jmward14: (DuzWriter)
We writers ask a lot of our readers. Not only do we ask you to read--and love!--our stuff, we want you to buy it, rate it, review it, and yes, nominate it for awards. Reading and loving feeds our twisted little writer souls. But sales, promotion and awards are what pay the rent and keep the cat in kibble. (Trust me, you do not want to attempt stringing words together around a hungry cat. It never ends well.)

With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you again for everything you read and reviewed over the past twelve months. If your 2016 keepers happened to include any of my stories, I'd be thrilled if you nominated them. But the important thing is to recognize the work you loved in 2016. Awards are one of those rising tides that lift all boats. The recognition gives us all a boost.
To get you started, here are some links to the awards now open for nominations:

- The Dragon Awards

- The Hugo Awards

- The Nebula Awards

- The WSFA Small Press Award

And just in case you were trying to remember the details of that story you loved, here is the relevant information for my 2016 releases, including excerpts:



Story: "The Clockwork Nightingale"
Length: 16,000 words (novelette)
Publisher: E-Spec Books
Release Date: May 29, 2016
Excerpt

Cover of WERE-, an anthology edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray

Story: "The Five Bean Solution"
Length: 9,200 words (novelette)
Publisher: Zombies Need Brains, LLC
Release Date: September 15, 2016
Excerpt

Tales from the Vatican Vaults (which includes "Cooking up a Storm", my secret history story about the Burning of Washington in 1814--with voodoo) was published in the United Kingdom in 2015, but wasn't released in the US until last month. I'm adding it to this list, because that 2016 US publication date means it wasn't eligible for a Nebula until this year.

Tales from the Vatican Vaults

Story: "Cooking up a Storm"
Length: 17,700 words (novella)
Publisher: Constable and Robinson
US Release Date: December 27, 2016
Excerpt

Hey, a girl can dream...
jmward14: (DuzWriter)
Yeah, I'm late to the awards nomination party. Surprise! But if you've still got space on your Hugo or Nebula ballots--or are looking forward to the 2015 World Fantasy Awards--have I got some suggestions for you.

First the writing. This year I had three eligible stories published. How you classify them depends on the award, so I'll give you all the relevant details. In ascending order of size, they are:

"The Wizard of Woodrow Park" published in The Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens (Zombies Need Brains, LLC)
Hunting for a rogue anthropologist, Aviann Special Agent Hreaak Meekram finds himself confronting a wizard.
(7,000 words)

"The Gap in the Fence" published in Athena's Daughters (Silence in the Library Publishing)
Ten-year-old Ana will do anything to save her best friend’s dog–even challenge the fairies who live beyond “The Gap in the Fence”.
(9,600 words)

"Glass Transit" in Hellfire Lounge 4: Reflections of Evil (Bold Venture Press)
Bumbling sorcerers Eddie Woodhouse and Ducky “Duke” Orr get more than they bargain for when they leap from a magical bottle into the skies over Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937.
(13,500 words)

And don't forget all those anthologies are eligible for Best Anthology or Best Related Work, depending on the award. But honestly, one 2014 anthology knocks them and every other potential contender out of the park: Unconventional Fantasy, a celebration of 40 years of World Fantasy Cons published by the Baltimore Washington Area Worldcon Association.

Go ahead, accuse me of favoritism. I'm one of the editors, along with Peggy Rae Sapienza, Sam Lubell and Bill Campbell. But look at the stats.

The six (yep, six!) volumes of Unconventional Fantasy comprise over 250 short stories, essays and poems by best-selling, award-winning authors and amazing new talent. We're talking writers like Neil Gaiman, Hideyuki Kikuchi, Guy Gavriel Kay, Patricia McKillip and Joyce Carol Oates. Then there's the art. In addition to the catalogue of the Virgil Finlay exhibit hosted by World Fantasy Con 2014 and the fifty-image gallery of WFC 2014 Artist Guest of Honor Les Edwards, the collection features over two hundred images of artists from around the world--artists like Alicia Austin, Kathleen Jennings, Dr. Moro and Mahendra Singh. To cap it off, there's a 100-image pictorial gallery of World Fantasy Cons past. Taken together it's over 3,200 pages of text.

