The Speculative Fiction Foundation is one of the writer organizations that I admire for facilitating careers.  One of their grants is currently open for applications:

The deadline for the Speculative Literature Foundation’s Older Writers’ Grant is fast approaching! The grant of $750 is available to any writer of speculative literature of 50 years or older at the time of application who is just beginning to work professionally in the field. There are no restrictions on the use of the grant money.

Applicants are asked to submit a brief autobiographical statement, a writing sample, and a bibliography. For full details on how to apply for the grant, please see the SLF web site or email olderwriters@speclit.org. Applications must be received by March 31st, 2010. The successful applicant will be announced on June 1st, 2010.

If you fit the qualifications for this grant, by all means apply!  If not, maybe you know someone else who could use this tip.

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If you enjoy superhero comic books, then you will probably like this week’s excerpt. Wonder City Stories is a satiral take on the superhero genre, following several viewpoint characters as they attempt to live their ordinary, extraordinary lives.

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• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
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• News: Rose and Bay Award Winners

You can read my poem “The Cost of Tears“ which is a Torn World poem that came out of the February Muse Fusion.  It is written in a repeating/interlocking form that I designed for Torn World.

Duty is important, and when you let people down, the cost is high.

Do you like this poem and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

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TThe Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over by Starhawk with M. Macha NightMare and the Reclaiming Collective.  HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.  Trade paperback, 353 pages.  ISBN: 0-06-251516-0.  Five stars.

At the turning of the year, our thoughts naturally reach out to encompass other cyclical events such as death and rebirth.  Living Pagan in a nonPagan society presents many challenges, not the least of which is arranging for departure to the next life.  This book comprises a crucial resource for any Pagan who is facing death, whether their own or someone else’s.

Overview: Herein the authors cover all of the most important practical and spiritual aspects of death and dying, including the ways in which these touch the caregivers and survivors.  First comes a selection of front matter including an introduction and instruction on how to use the book.  Part One: Pagan Tradition explores such things as the sacred cycle, current practices, meditations, and myths of descent and return.  Part Two: The Pagan View of Death moves on to lessons from death, the land of the dead, and reincarnation.  Part Three: The Dying Process concerns itself with this awesome passage, and touches on everything from preparing for death and working with the dying to the moment of death and what we must do for the dead; it even covers funerals and memorials.  Part Four: Death Has Many Faces looks at the sensitive issues of children, violence, and free choice as they relate to death.  Part Five: Carrying On offers helpful suggestions about making room for grief and practical work.

Features: If you ever wished for an all-around handbook on how to deal with death and related topics, here it is.  The authors have thoughtfully included a wide range of resources such as a list of all the rituals, prayers, songs, chants, poems, and meditations in the book.  Other highlights are a description of Pagan prayer beads and their use, an example of ointment used to prepare a body for cremation, a timeline of grieving and remembrance, a list of ways the community can help, and a set of relevant questions about the dying person and the caregivers that should be answered before death.  The back matter includes instructions on how to make a mask, books on death and dying, samples of a Living Will Declaration and a Durable Power of Attorney, a fine glossary, and a comprehensive guide to the contributors.  Regrettably, there is no index, a significant flaw in a reference of this type.

Recommendations: A must for any coven library, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying offers enough material of relevance to individuals that it also makes a great addition to a private collection of Pagan books.  Every Priest(ess) needs a copy, and I highly recommend it for anyone working in health care too.  Although most useful to intermediate or advanced practitioners, novices should not hesitate to pick it up if they need to deal with death or dying.  The authors present all the content in a clear, calm manner sure to help in stressful times.

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Stephanie Rose Bird is promoting her book, The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit, with a blog tour. Read the rest of this entry »

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Black Lawrence Press recently announced the re-release of this book:

Neither Here Nor There by Marcel Jolley

We at Black Lawrence Press are proud to announce the second printing of Neither Here Nor There by Marcel Jolley. This short story collection, winner of the 2004 St. Lawrence Book Award, is deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest. Eight deceptively simple stories introduce the reader to drifters, lovers, and Outsiders – people searching for a future both elusive and frightening. From barrooms to lonely highways to city busses ridden by enemies who have never learned each other’s name, Neither Here Nor There seeks out every character’s rough edges, deftly exposing the extraordinary ways that ordinary people dream.

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This is a weekly opportunity to talk about books, music, and other things you enjoy.

• What are some of your favorite books?
• What are you currently reading?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What are you listening to now?
• What else is on your mind?

