To Strangers Seated on a Plane

My very short piece “To Strangers Seated on a Plane” arrived recently wrapped in plain brown paper like an oldfashioned naughty book. This was my contributor copy of ROBO-BOOK, a project of Bank-Heavy Press.

. . .To the gentleman in 7c:
I can only say thank you.
It’s a pleasure to sit behind a man
so attentive to hygiene. You smelled
good and clean and fresh and
that can’t be said of all our seat neighbors. . . .

Check out Bank-Heavy on their site, or participate in their Superduper Merchandise Fundraiser by going here. Also, they’re accepting poetry for their newest project, Kisses with Fishes, until July 31st.

 

Down Where the Best Lilies Grow

My story “Down Where the Best Lilies Grow” will appear in a new Year’s Best anthology featuring Canadian writers.

From the site:

Canadian speculative fiction has been increasingly recognized internationally for the calibre of its authors and their insight into the nature of social and religious identities, the implications of new technologies, and the relationship between humankind and its environments.

At their best, these stories disrupt habits, overcome barriers of cultural perception to make the familiar strange through the use of speculative elements such as magic and technology. They provide glimpses of alternate realities and possible futures and pasts that provoke an ethical, social, political, environmental and biological inquiry into what it means to be human.

“Calamari, Baby!” to appear in Ocean Stories

Selkies and mermaids . . . sirens and sea monsters . . .  myth and magic . . . Ocean Stories explores both the beauty and the dangers found beneath the sea.

Featuring Tales by:

Camille AlexaMike Allen and Charles M. Saplak * Paul L. Bates * Laura Blackwell * Rebecca L. Brown * Thomas Canfield * Stoney Compton * Vonnie Winslow Crist * Jennifer Crow * Eric Del Carlo *  Mary Peace Finley * Jennifer Greylyn * Katie Hartlove * Nick Kimbro * Adam Meyer * Gregory L. Norris * Christine Rains * Carla Richards * Holly Schwartz-Coignat * Tricia Scott * J. Michael Shell * David Andrew Sklar * James Targett * Joshua Wolf

“Daughters of Tethys” to appear in Octopus Anthology

Suction Cup Dreams

Suction Cup Dreams: An Octopus Anthology presents eleven stories about the most fascinating of marine animals, the noble octopus. Due for release in July 2012, this book is the premiere anthology of obsolescent.info and will be available at fine bookstores nationwide and online.

Table of Contents (in no particular order)

“Unearthly Pearl” – Brenda Anderson
“Daughters of Tethys”  Camille Alexa
“Empathy Evolving as a Quantum of Eight-Dimensional Perception” – Claude Lalumière
“Talk to Us” – Danna Joy Staaf
“The Octopus Garden” – D. Thomas Minton
“Three-Hearted” by Elizabeth Twist
“A Stranger Returns From An Unexpected Trip to the South China Sea” – Henry W. Ulrich
“Vulgaris” – Ives Hovanessian
“Obey the Octopus” – Joe Jablonski
“Venus of the Waves” – Karen Munro
“A Late Season Snow” – T.E. Grau

More from the publisher’s site.

“Pinktastic and the End of the World”

Pd moriarty by Signey Paget.gif

 

The table of contents for the forthcoming anthology WHEN THE VILLAIN COMES HOME has been announced.  This one contains my supervillain story “Pinktastic and the End of the World.”  I always look forward to appearing alongside Jay Lake, who wrote the introduction for my collection, PUSH OF THE SKY.  Up, up, and away!

From the site:

Come with us while we explore villains of all stripes — sons and daughters, lovers and fighters, minions and masterminds, in this giant volume of thirty great stories by award winners, rising stars, and bold new voices.

