tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294789622024-03-12T17:29:35.301-07:00Twigs and BramblesWriting the twigs and brambles of my mind | Fantasy writer Daniel AusemaDaniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.comBlogger910125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-63872776972648593512023-12-21T15:33:00.000-08:002023-12-21T15:35:04.432-08:002023 wrap-up (Award Eligibility post)<p>It's that time of year to look back at what I had published this past year (and supposedly to advocate for them to appear on year-end recommendation lists and award short lists and the like, but I'm never very good at that part of it). I had 3 short stories published in 2023 (one flash), 2 poems, and one chapbook of microfictions. Plus one short story reprinted in an anthology.</p><p><br /></p><p>"The Life Cycle of a Shadow" appeared in the anthology *A Compendium of Enigmatic Species* It's a pseudo-journalistic piece about the lesser and greater shadows and the threat one specific shadow poses to the world </p><p><a href="https://practicalfantasists.wordpress.com/2023/02/09/a-compendium-of-enigmatic-species-now-available/">https://practicalfantasists.wordpress.com/2023/02/09/a-compendium-of-enigmatic-species-now-available/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>"Excavating Lost Languages" appeared in issue 8 of Frozen Wavelets. It's a flash story full of linguistic whimsy and imaginary writing systems, lost to time. </p><p><a href="https://frozenwavelets.com/sdm_downloads/issue-8/">https://frozenwavelets.com/sdm_downloads/issue-8/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>"What Passes for Eyes in Dreams and Death" appeared in issue 92 of Fantasy Magazine. (And currently short-listed for a best-of anthology...) A Piranesi-tinted story of the beings that haunt a funeral home. Tangent thinks "It would have worked better as a poem" ...</p><p><a href="https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/what-passes-for-eyes-in-dreams-and-death/">https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/what-passes-for-eyes-in-dreams-and-death/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Now the poems. "Hands That Cannot Grasp" appeared in spring 2023 issue of Kaleidotrope. It's a poem of transformation. </p><p><a href="https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/spring-2023/hands-that-cannot-grasp-by-daniel-ausema/">https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/spring-2023/hands-that-cannot-grasp-by-daniel-ausema/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And "The Alien Words, Formed and Empty" appeared in the fall 2023 issue of Star*Line. It's a poem about aliens, architecture, and communication.</p><p><a href="https://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline46.4.html">https://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline46.4.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Finally my chapbook: *The Market of Magical Goods* is a collection of drabbles about a magical market, a little over half never before published. It's fun, short, and whimsical.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Market-Magical-Goods-Daniel-Ausema/dp/B0C87SH75D/">https://www.amazon.com/Market-Magical-Goods-Daniel-Ausema/dp/B0C87SH75D/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And it may not be award eligible, but do check out my "The Triptych of the Final String," which was reprinted in November in the anthology *The Cosmic Muse*</p><p><a href="https://books2read.com/u/br6Z67">https://books2read.com/u/br6Z67</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Do I have a favorite from this year? Don't make me pick...But "What Passes for Eyes in Dreams and Death" is the sentimental favorite because of Fantasy Magazine closing down.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a story it's high on craft and strangeness. Or, you know, "shoulda been a poem..."</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-71831336208111882452023-12-04T22:40:00.000-08:002023-12-04T22:40:37.031-08:00Reprint in Cosmic Muse anthology!