Three sales to Fiction River!

I'm utterly delighted to have sold three short stories to Fiction River at the annual Oregon Coast Writers Anthology Workshop!

"The Scent of Amber and Vanilla" will appear Pulse Pounders (thriller), edited by Kevin J. Anderson, in December 2104.

"Ignite the Night" will appear in Sparks (YA), edited by Rebecca Moesta, in August 2015.

"The Imperfect Otter Empire" will appear in Recycled Pulp (variety of genres), edited by John Helfers, in December 2015. John called my story "A kooky little palate cleanser."

These three stories join three others I sold previously to Fiction River:

"Living With the Past," Fantastic Detectives, Fiction River, August 2014

"Leave a Candle Burning," Fantasy Adrift, Fiction River, April 2014

"The Sound of My Own Voice," Hex in the City, Fiction River, 2013—available now!

In which you're spared hearing me sing karaoke

It’s here, it’s here! Remember when I linked to a free podcast of my story “The Sound of My OwnVoice”? Well, the whole anthology of urban fantasy stories from Fiction River, Hex in the City, edited by the phenomenal Kerrie Lynn Hughes, is now available for sale!

Here’s what I wrote for the intro to my story…

Years ago a humor blogger relayed a tale about drunkenly singing karaoke with friends, to the point of rolling around on the stage. Sadly, there’s no logical progression to how my brain forms ideas—it’s rather like the Underpants Gnomes on South Park (Phase 1: Collect Underpants. Phase 3: Profit). Here, it was Phase 1: Drunken Karaoke. Phase 3: Woman Who Has No Idea She’s a Siren Because She’s Been Told Never to Sing Gets Drunk, Sings Karaoke, Then Hot Guy Stops Her, and Then Stuff Happens. I found the rest of the story as I wrote it.

(I have been told this is a novel. In fact, it will be…eventually. For now, you get the short story, and by the gods you will be thankful for it!)

This anthology, though… It’s all I can do not to drop everything I’m doing and start reading. Holy shitballs! I mean, just look at this table of contents:

Foreword: Puzzle Pieces, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Introduction: Hexen & Magick, Kerrie L. Hughes*

King of The Kingless, Jay Lake

Speechless in Seattle, Lisa Silverthorne

Thy Neighbor, Nancy Holder

Somebody Else’s Problem, Annie Bellet

A Thing Immortal As Itself, Lee Allred

Geriatric Magic, Stephanie Writt

Red As Snow, Seanan McGuire

Music’s Price, Anthea Sharp

The Sound of My Own Voice, Dayle A. Dermatis

The 13th Floor Problem, Dean Wesley Smith

Dead Men Walking, Annie Reed

One Good Deed, Jeanne C. Stein

Fox and Hound, Leah Cutter

The Scottish Play, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

--

*Kerrie, if you have a website, I failed to find it…so sorry….

Elementary, my dear!

[Ooh! I thought I'd lost this post, but apparently not! Yay!]

It's out! It's out!

Pardon my French, but holy shitballs. I now have stories in two Mercedes Lackey anthologies, based in her Elemental Masters fantasy world. How...how did this happen? (Ken is no doubt shaking his head at my lack of belief in my writing, even though he's downstairs and has no idea I'm typing this.)

Dudes.

The book is out today, so if you're so inclined, you can now order Elementary (All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters). The stories are set in a world (pre-WWII) where magic exists in the form of elementals (earth, air, fire, water), and people who can wield that magical energy. Misty's novels, as well as the stories, are each loosely based on a different fairy tale as well.

This time, I wrote about Hansel and Gretel in the Black Forest of Germany during the potato famine (yep, Germany had a potato famine, too)…except it's really about the "witch" and her oven and fire, and loss and hunger and finding something to live for, and family. And magic. And as I type this, it occurs to me that there's a little bit of freaking The Sound of Music in it, kinda. Huh.

Anyway. I share a glorious TOC with my friends/awesome authors/fellow Oregon Writers Network peeps Michele Lang and Louisa Swann, as well as (holy shitballs) Mercedes Lackey and Diana L. Paxson and Tanya Huff Rosemary Edgehill and…will someone kindly pass me the smelling salts?

Oh, and what a pretty, pretty cover…

Spooky(esque) stories for the Halloween season!

It’s October, and you know what that means? It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, it is if you turn into a crazy woman because of Halloween. I love me some Halloween, baby.

It surprises me that I don’t have any stories set at Halloween, something my creative brain is trying to rectify as I type. But I do have some fantasy stories with vampires and ghosts and Old Scratch himself, so if you’re looking for some holiday-themed reading, here are my suggestions!

(Note: None of these are super-spooky, and all of them have some level of humor. Because, well, it’s me we’re talking about.)

