tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9886801900145631862024-03-26T11:22:48.425-07:00Nelly Geraldine García-RosasI write, sometimes.Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-5326955613060886602024-01-03T06:13:00.000-08:002024-01-31T15:42:40.079-08:002023 AWARDS ELIGIBILITY<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-68IWCtjYQd4wSclhV3VlVkh_dg_42KfpYl4BgmbA8rNSgPeRxyuLV7W1EdxOdicz89OgD6jHZ4jZwc1SDrIak85IB7lRzLVJdCWNd_c3NFn_Li9wGyYnp4ydISwgq0Y1bsXb0lQhMWoI1iccDQPtrGaYK54gNO_VS78mhU4BXEMVnJqWFY_LLnf8hqA/s2036/2023eligibilityBanner.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="2036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-68IWCtjYQd4wSclhV3VlVkh_dg_42KfpYl4BgmbA8rNSgPeRxyuLV7W1EdxOdicz89OgD6jHZ4jZwc1SDrIak85IB7lRzLVJdCWNd_c3NFn_Li9wGyYnp4ydISwgq0Y1bsXb0lQhMWoI1iccDQPtrGaYK54gNO_VS78mhU4BXEMVnJqWFY_LLnf8hqA/s16000/2023eligibilityBanner.gif" /></a></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I was not going to write this post.</i></div><div><i>And yet here I am.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>In a year like 2023 in which social media tried to make me believe that the SFF community is obsessed with wordcounts and productivity, I practically didn't write a single word. I didn't go into full grind and achievement seeking modes because I refuse to record numbers or quantify <a href="https://www.ifnotgames.com/huesos-del-cielo/epigraph.html" target="_blank">my creative process</a>. I instead just did stuff which, seen from afar, doesn't seem as dismissible as I thought. What a surprise, uh? I saw the release of a magazine issue I <a href="https://www.nellygeraldine.com/2024/01/apparition-dread.html" target="_blank">guest edited</a> alongside a very drear friend and writer extraordinaire - read a lot of short stories in Spanish to help bring <a href="https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/clarke_05_23/" target="_blank">more great translated fiction</a> into our community, and since I enjoyed it, <a href="https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/staff/" target="_blank">I kept on doing it</a> - joined a very cool, but huge, video game localization project - listen to one of my favorite stories I've written <a href="https://escritorasdeurras.blogspot.com/2023/04/capitulo-71-bordado-de-un-corazon-de.html" target="_blank">translated into my native language</a>, and read one of the first to be translated into English <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/best-of-world-sf-9781804548035/">reprinted as part of a very cool anthology</a> - joined <a href="https://futurahouse.org" target="_blank">new projects</a> - started an ambitious <a href="https://www.ifnotgames.com/huesos-del-cielo/menu.html" target="_blank">interactive fiction project</a> that will take me a year to complete... Let's see what this year looks like, then.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you dearly for reading my work. I'd be beyond thrilled if you consider it for awards, and I'd be over the moon if you share it with someone who might like it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span> ✨</span><b>SHORT FICTION</b>✨<br /><p></p><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.weirdhorrormagazine.com/lullaby" target="_blank"><b>Lullaby for the Unseen</b></a> | Weird Horror, March 2023 | Horror | 1200 words</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">"An exquisitely creepy little flash tale about a haunted house, the boy who lives there, and a girl who loves looking at the things she should not." - Vanessa Fogg</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>Tor.com's <a href="https://www.tor.com/2023/04/17/must-read-short-speculative-fiction-march-2023/" target="_blank">Must Read Short Speculative Fiction: March 2023</a></li><li>Vanessa Fogg's <a href="http://itsajumble.blogspot.com/2023/07/short-fiction-recs-may-june-2023.html" target="_blank">Short Fiction Recs! May-June 2023</a></li><li>Eugenia Triantafyllou's <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2024/01/11/an-incomplete-list-of-beautiful-stories-that-i-enjoyed-in-2023-by-publication-month/" target="_blank">An Incomplete List of Beautiful Stories That I Enjoyed in 2023</a></li><li>The Feminist Bibliothecary's <a href="https://thefeministbibliothecary.wordpress.com/2023/10/02/31-short-stories-with-perfect-spooky-vibes-to-read-for-halloween-and-where-to-read-them-for-free/" target="_blank">31 Short Stories With Perfect Spooky Vibes to Read for Halloween</a></li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.tree-and-stone.com/para-el-pueblo-issue-1-may-2023/they-came-from-beyond-by-nelly-geraldine-garca-rosas" target="_blank"><b>They Came From Beyond</b></a> | Tree and Stone - Para el Pueblo, May 2023 | Magical Realism | 1200 words</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">A strange fog has invaded the four-times-heroic city of Puebla de Zaragoza. The local community reacts in the best way: with food, games and music.</p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span> ✨</span><b>INTERACTIVE FICTION</b> (eligible for Game Writing categories)✨</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.ifnotgames.com/huesos-del-cielo/Intro_Huesos.html" target="_blank"><b>I Gave You a Key and You Opened the Darkness</b>
/
<b>I Gave You a Name and You Called the Darkness</b></a> | IFnotgames, December 2023</span></div><p style="text-align: left;">Nostalgia took you back to your childhood home where your name was left behind long ago. It's up to you to re-appropriate that name, celebrate the one you have chosen, or encounter something else...</p><p style="text-align: left;">A story about identity, places to belong and how the search for them can be a little unsettling.</p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>In the <a href="https://www.sfwa.org/forum/reading/work/8131-i-gave-you-a-key-and-you-opened-the-darkness/" target="_blank">Nebula Reading List</a></li><li><a href="https://x.com/pqwrites/status/1738598560533446763" target="_blank">Phong Quan</a> at X.com</li><li>In the <a href="https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=fxsu1zbkgf8q5rh" target="_blank">IFDB</a></li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span> ✨</span><b>NONFICTION</b>✨</div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What Should Not Be Broken</b> | <a href="https://hydrahousebooks.com/catalog/ex-marginalia/" target="_blank">Ex Marginalia</a>, February 2023</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">"[...] having spoken in broken language as a migrant – now speaks of the fragility that society imposes on marginalized writers who can’t help but feel that everything is ‘‘only broken for you, and because of you.’’ But in speculative fiction came the realization that language is no more broken, that there are brand new worlds to play with." - Eugen M. Bacon for Locus</p></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Review:</li><ul><li>Locus' <a href="https://locusmag.com/2023/07/eugen-m-bacon-reviews-ex-marginalia-essays-from-the-edges-of-speculative-fiction-by-chinelo-onwualu-ed/" target="_blank">Eugen M. Bacon Reviews Ex Marginalia: Essays from the Edges of Speculative Fiction by Chinelo Onwualu, ed.</a></li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you! 😸</div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-64868427048115025862024-01-02T21:14:00.000-08:002024-01-02T21:16:11.008-08:00For Your Consideration: Apparition Lit - Dread issue 2023<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lots of Spooky Recommendations For Your Literary Awards!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Last year, me and my sister in crime <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com" target="_blank">Eugenia Triantafyllou</a> had the opportunity to be guest co-editors for the issue 21 of <a href="https://apparitionlit.com/issues/" target="_blank">Apparition Lit magazine</a> which was all about dread. Working alongside an amazing editorial team was a very fulfilling experience: I can't thank enough the guidance, patience and overall awesomeness showed by everyone involved in creating this issue of the magazine. We learned so much and had lots of fun. You can read our editorial <a href="https://apparitionlit.com/the-omen-editorial-by-nelly-geraldine-garcia-rosas-and-eugenia-triantafyllou/" target="_blank">here</a> where we talked about the theme and the stories in more detail.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since award nomination season is underway I wanted to use this opportunity to emulate what <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2023/11/17/apparition-lit-dread-issue-for-your-consideration/" target="_blank">Eugenia already wrote in a more eloquent way</a> and recommend you the amazing short fiction, poetry, nonfiction and art that are part of this issue made with love and... dread. Please, think about these pieces when filling out your awards ballots.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remember that <a href="https://apparitionlit.com" target="_blank">Apparition Lit</a> is eligible for the BEST SEMIPROZINE category in the Hugo Awards! Please, think about this team that is not only bringing us amazing speculative fiction and poetry but are striving for a more diverse community. Bennett, Amy Henry Robinson, Tacoma Tomilson, and Clarke Doty, the magazine's senior editors, are also eligible for the EDITOR, SHORT FORM Hugo.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>SHORT FICTION</div><div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/luis-the-last-time/" target="_blank">Luis, the Last Time</a> by Rachel Lastra</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/the-bones-are-hungry/" target="_blank">The Bones Are Hungry</a> by Joshua Jones Lofflin</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/oh-jackie/" target="_blank">Oh Jackie</a> by Wess Mongo Jolley</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/soulbirds/" target="_blank">Soulbirds</a> by Sylvia Heike</li></ul><p></p></div><p></p><div><br /></div><div>POETRY</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/the-marriages-the-dybbuk/" target="_blank">The Marriages: The dybbuk</a> by Gemma Cooper-Novack</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/shut-mouths-sing-melodious/" target="_blank">Shut Mouths Sing Melodious</a> by Tiffany Morris</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/consent-for-facial-reconstruction-with-the-shelley-concepts-inc-custom-patient-fitted-reconstruction-prosthesis/" target="_blank">CONSENT FOR FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION WITH THE SHELLEY CONCEPTS INC CUSTOM PATIENT-FITTED RECONSTRUCTION PROSTHESIS</a> by Katie R. Yen</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/ghostboy-kills-our-mother-with-trauma/" target="_blank">Ghostboy Kills Our Mother with Trauma</a> by Olumide Manuel</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>NONFICTION</div><div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/inhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinhaleexhale/" target="_blank">inhale\exhale\inhale\exhale\inhale\exhale</a> by Jeané Ridges</li></ul><p></p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>ART</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Maria Schrater wrote a beautiful essay about Edith Silva's cover art and how it relates to this issue's theme in <a href="https://apparitionlit.com/dread-is-being-trapped-in-a-curiosity-shop-by-your-terrible-sense-of-direction/" target="_blank">Dread is Being Trapped in a Curiosity Shop by Your Terrible Sense of Direction</a>. This art piece and all the Apparition's covers for 2023 were made by Edith who is eligible for the ARTIST categories in the Hugo Awards.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16X6th_lGY3PmZyrw44buCPf2PcQnTfYwDe0IFETXiXVwbxDmKVY1x1J9SRR3nn0tHUP2QjR9GDnj1BJ85Wq5xHwh81rlEMbLPqjqMIhIVfxu0DbpG8QAHjdX9LKFYrwK2-12KKhnuCKlEQdNRv5Ena5npbGYhOIVBlM0SRq_Xiqh3Lz-gPc61RxXN0FK/s675/Issue21-Dread-NAMESAppLitCover450x675.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16X6th_lGY3PmZyrw44buCPf2PcQnTfYwDe0IFETXiXVwbxDmKVY1x1J9SRR3nn0tHUP2QjR9GDnj1BJ85Wq5xHwh81rlEMbLPqjqMIhIVfxu0DbpG8QAHjdX9LKFYrwK2-12KKhnuCKlEQdNRv5Ena5npbGYhOIVBlM0SRq_Xiqh3Lz-gPc61RxXN0FK/s16000/Issue21-Dread-NAMESAppLitCover450x675.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparition Lit - Issue 21: Dread (January 2023)<br />Art by Edith Silva</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /><div>Thank you for reading Apparition Lit - DREAD! 