Cymera21

 I'm reading today (Saturday. June 5) at Cymera21. 

Enjoy!

A bit of a newsletter

I sent off a recorded five minute reading for a digital conference in the UK, specifically Scotland called Cymera: https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2021-digital-events  With luck, I will be part of their next Open Mic event. Watch Facebook for updates when that goes live--I think it will be sometime in early June.

I'll also be in attendance at this year's low-key WisCON event: https://wiscon.net/2021/05/08/announcing-visioning-wiscon/  and SFWA's Nebula Conference: https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nebula-conference/  These are happening the same weekend, but the bonus of the Zoom era is that I can literally attend both of them at the same time. 

The anthology I talked about last month that will contain my short story "Sincerely Yours" is now available for pre-order on Amazon (and a few other places,) even though it is not coming out until February of 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Reinvented-Heart-Jane-Yolen-ebook/dp/B092JNGX85/

Otherwise, I am continuing to work on what I've been calling my lesbian space opera novella, as well as finally getting a start on Alex Connor #3, which also still needs a name. The lesbian space opera will be published by Kalikoi Books (https://www.kalikoi.com/) and the third Alex Connor book will go to Wizard's Tower Press (https://wizardstowerpress.com/).  I'm hoping to have the space opera done before August, and the Alex book is due at the end of this year.

It's been slow-going, however. I'm really hopeful that when my family goes on vacation in the middle of June for two weeks to the Minnesota Boundary Waters Area, where there is NO INTERNET to distract me, I will actually be able to put in some solid work on both projects. 

Pre-Ordering Starts Today

Whoo hoo! I am excited to announce that, as you may have heard from my previous posts about this, my short story "Sincerely Yours" will be appearing in an anthology coming out in February of 2022, and you, you lucky devils, can pre-order it today! 

Here are some of the options for you to buy!

Hardcover:

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-reinvented-heart-caezik/1139312391

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781647100421

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Reinvented-Heart-Jane-Yolen-ebook/dp/B092JNGX85/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-reinvented-heart-jane-yolen/1139229735

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-reinvented-heart

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1562923075

Synopsis

What happens when emotions like love and friendship span vast distances — in space, in time, and in the heart?

Science fiction often focuses on future technology and science without considering the ways social structures will change as tech changes — or not. What will relationships look like in a complicated future of clones, uploaded intelligences, artificial brains, or body augmentation? What stories emerge when we acknowledge possibilities of new genders and ways of thinking about them?

The Reinvented Heart presents stories that complicate sex and gender by showing how shifting technology may affect social attitudes and practices, stories that include relationships with communities and social groups, stories that reinvent traditional romance tropes and recast them for the 21st century, and above all, stories that experiment, astonish, and entertain.

Space Lesbians!

You know that lesbian space opera I keep talking about? It's going to be part of a new publishing house run by Rachel Manija Brown. 

Here is what she says about it:

Kalikoi, a new F/F publishing house, will launch on May 3.

Kalikoi brings you the best fiction about women in love with women. Our diverse authors know how to stir your imagination, speed up your heart, and make you laugh or cry. But by the end of a book, your only tears will be happy ones: Kalikoi books guarantee happily-ever-after or happy-for-now endings!

Our heroines all identify as women, but beyond that, the sky’s the limit. They may be trans or cis; they may be lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual; they may call themselves queer or Sapphic or prefer no labels at all. Kalikoi celebrates ALL women who love women.

Whether you’re looking for an action-packed paranormal romance, a fantasy to transport you to a magical world, a historical full of sensual detail, a moody noir, a lighthearted comedy, or a space adventure, Kalikoi has the book for you!

Kalikoi is a project I've been working on for a while, and I'm delighted that it's about to become a reality.

 

The site is still somewhat under construction. For instance, I notice that I haven't sent along my author photo. But, if you go there you can sign up for the newsletter and all that jazz. And, since I'm already shamelessly promoting, let me remind you that if you join my Patreon, you can hear me read from the very same lesbian space opera that I will be publishing with them at the $1 level.  (That video will drop the day after tomorrow around 4 pm CT. So, don't worry if you don't see it yet. I just scheduled it.)