I’m currently listening to Fire In The Head by Emerald Rose.  This is energetic Celtic folk/fusion music.

I’m currently reading Complete Guide to Game Care & Cookery by Sam Fadala.  This is a good resource for wild foods.

I’m currently rereading Sentenced to Prism.  It’s an edgy, satisfying science fiction story about exploring a crystalline planet.

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I am pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Rose and Bay Awards.  These awards honor excellence in cyberfunded creativity.  Congratulations to all the winners! Read the rest of this entry »

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• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This week we have an excerpt “The Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom,” which has completed its first draft and is now being polished for book publication.  This crowdfunded project is currently supported by subscription, donation and book one pre-sales, as well as advertising.  When Book One is re-released, both the crowdfunding model and the website will be updated.  Details are still developing, but there will be some exclusive content for subscribers.

Now that he’s of age, Prince Temmin must leave his childhood home behind for a new life with his father in the capital. King Harsin plans to educate his son in the ways of all the kings who have come before. But the family’s immortal advisor, Teacher, has other plans: to bring Temmin closer to the people he will rule, to bind him to a Temple devoted to eroticism, and to set him on a path that will lead to unimaginable glory for the House of Tremont–or to its end. Read the rest of this entry »

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• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Holly Lisle’s two classes “How to Think Sideways” and “How to Revise Your Novel” are currently open for new students who seek to improve their novel-writing skills.  There will be another round of classes planned in June, with added material.  (Previous students will also get the new material for free.)  Click on the Holly Lisle boxes at the bottom of the left sidebar, or you can visit Holly’s site and tell her I sent you.

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• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

You can read my poem “Blink birds” which is a Torn World poem that came out of the February Muse Fusion.  Blinkbirds are weird avians that seem to vanish and reappear.

Do you like this story and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

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The First Civilizations (History of Everyday Things) by Giovanni Caselli.  Peter Bedrick Books, 1983.  Softcover, 48 pages.  ISBN: 0-87226-562-5.  Four stars.

Here is a wonderful guide to early history for young children.  There is no age guide listed, but I’d guess it suitable for ages 5-8.  Full-color pages spill over with interesting pictures, all carefully identified, and narrative text provides considerable background information.  Everything flows in chronological sequence, from the earliest tool-makers through hunter-gatherers into the agricultural period.  Featured civilizations include Catal-Huyuk, Egypt, Minoan Crete, China, and the Etruscans.  Because of the timing, all are Pagan cultures, and the book gives very nice attention to people’s spiritual lives, even showing pictures of sacred objects and shrines.

The First Civilizations is an ideal history text for homeschoolers and for those who want to supplement public school.  Highly recommended.

This review originally appeared in LunaSol.

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The March 2010 issue of Ideomancer, on our new upgraded website, is live!

Our poets this month — Nebula nominee Rachel Swirsky with “Mundane”, Chris Flowers with “Voyager 2, Upon Arrival”, Liz Bourke with ”Autocannibalism: Not A Love Poem”, and Shef Reynolds with “Lunar Parable” – explore the questions of loss and regret.

March’s fiction also explores loss and regrets across time, space, and genre, and in some unexpected ways. LaShawn M. Wanak returns for a second appearance in our pages with “Future Perfect,” a decidedly different take on the question of doing it over again; Nicole J. LeBoeuf’s “The Day the Sidewalks Melted” offers a vivid look at personal apocalypses;

and Autumn Christian’s “Sunshine, Sunshine” explores the edges of the things we never even admit are missing in lush, Gothic prose.

I’m also pleased to announce that as of right now, we have reopened to both poetry and fiction submissions. There have been a few changes to the poetry guidelines, so be sure to visit our submissions page.

That’s not all! We’ve been busy. It’s been a long time coming and a lot of sweat, but we’ve rebuilt, redesigned, and relaunched the website: as well as the usual fiction, poetry, and non-fiction offerings, there’s now easy access to our Twitter feed and Facebook page, a shoutbox and comments function to let you, the reader, talk back, and a tidier, modernized build. The design credit goes to Erin Hoffman, Associate Editor and our new webmaster, who donated her considerable skill to build us something beautiful. Heap some well deserved praise on Erin.

We’re also launching a new feature on the Livejournal Community: Associate Editor Alena McNamara will curate the Ideomancer Atlas of Imagination, a collection of links, bobs, flotsam, and cool stuff we’ve found washed up on the Internet that illumines the

geography of the imagination. The Atlas of Imagination will turn a page every Monday and Saturday.

Enjoy!