Camille Alexa – Pinktastic and the End of the World
Erik Scott de Bie – Hunger of the Blood Reaver
Chaz Brenchley – Villainelle
Eugie Foster – Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me
David Sakmyster – Prometheus Found
Marie Bilodeau – Happily Ever After
Richard Lee Byers – Little Things
K.D. McEntire – Heels
Peadar Ó Guilín – The Sunshine Baron
Jim C. Hines – Daddy’s Little Girl
Ari Marmell – Than to Serve in Heaven
Karin Lowachee – The Bleach
Jay Lake – The Woman Who Shattered the Moon
Julie Czerneda – Charity
J.M. Frey – Maddening Science
Clint Talbert – Birthright
Rachel Swirsky – Broken Clouds
Tony Pi – The Miscible Imp
Leah Petersen – Manmade
J.P. Moore – Lord of the Southern Sky
Ryan McFadden – Back in the Day
Todd McCaffrey – Robin Redbreast
Erik Buchanan – Cycle of Revenge
Gregory A. Wilson – The Presuil’s Call
Rosemary Jones – The Man With Looking-Glass Eyes
Gabrielle Harbowy – Starkeep
Ed Greenwood – A Lot of Sly Work Ahead
Mercedes Lackey / Larry Dixon – Heir Apparent
Chris A. Jackson – Home Again, Home Again
Steve Bornstein – The Best Laid Plans

SUBVERSION book trailer

My story “And All Its Truths” is coming out today in the SUBVERSION anthology.   Reviewers already have nice things to say about this antho and this story, which is lovely and delicious.

Lineup includes stories by Jessica Reisman, Shanna Germain, Cat Rambo, Wendy Wagner, Kay T. Holt, Caleb Jordan Schulz, Melissa S. Green, Daniel José Older, Kelly Jennings, Barbara Krasnoff, Natania Barron, Jean Johnson, C.A. Young, Timothy T. Murphy, and RJ Astruc & Deirdre M. Murphy.

Ever wondered what I looked like in a mohawk?  Ever wondered if my twang emerges more when I talk about growing up in Austin, Texas?  Here’s a book trailer for SUBVERSION which may answer all your questions, or stir up a pot of new ones. . . .

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hia6kR-D6UM]

“Flaming Marshmallow and Other Deaths” in translation

From the Machine of Death site:

These pictures are of the press kit for the upcoming Italian version of MOD1, La Macchina della Morte! … I hope the book does well in Italy when it comes out next year! Tell all your friends in Italy to buy a copy!

Oh and if you have friends in Germany, tell them to buy one too, when the German edition comes out in January.

Oh and if you have friends in Spain, tell them to buy one of the Spanish versions too.

If you have friends in France, you might as well tell them too.

Ditto for all your friends in Croatia, Korea, Japan, and Israel.

That’s right — there will be eight different foreign editions of MOD1 coming out next year across the world. . . ”

Machine of Death opens with my story “Flaming Marshmallow and Other Deaths.” This one has already appeared in audio at Escape Pod and in print in my collection, PUSH OF THE SKY. Fly, little story! Fly!

 

Io9 likes BREAKING WAVES charity anthology!

Breaking Waves showcases the fury and fragility of the sea
As posted on Io9:
“…In my humble opinion, Randy Tatano’s story “Backtiming” (deceptively simple, but keying into a fantasy I think a lot of us have entertained at some point), “Terra Incognita” by Camille Alexa (set in a deteriorating Antarctica in a dystopic near-future that is all too plausible), and Sarah Monette’s “After the Dragon” are worth the price of admission alone.”

To support this unique Gulf Coast charity anthology, check it out at the Book View Cafe.

“Occupational Hazards of the Late-Night Girl” is FREE in AUDIO

Occupational Hazards of the Late-Night Girl

“. . .Late-night shift at Compost was two to ten.  At the start of each shift I’d unload cardboard wine-boxes of dusty hardcover books and worn toys and dented silver–my boss Toni’s gleanings from yardsales, estate sales, thrift shops.  I’d carry them to the old kitchen of the 1930s bungalow which housed Compost Books, its lowish ceilings and antique linoleum painted in swirling dove-grey patterns like the feathers of freakish emus. . . “

The Sniplits audio version of “Occupational Hazards of the Late-Night Girl” is FREE this week at Sniplits.  If you’ve wanted to check out Sniplits, now’s your chance.  If you’ve wanted to read one of my more ‘literary’ stories, now’s your chance. If you just like getting something for free that usually costs money, now’s your chance.

The offer lasts just a few days, so don’t wait too long.  This story is also available in the anthology Tales of the Heart, Vol. 1.

 Tales of the Heart, vol. 1