning toward “The Tanuki-Kettle” or “The Tiger Fortune Princess.” Could also do “The Archer of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon.” I can conceivably read any of those in half an hour. Probably. But are fairy tales appropriate for a college science fiction symposium? My SF story options are all way too long to read in 30 minutes. Urg.

Decisions, decisions. And then pathological terror. Yup. Happy November.

The Red String Slated for Cricket’s February 2012 Issue

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Got an email from Debby Vetter, my Cricket editor, sending along the page proofs for “The Red String” and letting me know it’s scheduled to be published in next year’s February issue. Hurray! She also mentioned that this is the last story Cricket has in inventory from me and encouraged me to submit more.

Aside from the thrill of having an editor, y’know, invite me to submit something, it occurs to me that I’d been so focused on the novel effort for the last couple years that I simply haven’t been writing much children’s fiction. And I’ve missed it. Soon as I started poking around in that neglected corner of my creative process, got an immediate story idea, complete with title—”The Girl Who Drew Cats”—as well as a solid opening underway.

So I’m setting aside “The Art of Victory When the Game is All the World” for a bit. Probably good to put a little distance there anyway. “Art of Victory,” in addition to threatening to turn into a novella, is feeling a tad overextended and expansive, both focus- and story-wise. Couple weeks might be exactly what I need to regroup and rein things back under control with it.

Another Addition to My Dance Card: JordanCon IV

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And continuing the trend of conventions getting a massive head start on 2012, got a note from Jennifer Liang inviting me to be a guest at JordanCon next year!

I couldn’t send my “Yes, absolutely!” reply fast enough. In addition to Mary Robinette Kowal—who is fabulous—being their Author Guest of Honor, the JordanCon folks really impressed me with their organization and professionalism. They run an awesome convention, and I’m thrilled to be returning.

Georgia Tech Science Fiction Symposium

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I’ve been invited to participate in Georgia Tech’s Science Fiction Symposium on Nov. 17. Hosted by the Georgia Tech School of Literature, Communication and Culture, the symposium’s goal is to showcase the work Georgia Tech does with science fiction as well as demonstrate its commitment to science fiction as an art form.

Looks like I’ll be doing a reading between 4:30-6PM with other Atlanta-based authors, including J.M. McDermott and Chesya Burke. Sounds like it’ll be great fun…aside from, of course, the inevitable crushing panic and anxiety at the prospect of doing a reading…

Also, I have no idea what I’m going to read.

Another Glowing Review for Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo!

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Oh, squee! Saw another glowing review for “Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo.” This one by Michael K. Rose at Myriad Spheres:

…a well-written and intriguing story, Foster’s skill as a writer draws the reader in to the emotional worlds of the characters. In short fiction it is often difficult for readers to have enough invested in the characters to care about them but Foster accomplishes this flawlessly.

This is turning out to be my week for swelled headedness!

Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo Reviewed by Fantasy Matters

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Saw a review of “Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo” by Fantasy Matters that totally made my day. Among other glowy things, the reviewer called me “one of the best writers of speculative short fiction currently working”:

Eugie Foster is one of the best writers of speculative short fiction currently working. She has great facility for language and structure, an ability to see beauty and terror in equal measure, and consistently crafts stories that are both harrowing and satisfying…”Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo”…is a story about friendship and grief, about losing your heart to find it…You may cry at the end. You’ll be glad you read it.
—Fantasy Matters

My plan for today is to grow a fantastically swelled head. Yep.

On My Dance Card: Dragon*Con and Outlantacon 2012

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Is there something in the air that’s rousing convention committees to get a massive head start on 2012? First got a “we are excited to have you back as a Guest” email from Dragon*Con’s guest committee last week. And now got a note from the fabulous Edward DeGruy inviting me to reprise my guesthood at Outlantacon for 2012. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! Just boggling.

And, of course, I said “absolutely, you bet, yes with bells on” to both :).

WREK Sci Fi Lab Radio Show, Women Writing the Weird, and InterGalactic Awards Anthology Vol 1

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Met up with Chesya Burke and J.M. McDermott yesterday afternoon to record a show for WREK radio’s Sci Fi Lab featuring local SF writers, hosted by Travis Gasque. Seems like we managed to touch upon nearly everything: books and fellow writers we admire, the writing industry, publishing trends and directions, writing habits and advice, SF movies, the wibbliness of genre definitions, the ethical issues of cloning and space colonization, writing multicultural fiction, and a slew of other topics.

It was the first time doing radio for all of us (Travis, obviously, excepted) and there was much gladness at the round-robin interview format. After having a data failure moment, as I usually do, on the “what’s your favorite book/author? aka what great book have you read recently?” question—there’s just so many that my brain crashes—I had a great time. Also helped the stress factor that it wasn’t live, with Travis assuring us that he’d edit out any weird pauses or overly rambling diatribes before the show airs, probably in late October or early November. (Stay tuned for details.) Continue reading →

Short Story Reprint Sale to Journey Into: The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake

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Just sold a reprint of “The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake” to Marshal Latham’s new podcast, Journey Into… Originally published in Cricket in 2006, it’s my take on “Moon Lake,” one of the stories from the classic Indian collection of children’s tales, The Panchatantra.

Journey Into… has a stellar crew of accomplished podcaster voices contributing it to it, such as Alasdair Stuart and Lawrence Santoro, so I’m very much looking forward to hearing their production of my story.