😺</div><div><br /></div></div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-75561800055460465922022-11-23T09:00:00.150-08:002023-02-25T14:19:42.823-08:00Latine writers awards eligibility 2022 roundup<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Inspired by <a href="http://acwise.net/eligibility-and-recommendation-links-roundup-2022/" target="_blank">A.C. Wise</a> and <a href="http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2022/10/23/round-up-of-awards-posts-by-fsf-writers-editors-and-publishers-for-2022-the-diy-version/" target="_blank">Cat Rambo</a> who have done similar roundups for years that have become a staple in our community, I decided to collect the awards eligibility posts of science fiction, fantasy, horror and speculative fiction writers who identify as Latine (Latina, Latinx, Latino) in order to <b>celebrate, share and enjoy our work</b>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I believe this kind of lists are great to remember our favorites of the year and to find great work that may have passed under our radar.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><strike>If you identify as a Latine author, please <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwmu-9mcQgYQ1T0lfFoO7fZsNPbKsqU6FXfFmG1KLpeChM9g/viewform" target="_blank">fill in this form</a>. I'll update the list regularly.</strike> (I closed this form since we're past nomination time for most major SFF awards)</p><p style="text-align: left;">Want to see an example of this kind of posts? <a href="https://www.nellygeraldine.com/2022/11/2022-awards-eligibility.html" target="_blank">This is mine</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Here you can read more about speculative fiction awards: <a href="https://nebulas.sfwa.org/about-the-nebulas/how-to-vote-rules/" target="_blank">Nebulas</a>, <a href="https://www.thehugoawards.org/about-2/" target="_blank">Hugos</a> (including Astounding award for best new writer), <a href="https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/the-bram-stoker-awards/" target="_blank">Bram Stoker</a>, <a href="https://www.sfpoetry.com/rhysling.html" target="_blank">Rhysling</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbVT4_gplkyRnuyzpNGJbeSu9LYk7Bef2kdGayMB2X314UBLrnOJvbsZvU2gdPK_vWmZZKaYRyhgKUDFqDTCeKzEz62dG7FdTfAYCT_uMs1MpA8zxiNne-SiN5gkkUGsxuEBdJmIBLzwrTAl-ulWusX-6Q5HZF363NlqTwU0FUiyzugUrPpALuHzugQ/s1676/Screenshot%202022-11-22%20at%2019.42.46.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1676" data-original-width="1674" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbVT4_gplkyRnuyzpNGJbeSu9LYk7Bef2kdGayMB2X314UBLrnOJvbsZvU2gdPK_vWmZZKaYRyhgKUDFqDTCeKzEz62dG7FdTfAYCT_uMs1MpA8zxiNne-SiN5gkkUGsxuEBdJmIBLzwrTAl-ulWusX-6Q5HZF363NlqTwU0FUiyzugUrPpALuHzugQ/w400-h400/Screenshot%202022-11-22%20at%2019.42.46.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Every author in this list would be thrilled if you consider their work for your award nominating ballots, but reading and sharing what you loved is an amazing gift by itself. Thank you!<p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/APThayer/status/1562937822222290944" target="_blank">A.P. Thayer</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/afiregender/status/1594397771519385602" target="_blank">Aleta Perez</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/orbiting_angel/status/1603227334118899713" target="_blank">Angel Leal</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://nerdculture.de/@carturo222/109367309097595048" target="_blank">Arturo Serrano</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dntlz/status/1608898820016066560" target="_blank">Brazilian authors</a> *</p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/cynthiasaysboo/status/1600000078126600192" target="_blank">Cynthia Gómez</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://egconde.com/2022/10/01/2022-awards-eligibility-list/" target="_blank">E.G. Condé</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.alineofink.com/?p=11592" target="_blank">Karlo Yeager Rodríguez</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://isabelcanasauthor.tumblr.com/post/701176192742637568/nebulas-eligibility-post" target="_blank">Isabel Cañas</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/olivasmatthew/status/1595476107137978368" target="_blank">Matthew Olivas</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span><a href="https://www.nellygeraldine.com/2022/11/2022-awards-eligibility.html" target="_blank">Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas</a></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.pacornell.com/2022-awards-eligibility.html" target="_blank">P.A. Cornell</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://pedroiniguezauthor.com/blog/" target="_blank">Pedro Iniguez</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RenanBernardo/status/1595813148078272515" target="_blank">Renan Bernardo</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://ricardovictoriau.com/2022/11/23/awards-eligibility-post-2022/" target="_blank">Ricardo Victoria</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://sabrinavourvoulias.com/2022/11/25/awards-eligibility-post-for-2022/" target="_blank">Sabrina Vourvoulias</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.sarah-salcedo.com/blog/awards-eligibility-2022" target="_blank">Sarah Salcedo</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/archistratego/status/1592264292908564480" target="_blank">Tania Chen</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 2nd year of eligibility)</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/valerievaldes/status/1597993572942614529" target="_blank">Valerie Valdes</a></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://linktr.ee/xavieragarcia" target="_blank">Xavier Garcia</a> <span style="font-size: small;">(Astounding Award 1st year of eligibility)</span></p><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* this is a collective post with several great names to read and follow</span></div><div><br /></div><div>😺</div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-89964403505504952172022-11-17T09:00:00.005-08:002024-01-02T21:44:10.311-08:002022 AWARDS ELIGIBILITY<p>Speculative fiction awards season is upon us. I’d be honored if you consider one of my stories for any of your ballots if you can nominate. Otherwise, I’m more than grateful if you take some time to read them and recommend them to anyone who might like them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bNzyR4hgAkiOmEjt2_37v0v7Yj7UqRx2kWLKkwxPjyqzevr6d46UsHMmuFwOJ5aDRjM2vH2Yqpy8Qq4mJgR_8Vvft1SnNRd5ekYV-KYEv1nvIB4oh1jMcu3nvtunfmxl1tft9cgz2lUmmaFO_sxjRHlx1LrpKv3bzTf7n3e9MMM_O2FjtCKOIj1TTA/s2374/Screenshot%202022-11-16%20at%2013.24.49.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="2374" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1bNzyR4hgAkiOmEjt2_37v0v7Yj7UqRx2kWLKkwxPjyqzevr6d46UsHMmuFwOJ5aDRjM2vH2Yqpy8Qq4mJgR_8Vvft1SnNRd5ekYV-KYEv1nvIB4oh1jMcu3nvtunfmxl1tft9cgz2lUmmaFO_sxjRHlx1LrpKv3bzTf7n3e9MMM_O2FjtCKOIj1TTA/w640-h322/Screenshot%202022-11-16%20at%2013.24.49.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/embroidery-of-a-birds-heart/" target="_blank">Embroidery of a Bird’s Heart</a></b><span> </span>|<span> </span>Strange Horizons, March 2022<span> </span>|<span> </span>Fantasy, Magical Realism<span> </span>|<span> </span>3785 words</span></p>“[…] a narrator is visited by her dead grandmother, experiencing the thin boundary between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The piece provides a sharp and emotional journey for the narrator and for the reader, focusing on the ways that death can be a change rather than an ending, though that doesn’t always make things any easier to face or cope with.” – Charles Payseur for Locus<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>✨<a href="https://locusmag.com/2023/02/2022-recommended-reading-list/" target="_blank">Locus Recommended Reading List</a>✨</li><li>Locus' <a href="https://locusmag.com/2022/06/charles-payseur-reviews-short-fiction-reckoning-drabblecast-and-strange-horizons/" target="_blank">Charles Payseur Reviews Short Fiction</a></li><ul><li>Recommended story✨</li></ul><li><a href="https://tangentonline.com/e-market-weekly/strange-horizons-march-14-2022/" target="_blank">Tangent</a></li><li>Maria Haskin's <a href="https://maria-is-reading.blogspot.com/2022/04/my-sci-fi-fantasy-horror-short-fiction.html" target="_blank">Fantasy & Horror Short Fiction Roundup</a></li><li>Kathleen Jennings' <a href="https://tanaudel.wordpress.com/2022/03/29/march-short-story-reading-post/" target="_blank">March short story reading post</a></li><li>Biblioteca Luminis' <a href="https://bibliotheca-luminis.net/2022/04/21/short-fiction-i-enjoyed-in-march-2022/" target="_blank">Short Fiction I Enjoyed in March 2022</a></li><li>Marissa Lingen's <a href="https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=3551" target="_blank">Short work I’ve enjoyed this spring</a> and <a href="https://marissalingen.com/blog/?p=3678" target="_blank">Favorite short stories of 2022</a></li><li>Eugenia Triantafyllou's <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2023/01/09/an-incomplete-list-of-beautiful-stories-that-i-enjoyed-this-year-by-publication-month/" target="_blank">An Incomplete List of Beautiful Stories that I Enjoyed in 2022</a></li><li>Mag7's <a href="https://swellandcut.com/mag-archive/" target="_blank">The Magnificent Archive</a></li></ul></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/she-calls/" target="_blank">She Calls</a></b><span> </span>|<span> </span>Apparition Lit, January 2022<span> </span>|<span> </span>Dark Fantasy<span> </span>|<span> </span>3000 words</span></p>“A young woman in Mexico is enthralled by a green-haired girl with intense black eyes, who may be an incarnation of Chalchiuhtlicue, a water goddess. The narrator has a strange relationship with water, having almost drowned as a child, and that combination of desire and fear permeates the narrative.” – Karen Burnham for Locus<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>Locus' <a href="https://locusmag.com/2022/05/karen-burnham-reviews-short-fictionmetaphorosis-apparition-lit-and-mysterion/" target="_blank">Karen Burnham Reviews Short Fiction</a></li><li><a href="https://www.trollbreath.com/2022/03/01/apparition-literary-magazine-issue-17-charm-review/" target="_blank">Trollbreath</a></li><li>Charles Payseur's <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/some-queer-short-61925718" target="_blank">Some Queer Short SFF</a></li><li>Kevin J Fellows' <a href="https://kevinjfellows.com/2022/03/31/short-reading-ephemera-march-2022/" target="_blank">Short Reading Ephemera</a></li><li>Eugenia Triantafyllou's <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2023/01/09/an-incomplete-list-of-beautiful-stories-that-i-enjoyed-this-year-by-publication-month/" target="_blank">An Incomplete List of Beautiful Stories that I Enjoyed in 2022</a></li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you so much for reading! 😸</div><div><br /></div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-67245160286869489702022-10-31T08:00:00.057-07:002022-10-31T09:06:24.913-07:00A Door Into the Uncertain <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Brief notes on dread</span></div><br /><br /><br />This post is a companion to <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com" target="_blank">Eugenia Triantafyllou</a>’s <b>"<a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2022/10/31/dizziness-of-freedom/" target="_blank">Dizziness of Freedom</a>"</b>. Think about them as The Shining twins but made of words. <br /><br />Come play with us. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"># </div><br />Back in January 2022 when <a href="https://apparitionlit.com/she-calls/" target="_blank">one of my short stories</a> was published in Apparition Lit, I didn’t imagine that I’d be editing the January 2023 issue alongside my very dear friend and amazing author Eugenia Triantafyllou. <br /><br /><a href="https://apparitionlit.com/about-us-2/" target="_blank">Apparition</a> is a speculative fiction magazine working hard to publish great fiction, but also to create a more equitable and diverse publishing community. They’ve committed to work with guest editors to have different perspectives that expand their view of fiction. <br /><br />Eugenia and me were beyond thrilled when the Apparition team agreed to embark us as co-editors for an issue with a theme very close to our hearts: <b>DREAD</b>.