A Bit of Life, A Bit of News

 

It's been very cold here in Minnesota for the past several weeks. I guess, it's all very normal, but all this "April showers bring May flowers" stuff is getting rather dreary. I swear I have not seen the sun in weeks.

Even my cat, Willow, has returned to her winter perch on the radiator.

It's hard to believe it's almost May, honestly. I have a few flowers poking up bravely in my garden, though I was happy to see that some of the trillium that I planted last year have made an appearance. 

The garden this is in still has its leaf cover because it's intended to be a "woodland" garden, aka I was lazy and haven't bagged them up yet. 

Speaking of lazy, I need to decide what to do for my next writing class at the Loft. I've got until the end of May to get in a proposal, but I'm considering proposing another asynchronous class as well as a hybrid one (hybrid, at the Loft, appears to mean: via Zoom unless things change.) I had an extremely successful master class this last semester and I'm taking the summer off to pack my only child off to university in Connecticut.  So these potential classes have a chance at being in-person, since they begin in the fall.

Either way, I need to figure out what aspect of writing. They do themes for their catalog every semester, and this upcoming on is: Outside My Window.  

Many of us felt our worlds shrink a bit during the last year as vacations were cancelled, offices closed, and events postponed. But we also found that some of the most powerful stories are the ones right in our backyards. Writing from where we are can tell us a lot about ourselves, our neighbors, and the world around us.

When we look through a window, we see the world from a unique perspective. What story can only we tell? How might someone looking through another window see it? What are we missing when we can only see a bit of the world through a pane of glass? And in a time when many of us are isolated from each other, how do we bring all of these perspectives together?

I don't HAVE to propose a class that fits this description/vibe, but you do get listed on the special splash pages, if you do.  I mean, an obvious connection I can make is to a spaceship's viewport, but I will have to ponder this a bit.

In other news, I signed the contract for my short story "Sincerely Yours" which will be coming out in The Reinvented Heart Anthology edited by Jennifer Brozek and Cat Rambo coming February 2022 from Arc Manor Press.  So, that continues to be exciting. If you haven't checked out the cover reveal I did of that anthology, you really should. https://www.patreon.com/posts/reinvented-heart-49701907  (This takes you to my Patreon, but this post is open and free to the public.) 

Meanwhile, I continue to work on both my lesbians in space novella and, of course, Alex Connor #3.  Although with the later, I really need to move out of the plotting stage and into the WORDS ON PAGE part or I won't make my deadline! (Which is the end of the year.)

Anyway.

Here's hoping for sunnier days soon. 

Do People Like Newsletters?

 If you do like getting newsletters, you can absolutely sign up for mine: https://tinyletter.com/lydamorehouse (there is a new widget on this page now, too, that you can use to sign up.)  I will probably be posting once a month, so it's not like you'll be flooded with information.

This is separate from my patreon, which you are also always welcome to join. https://www.patreon.com/edit/about

The newsletter, however, is free. 

I will also continue to post here, of course.  The biggest news lately, of course, is that I signed a contract with Wizard Tower press to put out a third book in the Alex Connor series. My deadline is the end of the year, and so we are hoping to have out early 2022 sometime. So there will be continued adventures of everyone's favorite half-dragon Hughes County coroner who can speak to the dead!

Whooo!

Cover Reveal - The Reinvented Heart Anthology

 

My short story "Sincerely Yours," will be coming out in The Reinvented Heart Anthology which is coming from Arc Manor Press in February, 2022, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Cat Rambo.

I am very excited to be part of this anthology and it looks like I am sharing the anthology with a lot of amazing science fiction/fantasy authors. 

Two new things... a Patreon and a NEW BOOK

 Two big announcements for Tate Hallaway fans: first and foremost, I JUST signed a contract for book 3 in the Alex Connor series. It is as yet unnamed, but I have a due date of the end of this year (2021) and thus am presuming that the book will come out in spring of 2022!!