Jaime Lee Moyer

Poetry Editor

http://www.Ideomancer.com/wp/

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My dark SF flash fiction ”The Negotiator” is up today on  Everyday Weirdness March 5.

Ann K. Schwader

http://ankh_hpl.livejournal.com/

http://home.earthlink.net/~schwader/

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This is a weekly opportunity to talk about books, music, and other things you enjoy.

• What are some of your favorite books?
• What are you currently reading?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What are you listening to now?
• What else is on your mind?

I’m currently listening to Classical Egyptian Dance, Vol. 1 by Essam Rashad.  I enjoy bellydancing, and this is a good track for that.

I’m currently reading Complete Guide to Game Care & Cookery by Sam Fadala.  This is a good resource for wild foods.

I’m currently rereading Angel-Seeker: A Novel of Samaria by Sharon Shinn.  It’s a very silly science-fantasy romance, but I have fun with the Samaria novels.

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Check out the new Lambda Literary website for the best in queer fiction and news.  The site offers reviews, interviews, features, and more.

Possibly Related Posts:

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This week we have another art excerpt for our tour of cyberfunded creativity.  Nyela is a painter who explores different media, often with Afro-Caribbean, surreal, mythic, and female imagery.  You can find her on LiveJournal as flutterbychild, and her Facebook page is As I Am, Reborn.

The Rebirth of Me by Nyela

The main artistic activity is on the LiveJournal community The Rebirth of Me.  Below is a recent painting, “The Secrets of Growing Things.”  There is a donation button on that page and on some other pages.

Read the rest of this entry »

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You can now read my story “Odds and Ends” on Torn World, which came out of the February Muse Fusion.  It was inspired by a prompt from padparadscha and sponsored by tonithegreat.  In this story, Karavai prepares a knitting project with help from his age-mate Ularki.  Karavai is one of my core characters, along with Fala and Rai.  He is a storyteller who also enjoys hunting.

Do you like this story and want to see more such?  If you’re a registered Torn World member (which is free) then you can leave comments and/or Karma.  If you’re a supporter then you can leave Credits.  Any of this stuff can be directed at the author and/or patron of a story using Torn World’s crowdfunding features.  If you’re not a Torn World member but still want to pitch in, I have a PayPal button on my LiveJournal profile page.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Flesh and Silver by Stephen L. Burns.  Roc, 1999.  Paperback, 338 pages.  ISBN: 0-451-45752-8   Five stars.

Celtic legend brings us the enduring tale of the silver arm, a limb lost in battle and magically replaced with one of preternatural strength and beauty.  That story also happens to include a rather pugnacious competition between healers of varying talents over who is best.  Now Burns brings us a science fiction novel that incorporates many motifs from this classic legend, yet strung together in entirely new and different ways.

The Bergmann Surgeons have unique powers of healing, almost magical, yet drawn from the mysterious abilities of the human body itself.  They can repair any damage down to a cellular level, with quite miraculous results.  But in order to do this, they must give up their hands and replace them with biometal prosthetics, for the ability springs from a honing of the “phantom limb” effect often experienced by amputees.  The side effects of their talent also make them horrifying to the patients whose lives they save, and their successes make their more traditional colleagues savagely jealous and hostile.  So their extraordinary ability costs them the very things they cherish most, and few can withstand the price they must pay…

Dr. Georgory Marchey is one of the few, the proud, the royally screwed.  In his pursuit of perfection, he has lost the love of his life, his connection to his patients, and the respect of his peers.  Now he staggers through his rounds in a drunken fog, bounced from place to place in a little ship of his own, sent wherever MedArm deems his talents most needed.  But he discovered that MedArm’s idea of “most needed” doesn’t jibe very well with his own; catastrophic events shake him out of his comfortably-numb rut and drive him to tear apart this system with his bare gleaming hands … and lack thereof.  Nothing will be the same when he’s through.

Flesh and Silver captures all the terrible longing for perfection and the agonizing over whether or not a given achievement is worth the sacrifice required.  It blends the hard science fiction of exotic medical advancements with the soft but not gentle brush of sociologic SF, slamming technology against culture until they both begin to shred under the stress.  The result is a piercing story of loss and gain, with a very satisfying note of triumph at the end.  Fans of James White’s “Sector General” series will love this one. Highly and widely recommended.

This review originally appeared in Spicy Green Iguana.

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My new book of 48 flash stories; half of them are published here for the first time.

At least follow the link & see the cool cover! You can read an excerpt, too.

David C. Kopaska-Merkel

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