<div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeoo_ry0kdBo_0oei3-LzqiKaSfbxiZVG5iwIlxMPiYSrnMurIX2STre3c31-XOiLM9FTsKthcuI-84SxeqrGg84vQ_NKn28BdFlOE3Zrf5b1GkhkIDEDtL-XBrDfCfGhGjTqBBBQcqqofKU1exyE4A21yeORGFhajoV3BkHdBuy9wiHrnTMh8oZvow/s5472/charlesdeluvio-pcZvxrAyYoQ-unsplash.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5472" data-original-width="3648" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeoo_ry0kdBo_0oei3-LzqiKaSfbxiZVG5iwIlxMPiYSrnMurIX2STre3c31-XOiLM9FTsKthcuI-84SxeqrGg84vQ_NKn28BdFlOE3Zrf5b1GkhkIDEDtL-XBrDfCfGhGjTqBBBQcqqofKU1exyE4A21yeORGFhajoV3BkHdBuy9wiHrnTMh8oZvow/w267-h400/charlesdeluvio-pcZvxrAyYoQ-unsplash.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Photo by </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@charlesdeluvio?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="text-align: start;">charlesdeluvio</a><span style="text-align: start;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="text-align: start;">Unsplash</a><span style="text-align: start;"></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div><br />I believe that writing this post as a form of anticipation is very pertinent because at the heart of the sometimes undefinable feeling of dread is anticipation itself. The certainty that something uncertain is about to happen, the possibility of possibility. It’s what Kierkegaard called the “dizziness of freedom” because dread resides in that exact point where we have the choice between the familiar and the appeal of the unknown. Dread is present when our feet are touching the edge of a cliff and we are terrified of falling, but also excited to discover what can be down there. <br /><br />As a concept of liminality, dread is in the place where the ordinary turns into the uncanny like in Shirley Jackson’s “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery" target="_blank">The Lottery</a>” where a seemingly normal village prepares for this annual event. We as readers are curious of what the lottery entails, but this curiosity turns gradually into unease when we notice things that maybe shouldn’t be there: why are the children gathering stones? Why are the villagers so tense when drawing their pieces of paper? What is going to happen that we don’t know? Until we know. <br /><br />Sometimes dread comes when an outcome we thought was very certain is subverted like it happens in Carmen Maria Machado’s “<a href="https://granta.com/the-husband-stitch/" target="_blank">The Husband’s Stitch</a>.” Readers familiar with the green ribbon story already know how this story will end, but they’re not ready for all the layers of meaning added to it. Because losing her head is not the greatest fear. <br /><br />Dread can appear as a mechanism of survival to overcome those feelings of impending doom or danger. A woman who tries to regain agency over her own self by trapping the monster that’s tormenting her, even though we know that the real monster is a different one that remains free, like in “<a href="https://lithub.com/the-houseguest-2/" target="_blank">The Houseguest</a>” by Amparo Dávila. <br /><br />There is dread in distorted childhood memories, in the desire to go back to a place that made us happy but also took everything away from us. In Mariana Enriquez’s “<a href="https://www.estacionlibro.com.ar/cuentos/la-casa-de-adela-de-mariana-enriquez/" target="_blank">Adela’s House</a>” the shadows of memories grow longer and darker as we follow the story that happened years ago and still torments the narrator (and will torment the readers). <br /><br />We feel dizzy when we put our hand on the doorknob of that house because we know what we’ll see, we’re sure we’ll get lost inside, we’re terrified of going in. <br /><br />And yet we open that door. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"># </div><br />Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/foxesandroses" target="_blank">Eugenia</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ApparitionLit" target="_blank">Apparition Lit</a> to be up to date about publications and submission guidelines for DREAD!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-5254334162067270402021-12-01T11:11:00.450-08:002022-02-25T11:54:18.137-08:002021 Awards Eligibility<p>This year, I have several short speculative fiction pieces and a related work that are eligible for awards. I'd be thrilled if you consider them for any. I'd also be super thankful if you take some time to read them and recommend them to someone who might like them.</p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/before-the-haze-devours-you/">Before the Haze Devours You</a>"</span><span> ⎮ <i>Lightspeed</i>, August 2021<span> </span></span>⎮<span> 1478 words<br /></span>Yunuen took a series of bad decisions that lead her to this painful moment. Alone and injured in a distant moon, she feels that her memories hurt more than her wounds. She has a plan, though it could be her last.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>Tor.com's <a href="https://www.tor.com/2021/09/09/must-read-speculative-short-fiction-august-2021/">Must-Read Speculative Short Fiction</a></li><li><a href="https://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2021/08/quick-sips-08132021.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li><li>Charles Payseur's <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/55590255">Some Queer Short SFF</a></li><li>Book Club for Masochists' <a href="https://bookclub4m.tumblr.com/post/661702594578776064/15-flash-fiction-books-15-flash-fiction-stories">15 Flash Fiction Books & 15 Flash Fiction Stories by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) Authors</a></li><li>Eugenia Triantafyllou's <a href="https://eugeniatriantafyllou.com/2022/01/14/an-incomplete-list-of-beautiful-stories-and-some-essays-that-have-kept-me-company-this-year-by-publication-month/">An Incomplete List of Beautiful Stories (And Some Essays!) That Have Kept Me Company This Year (By Publication Month)</a></li></ul></ul></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://www.khoreomag.com/fiction/evelina-my-tentacles/">Evelina, My Tentacles!</a>"</span> ⎮ <i>khōréō</i>, August 2021<span> </span>⎮ 2450 words</div><div style="text-align: left;">Rosaura is sending more than letters to Evelina. A whimsical and surreal epistolary journey through a weirdly changed world, a travel from the past, someone left behind, and jellyfish.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>Book Riot's <a href="https://bookriot.com/online-literary-journals/">20 Must-Read Online Literary Journals</a></li><li><a href="https://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2021/09/quick-sips-09032021.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://bookishbrews.com/2021/11/20/magazine-review-khoreo-1-3/">Bookish Brews</a></li><li>Charles Payseur's <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/55590255">Some Queer Short SFF</a></li><li>Grabrielle Bleu's <a href="https://gabriellebleu.com/2021/11/01/what-i-read-in-october-2021/">What I Read in October</a></li></ul></ul></div><p></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"<a href="http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/still-life-with-vial-of-blood/">Still Life with Vial of Blood</a>" </span> ⎮ <i>Nightmare</i>, September 2021<span> </span>⎮ 1185 words</div><div style="text-align: left;">This is an art catalogue. This is also a warning.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li>✨<a href="https://locusmag.com/2022/02/2021-recommended-reading-list/">Locus Recommended Reading List</a>✨</li><li>Tor.com's <a href="https://www.tor.com/2021/11/17/the-perils-of-art-criticism-nelly-geraldine-garcia-rosas-still-life-with-vial-of-blood/">Reading the Weird</a></li><li>Book Riot's <a href="https://bookriot.com/the-bloody-joy-of-horror-literary-magazines/">The Bloody Joy of Horror Literary Magazines</a></li><li>Tor.com's <a href="https://www.tor.com/2021/10/13/must-read-speculative-short-fiction-for-september-2021/">Must-Read Speculative Short Fiction</a></li><li>A.C. Wise's <a href="http://www.acwise.net/?p=3624">Favorites of 2021: Novelettes and Short Stories</a></li><li>Vanessa Fogg's <a href="https://itsajumble.blogspot.com/2021/11/short-fiction-recs-sept-october-2021.html">Short Fiction Recs</a></li><li><a href="https://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2021/09/quick-sips-09172021.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li><li>Rebecca E. Treasure's <a href="https://bookriot.com/the-bloody-joy-of-horror-literary-magazines/">On My Lunch</a></li><li>Some words <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4348826510">at Goodreads</a></li></ul></ul></div><p></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://mermaidsmonthly.com/2021/09/27/send-feet-pics/">Send Feet Pics</a>"</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span> ⎮ <i>Mermaids Monthly</i>, September 2021<span> </span>⎮ 1060 words</div><div style="text-align: left;">A dating app profile, a several-hundred-year-old mermaid, and slender-fingered axolotls. Photos and messages flow like water that echoes in songs about longing for something already lost as well as something that could be gone forever soon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li><a href="http://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2021/10/quick-sips-10152021.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li><li><a href="https://twitter.com/anonreviewssf/status/1453549713089781761">Anon Reviews SF</a></li><li>Adria Bailton's <a href="https://www.adriabailton.com/musings/short-fiction-round-up-44">Short Fiction Round-up</a></li></ul></ul></div><p></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"install new_sun"</span> ⎮ <i><a href="https://www.constelacionmagazine.com/issues">Constelación Magazine</a></i>, October 2021<span> </span>⎮ 3965 words</div><div style="text-align: left;">When Vida is trying to hack into the drug cartel Los Jaguares’ servers seeking justice for her sister’s death, the Mexica god Quetzalcoatl appears in her computer. She does not want to believe him, yet she has no other choice but to make him her ally against the criminal group. Vida finds herself in the middle of an ancient conflict that is causing one of the bloodiest waves of violence in Mexico, so she will use her hacking skills to solve the gods confrontation and to be a good sister for once.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Reviews and features:</li><ul><li><a href="http://www.nerds-feather.com/2022/01/2022-nerds-of-feather-hugo-awards.html">Nerds of a Feather Hugo Awards Recommended Reading</a></li><li><a href="https://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2021/10/quick-sips-10222021.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li></ul></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div><div style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://mermaidsmonthly.com/2021/12/28/which-inland-waterways-merfolk-are-you/"><span style="font-size: medium;">Which Inland Waterways Merfolk Are You?</span></a>" ⎮ <i> Mermaids Monthly</i>, December 2021<span> </span>⎮ 950 words<br /></div><span style="background-color: #45818e;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This piece was written in collaboration with <b>S.R. Mandel</b>. If you are so kind to consider it for awards, please make sure the byline mentions both of us ;)</span></span><div style="text-align: left;">An interactive quiz that links three flash pieces related names, family and encyclopedic knowledge about the lesser known mermaids of the world.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Review:</li><ul><li><a href="http://quicksipreviews.blogspot.com/2022/01/quick-sips-01212022.html">Quick Sip Reviews</a></li></ul></ul></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My <a href="https://twitter.com/kitsune_ng/status/1466122802067505153">Awards Eligibility post on Twitter</a> is also eligible as <b>Best Related Work</b> for the Hugo Awards!<br /></span>It's a series of tableaus that I made to recreate/illustrate all my eligible speculative stories using the Animal Crossing in-game photo booth.</div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLT94X1HYlcuqoiY2h8oTWX_GwzTWDPpy9eakdCQDuhSVLLCGEbZRN-7w4LVFYYRztNFMGPVN0AQ9axVKX6uJJSRr8nuSFhD0lDcbZ6wphkYlqeQvFNqoclt26q_vqFO4fjewH2Zk-Atr/s1080/2021+AWARDS+ELIGIBILITY.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLT94X1HYlcuqoiY2h8oTWX_GwzTWDPpy9eakdCQDuhSVLLCGEbZRN-7w4LVFYYRztNFMGPVN0AQ9axVKX6uJJSRr8nuSFhD0lDcbZ6wphkYlqeQvFNqoclt26q_vqFO4fjewH2Zk-Atr/s320/2021+AWARDS+ELIGIBILITY.