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZbGcES18r47dAKuKlFIBW14cI_Ob7-zviAJsAutR5SD0aYoqAOHEuwYDtT08LuyrzS9iMSZ2eLkNiiImctQiiznZWzTieGqT_3w8ULNnpdZxKOHafb9cSF7dNLu1p6WdhEONDfo-oU2aEMVjLqXAGL1Fvd5KP7six98S_ZQoTpyt2BWo_4NY_A/s1200/Cosmic_Muse_Cover_smaller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZbGcES18r47dAKuKlFIBW14cI_Ob7-zviAJsAutR5SD0aYoqAOHEuwYDtT08LuyrzS9iMSZ2eLkNiiImctQiiznZWzTieGqT_3w8ULNnpdZxKOHafb9cSF7dNLu1p6WdhEONDfo-oU2aEMVjLqXAGL1Fvd5KP7six98S_ZQoTpyt2BWo_4NY_A/s320/Cosmic_Muse_Cover_smaller.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>My story "The Triptych of the Final String" was published last year in New Myths. It's a flash story about stories and what we can learn from each other's stories.<p></p><p>For those who've read (and decide now to read...) The Arcist Chronicles books, the story has a loose connection with those novels.</p><p>And now New Myths has chosen the story to be included in this best-of anthology, <a href="https://books2read.com/u/br6Z67">Cosmic Muse</a>, with this absolutely stunning cover art. There are lots of excellent stories in here to discover, so order yourself a copy and see what strange worlds you might discover!</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-60276067315902962642023-10-30T20:00:00.002-07:002023-10-30T20:00:10.228-07:00"The Alien Words, Formed and Empty" in Star*Line<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYTBgm2AulF2FwQifoGliu444sne_OHNIrco0u_JRF6zl3woigyHxPDiZ_bB7-AjwDIo4ja7GyLsM9gBqB_ME2QVsGnBOvg6WodS6F6ulZsUqtM6fBuiRSAn9GWno0sXIrrNTM46epoQ8WuQBB3MdH-Vqpdg-KPI_f-JWswbxJcPmKAzJGD3eqw/s2016/IMG_4302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEYTBgm2AulF2FwQifoGliu444sne_OHNIrco0u_JRF6zl3woigyHxPDiZ_bB7-AjwDIo4ja7GyLsM9gBqB_ME2QVsGnBOvg6WodS6F6ulZsUqtM6fBuiRSAn9GWno0sXIrrNTM46epoQ8WuQBB3MdH-Vqpdg-KPI_f-JWswbxJcPmKAzJGD3eqw/w300-h400/IMG_4302.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>My poem "The Alien Words, Formed and Empty" is in the latest issue of Star*Line. It's a poem about aliens, architecture, and communication.<p></p><p>Star*Line is the official magazine for the SFPA. This joins a handful of others I've had in various issues. I'm always happy to have something in one of them. Check out the fall issue (or subscribe!) at the <a href="https://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline46.4.html">magazine's website</a>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUQrB2Rn7rnMFfNPdkEgKzhONE0cuQgGbgE70_l8eCRb0kVER4156Z6GU8iPTS5_g8zVAP1o2H71DKkKSZsqJNSl48aeqifbsErXbaDkcy_tcblpBhxL7hirZXQS0D146GA9MH2O-PLBU-FFQyO0m0qcvHASdsZm_9IDXlOmBLs0CbESHikHbCA/s1415/IMG_4303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="1415" height="83" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUQrB2Rn7rnMFfNPdkEgKzhONE0cuQgGbgE70_l8eCRb0kVER4156Z6GU8iPTS5_g8zVAP1o2H71DKkKSZsqJNSl48aeqifbsErXbaDkcy_tcblpBhxL7hirZXQS0D146GA9MH2O-PLBU-FFQyO0m0qcvHASdsZm_9IDXlOmBLs0CbESHikHbCA/s320/IMG_4303.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-33065476605798820992023-08-21T12:43:00.000-07:002023-08-21T12:43:07.103-07:00The Market of Magical Goods collection in print!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_lKzq1th4TZ85sIVEeL59PUNnJcNbAsX9UZDjXBPeypouty2ETdpq6XW9GBVs9pIXTP1sgP7r2CmFCQWWehPmMkhDHQ-SlSbwdulBgJKMnp87haKWV2r7LprCSHBUQwNqkN_LyE0Bel0Pt_lKXfQPsOqMcy-CvXRLbNFKJsq90BI5BaT9i1arg/s1920/Market%20copies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_lKzq1th4TZ85sIVEeL59PUNnJcNbAsX9UZDjXBPeypouty2ETdpq6XW9GBVs9pIXTP1sgP7r2CmFCQWWehPmMkhDHQ-SlSbwdulBgJKMnp87haKWV2r7LprCSHBUQwNqkN_LyE0Bel0Pt_lKXfQPsOqMcy-CvXRLbNFKJsq90BI5BaT9i1arg/s320/Market%20copies.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> And in the next catching-up-on-things post, I've collected all the <i>Market of Magical Goods</i> drabbles that I used to put up on Curious Fictions, added another dozen that hadn't been published before, and made them into <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Market-Magical-Goods-Daniel-Ausema/dp/B0C87SH75D/">a chapbook</a>. It's something small, but I'm really proud of these micro-fictions--I think you'll enjoy them!<p></p><p>What is the Market? It's an open air marketplace where you can buy magical rings and swords and flying carpets, potions and curses and a vast array of fakes. Beware!