A little bird told me
Dear friends,
I was right last month, it really was an honor just to be nominated for the WSFA Small Press Award for short fiction, and I had a really lovely time going to the convention, seeing friends, and visiting museums and gardens in the Washington, DC, area. I did not win the award, but it was still a lovely experience.
And the timing was perfect, because when I introduced myself on panels, I could mention this:
That's right, I have sold a novella, and it's coming soon Horned Lark Press, an anti-authoritarian speculative fiction press out of Ottawa, Canada. Here are some questions I can answer about it right now:
Q: How soon is soon?
A: We have to arrive on a specific date yet, but the contract says within 18 months.
Q: What is a novella?
A: It's like a little novel. Like a third or half the size of a typical novel.
Q: So it's just the beginning of the story?
A: Nope, it's an entire story! Just shorter, for your busy modern lifestyle! (Kidding. It's shorter because stories take the amount of time they take. Some of them take a page, some of them take 500 pages. This one is in the middle.)
Q: What's it about?
A: I have been telling people that it's the story of an ex-harpy, her harpy ex-girlfriend, and some very opinionated weaponry. It also has a fictional Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, a close mother/daughter relationship, some complicated friendships, and lots of fancy pastry.
Q: Will I like it?
A: Gosh I hope so, but it's okay with me if you don't, nothing is to every person's taste.
Q: Your publisher loved every word of your deathless prose and there will be no changes, right? You'll just put your feet up until publication day?
A: HAHAHAHAHAHA even I do not love every word of my deathless prose. There will be edits aimed at making it even better as the story that I wanted to tell you. In an ideal world, that's what edits are for. This is not an ideal world, but it's looking like a pretty good world in this regard. It is, however, a world in which there is some work ahead of me. That's okay. I can do work. I like work.
Q: How are you going to celebrate?
A: Did you see the part above where my characters eat fancy pastry a lot in this one? I think there is a fancy pastry in my future.
Q: Yay!
A: Yay is not a question! But also yay!
Honestly the timing on this was great. When you announce that you've sold an entire book, even a short one, people at conventions will clap for you every time, and bless them for it, it feels amazing. Coincidence also meant that another person who sold a novella to Horned Lark in September was at this convention: my friend Jo Miles. I'm super-excited about Jo's novella (SPACE NARNIA WITH REWILDING? YES PLEASE), and we're looking at whether it will be possible to do a few events together online or even maybe in person depending on what our schedules allow. (Possible tag line for an in-person event: "NOVELLAS NOVELLAS NOVELLAS! AND CAKE!" We're still workshopping this and are open to other ideas.) Stay tuned for our exciting plans on this!
In other news, one of the stories that came out earlier this year is now available to read for free: The Things You Know, The Things You Trust is in If There's Anyone Left vol. 5, now up on their website for the public. Which includes you. Go ahead, public!
Last night I hosted a picnic, and it was great. When I scheduled it for the last day of September, I had hoped for chilly and rainy, and that is not the late September weather we got, but it was still a lovely time. And I paid attention to how I made the salads instead of just flinging ingredients at a bowl like I usually do, so when people really liked one of them, I could say how to make it. And now here it is.
Hang in there, friends.
Best,
Marissa
Fig and Wild Rice Salad
Cook 1/2 c. of wild rice in 2 c. water--that is, simmer 20 minutes and then let sit 20 minutes. Drain any excess water. If you wander off and do something else and it's sitting more than 20 minutes, the world will not end.
Wash, stem and halve green figs--I used 16 because that's how many were in the package and not moldy. (I love figs, but...there's gonna be a moldy one or two.) Wash and halve an approximately equal volume of green grapes. Put that in with the wild rice. Add half a cup of roasted unsalted cashews.
Dressing is a very simple lemon dressing: about a third of a cup of lemon juice, two-thirds of a cup of canola oil or other very neutral oil, and a half-tablespoon or so of honey, whisked together. You may want it sweeter: add more honey. You may want it less acidic: add more canola oil. The standard advice is three parts oil to one part vinegar or citrus juice, and I find that's less acidic than I want my dressing, but there's no reason you can't make it to suit yourself. Taste it and see.