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-50277910514665533592021-11-26T12:00:00.003-08:002021-11-26T12:45:40.288-08:00Intermission<div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Think about this post as a four year and a half ellipsis.</h2><div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3RqUBoDC1r-EtemB9pKuLnvkLfL8ncNyfgT4IGA3oq6t7VKVTLr_NfxceBlAk5jhl2DzCBKt6F-gtzrAqf7R1TGdlW-BknbVZWDOPFDhBQezecfWnvEAPSYOpwrysKY7EnP7N5KcCVOW/s2048/5BBE6E9A-63A0-4FFB-90F0-0B21CF2FCBD8_1_201_a.heic"><img alt="sakura flowers in Kyoto" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3RqUBoDC1r-EtemB9pKuLnvkLfL8ncNyfgT4IGA3oq6t7VKVTLr_NfxceBlAk5jhl2DzCBKt6F-gtzrAqf7R1TGdlW-BknbVZWDOPFDhBQezecfWnvEAPSYOpwrysKY7EnP7N5KcCVOW/w300-h400/5BBE6E9A-63A0-4FFB-90F0-0B21CF2FCBD8_1_201_a.heic" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Many things happened. Huge things. Mostly nice things*.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to the Carl Brandon Society, I attended Clarion West on 2019 and it changed my life because I found a loving <a href="http://clarionwest2019.com/about/">family</a>, and I got to be part of an amazing community.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm writing again. I'm sending stuff out to magazines. I got into dream markets (as you can see on my <a href="https://www.nellygeraldine.com/p/bibliography.html">bibliography list</a>). I moved to another country–again. I founded an <a href="https://locusmag.com/2021/04/premio-imaginacion-y-futuro/">award</a> for Mexican speculative fiction. I'm trying to do good by <a href="https://www.clarionwest.org/2021/04/05/evolving-workshop-culture/">helping</a> Clarion West as much as I can. I'm grateful for having the privilege of telling you about all of this.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><blockquote><div>"Isn’t life exciting! Everything can change all of a sudden, and for no reason at all!"</div><div>- Moomintroll (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moominpappa_at_Sea">Moominpappa at Sea</a>)</div></blockquote><div></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* The world is burning, there's a pandemic, my country is ravaged by violence. Sometimes thinking about personal, tiny victories helps to go on.</span></div></div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-84538997563523546802017-05-05T16:36:00.000-07:002017-09-15T14:08:05.935-07:00A dirge for them, a praise for them<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some time ago, I thought I had written a poem to a Mexico City metro station. I never managed to sell it and I kind of forgot about it till yesterday when I realised it wasn't about a metro trip, it was a poem about all those women who are killed every day and, mostly, about those women who are marching, yelling, demanding for our rights to be respected, for our voices to be heard.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is for them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdUnr0QrNZ-Jc9yV2CAylWmSYVCXWInUZWpolQD6gGTCFnadKQmzKwdL_a7H-5FrGQ084YUxlPdNw29mGTAQCgXsUZKQcwFVTu2Y0uENN0Tpib3TYO2bpzzIpxFw3RnfBRnwOMUjtH7mH/s1600/metro-laraza.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdUnr0QrNZ-Jc9yV2CAylWmSYVCXWInUZWpolQD6gGTCFnadKQmzKwdL_a7H-5FrGQ084YUxlPdNw29mGTAQCgXsUZKQcwFVTu2Y0uENN0Tpib3TYO2bpzzIpxFw3RnfBRnwOMUjtH7mH/s320/metro-laraza.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Metro La Raza</h3>
<br />
<br />
<h4>
i Línea 3</h4>
Our fathers killed our mothers.<br />
<br />
Our fathers destroyed the temples of our mothers. —Four hundred years later, their sons replaced them with a fake pyramid. They put four tlatoanis and an eagle on top of it. Their sisters ended up nursing the concrete-made people at the base of the faux temple.<br />
<br />
Then, they killed their sisters too. —They’ve been enslaving them, raping them, mutilating them. Killing them. KILLING THEM. KILLING US.<br />
<br />
My sisters are underground riding the orange snake, building our new temples, surviving.<br />
<br />
<i>I’m coming home.</i><br />
<br />
My sisters’ bodies disintegrate and become whole again with every step they take. Countless neutrinos are passing through them this very instant.<br />
<br />
They’re surviving. They’re walking alone at night. They’re going to work. They’re wearing lipstick. They’re drinking beers. They’re surviving. They’re creating. They’re loving. They’re fucking. They’re being.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<h4>
ii Túnel de la ciencia</h4>
Measure the Doppler effect waves.<br />
Count the steps<br />
from the ship’s hatch<br />
to the astral tunnel.<br />
<br />
<i>I’m passing through the gates.</i><br />
<br />
Bathe in the lights of the aurora.<br />
How long does it take<br />
Cassiopeia to become<br />
a scorpion?<br />
How long have my sisters been traveling<br />
through this celestial sphere?<br />
Count the steps at the<br />
end of the tunnel.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
iii Línea 5</h4>
My sisters are tired —they’re fucking exhausted.<br />
<br />
The fire, caused by our brothers, marked the walls with what they called monsters. Ridiculous and distorted, they try to destroy everything again. But our new temples are not made of stone.<br />
<br />
My sisters yell.<br />
<br />
“YOU CANNOT KILL US ANYMORE”<br />
<br />
My sisters laugh.<br />
<br />
<i>I’m coming home</i>.<br />
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<br /></div>
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Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-31030432496287409322016-01-11T09:19:00.000-08:002016-01-11T10:24:42.294-08:00Poem notes: rain.rb<i>Atypical Weather</i>, the 9th issue of short speculative poetry journal <i><a href="http://inkscrawl.net/">inkscrawl</a>,</i> is out. It was guest-edited by <a href="http://www.prezzey.net/">Bogi Takács</a>, and comprises 15 poems of ten lines or less. I'm thrilled that one of my poems is featured there (<a href="http://inkscrawl.net/issue9-dec2015/garcia-rosas-rainrb.html">read it here</a>) among some clever texts.<br />
<br />
If you feel like needing more than ten lines, here are some bonus notes:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I'm used to <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluca_de_Lerdo#Clima">rainy summers</a>. When I moved to the UK I found myself missing the cold Toluca's summer rain: those huge drops that almost made your skin hurt. Here, rain is like being under a shower: it doesn't hurt, but soak you to the bones. Anyways, one day I woke up imagining what would happened if <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaloc">Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain</a>, had followed me all the way from Mexico just to make the kind of rain I love. I thought it'd be cool to write about it, but didn't actually do anything about it until the <i>Atypical Weather</i> submission guidelines went out.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKZQYjprSvEduJkG74NnNFiZpOGMc36uJ6a1ZItANqQNQrAfxPJAv_0ifw58b6MQw2KBMfP3zXGbwi_itiYbLvHyrTOVgYPnUozbN-iwKnOGHHimANx77nPjv8WhwVsk1A12ew4_F9dEP/s1600/Tla%25CC%2581loc_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimKZQYjprSvEduJkG74NnNFiZpOGMc36uJ6a1ZItANqQNQrAfxPJAv_0ifw58b6MQw2KBMfP3zXGbwi_itiYbLvHyrTOVgYPnUozbN-iwKnOGHHimANx77nPjv8WhwVsk1A12ew4_F9dEP/s320/Tla%25CC%2581loc_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tl%C3%A1loc_3.jpg">Tlaloc</a> as seen in the Codex Borgia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>The poem was born like a humorous one. I revised and rewrote it several times, but in the end I thought it lack something (still not sure what), and decided to change the tone. I won't let the first poem die in my HD, though. Here it is:</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 50px; padding-right: 50px;">
<div style="border: 3px solid black; padding-bottom: 30px; padding-left: 30px; padding-top: 30px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Roommates</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">by Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tlaloc's drop-like fingers nocked at my window.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">He needed a place to crash</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">but never left.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It started to rain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">inside the apartment and under the umbrellas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">You need to get a job, said my voice through the water.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">But his job, he thundered, was to rain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>rain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>rain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My clothes grew mold; my skin, scales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I lost my money deposit.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I decided to rewrite "Roommates" by using code. I like to think I coded the poem for its final draft.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Someday, I'll write a blogpost about how I started learning how to code and why I chose Ruby as my first language. For now, let me share with you the first book on coding I ever read: <a href="http://poignant.guide/">Why's (poignant) guide to Ruby</a>. Its whimsical and funny narrative helped to define how I understand programming.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGfd0vJninXQDzYRYKL37CIv3IVumcj9Tgt5fC1qF8fZGFmJDQinrXylj8Jc-LETqSsmuB7QXbJN43QfR-aLpIf2UNOsyilGFCAJZCNiY1TIqA5PXy0AE0wIuOORIOobGkD0Qy3M88mmV/s1600/the.foxes-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGfd0vJninXQDzYRYKL37CIv3IVumcj9Tgt5fC1qF8fZGFmJDQinrXylj8Jc-LETqSsmuB7QXbJN43QfR-aLpIf2UNOsyilGFCAJZCNiY1TIqA5PXy0AE0wIuOORIOobGkD0Qy3M88mmV/s640/the.foxes-3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image part of <a href="http://poignant.guide/">Why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>I've been working on a piece of fiction that includes several chunks of code, but I've been so coward that I haven't managed to get a final draft, plus the thought of submit it to an editor terrifies me. I fear it'll end up illegible and obscure no matter if it's just kind of pseudocode that follows Ruby's syntax, though doesn't compile.</li>
</ul>
Somehow <i>inkscrawl</i>'s submissions window was the perfect opportunity to test this kind of rough-code fiction I want to create. I know Bogi likes unconventional formatting, so I gave it a try. It was worth it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZbvfN-dcXM_oWXpgNtyyG0Itp-ZmaSzRjdxzZDBTk0qqbqKc-CB37Z_53M-MxwNppKnVWxXyPs0DlD4koncYPjXrURTnAiEPteWn18puC1TAgXz5ccsPfJyS4STLh9uJ3ifvQZEgbwaI/s1600/the.foxes-4c.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZbvfN-dcXM_oWXpgNtyyG0Itp-ZmaSzRjdxzZDBTk0qqbqKc-CB37Z_53M-MxwNppKnVWxXyPs0DlD4koncYPjXrURTnAiEPteWn18puC1TAgXz5ccsPfJyS4STLh9uJ3ifvQZEgbwaI/s1600/the.foxes-4c.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image part of <a href="http://poignant.guide/">Why's (poignant) Guide to Ruby</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<b>Bonus note for a little bit more technical readers:</b></div>
<ul>
<li>Have you tried running "rain.rb"? It does compile. Just run the two parts of the poem individually because... INFINITE LOOP WARNING!</li>
</ul>
<div>
Does it change the way you read it?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-39898342676025249662015-02-28T21:30:00.000-08:002015-03-01T20:41:54.608-08:00Poem notes: Coyolxauhqui<div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.inah.gob.mx/images/stories/Multimedia/Fotogalerias/2015/febrero/coyol/demo/">37 years</a> has passed since the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyolxauhqui">Coyolxauhqui</a>'s monolith was found in Mexico City, so I thought it was the ideal time to write some notes on a poem that was recently published in <a href="http://stonetelling.com/">Stone Telling</a>, a speculative poetry magazine edited by <a href="http://roselemberg.net/">Rose Lemberg</a> and <a href="http://shweta_narayan.livejournal.com/">Shweta Narayan</a>. "Coyolxauhqui" is <a href="http://stonetelling.com/issue11-nov2014/garcia-rosas-coyolxauhqui.html">free to read and listen</a> –there's an audio version I recorded!– in the ST site.</div>