</p><p>Each story is exactly 100 words, offering a teasing glimpse into the true powers at work in the market.</p><p>If you want a taste of what these stories are like, I've posted one on Ko-fi, "<a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/The-Seller-of-Rain-in-the-Magical-Market-drabble-P5P1MHZR8">The Seller of Rain in the Magical Market</a>." They're brief and whimsical little stories that are easy to quickly read whenever you have a minute to spare.</p><p>Check out <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Market-Magical-Goods-Daniel-Ausema/dp/B0C87SH75D/">the collection</a>!</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-12588455637193275582023-08-07T07:30:00.001-07:002023-08-07T07:30:00.137-07:00Another poem sold to Star*Line<p> As I said in my last post, I have a variety of things that happened as or just before I was away on a family vacation. Just a quick one today, but one I'm very pleased with, is that Star*Line has accepted another of my poems. "The Alien Words, Formed and Empty" should be in one of the next two issues of Star*Line.</p><p>Keep your eyes peeled! (And watch for other news here on the blog as well.)</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-78845316334302547262023-07-29T22:59:00.002-07:002023-07-29T22:59:45.016-07:00"What Passes for Eyes in Dreams and Death" in Fantasy<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJQIFMTI__Ps7kqSWy0jnANejW5qSgbu8WZUOkIc8oX5e_-oKN-RzNNIhbL7uKRrW0DLW33NO0YhHY1K5586MFRW0oGAiB3qPJl9ek9XVViPxBrupKvgmwe73KF2t_YK-VkjQUUP4kLjylJ3G5sc24tN0MvsTcUFafdKqgzEUHvZENz9Pl40CQ/s750/Fantasy%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiteJQIFMTI__Ps7kqSWy0jnANejW5qSgbu8WZUOkIc8oX5e_-oKN-RzNNIhbL7uKRrW0DLW33NO0YhHY1K5586MFRW0oGAiB3qPJl9ek9XVViPxBrupKvgmwe73KF2t_YK-VkjQUUP4kLjylJ3G5sc24tN0MvsTcUFafdKqgzEUHvZENz9Pl40CQ/s320/Fantasy%20cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>I've been traveling (and even when not traveling, pulled in a thousand directions at once), so I have several different new publications/announcements/news-type things to post about that each deserve their own post. So first, in June my story "<a href="https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/fiction/what-passes-for-eyes-in-dreams-and-death/">What Passes for Eyes in Dreams and Death</a>" was published in <i>Fantasy Magazine</i>.<p></p><p>If you subscribed, you were able to read it right away. (Hey, why not subscribe, while we're at it? Amazon is changing the way they allow [read: don't allow] subscriptions, which could have some really bad effects on a lot of SF/fantasy magazines, so the more subscribers they have, the better!)</p><p>Right at the end of the month, the story became available to read for everyone. Or even listen to the podcast to have Stefan Rudnicki read it to you!</p><p>And when you're done with that, there's also <a href="https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/non-fiction/author-spotlights/author-spotlight-daniel-ausema/">an author spotlight</a> that you won't want to miss!</p><p>Tangent Online's review says that it "...is beautifully written but, at least for this reviewer, doesn’t really tell a story. It would have worked better as a poem..." I consider that an endorsement.</p><p>More news, etc. to come!</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-22545748553113836082023-05-24T13:05:00.001-07:002023-05-24T13:05:12.414-07:00"Hands That Cannot Grasp" in Kaleidotrope!<p>A bit late to this (and there's more news coming very soon to add to it...). But I'm thrilled that my poem "<a href="https://kaleidotrope.net/spring-2023/hands-that-cannot-grasp-by-daniel-ausema/">Hands That Cannot Grasp</a>" appeared in the latest issue of Kaleidotrope. It is a poem of transformation:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p>Why did we do it? Why this</p><p>transformation into flora, this losing</p><p>of what we once thought human?</p><p>Call it a mix of can and curiosity,</p><p>an alchemy of what-if, a wish</p><p>to step outside and see beyond.