The anthology was formatted in PDF, MOBI and EPUB on a souvenir thumb drive given away (yep, as free!) to all members of WFC2014. As publications go, it was a very limited edition, but thanks to the generosity of our contributors, we just might be able to offer an electronic version to 2015 Worldcon and World Fantasy Con members if the collection makes it to the final awards ballots.

And if that's not a reason to vote it on every major ballot, I don't know what is.

Happy voting!
jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

I missed the posting deadline for Six Sentence Sunday for the second week in a row. Bad blogger, that’s me. By way of apology, I thought I’d offer a slightly longer excerpt from “Burning Down the House” from Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy which will be launched at Balticon, May 25-28. I promise to share the date, time and details as soon as I learn them. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy what happens after our poor protagonist Eddie Woodhouse sits in that big comfy chair:

“Do you have the bottle?” he asked.

A flash from the dance floor lit her eyes like an evil smile. She placed an empty absinthe bottle on the table.

“May your next transfer run as smoothly as the one from your bank.” The blare of the music muted the scrape of her scimitar nails along the glass. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather do this someplace more private?”

“No.” The jinni inside him lashed his face. He couldn’t hide the bulge of their shared skin or his flinch of pain.

The woman added teeth to her smile. “Your funeral. I trust you’ll be more careful where you stick your straw in the future.”

Her exit line raised a different kind of welt, but he didn’t care as long as she left. Nobody paid any attention to a fat man in a club full of beautiful people. More importantly, the security cams and warding spells focused on the tables would keep her from trying anything more than what he paid for. He’d never been a contender in the magical department, but he never thought he’d sink so low that he’d owe his life to the sorcerous paranoia of Ducky “Duc d’Or”.

Eddie’s teeth chattered against the glass as he closed his lips around the neck of the bottle and chanted the first of the thirty-one goetic evocations from The Secret Key of Solomon under his breath. The words didn’t always make sense, but he suspected the real spell lay in his mind’s desperate prayer: “Take this damned thing outta me and I’ll never do magic. I’ll never so much as make a wish. Never. Ever.”

The words burned his throat. Never. The jinni swelled inside his lungs until he thought his ribs would explode. Ever.

#

What happens next? Well, you’ll just have to read the story–or come to the launch–to find out.

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

Modern Fae Cover for "On the Shelves"

While I’ve been groveling–er, adjusting to The New Management, things have been popping on the news front. Hellebore and Rue has been named as a Goldie Award Finalist in Speculative Fiction, along with a collaboration between our editor Joselle Vanderhooft and Hellebore and Rue contributor and publisher Steve Berman. Which makes it a great time to plug Joselle’s freelance editorial services and fellow Hellebore editor Catherine Lundoff’s fiction and editorial projects. Speaking of Hellebore & Rue and Catherine, they’re both up for Lesbian Fiction Reader’s Choice Awards. Vote early and often.

Meanwhile, the world has been showing review love for The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. The first is from Night Owl Sci-Fi, which mentions my story “Fixed” along side Elizabeth Bear’s, Anton Strout’s and April Steenburgh’s. (You should see my grin.) The second is from Janicu’s Book Blog on Live Journal, which gives you a little taste of every story in the collection. Obviously it’s time to update my review links. :-)

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

Jinn Rummy, Draft Cover

Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy

Balticon is less than four weeks away, and I’ll be participating in two (count ‘em, two!) launch parties for two amazing anthologies, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity and Hellfire Lounge 3: Jinn Rummy. In honor of the occasions, this month’s Six Sentence Sundays will be devoted to the stories featured in those anthologies. Since you’ve already had several snippets from “Fixed”, let’s take a taste of “Burning Down the House”, my story in Hellfire Lounge 3. Enjoy!

Eddie Woodhouse lurched between the tables of the Sixth Circle Club, apologizing every ponderous step of the way. Carrying a full-grown jinni inside his skin was hell. Its spine-crushing weight was only the start. Despite the swelter of July in New York, his thermal fleece sweatsuit, the heat of the crowd and the flames jetting in the six upright iron cages evenly spaced along the club’s circular wall, it was all he could do to keep from shivering as he approached the sorceress waiting at the shadowed table furthest from the door.

Gritting his teeth, he eased his tripled girth into the wide-armed leather chair across from her. The puffy cushions clenched around him like a boxing glove around a fist.