<div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>This was my first poem sale ever and the first one I wrote in English. I was quite dubious about it (I still am, actually). Besides I'm not as comfortable with poetry as I am with short stories. But as <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Z%C3%A1rate">José Luis Zárate</a>, a Mexican SFF writer, used to say: "I'm not a poet and I have the poems to prove it."</li>
<li><a href="http://stonetelling.com/issue11-nov2014/">Reverberations</a>, ST issue 11, features only poets that were new to the magazine. I'm thrilled to share ToC with amazing new writers like <a href="http://stonetelling.com/issue11-nov2014/sereno-exile.html">M Sereno</a>.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2Q5B25ME-i9V72YHonQKaJlvqMs6MgeamY-n1Kn5oDUzF64rFWlPigd2v-YKW_SR-qhCvr1mGv0WN1KxhdC3N-OWYVwJ0fV9uvFiqPxCjKSQxPshYvBmaxffxT8yRQhu-ydWhjRm2j3q/s1600/ST11-COVER.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2Q5B25ME-i9V72YHonQKaJlvqMs6MgeamY-n1Kn5oDUzF64rFWlPigd2v-YKW_SR-qhCvr1mGv0WN1KxhdC3N-OWYVwJ0fV9uvFiqPxCjKSQxPshYvBmaxffxT8yRQhu-ydWhjRm2j3q/s1600/ST11-COVER.png" height="320" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone Telling 11 cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>I was researching on Aztec gods for a short story when I stumbled upon Coyolxauhqui. I remembered the story of how she became the goddess of the Moon, but also the story of how her monolith was found. I thought it would be cool to have the myth and the facts mixed in a single text. How I ended up writing a poem instead of a short story? I'm not sure yet.</li>
<ul>
<li>Coyolxauhqui and her 400 siblings (the southern stars) were furious because her mother Coatlicue (the Earth) had just been impregnated by a bundle of feathers. They considered it a disgrace and decided to kill her. But the new brother, Huitzilopochtli, was born with an adult body and fully armoured in order to protect his mother. Coyolxauhqui was murdered and dismembered: her body was thrown down a mountain and her head was tossed to the sky were it became the Moon.</li>
<li>This mythical story was very important for Aztec rituals of human sacrifice since Coyolxauhqui herself represented the victims. Her big monolithic stone was placed at the bottom of the stairs of Huitzilopochtli's temple in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Mayor">Templo Mayor</a> were sacrifices were held and remained there for 500 years, untouched by the Spanish conquest.</li>
<li>In the wee hours of the morning of February 21, 1978, workers of the electric power company discovered a big, carved stone while digging for subterranean cable work. There she was, Coyolxauhqui, naked and fragmented, covered by a layer of soil; an 8 tons, 3 m in diameter goddess. Her discovery triggered the excavations project of Templo Mayor and many wonders of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan that are hidden under Mexico City.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SCUD_eaHCi10-Qj-flaFLW6KGMrW5VGvLYF3TSH-lmaawgMFIiY6tB50gx7-iWOTc8jSaaHo5ZYQWeyYJbuNDPDew5nNB0CIarX6HPp6n_ZCocrCYlkLDn5tGnHEqJ-qyCVLcT014qH1/s1600/Coyolxa%CC%84uhqui.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SCUD_eaHCi10-Qj-flaFLW6KGMrW5VGvLYF3TSH-lmaawgMFIiY6tB50gx7-iWOTc8jSaaHo5ZYQWeyYJbuNDPDew5nNB0CIarX6HPp6n_ZCocrCYlkLDn5tGnHEqJ-qyCVLcT014qH1/s1600/Coyolxa%CC%84uhqui.jpg" height="320" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coyolx%C4%81uhqui.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Coyolx%C4%81uhqui.jpg">Coyolxāuhqui</a>" by Drini - <span class="int-own-work">Own work</span>. Licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0" title="Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0">CC BY-SA 3.0</a> via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>That idea of the Aztec deities emerging from the subterranean world into the modern Mexico City was represented by making constant allusions to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City_Metro">Mexico City Metro</a>.</li>
<li>The Spanish lines in poem weren't originally translated. I added their English versions after my beta reader told me it would be kind of confusing for non-Spanish speakers. I ended up adding slashes in between both versions and I liked that outcome since I felt that my language had been slashed, just as Coyolxauhqui herself.</li>
<li>I know Rhysling nomination period is over, but I was quite happy that Lisa M. Bradley considered this poem in <a href="http://cafenowhere.livejournal.com/325581.html">her eligibility post</a> :).</li>
<li>As I said before, I'm not a poet, but I've been reading some speculative pieces of poetry that are amazing and that, definitely, make me want to write more.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
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Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-41553560527326666562015-01-01T21:56:00.000-08:002015-01-01T21:57:48.967-08:00Tove 100: Moomin, Little My and me*** This text was written on December 31st, 2014***<br />
<br />
Tove Jansson (1914-2001) would have been 100 in 2014. I couldn't think of wrapping up the year without writing some lines about her and, of course, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin">the Moomins</a>.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let me say that I've spent several months trying to write this post and I've failed horribly each time. What can I say that hasn't been said about Tove. That she was a wonderful queer person? That she was great as an artist and as an author? Others have told <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pgrk2">the story of her life</a> in a better way than I could. How to make a homage in her centenary? By remembering what Moomins <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/summeranne/50-lessons-that-moomins-can-teach-you-about-life">taught us about friendship, freedom and life</a>? ('cause others have said that too)<br />
<br />
These words will be sloppy and, maybe, a little nonsensical, but full of love. Because, if there's something a learnt from Tove is that: to love.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm786IyarttLnCPC77aS2DfV0lAQIDR8x0GAvzi4zEFpp7u0gDNWiBVq-a1m-fVuJLUD1cghkOI2RlMuvzyKZvEPclJZKgs9DrEi-i8LiFh9RBco8UQFth4sXjSqljGhnFDNrWDa_Fj3P/s1600/tumblr_inline_n9zkvgUJPE1qa4l1l.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm786IyarttLnCPC77aS2DfV0lAQIDR8x0GAvzi4zEFpp7u0gDNWiBVq-a1m-fVuJLUD1cghkOI2RlMuvzyKZvEPclJZKgs9DrEi-i8LiFh9RBco8UQFth4sXjSqljGhnFDNrWDa_Fj3P/s1600/tumblr_inline_n9zkvgUJPE1qa4l1l.png" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© Moomin Characters™</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
'twas the 90's and, as I attended elementary school, I was a moderately weird girl who liked watching German <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janoschs_Traumstunde">cartoons</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163505/">puppets</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088874/">Basque</a> movies, as well as Eastern European and Russian animations in the cultural channel. There's where I met the Moomins anime. (I loved "regular," popular cartoons too, of course. Note that I wrote "moderately weird")<br />
<br />
How amazed I was by all the characters that inhabited Moomin Valley. Somehow it reminded me of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huixquilucan_de_Degollado">town</a> I lived for the first 4 years of my life next to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marquesa_National_Park">La Marquesa</a> national park. They weren't similar places at all except for having a forest and cold weather in winter, but they had something that was almost the same: the blue Moomin house was my grandparents home and I was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_My">Little My</a>... well, almost.<br />
<br />
Like the Moomins, I grew up surrounded by that warm feeling of food being cooked, of a big table full of people –my family–, of stories and love. There were also a couple of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin#Characters">hemulens and fillyjonks</a> around, but that happens with every family, I guess. Since I was the littlest in size and age (as well as kind of grumpy sometimes :p) I identified with Little My as soon as I saw her. But soon I realised that I wasn't fearless and adventurous as her. I, then, wished to be more like her when I grew up.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAzNtmAEuicIQ-4O_-29i0NFjGIyh4GDUuOaF4ivCyJPthljr6jaYAJcTIRmRJA791D5Ki2nzKt_bvBY7yY5RtigCzkZG1DPADShYSjnDuan8vjmMVDvGiOYzPAdJgbYLB5Aa2itdcxs6/s1600/Selfportrait.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAzNtmAEuicIQ-4O_-29i0NFjGIyh4GDUuOaF4ivCyJPthljr6jaYAJcTIRmRJA791D5Ki2nzKt_bvBY7yY5RtigCzkZG1DPADShYSjnDuan8vjmMVDvGiOYzPAdJgbYLB5Aa2itdcxs6/s1600/Selfportrait.tif" height="640" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© Moomin Characters™</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Years and series reruns passed and I was more in love with that Finn family, despite not having read their proper printed stories since Spanish translations were quite expensive and hard to find in Mexico and my English wasn't good enough to read children's books.<br />
<br />
I finally got to read Moomin books and <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summer_Book">The Summer Book</a></i> in the mid 2000's and my life brightened. All those great feelings of my childhood came back to me all of a sudden and I laughed and frolicked and laid on my bed watching the clouds, hoping for them to be from the magician's hat and just then, with the wind on my face, I cried the death of Tove.<br />
<br />
I spent the entire 2014 thinking about how the world is a happier, more beautiful place thanks to Tove. I also thought about her and how gloom things were for her sometimes because of the war and how it affected her family, or because of being gay in a non-diverse society. But I like better to imagine her painting and writing in her island with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuulikki_Pietil%C3%A4">Tuulikki</a>, both happy and beautiful under the northern sun.<br />
<br />
Thanks for everything, Tove.<br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
I wanted to become as cool and fearless as Little My. Instead I grew up to be a weird version of Moominmamma, but that's ok, you know. I still am Little My-sized, though.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-61096202308481654542014-05-10T13:50:00.000-07:002014-05-10T13:50:36.638-07:00Story notes: In Xochitl in Cuicatl in Shub-NiggurathInspired by <a href="http://www.prezzey.net/?s=story+notes">Bogi Takács' "story notes" series</a>, I decided to post something about "In Xochitl in Cuicatl in Shub-Niggurath," my short story featured in Innsmouth Free Press' <i><a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/tb-books/sword-and-mythos/">Sword & Mythos</a></i> and translated from the Spanish by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. You can <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/in-xochitl-in-cuicatl-in-shub-niggurath/">read it for free here</a> (and then buy the book so you won't miss stories by E. Catherine Tobler, William Meikle, Bogi Takács and Orrin Grey, among others).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Possible spoilers ahead. But did I mention you can <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/in-xochitl-in-cuicatl-in-shub-niggurath/">read the story for free</a>? Go. Now. I'll wait. But not for long.]</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I wrote "In Xochitl in Cuicatl in Shub-Niggurath" specially for this anthology. I'm not sure what I would've done with it if it hadn't been sold. Maybe forget it for a couple of years and then revise it.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>I've been living in the land of the ancient Matlazinca for 25 years, so why not include them in my fiction? Besides, I recently moved to a place where I can see Xinantécatl volcano from my window, that's inspiring, I tell you.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZlcpzLnM4-iIOM55uwIy0rcJfDHrl93UULMPBdJCij22mzQNzRogcthykfGJZP_qpyEPk1ACfNTJoLaxoWF9bQ9qHG2aDDtsZMm_LtXERYf6DVldYCazztddX9kR5iKYVUErAcpe29_4/s1600/volcano_mar2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZlcpzLnM4-iIOM55uwIy0rcJfDHrl93UULMPBdJCij22mzQNzRogcthykfGJZP_qpyEPk1ACfNTJoLaxoWF9bQ9qHG2aDDtsZMm_LtXERYf6DVldYCazztddX9kR5iKYVUErAcpe29_4/s1600/volcano_mar2013.jpg" height="186" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From my window: Xinantécatl obscured by a streetlight (March, 2013)<br />