“Blood Relations”

The woman known as the "Vegan Martha Stewart" learns who her infamous father really is...and their relationship threatens to ruin their respective empires. A funny fantasy short story—with a bite!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip”

Angrrr Management were four talented guys. (They really were. I wasn't just some starry-eyed groupie; I knew decent music and I knew stage presence.) Talented, yes, and awfully pretty, all of them. And every last one of them was dumber than a post. Had they never HEARD of Robert Johnson?

"The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip" is a hilarious urban fantasy short story about 80s hair metal and selling your soul to Satan.

Includes bonus short story "Hell's Belles"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Feline Design”

Even Satan needs a vacation once in awhile. But perhaps taking the form of a fuzzy kitten wasn't the smartest of ideas.... A Miranda Contreau paranormal short story.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Hell’s Belles”

Teaching etiquette to a spoiled debutante can be hell...literally. A funny fantasy with a wicked Southern twang.

Includes bonus story "The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip"!

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

“Some Old Lover’s Ghost”

Helena runs Paranormal Manifestation Services--PMS for short. When she's hired by Beth and Marguerite to find out why a ghost is bothering Marguerite, she doesn't expect to get a crush on Beth...which makes things especially awkward when she learns who the ghost is. Rainbow Reviews called this short story "unexpectedly romantic [and] heart-wrenching."

Includes a bonus interview with the author about the writing of the story, her own paranormal experiences, and more.

Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Smashwords

About Dayle (in case you're new here)

DAYLE A. DERMATIS’s short fantasy has been called “funny (and rather ingenious),” “something new and something fresh,” and “really, really good!” Under various pseudonyms (and sometimes with coauthors), she’s sold several novels and more than 100 short stories in multiple genres. She lives in southern California within scent of the ocean, and she and her husband spend their spare time following Styx around the country (and sometimes out of it), exploring the world via motorcycle, renovating their 1911 Craftsman home, and doing historic re-creation, all of which inspires her writing. She loves music, cats, Wales, TV, magic, laughter, and defying expectations. To find out where she is today, check out DayleDermatis.com.

Traveling and writing and editing, oh my!

I got home last night from a stressful week away (which I prefer not to discuss publicly, as it involves people whom I care about who have not consented to be blogged about). I came down with a cold halfway through the trip, which didn’t help my stress levels one bit. You know you miss normalcy when you’re thrilled to have a few hours in the airport to work undisturbed. (I got no work done on the trip, nor did I have time for popping onto FB/Twitter/Reddit/whatever, so if anything important happened, please let me know!)

I have lots and lots of good and exciting work things happening, some of which I can’t quite talk about yet, but here’s a few items of note:

• Teresa and I have been hard at work finishing up two manuscripts to publish. As I went over them yesterday to make final tweaks, I was reminded again how much I love these fun books (both funny, sexy romances, one a contemporary and one a light paranormal) and how much I love writing with Teresa. We’ll also have an erotic holiday collection of short stories out before Christmas, called Sexy in Your Stocking. Keep an eye out here or at SophieMouette.com for updates.
• I received the proofs for my urban fantasy story “The Sound of My Own Voice,” to appear in the anthology Hex in the City. I’m blown away by my name in the table of contents with some real luminaries of fantasy fiction. This news will have its own blog post soon, but let me just say that this story, about a pissed-off woman who discovers, drunkenly, that she’s a siren, was one of the most fun I’ve ever written.
• I’m gearing up to teach an e-publishing workshop to some local writers. It’s a whole new challenge, and if it goes well (which I think it will!), I may see about offering it again.
• I’ve been freelancing as an editor (copy editor and developmental editor) at Lucky Bat Books, and now I’m moving up in the world to a project editor position. (Or maybe Project Manager; I’m not sure of the exact title they use, but it’s similar to what I did at a scholarly publisher as a Production Editor). Lucky Bat offers à la carte services for the modern writer to help you get your book out in the world as the best book it can be.

I’m sure there’s more, but I need to hit the ground running workwise today, because I’ve been off for a week and I’m taking Friday through Sunday off for a re-enactment event. (We’re planning to go to the site tomorrow on the bike to help set up the encampment, but I may not go if I’m still fighting off this cold. Also, the bike is still at the dealer so the insurance guy can look it over, and Ken may not have time to put on a new right foot peg for me. [The previous foot peg went kablooey thanks to his accident during this year’s IBR.])

And, of course, having been away means I want to spend time with Ken. It was pure joy to get off the plane yesterday and get thoroughly smooched. We stopped at our favorite Thai place near the airport on the way home (leftovers!), and then we were home and I got to snuggle with the kittays before curling up with Ken and a glass of wine to keep the DVR from exploding.

I leave you with a picture of my great-niece and I after she gave me a "makeover." I'm pretty sure I'm destined to be the Bride of Frankenstein for Halloween...!