#

To read the rest, you’ll have to buy the book–and you can get it at Balticon. Hope to see you there.

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

Modern Fae Cover for "On the Shelves"

Here it is, your last Six Sentence Sunday entry for the month of “Fixed”, my story in The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. And because I am evil, it is a cliffhanger. If you want to read more, well, you just have to buy the book. ;-)

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“Just as I thought,” she said. “Prepare this animal for surgery. I need to operate immediately.”
His head shot upward. Backed against the steel bars, he couldn’t help seeing past her glamour. The lines scoring her forehead and bracketing the corners of her wide, lipsticked mouth floated like a painted veil over a pale, ageless face as perfect as a marble Madonna.

spacer

#

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

Modern Fae Cover 1400

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Last week I fell down on the Six Sentence Sunday job. Hey, a girl and her sweetie get only one anniversary a year. But I’m back with a third selection from “Fixed”, my story in the fabulous anthology The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. Enjoy!

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Even the kittens shut up, pressing their bodies to the wet plastic floor of their cage. A chill brushed his spine, lifting fur that had just begun to relax. Jack’s ability to sense magic was no better than human. The difference was he knew it existed and taught himself to read the warning signs in other animals. This one was lit up in neon. He hunkered down and tried to think cat thoughts; the last thing he wanted was to attract any kind of magical attention.

#

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

You already know about “Fixed” my story in The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity (aka #ModernFae in the Twitterverse), the wonderful fantasy anthology edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray. (My blurb and an excerpt can be found here, if you somehow escaped my blog the first time through.) But what you may not know is there are thirteen (yes, exactly thirteen—for Thursday, no less) other wonderful reasons to buy the book. To quote the web site’s table of contents:

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“We Will Not Be Undersold” by Seanan McGuire
Dan discovers the sinister reason why the employees of Undermart are always cheerful and ready to help consumers buy the latest cheap plastic imports. But when his snooping takes him to Oberon’s realm, Dan must pay the price for his trespass.

“The Changeling” by Susan Jett
Marisol Martinez thinks her son Tomas died in childbirth, until a midwife tells her it’s been stolen by the fae. Now she needs to save her son from the fairy’s clutches…by heading into the hill hidden in…Brooklyn?

“Water-Called” by Kari Sperring
The water spirit Jenny had once ruled a wide expanse of marshland, but now she was hemmed in by the modern world of concrete and drainage canals. But when a killer dares to hunt in Jenny’s realm, Jenny ventures into the modern city, and returns to her old ways.

“The Roots of Aston Quercus” by Juliet E. McKenna
A copse full of dryads is threatened by the construction of a new road, right through their heart. But how can they save their precious trees without exposing themselves to the world? All they have is their copse…and their memories, built up over hundreds of years.

“To Scratch an Itch” by Avery Shade
Young Autumn Sky has been told to always, always act normal. But when a storm threatens her roof garden, she acts without thinking, using powers she didn’t know she had…endangering not only her family, but all of the fae as well.

“Continuing Education” by Christine Smith
Stuck in a dead-end career, Lee had returned to college, seeking a different life. But when a fellow student disappears, she learns that the picturesque brick and ivy buildings of the old campus hide ancient secrets, and corporations aren’t the only ones recruiting students.

“How to Be Human” by Barbara Ashford
Is there anything more pathetic than a menopausal faery? Yes. A menopausal male faery leading a motivational seminar. For humans. At the New Rochelle Radisson. And when some of the local fae youngsters stop by to cause trouble, Finn rediscovers his own passion, and that his talks may apply more to the fae than the humans he’s glamoured his whole life.

“How Much Salt?” by April Steenburgh
Cut off from his clan as humans claimed the beaches once reserved for selkies, Dan finds a new home–and a new place to hunt–when he joins an aquarium show.

“Hooked” by Anton Strout
A rogue fairy lures unwary New Yorkers to their deaths in the heart of Central Park. But her latest victim is more than he seems, and the predator has just become the prey.

“Crash” by S.C. Butler
Where would a crafty leprechaun hide out in the modern world? Wall Street, of course! And Janet has just found the end of the rainbow. But stealing the leprechaun’s “gold” has consequences that she couldn’t have imagined.