I can't take pictures, I know<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li>There's little we know about the Matlazinca apart from a couple of codices and Fray Bernardino de Sahagún's <i>Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España</i> (General History of the Things of New Spain –because we love extremely long titles–) from which I took the epigraph.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Matlazinca is a Nahuatl word (it's unknown how they called themselves) that comes from 'matlatl,' a net made from agave fibres. It probably means 'those who weave nets.' They used them for everything: from fishing, harvesting, warfare or sacrificing people to their gods (I wish I've made that up).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Sword & sorcery plus mythos in a pre Hispanic setting:</li>
<ul>
<li>The Aztec empire, commanded by its tlatoani Axayácatl, conquered the Valley of Toluca (where Matlazincas lived) in 1473. I like to think this story was kind of retributive justice for the meek.</li>
<li> Shub-Niggurath is not referred to as goat since they were not known in Mexico before the Spaniards' arrive, but to a deer since they were quite common in the region (sadly, not anymore).</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>I first wanted to portrait a powerful woman as an eagle warrior (part of an elite "warrior society" in the Aztec militia). Unfortunately, in that time women were not allowed to participate in warfare (what a surprise, uh?) so my female character ended up being an enemy priestess. There is an eagle warrior in the story, though. But I deliberately described her having the same hairdo as "the shorn ones," the highest ranked and prestigious warrior society of the Mexica.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Pre Hispanic culture was based in dualities. It was represented in religion, habits and many aspects of political and social life. Nahuatl language, for example, used an interesting gramatical construction called <i>difrasismo</i> in which two different words put together form a metaphorical unit. In xochitl in cuicatl literally means "the flower, the song," but together they mean 'poetry.' Hence this story's title is a disruption of that pair which, I hope, creates a third new meaning.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/196/5/6/Cem_Anahuac_pag__2_y_3_by_Napo_4V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs11/i/2006/196/5/6/Cem_Anahuac_pag__2_y_3_by_Napo_4V.jpg" height="305" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two-page panel from <i>Cem Anahuac</i>, comic by my friend <a href="http://napo-4v.deviantart.com/">Napoleón Bonilla</a><br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li>Just after I submitted the story to Innsmouth Free Press, I imagined it in comic form (a floppy, brief one). I fantasised some specific drawings in the style of the image above. I even imagined a trilogy and gave titles to the remaining two stories! ("In cuauhtli in ocelot in Yog-Sothoth" and "In teoatl in tlachinolli in Nyarlathotep") Some day, maybe...</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>My writing soundtrack was Mexican music from Colonial times (XVI-XVII centuries). I know it was not from the same era, but many songs are sung in Nahuatl and use pre Hispanic sounds and instruments.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>I can't deny I'm a pantser by nature. Sometimes necessity brings the plotter out of me, though. This story was outlined in two different ways: as a timeline and as a hideous storyboard (pictured below). Its was a great experience and helped me so much to stay in focus while developing the narrative. I'll surely do that more often.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP48Mx-YtIsjCyzR2DnKiGAMwJaTAUn3Ww2gwFsNKG6nfMV-LsTSowDYJRN3_aIsch943VjNCDwn7MMW5p3k2DY7sM_pNLmde44iHlOiTMqMe1WfRyIjpOwfvJdKmglg9OgKhZh5EC1nxQ/s1600/s&m_outline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP48Mx-YtIsjCyzR2DnKiGAMwJaTAUn3Ww2gwFsNKG6nfMV-LsTSowDYJRN3_aIsch943VjNCDwn7MMW5p3k2DY7sM_pNLmde44iHlOiTMqMe1WfRyIjpOwfvJdKmglg9OgKhZh5EC1nxQ/s1600/s&m_outline.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before I erased my whiteboard: my shadow obscuring a hideous outline<br />
Did I tell you that I can't take pictures?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If this series of random ideas made some sense to you, <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/tb-books/sword-and-mythos/">go purchase Sword & Mythos</a>. Otherwise do it for the other stories and essays are way much better than mine.<br />
<br />
You can also <a href="http://betwixtbookreviews.blogspot.mx/2014/04/review-sword-and-mythos-edited-by.html">read a review here</a>, which happens to say that "In Xochitl in Cuicatl in Shub-Niggurath:"<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
is exotic tale of warriors, blood sacrifice and ancient gods. I should definitely look for more from this author...</blockquote>
<br />Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-52288609885582451532014-03-31T18:57:00.000-07:002018-08-09T14:28:11.025-07:00Original fiction: REM<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">And if he left off dreaming about you, where do you suppose you'd be? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lewis Carroll </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Alice tried to catch her breath. She had been running for so long she almost forgot what she was running from. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
“<i>Fit to snore his head off!</i>” Said Dum, one of the fat hitmen, and bursted out laughing. “Heard that, bro? Snore his head off!” <br />
<br />
He, then, shot. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
Her legs hurt and her toes were bleeding, but Alice couldn’t stop running. Not now that she was so close to the edge of that damned forest. <br />
<br />
“<i>You ought to pay</i>.” That hideous voice was still sounding inside her head. “<i>You ought to speak</i>.”<br />
<br />
Alice couldn’t help but crying. Her tears felt real, <i>realler</i> than ever, but her dream started to feel like someone else’s. Maybe they were right. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYftdB_c_NGSquZqPsf7Y5GB7UeiJWnyMeHIMHc__40aMSckBZXEcXCcZdL5wRN1X8u39UPENN_x0C03jnPYtmE94QwmpIocH6QhgLTSY4-9yFEco0gXjDUUk9kelPBZG4_IZsb6S_v8NE/s3200/Tennieldumdee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYftdB_c_NGSquZqPsf7Y5GB7UeiJWnyMeHIMHc__40aMSckBZXEcXCcZdL5wRN1X8u39UPENN_x0C03jnPYtmE94QwmpIocH6QhgLTSY4-9yFEco0gXjDUUk9kelPBZG4_IZsb6S_v8NE/s3200/Tennieldumdee.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Tenniel, 1871</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
# </div>
<br />
REM had taken control over the Looking-Glass with extreme violence. The Red King could be an ever-sleeping capo, but his lieutenants and hitmen were always awake taking care of his business. <br />
<br />
No mercy. <br />
<br />
Everyone was a <i>sort of thing</i> in His dream. The Red King owned everything and everyone. Including Alice. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
The couple of fat hitmen had stopped Alice in her way out of the forest. They were nasty men who smelt like sweat and cheap liquor. Dee and Dum, as they called themselves, took Alice by the arms and threatened her. <br />
<br />
She ran from them. But mostly she ran from her dream because it was her dream, wasn’t it? She was dreaming all that nonsense about the violent cartel that was controlling each and every movement in the Looking-Glass. Of course it was her dream and not some crazy drug lord’s who spend the day sleeping, dreaming about her, about everything. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
It all had been sudden. One day the beheaded bodies of the Walrus and the Carpenter were found on the beach. Their heads and a message were inside a garbage bag left resting against Humpty Dumpty’s wall. “<i>Aren’t they a lovely sight?</i> -REM.” <br />
<br />
Rex Ex Machina, as everybody knew later, tortured and beheaded many of the high profile White King’s court men and advisors. Whoever questioned being part of the Red King’s dream were executed. <br />
<br />
Then, Alice arrived to the Looking-Glass. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
She halted. A sound like a roar, like an engine, was rapidly approaching her. How could it be? <br />
<br />
The Red Queen came galumphing on a bandersnatch. Not far, a weird engine-like device carried the sleeping body of the Red King: the king from the machine. <br />
<br />
“Hullo, dear. Going somewhere?” Asked the Red Queen. “<i>It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place</i>.” <br />
<br />
Alice remained silent. She had heard dreadful stories about the Queen’s cold and calm way to torture people. But, had she? Wasn’t this a dream? Her dream? <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw_VJ-tkxW4UEUf-2JMf-hFffEt0eziNRV50bqEwud1ezqeCP4iP2d7DTXxx1omvO10PTMkLJ59EEwfMGMrb7L4lw5UA_4QYIpjExIssD2Dyd_Yjooy2Juf-_xjTCAHgcPzE1j0Zatw_LC/s3200/Tenniel_red_queen_with_alice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw_VJ-tkxW4UEUf-2JMf-hFffEt0eziNRV50bqEwud1ezqeCP4iP2d7DTXxx1omvO10PTMkLJ59EEwfMGMrb7L4lw5UA_4QYIpjExIssD2Dyd_Yjooy2Juf-_xjTCAHgcPzE1j0Zatw_LC/s3200/Tenniel_red_queen_with_alice.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Tenniel, 1871</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
“Has the cat got your tongue or is it just the pleasure of seeing Him in his REM sleep?” Said the Red Queen. “You are not so talkative, are you, child? Do you want to praise your King? Bow a little, maybe?” <br />
<br />
“I just want to wake up,” said Alice to herself in an angry voice. “Wake the damned up to end this madness!” <br />
<br />
“Hush! You don’t want to wake Him up, do you, dear child?” Said the Red Queen. Her voice trembling, waiting for the worst. <br />
<br />
“Wake the hell up, Alice!” She screamed her lungs out wishing for it to be HER dream. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
# </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Everything goes out —bang! —just like a candle!</i></div>
<br />
<div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
_______________</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-32956163085649007672014-02-28T11:14:00.000-08:002014-02-28T23:02:12.576-08:00Women Writing LovecraftI was 7 years old when I read Lovecraft for the first time. My sisters and I were given an anthology of short stories from around the world; the story from the US was "The Cats of Ulthar" which I instantly loved and re-read many times. I wasn't aware of who was the author then. Authors weren't that important when I was that little, what mattered was the text itself. At that time nobody told me it was weird for a girl to like Lovecraft and vengeful cats.<br>
<br>
I went back to Lovecraft when I was a teenager and by then I had read everything Poe-ish I could find (how I loved <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Cort%C3%A1zar">Julio Cortázar</a>'s translations of Poe into Spanish!) This way, I found the Mythos (those had poor translations, though) and I liked them despite not having any characters to relate to. I liked them because people didn't "win", because horror and anxiety were embodied by things and creatures that were impossible to overcome. Imagine how surprised I was when I found out that the Cthulhu guy was the same that had written one of my favorite short stories as a little girl. This time nobody told me either that it was weird for a teenage girl to like the short stories and monsters written by a man who clearly had problems creating female characters –and POC in general *sigh*–.<br>
<br>
Back in college I became friends with my now fiancé because of Lovecraftiana. He found me reading inside an empty classroom and asked if I had read Poe and Lovecraft. "Of course I have, you dumbass," I thought –I just said "yes"–. He, then, proceed to tell me all about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Darkness:_Sanity%27s_Requiem">Eternal Darkness</a> and how the game was Mythos-like. He didn't tell me it was weird for a woman to be reading in an empty classroom and to like genre fiction that had inspired survival horror video games.