State of the projects, end of May edition

People seem amused by these, so here's another. Plus it helps keep me focused.

Here's what I'd like to get done by the end of May (or, since my Production Schedule starts on Mondays, by June 3):

Writing

• "Clap Your Hands" (dark mystery) due 5/31 to Fearful Symmetries
• untitled fantasy story for second Elemental Masters anthology due 7/1 – my proposal was accepted, so all that’s left is to write the story. I’d like to get it off my plate early; I know the editor would appreciate it!
• untitled SFF story for Penumbra – Revolution due 5/31 – if I have time—but I’m also waiting to hear if another story I’ve written will come free in time edit: The story came free, but I realized I'd be better off sending it to better-known, higher paying markets first. It would be nice if I had an idea for the anthology theme...!
• humorous SFF story for Unidentified Funny Objects 2 due 5/31 – they passed on the first story I sent but liked my writing, but at this point I have no ideas…
• direct-to-epub erotica – no due date; I’d just like to get more of these up
• two untitled erotica stories for anthology calls due 6/1 – I love the editors and would love to send them something, but these fall down the priority list for various reasons edit: Realized I could tweak an existing story for one of them, so that's tweaked and mailed!

Getting those written would mean I would have June for novels:

• Ghosted (urban fantasy as Dayle A. Dermatis) – This is a stalled, almost-finished project. It would be groovy to finish it in the first week of June. edit: in the process of printing it out.
• Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess (spicy romance as Sophie Mouette) – This one’s more than half finished; Teresa and I started it eons ago, before our lives both went insane with other projects. Ideally, I’d love to get this done in June, but I'm waiting to hear about Teresa's schedule. edit: We've scheduled a phone confab after she gets back from vacation, with a rough draft due date of mid-July.

Design

• added: "Under a Double Rainbow" (Sophie Mouette) – Teresa and I decided to get another long-ish (8K) short story out before we published Cat Scratch Fever. Edited, ebook designed, need to upload. Next month I'll put this and "Catalyst" out as cute little PODs as well.
• Cat Scratch Fever (Sophie Mouette) – Proof copy of the POD is in hand. I need to input all changes into the POD and ebook, publish the ebook, and then publish the ebook
• What Beck’ning Ghost – finish interior design, write the back cover blurb/finish designing the back cover, upload ebook, upload files for proof

Copyediting

• freelance job, fantasy – finishing it up today
• freelance job, mystery – received, would like to finish by first week of June edit: In progress and on track!

Editing

• Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess (see above) – I’ve got 4-5 more chapters to read through before Teresa and I can have a plotting/planning session.
• Blackwood House, gothic romance as Dayle Ivy – doing a final readthrough to add a small element throughout. It’s been copyedited, so after this, it’ll be ready for design.

Other

• Out of the Frying Pan – ping copyeditor re: schedule, contact the artist of the potential cover art
• A Little Night Music – ping cover designer with ideas and artwork; write letter for artwork permission
• A variety of fiddly website and online stuff

Reading is sexy

You know what’s coming up? Well, yes, today is Imbolc/Candlemas/Gŵyl Fair y Canhwyllau (bless you), but in two weeks, we’ve also got Valentine’s Day.

Yeah, yeah, it’s a commercial holiday and we should show our beloveds the same attention every day, etc. But I confess, I like an excuse to be extra-romantic. And what’s more romantic than books?

(You knew I was going there, so don’t pretend to be surprised.)

This year I have print books for sale as well as electronic editions – books you can tuck under your lover’s pillow or wrap up in white paper with a glittery bow and red lipstick-print kisses all over it.

“Braceleted” is pretty sexy, but it’s also a delightful little small-town romance. It’s a long short story, so it’s only $5.99, and you could put it in a gift bag with some furry red handcuffs and Nag Champa incense and chocolate, because what’s Valentine’s Day without chocolate? Get a big honkin’ heart-shaped one. Gods knows that worked on me once.

Give In: Stories of Erotic Submission is a collection with a harder edge, but while it’s BDSM erotica, most of the stories are kinda romantic, because I’m a romantic kinda girl.

Speaking of girls, you could also check out Kiss Me Hello: Lesbian Erotic Romance, because, well, romance!

Although it’s not a romance per se, the hero in Waking the Witch (a gothic novel), but the hero’s interactions with the heroine are crucial to her journey, so…. I have two other gothics coming out that are romances, but they’re just not going to be ready by V-Day. Maybe this one will tide you over?

If you – or your intended giftee – is into fantasy/science fiction, my collection Written on the Coast has a few stories that could be considered romantic, too. It’s just not the theme of the collection.

I’m new to this print book thing, so I don’t have a lot of copies on hand and I’m not sure how long it would take to get more, so if you want a signed copy, I’d say tell me right now if you want it by Valentine’s Day!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled spring festival of your choice.