Woot! More Alex and Valentine!

In tandem with that, I thought I might finally jump on the Patreon bandwagon (I know, I know, that's like so last decade, but I'm slow to adopt!) and let anyone who signs up follow along as I write book three (and all other works-in-projects.)  You can become a fan and get exclusive content for as little as $1 a month, so... it might be worthwhile. Check it out!

https://www.patreon.com/lydamorehouse

Marscon Appearance (Virtual)

Tonight, I am doing a Zoom panel at MarsCON (FREE!) and a recorded bonus track:

08:30pm - Friday -  Apocalypse Crafting - Panel Channel - During the pandemic, we all took up hobbies that are related to being housebound / on Zoom a lot which we'd like to talk about. https://youtu.be/b26oxuD_j3o with: Naomi Kritzer, mod.; S.N.Arly, Lyda Morehouse, Isabel Schechter, Haddayr Copley Woods


09:15PM - Friday -  Reading by Lyda Morehouse (Tate Hallaway) - Bonus Tracks-  Lyda Morehouse aka Tate Hallaway reads from Unjust Cause (Wizard Tower Press) https://youtu.be/ZHcM8bmAkGM with: Lyda Morehouse

So, what is weird about this is that if you want to watch me live, you will have to miss my recorded reading... or bail fifteen minutes before the end of the last panel? Because my reading is very short and so if you go at the end hoping to catch some, you will have missed it. I guess the downside of virtual cons is that they can LITERALLY schedule you opposite yourself.

Seems weird that they wouldn't have pushed that back even fifteen minutes? But, I guess I should have checked the schedule earlier or, I dunno, asked them not to schedule me against myself?

Anyway, that's me. Come see me or part of me?

Starting with a Bang (and Why That's Bull)

 I've start up a new writers' group that includes some writers who are newer to the craft. This has been wonderful for me, because I personally find it useful to my own process and to my own understanding to have to articulate how writing works. 

One of my colleagues was complaining that his other writers group always harps on him to have a strong hook. They keep telling him "You have to start with a BANG." The problem is the story he wants to tell isn't a high octane shoot 'em up, it a quiet, reflective piece about grief and a small, personal mystery. So, he was talking about how frustrating it is to have to artificially wrench his story into a form where it starts with some kind of huge dramatic moment.

I stopped him and said, "It's a lie. What your colleagues are telling you is a lie."

A hook can be an actual gunshot, but what a BANG is, is simply the easiest way to get a reader's attention. It is not--absolutely not--the only way to get it.

You don't actually have to start with a bang at all. What you have to start with is a "hook," and that is very, very, VERY different than a bang. What a hook is, is something that compels a reader to want to go on. It's a sense of tension, an anxiousness to know more, it is a question that the reader desperately wants answered, or a quiet sense of building dread... or something else that has the reader saying 'OOoooooOOO, I want more of THIS.' 

It doesn't have to be BIG, it just has to be compelling.

It has been drilled into to new writers that the opening has to be exciting... and it does. It's just that it doesn't have to be "exciting" in a conventional way. 

I would go so far as to say that, if you do it right, almost anything could be a hook. A really strong sense of place could be enough for a reader to settle in an say to themselves, "Yes, this place seems super interesting, I want more." A strong, quirky narrative voice might be enough for a reader to say, "WHO is this person?? I must find out!" 

My friend and fellow Wyrdsmith, Adam Stemple once told me that an opening has to leave the reader with the impression that they are "in the hands of a master." And, he's right. Part of what you are establishing with your hook is a sense that you can be trusted to tell a good story. One of the ways you can gain that trust is believing that what you have to say is enough. Don't feel like you have to artificially contort your story so that you start in some conventionally "exciting" way. Just give your readers that nugget, the one that hints to them that what is promised is totally worth it. 

It still takes work to do it right, but don't waste that work thinking you have to go big or go home. You have to be interesting and compelling. That's hard enough!