<br>
<div>
<br>
I first published a Lovecraftian story in 2011. Because of that I've read other <a href="http://silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/2014/02/women-who-write-lovecraft/">women who also love and write that kind of stories</a> much better than I do. Nobody told us it was weird at all, right?</div>
<div>
<br>
Wrong.<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMLrMocRwIJseZqt_yVoBNfZVjPsb7JpKmvSSrDdvPrELSKLYaZ7AvTl8yCQY4OTXF9sdQMT14LUIvtCPxVaOuIjodQbWQlkGLzQJgFUlixLRBCFSUsTNEJYO9NKetCx69wLy2ELxuL0/s1600/20140210120923-teamsquidbutton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMLrMocRwIJseZqt_yVoBNfZVjPsb7JpKmvSSrDdvPrELSKLYaZ7AvTl8yCQY4OTXF9sdQMT14LUIvtCPxVaOuIjodQbWQlkGLzQJgFUlixLRBCFSUsTNEJYO9NKetCx69wLy2ELxuL0/s1600/20140210120923-teamsquidbutton.jpg" height="303" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23teamsquid">#TeamSquid</a> mascot drawn by Lisa Grabenstetter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
It seems that some <a href="http://silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/2014/02/of-women-and-squids/">people think women like me are weird</a>. They believe Lovecraftian stuff is a "guy thing" and that there are very few women writing it. They even wonder if we just don't like to play with squids. <a href="http://silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/2014/02/she-walks-in-shadows/">Silvia Moreno-Garcia answered</a> that question:<br>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Women <i>do</i> write Lovecraftian fiction. We aim to prove it with your support. More than a dozen female authors have gathered to write original Lovecraftiana and place it in a single volume under the title <i>She Walks In Shadows</i>.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/she-walks-in-shadows"><i>She Walks In Shadows</i></a> will be the first all-women Lovecraftian anthology and, if all goes well, I'll be part of it. How <strike>weird</strike> cool could it be? I mean, I'm a Mexican woman who loves to read and write Lovecraftiana *pause to let some heads explode*. And, of course, I like to play with squids.<br>
<br>
<br>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk2Rl2MVAXjtN1ZSApO4OVn0k_4I5AlWlIzk_xk1_2l-jLcVr9JvBt2Uv3_NLRDxDDDiFa4PAZGc5_btYMmNEX7pFa3ALgz8k3tSlxB48aqQMH6E6hwhlbAVgZxGt5WOgDxspneS1YWke/s1600/teamSquid.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk2Rl2MVAXjtN1ZSApO4OVn0k_4I5AlWlIzk_xk1_2l-jLcVr9JvBt2Uv3_NLRDxDDDiFa4PAZGc5_btYMmNEX7pFa3ALgz8k3tSlxB48aqQMH6E6hwhlbAVgZxGt5WOgDxspneS1YWke/s1600/teamSquid.gif"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's me and Cthulhu! Hugging each other!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br>
<br>
----------<br>
<br>
Help crowdfund <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/she-walks-in-shadows" style="font-style: italic;">She Walks In Shadows</a>' Indiegogo campaign by sparing some money or just spreading the word. But hurry because it ends on March 13th, 2014.<br>
<br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/she-walks-in-shadows"><b><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/she-walks-in-shadows</span></b></a></div>
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Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-47950305530364561392014-01-16T21:35:00.001-08:002014-01-16T21:35:34.404-08:00Reprint: 13<div class="p1">
This is a mathematical kind of horror and a mutant kind of flash fiction at the same time. I believe numbers have their own way to tell stories.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
The original Spanish version first appeared in <a href="http://issuu.com/penumbria/docs/penumbria____trece/"><i>Penumbria</i> 13</a>, September 2013. Translated into English by myself.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
13</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
I</h4>
<div class="p1">
Mathematicians use to say that, among prime numbers, Thirteen is the most dreadful.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<h4>
II</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
Thirteen is happy. He factorizes and adds himself, he squares himself. He's one.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<h4>
III</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
Prime numbers inhabit the sieve of Eratosthenes, a strange building of infinite wonder.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSwJfhvurCGLm9jvqX-lAytQ3x-eg3gqv37JKMTm9DUhNXeseGVfLmWoHDJ39VzLXQDSX0iJ64h0GB1_epIAUARsy3RlO9Re2Jb3pPxuaTvVysC5yeJz_090-4_XD5Pz5caBCuUNco3Ea/s1600/gate_pixelated.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSwJfhvurCGLm9jvqX-lAytQ3x-eg3gqv37JKMTm9DUhNXeseGVfLmWoHDJ39VzLXQDSX0iJ64h0GB1_epIAUARsy3RlO9Re2Jb3pPxuaTvVysC5yeJz_090-4_XD5Pz5caBCuUNco3Ea/s1600/gate_pixelated.png" height="400" width="260" /></a>
IV</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
The sieve of Eratosthenes' elevator makes an actual stop in the 13th floor.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
V</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
Thirty-one is afraid of looking in the mirror. Her reflexion brings bad luck.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
VI</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
In the hallways, they speak about those mathematicians who started a weird cult.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<br />
<h4>
VII</h4>
</div>
Mathematical monks count every moon of the year from the algoritmical Eratosthenes observatory.<br /><br /><div class="p2">
<h4>
VIII</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
The mathematical monks' algebraic calendar marks 13 dreadful days for13 bleeding moons.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
IX</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
A portentous thirteenth month arrives. Pythagoras officiates the dreadful wedding building a triangle.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
X</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
The thirteenth moon accelerates the tides. Mathematical monks go mad. Soaked calendars float.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
XI</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
Five and Twelve cry. "What Pythagoras has joined together..." Thirteen bares his teeth.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
XII</h4>
</div>
<div class="p2">
13 monks play ring-a-ring o' roses: "one, one, two, three, five, eight... ¡thirteen!"</div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<h4>
XIII</h4>
</div>
<div class="p1">
Mathematicians read the tarot cards. The same arcane is always revealed: XIII. Death.</div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
<br /></div>
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-20790557288580824312013-12-31T10:20:00.000-08:002014-02-10T22:28:18.973-08:00What's coming in 2014Do you hear that? That squealing sound? It's this site struggling to stay alive... Or maybe I'm just hungry.<br />
<br />
Some months ago <a href="http://www.nellygeraldine.com/2013/08/a-sloppy-rebirth-and-some-news_14.html">I wrote a post on what I had done so far publishing-wise</a>, and to this day it hasn't change much, so it is a nice read if you want to know how 2013 was for me. I made a couple of sales to add to that post, though: one of them to <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=22427">issue 14 of Innsmouth Magazine</a> which is already out, gorgeously printed (or as an ebook).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXz5uQznyFK8F5mFUURl8ITd-R3wOiJF9EXpFHptb8xj8MZiPFUurHviI0INLLrgTITaGL8_Wbf2JlOhdpFjeWXrmPW_fVhIz0kWUB27AZcrtbbdeAppDRdInjqWNkdlPmSMZh3gfYF3x/s1600/2013_Wings-640x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXz5uQznyFK8F5mFUURl8ITd-R3wOiJF9EXpFHptb8xj8MZiPFUurHviI0INLLrgTITaGL8_Wbf2JlOhdpFjeWXrmPW_fVhIz0kWUB27AZcrtbbdeAppDRdInjqWNkdlPmSMZh3gfYF3x/s1600/2013_Wings-640x1024.jpg" height="200" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wings Issue cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
2013 was a nice year and, hopefully, 2014 will be better. Here's what's coming:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sold "Squirrels", a piece of flash fiction, to Goldfish Grimm so you'll be able to read it soon. It's about squirrels, you know.</li>
<li><i>Sword & Mythos</i> will be out in spring. Guess whose short story is blurbed in the back cover? Hint: is that lazy Mexican writer.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYPKaviYAdKviHUX93FrSTCZkj9iTrDJkHb0mwKFuTwfARp_NqaFQfxwwxg-kt7HyJ8NHCCtOdCWMruEgDBQ2ddL1PY_-Ob6Ti24C0CXhg9-1YvJdj50cYy8dDElKp8H8Tx43q6k0Ww7K/s1600/Swordcover22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJYPKaviYAdKviHUX93FrSTCZkj9iTrDJkHb0mwKFuTwfARp_NqaFQfxwwxg-kt7HyJ8NHCCtOdCWMruEgDBQ2ddL1PY_-Ob6Ti24C0CXhg9-1YvJdj50cYy8dDElKp8H8Tx43q6k0Ww7K/s1600/Swordcover22.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sword & Mythos cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Hopefully we'll manage to get an editor to finally release <i>El escaque y otros trebejos</i>, an interactive ebook in Spanish coded by my bf and illustrated by one of our friends. We finished the final draft a couple of years ago, but I'm not quite happy with all the words I made up and I think we need an editor to help me kill my darlings. Let's see.</li>
<li>It seems that 2 different versions of the same short story will be published in 2 different anthologies: one Mexican and the other German. But nothing is certain yet since both are non-paying markets and no contracts have been signed. I've already worked with the German translator and the outcome was pretty cool according to a friend who've already read the translation.</li>
<li>Mexican SF writers Alberto Chimal and Raquel Castro have started a census-like site which will gather bio-bibliography info about the Mexicans that are writing speculative fiction. It's a great project and I'm thrilled they asked me to be part of it.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45gWTZZM7lJpU81X8C2OOoo3hjdZYTqEd-idZAMHwZ6cTF3vPu-i2BSLAeOZuZY5DUkHudy1oNpNcEG2IytiqJmW93s2iiCmFY28FWn4K3_gGgsoNS5guHs4TjU_A42TIhziShm4Tcj_S/s1600/Y4p0JbVQ.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45gWTZZM7lJpU81X8C2OOoo3hjdZYTqEd-idZAMHwZ6cTF3vPu-i2BSLAeOZuZY5DUkHudy1oNpNcEG2IytiqJmW93s2iiCmFY28FWn4K3_gGgsoNS5guHs4TjU_A42TIhziShm4Tcj_S/s1600/Y4p0JbVQ.jpeg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because we call it "<a href="http://imaginacionmx.tumblr.com/">literatura de imaginación</a>"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>I plotted a YA novel for NaNoWriMo but didn't manage to write more than a couple of lousy chapters. It's about Titan and cyborgs! I need to write that till my fingers bleed.</li>
<li>I'm also working on something experimental which I doubt someone would buy, so I'll self-publish it as soon as it's done and revised and edited and revised again and rewritten. I'm really exited about it so I'm hoping it'll be something you like as much as I'm liking the process of getting it done and not saying a word on what it is about :p.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Thanks for reading. See you next year (with more posts, I swear).</div>
<div>
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Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-12182968510497664422013-08-14T13:42:00.000-07:002014-02-10T22:29:27.743-08:00A sloppy rebirth and some newsI'm the laziest person ever. I left this site unattended for a year and a half, and I think it grew wild, unsociable, surly; it's even full of weeds and creepy creatures hiding in the corners. I guess I have to do something about it. But I'm the laziest person ever...<br />
<br />
Gladly I have some announcements so I can say this blog is alive! ALIVE!<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>My short story "Ahuizotl" (first appeared in <i>Historical Lovecraft</i> and translated into English by <a href="http://www.silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/">Silvia Moreno-Garcia</a>) is going to be reprinted in <i>The Apex Book of World SF 3</i> by 2014. I'm so happy about this one since it was my first sale ever.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>I've been publishing some flash fiction in the Mexican webzine <a href="http://www.penumbria.net/">Penumbria</a>. It's a nonpaying market, but one that lets me experiment and whose creators I admire. besides it's started to get noticed by the Spanish-speaking SF community. They recently published a printed anthology with the best of their fist year online: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18069149-penumbria-a-o-i"><i>Penumbria, Año I</i></a> which includes my flash/mutant fiction "Caza de shoggoths. Colección grotesca."</li>
</ul>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1il_NNr4diDczujM4B9M46GJBSPNFYwa30xoFd1NklPiEK1sJYvS0bQgQQPe3BaIcXT3QA0eeTeR7gAtAbEu2GdVJIC6VKvgcLcfw7lWpsp11J0NnRjK_g7WZYmcMp7UvZNAAE6VSkyt-/s1600/penumbria_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1il_NNr4diDczujM4B9M46GJBSPNFYwa30xoFd1NklPiEK1sJYvS0bQgQQPe3BaIcXT3QA0eeTeR7gAtAbEu2GdVJIC6VKvgcLcfw7lWpsp11J0NnRjK_g7WZYmcMp7UvZNAAE6VSkyt-/s1600/penumbria_cover.jpg" height="320" title="" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penumbria, Año I cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li>I made my fist pro-sale! “In Xochitl in Cuicatl in Shub-Niggurath” will be part of <i><a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/blog/?p=21954">Sword and Mythos</a></i>, an upcoming Innsmouth Free Press anthology. The ToC is wonderful, I'll be sorrounded by great authors like E. Catherine Tobler and William Meikle.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Speaking of Sword and Mythos, <a href="http://www.prezzey.net/2013/more-sales-yayness-stuff/">Bogi Takács (a ToC mate) mentioned me</a> as someone to watch for because maybe some day I'll write something cool... maybe :p.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wl44pcFwHPH6KWE-pE_pileXPPi76RBBUdVKsxAukac01MGPyoEvTgOSEcvrWvpjvFStSUT4MDhXRf3Cdgs35T5Vw6eM15vcP3HIPn6msUoqLB6jSyxzx6L6J4KyObiYKZfC5l5ESeEW/s1600/s&m_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wl44pcFwHPH6KWE-pE_pileXPPi76RBBUdVKsxAukac01MGPyoEvTgOSEcvrWvpjvFStSUT4MDhXRf3Cdgs35T5Vw6eM15vcP3HIPn6msUoqLB6jSyxzx6L6J4KyObiYKZfC5l5ESeEW/s1600/s&m_cover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sword and Mythos cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<li>I'm also thrilled to be featured in "<a href="http://www.acwise.net/?p=1369">Women to Read: New Voices</a>," a list compiled by A.C. Wise with women who have made their first speculative fiction sale within the last two years. There are lots of great authors listed. Give it a read.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<div>
