Strange Economics is available!

The anthology Strange Economics: Economic Speculative Fiction, which contains my story “The Price of Wool and Sunflowers,” is available now! You can purchase it at Amazon here in paperback or ebook formats.

The theme for the anthology is to take economic concepts and apply them to specfic worlds. I was thrilled when I saw the call for submissions, because several years ago while working at an economics think tank, I had an idea for just such a story. I left it percolating in the back of my mind, because I was never quite sure how to frame it out, and I didn’t want to take the time to figure that out when I couldn’t imagine what market would be interested in reading it.

The call for Strange Economics gave me the kick in the pants I needed to take that idea that grew out of listening to economists discuss competitive devaluation and figure out how to apply it in a high fantasy context. Competitive devaluation in the modern world has to do with manipulating currency rates; in a world with magic but without modern currency schemes, it plays out a bit differently. The concept carries across, though. I hope reads enjoy the story!

Sale Confirmed!

The contract has been signed, so I can confirm that my story “The Price of Wool and Sunflowers” will be included in the Strange Economics anthology. The story takes the idea of competitive devaluation into a second-world fantasy environment.

I’ve had the general idea of this story in the back of my mind since I worked for an economics think tank a few years ago, so it was very exciting to have an opportunity to write it for a targeted market and have it accepted. More information on the anthology to come!

Vacation and Status Updates

 

I went to Florida for a long weekend and had a wonderful time with a good friend. I got a sunburn, but the above was worth it; nothing soothes and relaxes my brain as much as going to the ocean.

While I was away I got a few updates on story statuses; “From The North” was passed on by Lightspeed and “The Price of Wool and Sunflowers” was held for further consideration at the specfic economics anthology. They plan to make final decisions in the next few weeks, and I’m very excited to hear back.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my novel outlines/ideas/works tentatively in progress, and have firmed up my resolve to move those into higher priority status once I wrap up the handful of planned short story submissions in my queue. Not that I’ll stop keeping an eye out for short story ideas and markets, but I’m ready to re-prioritize a bit, and the rush of enthusiasm I feel when I think about it tells me it’s the right thing to do.

Another Sub Day, and 2018 Plans

I sent another story off to a call for submissions today; the Strange Economics anthology. This story’s idea is one I’ve been batting around since a few years ago, when I worked at an economics think tank. It was fun to get a chance to apply that idea to a speculative fiction setting, so I’m very glad I came across this call and had a chance to set the story down.

I currently have a list of three more anthology calls to which I would like to submit stories, as well as a few magazine open submission periods that I plan to try for existing stories. After those are cleared off I think I might take a small break from actively hunting open calls in favor of working on ideas that have been sidelined, and on longer story forms. I have a good backlog of finished short stories that I can submit here and there as seems appropriate, but writing stories from raw ideas instead of shaping them to a specific call will be a nice change of pace.

I spent a chunk of this weekend making a round of edits and making outlines for revisions on a novel draft I originally wrote in 2008. Hopefully this will be the year that draft reaches some kind of conclusion! It’s been living on flash drives and external hard drives for a decade and I’d like to let it get some fresh air this year.