“A People Who Always Know” by Shannon Page and Jay Lake
Someone is stealing the changelings and returning them to the fae world before their time. Hestia, the former queen of faerie, knows who is behind the kidnappings, but proving her suspicions requires her to venture into the mortal world.

“The Slaughtered Lamb” by Elizabeth Bear
Edie, a drag queen werewolf, has always been an outcast–from the fae and her pack. But when the Wild Hunt rides through the streets of Manhattan, she ends up learning that times have changed, and perhaps the pack needs her after all.

“Corrupted” by Jim C. Hines
Jessica had spent years as an FBI agent, protecting humans from rogue fae. But the years–and the steel of modern life–have taken their toll, threatening to turn her into one of the very monsters that she hunts. When the rogues threaten to destroy the fae realm, can Jessica find the strength for one last case?

#

Photos of The Modern Fae’s Guide in the wild at the Tustin Ranch, California, Barnes and Noble taken by the wonderful Catherine Gross-Colten on March 7.


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jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

This Six Sentence Sunday I’m super excited to share an excerpt from “Fixed”, my story in The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity, coming from DAW Books to a bookstore near you on March 6. Yes, you read that right: DAW Books. It’s my very first appearance in a mass market paperback. You’ll be able to go to the SF and fantasy section of your local mall bookstore and find it on the shelves. And you want to find it, because the table of contents features people like Seanan Mcguire, Elizabeth Bear and Jim C. Hines–to say nothing about my little story about a teenaged cat shifter who absolutely, positively does NOT want to get “Fixed”. It opens:

There were lots of advantages to being a part-time cat. Being chased by a Rottweiler named Bitsy through Holcomb Creek Park wasn’t one of them.
Heart pounding, chest heaving, Jack Tibbert raced down the bike path, insensible to the late November cold, the people on the path, or anything except escape. Bitsy’s heavy grunts grew louder as she closed the gap between them. His imagination added the heat of the dog’s breath on his neck as her massive jaws closed in for the kill. He had to take cover—high where her crushing teeth couldn’t reach—but where?

#

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

Not only does my new anthology The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity have one of the world’s most gorgeous covers, it now has its very own web site, thanks to Joshua Palmatier (who also writes as Benjamin Tate), one of my two fabulous editors for “Fixed”. You can check it out here. Now to fill that events calendar!

jmward14: (Default)

Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.

This is so good I’m dancing. Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier announced the table of contents for their new fantasy anthology, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity, coming from DAW Tekno Books in March 2012. And the writers are:

Introduction by Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier

“We Will Not Be Undersold” by Seanan McGuire

“Changeling” by Susan Jett

“Water-Called” by Kari Sperring

“The Roots of Aston Quercus” by Juliet E. McKenna

“To Scratch an Itch” by Avery Shade

“Continuing Education” by Kristine Smith

“How To Be Human™” by Barbara Ashford

“How Much Salt” by April Steenburgh

“Hooked” by Anton Strout

“Crash” by S. C. Butler

“Fixed” by Jean Marie Ward

“A People Who Always Know” by Shannon Page & Jay Lake

“The Slaughtered Lamb” by Elizabeth Bear

“Corrupted” by Jim C. Hines

Yes! That’s me on that list! “Fixed” is the story of a teenaged cat shifter who gets taken to an animal shelter while wearing fur. Needless to say, he really REALLY doesn’t want to get “Fixed”.

Although you won’t be able to hold the book (or the pixels of the ebook version) in your hands until March, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity is available for pre-order on a number of sites, including Amazon. Buy, buy, buy! In multiples, if you can. Patricia and Joshua were so much fun to work with, I’d love to do it again.

Meanwhile, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

jmward14: (TopHat)
Just in time for Halloween, I've updated the JeanMarieWard.com "And Stuff" page with links to two real life ghost stories:

"Everyday Haunts" -- You think you know your neighborhood? Maybe it's time to talk to the resident ghosts. (And check out the great cover J.C. Wilder found for the story. Is that a great door to mystery or what?)

"Real Weird" -- More spooky stories from the most ordinary house on the block.

Happy haunting! And don't forget, I'll be signing Dragon's Lure and Fantasy Art Templates at Tea With the Authors at Constellation Books in Reisterstown, Maryland, from 3-5 p.m., Saturday, October 30. Looking forward to seeing you there.

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