The Year in Shira - writing/editing

Copied from my official pro-type website.

2014 was actually the most productive writing year I've ever had - it just doesn't look that way from the outside! Since I barely wrote in 2012 and wrote nothing in 2013, I only had two stories actually come out in 2014, both written in 2014. Those are "The Final Girl" and "The Cartographer's Requiem". "The Final Girl" is now the story I point people to when I want them to know what exactly I write.

This year I wrote a complete novel, my first ever; I'm currently working on revising it, and then I get to wander around looking for an agent!

I also wrote a record five stories (I know, I don't write fast/often/much). Two were published (see above), one will be out next year, and two are on submission. I've written a number of poems, mostly for a chapbook project that's not close to complete yet.

I also made my nonfiction debut with "Israel is Not My Birthright" on Salon.com.

And fellow poet Mat Joiner and I started a magazine! Check out the first two issues of Liminality: A Magazine of Speculative Poetry.

I had a lot of reprints this year!

* "Becca at the End of the World" was reprinted in Zombies: More Recent Dead, and it received an honorable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Horror!
* "Wool and Silk and Wood" was reprinted in The Best of Electric Velocipede.
* "The Angel of Fremont Street" and "Fortune" were jointly reprinted as The Selves We Leave Behind.
* "The Library, After" was reprinted in Mythic Delirium #30 and The Nebula Awards Showcase.
* "Valentines" was reprinted in The Mammoth Book of SF Stories by Women.


And what's on deck for next year? Look for "Never Chose This Way" at Apex, "Four Chambers" at Mythic Delirium, "The Binding" at Lakeside Circus, and hopefully I'll be able to tell you more soon!

My Arisia Schedule!

Agh Arisia is only a few weeks away.


Friday
7:00pm: State of the Muppets 2015
In the 25 years since Jim Henson died, there have been five Muppet theatrical movies, a TV series, multiple TV specials, and a series of YouTube videos. The Muppets themselves were also sold to Disney. While the renewed big screen success certainly speaks to the profitability, how are the Muppets doing creatively since Henson's death? Have they been well-stewarded, or used as a cheap property for Disney to exploit? What are the highlights and lowlights of the last 25 years of Muppet productions? (with ckd, Deirdre Crimmins, thespian, upstart_crow.)

Saturday
1:00pm: Unruly Places: When the Setting Does Not Behave
Streets that shift in the night, pathways that change destination, hills that certainly weren't there yesterday: some places just don't behave. What works of genre fiction have explored these unruly places? What stories can only happen where our rules just don't apply? (with cucumberseed, Elektra Hammond, Greer Gilman, Adam.)


2:30pm: The Girl's a Monster
What's a monster? One of the undercurrents in YA fiction is that the monster is a girl, and vice versa. All manner of supernatural afflictions have been coded to the maturation of young women -- if you're not a perfect little lady, you can easily be viewed as monstrous. We'll discuss monster as metaphor and how girls are claiming the title of monster as a positive signifier. (with Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, Jeanne Cavelos, Heather Albano, Kiini Ibura Salaam.)

4:00pm: True Detective
The first season of HBO's "True Detective" grafted a tinge of the supernatural onto its hardboiled story structure, and managed to create a nationwide frenzy over the works of Robert Chambers. We'll talk about the way the show played with genre tropes, and talk more generally about the show's structure, characters, and fascinating visual elements.
(with John P. Murphy, Steve Sawicki, Megan S. Markland, Morgan Crooks.)

7:00pm: Marvel Cinematic (and TV) Universe, 2015
In 2014, we saw *Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.* and *Captain America: The Winter Soldier* deal with global corruption, while *Guardians of the Galaxy* took on Thanos and Ronan. As this panel takes place, we'll have Agent Carter on TV, with a Netflix Daredevil show hitting in May. We'll talk about where this increasingly complex and connected universe goes from here, and how things are looking after the last year. (with Heather Urbanski, Elektra Hammond, Ed Fuqua, Kevin Cafferty, Gillian Daniels.)


Sunday
4:00pm: The Arisia Curmudgeon Panel
Do you hate one of the holy grails of fandom? Can't stand the original Star Wars movies? Think the answer to "Kirk or Picard?" is "neither"? Want to revoke Peter Jackson's Oscar? Cross the street to avoid Browncoats? This is the panel for you! Expect a mix of vitriol, snark, and actual media criticism at this wide-ranging panel. (with Adam, Pablo Miguel Alberto Vazquez III, Mark Oshiro, Abby Hafer.)


Monday
11:30am: Reading: Lipkin, Salaam, Vanderhooft
Authors Shira Lipkin, Kiini Ibura Salaam, and JoSelle Vanderhooft read selections from their works.

Clearly Saturday you should bring me offerings of coffee and GF snacks. When not on panels/reading, I plan to attend a bunch of panels - Lit Track has some great stuff! - and I will be hitting the parties all night. :)