So, there you have it. This site is back from its ashes like Felix, the cat... or something like that. Thanks for reading.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-44787609163904732962012-01-19T19:19:00.003-08:002012-01-19T19:19:47.104-08:00The day the LOLcats died<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjny8w9R-k1vlzIK11aUJrnLC4TvDwOp-jPg1Srko6dDRKHF_jdnnXAphWikg0cCPKPcmbTgTpd-mQeCElw71hssciW0W2wQ3W5FD9FqXso7PfqrofCDSzoiHKD6Uh_xM6v6xw557HXzEyu/s1600/stop+sopa+%2526+pipa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjny8w9R-k1vlzIK11aUJrnLC4TvDwOp-jPg1Srko6dDRKHF_jdnnXAphWikg0cCPKPcmbTgTpd-mQeCElw71hssciW0W2wQ3W5FD9FqXso7PfqrofCDSzoiHKD6Uh_xM6v6xw557HXzEyu/s320/stop+sopa+%2526+pipa.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maybe some of you noticed that yesterday (January 18) this blog joined the blackout against Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), among sites like Reddit, Wikipedia, Google, Mozilla and ICanHasCheezburger.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a writer I care about copyright. I think all creative people who are trying to make a living out of artistic work care about it. But we also care about free speech and free knowledge. SOPA and PIPA (aswell as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement">ACTA</a>, Mexico's <a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_Doring">Döring Law</a> and any other legislation that censors and controls knowledge) are not about copyright protection, they're about control —as Chuck Wending said—, they're a threat to people and freedom. We, as individuals, elected legislators. Lets ask them —demand them— to protect people, not big corporations.</div>
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Do we want an Orwellian world in which everything we can read, watch or listen is controlled? Internet is the last bastion of freedom and I want to help to protect it as much as I want to create art and make a living out of it.</div>
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Author <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/01/18/why-sopa-and-pipa-and-other-anti-piracy-bullshit-measures-matter-to-writers/">Chuck Wending</a>, <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/sopa">The Oatmeal</a>'s Mathew Inman and <a href="http://stopthewall.us/artists/">this open letter</a> signed by some artists said it better than me. Go read them.</div>
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So educate yourself. Think about it. And speak up before the Internet —as we know it— dies. Do it for the kitties. Do it for the LOLcats.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/1p-TV4jaCMk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This song is genius.</span></div>
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Want to know more? Visit <a href="http://americancensorship.org/">Stop American Censorship</a>.<br />
<br />Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-4294424192304503762011-12-30T20:37:00.000-08:002014-02-10T22:28:18.978-08:00Future and Lovecraft<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-mHe_O0kDZMX0mLkER2Rfck3Bg9B77Dd1111OHhOJaaLcM1uETiJtrl18bPkh2Iy4UhX5duRLn4krBrK61EClGP_NWOKiXl2nsFuXeh0667l3CvmmnRt_Xn8k_mrFbKQrCrpuc5kF_gQ/s1600/cthulhureads.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-mHe_O0kDZMX0mLkER2Rfck3Bg9B77Dd1111OHhOJaaLcM1uETiJtrl18bPkh2Iy4UhX5duRLn4krBrK61EClGP_NWOKiXl2nsFuXeh0667l3CvmmnRt_Xn8k_mrFbKQrCrpuc5kF_gQ/s320/cthulhureads.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is this the future, Lovecraft?</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?page_id=15441"><i>Future Lovecraft</i></a></b>, the new Innsmouth Free Press anthology is out now. Well, it's been officially in the wild for a few weeks now so if you got a shiny eBook reader for Solstice, Christmas, Hanuka or whatever you celebrate go and <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?page_id=15441">buy it</a>, also available in paperback format if you're more "traditional" (besides IFP print books are beautiful). So there's no excuse to keep your claws and/or tentacles away from this nice piece of lovecraftian reading.</div>
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"Tloque Nahuaque", my short story on the real nature of the Higgs boson and other weird math objects, is part of the TOC and you can read it <a href="http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=15759">here</a> as a sample of the book. </div>
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On December 15, some of the anthology authors joined in conversation with our readers in a tweet-athon in which we talk about our texts, Lovecraft, brains in jars things of the like. As you can imagine, sanity decreased as time past, so it was a nice enjoyable chat. I even tried (just tried) to live-write a few flash fiction tweets which I transcribe here <b>unedited</b> (it was my first time doing that in English since it's easier for me look for variations and so on in Spanish, so let me know what you think):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcTDnPDo0t8iKo-1pQMPYcYsp2UO_WyaMdvLsQKji6RQf-TTtZQMso15rNRH4hVEQp-76hk4AywaJD1wat-M__YvoL3md0agE3EmoIcq_TPeD5OexeoLlIOlkolx4KPHEPxpeeIT-eXt_/s1600/Future_Lovecraft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcTDnPDo0t8iKo-1pQMPYcYsp2UO_WyaMdvLsQKji6RQf-TTtZQMso15rNRH4hVEQp-76hk4AywaJD1wat-M__YvoL3md0agE3EmoIcq_TPeD5OexeoLlIOlkolx4KPHEPxpeeIT-eXt_/s320/Future_Lovecraft.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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There wont be flying cars in the future cities. Who needs them when you can have byakhees?<br />
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When they said eBook-reader, I thought they were talking about a robot who'd read to me before sleep... [as a footnote for the picture above]<br />
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The 2053 edition of Miss Universe was, at last, won by a non earthling: Miss Yuggoth shone that night in her fungal beauty.<br />
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"Racist!", she yelled and walked away notoriously angry. She'd been called clean human and no-gills, but scaleless was rude.<br />
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The customs officer told the Mi-Go its passport wasn't valid anymore. The planet of origin was now Pluto, not Yuggoth.<br />
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XXXII century kids blow 4-dimension soap bubbles. Sometimes a universe is created by the colision[sic)] of 2 iridiscent spheres.<br />
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The fortune teller said something about love-craft in my future. But an <a href="http://www.etsy.com/">etsy</a> enthusiasts fair? Really? No cultists?<br />
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Yes, Virginia, there is an Azathoth.</blockquote>
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Somehow I think the only one with potencial was the Miss Universe one. I'll work on some variations and post them here and on Twitter soon.</div>
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I know that when I say "soon" it can mean anything since this blog started kind of abandoned and hasn't met a good pace yet, but that will definitely change next year. Check this out in the mean time:</div>
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<li>Silvia Moreno-Garcia, our dear IFP publisher, <a href="http://silviamoreno-garcia.com/blog/2011/12/lovecraft-racism-and-literature/">wrote some lines on Lovecraft and racism</a> where she mentions a couple of my short stories (including "Tloque Nahuaque").</li>
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<li>Found out that Future Lovecraft has already been pirated. But why getting a book from a site full of adds and possibly malware if you can get it for free from the publishers? You just have to ask and pay with a review or a tweet. That's so simple and sounds like a great deal to me. The other day I posted something about it on g+ since <a href="http://www.40kbooks.com/">40k Books</a> decided to launch a "pirate" edition of Dario Tonani's <i>Cardanica</i>. Read it <a href="https://plus.google.com/117819256364916407845/posts/1awYjU9UxcL">here (yes, it includes a link to a free and amazing eBook)</a>. Enjoy.</li>
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<b>So that was the "Lovecraft", but what about the future?</b></div>
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2012 will be a good year. I'm plotting and working on short fiction to
send at least a couple of submissions per month (hopefully) and my short
story/mutant collection <i>El Escaque y otros trebejos</i> (in Spanish) will be out as an iPad app. It looks beautiful.</div>
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What are your plans for next year?</div>
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Thanks for reading and have a wonderful New Year's Eve.</div>
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Feliz año nuevo. Abrazos tentaculares ^^. </div>
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</ul>Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-47662848101168087542011-10-29T14:25:00.002-07:002011-11-25T18:01:38.212-08:00Hunting the nocturnal moth. Not so brief notes on flash fiction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Writing about short fiction is like venturing into a misty uncanny field whose boundaries are blurred by the texts themselves, but forced to be rigid by the market. It’s been said that short stories, novelettes and novellas are not profitable, that they’re even a minor form of literature, a simple practice to achieve writing a novel —many publishers, editors and readers claim that—.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some people think that the more words (therefore pages) in a book, the more valuable the text is because “writing more words requires a major effort than writing just a few words,” right? Some people tend to think that is better to pay 25 bucks for a 700-page novel than 15 for a 200-page short story collection since “they’re having more profit for their money,” right?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[No, it’s not right.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Are people more interested on purchasing paper rather than literary works? The answer should be no, but no one knows. Fortunately, the growing eBook market is changing that idea, invigorating the short fiction in new, interesting ways.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Short narrative forms —as well as poetry, drama and novel— have been here for long and surely will last as long as readers exist. So why not use new ways to tell stories, entertain and create literature.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">II</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Huerta">David Huerta</a> said that a novel is like going hunting a bison: A meticulous process that resembles life itself. Short stories, on the other hand, are like hunting a hare: It needs to be fast and specific so to catch the elusive animal. Short stories resembles instants, tokens of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Literary hunting” must be consistent with the form for the “weapons” are not the same in each case. We can hunt a bison the same way than a hare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Flash fiction, then, should be like hunting a nocturnal moth. Writing such a short text containing a whole universe, references and meaning should be a thoughtful sudden movement, made among the darkness. A black hole, immensely tiny and infinitely dense, that’s a well written flash fiction.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">III</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Flash fiction (sudden fiction, microfiction and so many other names) is not new. It’s been written since the ancient Greeks and Chinese wanted to condensate complete and complicated ideas in a single, simpler statement (just ask <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi#The_butterfly_dream">Zhuangzi and/or the butterfly</a> about that). But contemporary literature has been more interested in this form and all its possibilities than in any other time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hispanic writers have been constantly experimenting with flash fiction —and publishing it— since the second half of the XX century. They’ve written theoretical essays and published several flash fiction collections. They’re sponsoring festivals and lectures about this peculiar kind of short fiction (and even discussing if twiterature —that one created on Twitter— should be added to the cannon).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">English literature has been slower acquiring this form. But lately I’ve found that more people are interested —sometimes exited— about the micro universes of flash fiction; some editors are now encouraging writers to submit short fiction and experiment with short literary forms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Writers are gathering nets to go hunting.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">IV</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Is short fiction better than longer forms like the novel? Of course NOT. They’re differently created and received. That’s why publishers, editors, writers and readers need to stop worrying about word-count and making apologias.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let’s start having literary experiences.</span></div>
<br />Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-4858721435350462382011-09-21T21:42:00.002-07:002011-09-21T21:43:20.753-07:00<br />
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To put it biefly, I had been writing all my life, and it was becoming a case of publish or perish.</blockquote>
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Ursula K. Le Guin. "A Citizen of Mondath".</div>
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<b>Real, proper posts soon.</b><br />
<b>Promise.</b><br />
Nelly Geraldinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02584564996799924828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-988680190014563186.post-18904803599754061082011-05-13T11:38:00.000-07:002011-05-13T11:38:48.731-07:00Test<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This is a test post. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WjdZT2T980Tnd6IUbFx6RHXT1eq_GdRS1i8cHpGMpQAT9eP6R5g1O7IV4acHU3x8gNjEjYZ859jJX8GefEL-6pB3xd69KzdpefMPHltuX_oDwCkkHD-9bbqTab2w5OjVBRxW53eBvsmB/s1600/lovecraft+and+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WjdZT2T980Tnd6IUbFx6RHXT1eq_GdRS1i8cHpGMpQAT9eP6R5g1O7IV4acHU3x8gNjEjYZ859jJX8GefEL-6pB3xd69KzdpefMPHltuX_oDwCkkHD-9bbqTab2w5OjVBRxW53eBvsmB/s320/lovecraft+and+cat.jpg" width="203" /></a>Brought it to you by H. P. Lovecraft and a kitten. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Kitsunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18079165756201603072noreply@blogger.com