</p></blockquote><p>Kaleidotrope always has a good selection of worthy stories and poems, so be sure to read the whole issue (it appears there's no direct link yet to the current issue, until a new issue comes out and it gets added to the archives--but it's easy to find from the link to my poem above and <a href="https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/spring-2023/">this link</a> should become the correct link once it's archived). </p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-74024307070814498412023-03-25T12:42:00.003-07:002023-03-25T12:42:54.647-07:00"Excavating Lost Languages" in Frozen Wavelets #8! (and more...)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyakQ5hvbjD7qlmfcuPvK67Sk_Y1Eb-K6kleR9fm4C4Yq-zxdlEMXhQMWsqN6GvRcQA7MZDBkDJ4TjNS6mCbD3UY0DEAAHvBLA2aXe1sMSvuPkNoZ944hsyB4KIJUfZmb0w6Y2JyB7EnwwKHNjkfPARVypwb-v2CY8tIm7tdo7Rs1MFf3V78/s825/cropped-FW-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="565" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGyakQ5hvbjD7qlmfcuPvK67Sk_Y1Eb-K6kleR9fm4C4Yq-zxdlEMXhQMWsqN6GvRcQA7MZDBkDJ4TjNS6mCbD3UY0DEAAHvBLA2aXe1sMSvuPkNoZ944hsyB4KIJUfZmb0w6Y2JyB7EnwwKHNjkfPARVypwb-v2CY8tIm7tdo7Rs1MFf3V78/s320/cropped-FW-8.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>My flash story "Excavating Lost Languages" came out in that <a href="https://frozenwavelets.com/sdm_downloads/issue-8/">latest issue of Frozen Wavelets</a>! It's short and full of linguistic whimsy and imaginary writing systems, lost to time.<br /><p></p><p>Also, as a follow-up to my most recent post, my story from the <i>Enigmatic Species</i> anthology was chosen as a free-to-read feature to promote the book. So, if you haven't bought the anthology yet, you can get a teaser with "<a href="https://www.metapsychosis.com/life-cycle-of-a-shadow/">Life Cycle of a Shadow</a>." (Then follow through and buy the antho!)</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-43583050336462457812023-02-20T09:33:00.003-08:002023-02-20T09:33:49.549-08:00"The Life Cycle of a Shadow" in The Compendium of Enigmatic Species!<p> A new flash story came out recently in this anthology, <a href="https://practicalfantasists.wordpress.com/2023/02/09/a-compendium-of-enigmatic-species-now-available/">The Compendium of Enigmatic Species</a>!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfIxpyGba0iYTjsoSNfskDAjYcpCFjiXIhqyI2xacESNkQ6JEnLOBbPM5jFCSj2dAkDgQXMvk9nRtCa8PAu18N5XVPrnCjowFfzXExbUXT6SsolgyWi1QvWb6J6gd7SF07OYinptSp5wE40EI_yqDz1ohYVFVGyt9s2LZDxS6ANlcK1OTl-o/s1024/compendium%20cover%20art.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="838" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfIxpyGba0iYTjsoSNfskDAjYcpCFjiXIhqyI2xacESNkQ6JEnLOBbPM5jFCSj2dAkDgQXMvk9nRtCa8PAu18N5XVPrnCjowFfzXExbUXT6SsolgyWi1QvWb6J6gd7SF07OYinptSp5wE40EI_yqDz1ohYVFVGyt9s2LZDxS6ANlcK1OTl-o/s320/compendium%20cover%20art.webp" width="262" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My story is a pseudo-journalistic piece about the lesser and greater shadows and the threat one specific shadow poses to the world. Check it out!</div><br /><p><br /></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-25504006107744425362023-01-06T12:00:00.000-08:002023-01-06T12:00:21.895-08:00Accepted, full member of SFWA!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr-K_QUkvFN8NiHMNqgfTv6onzY9AQq7aIn7nsf8iOjK5jAjnuBszUr5j2GT3oqsU3JLP8fFp3okzHSG_NWHTiYn0qp6WeqUKC7yd_PD887XvbnBSoApGAQs9ch0SrcvLTZJ8t1dBjbUfGUZ8V0CwURRA6UIbjMrprXFumSIyX_3mR9lDThU/s1000/SFWA-logo-new.png.0ebdad6b02c568f3fa47050b201bcebd.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="1000" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr-K_QUkvFN8NiHMNqgfTv6onzY9AQq7aIn7nsf8iOjK5jAjnuBszUr5j2GT3oqsU3JLP8fFp3okzHSG_NWHTiYn0qp6WeqUKC7yd_PD887XvbnBSoApGAQs9ch0SrcvLTZJ8t1dBjbUfGUZ8V0CwURRA6UIbjMrprXFumSIyX_3mR9lDThU/s320/SFWA-logo-new.png.0ebdad6b02c568f3fa47050b201bcebd.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />I’m now a full member of SFWA! I was expecting the approval to take longer–I didn’t get the forms submitted until Jan 1 and got the acceptance late Jan 4.<p></p><p>When I started trying to get short stories accepted, all the writers I interacted with marked their success by SFWA-qualifying status (whether they ended up joining or not). The per-word rate had (relatively?) recently gone up to 5 cents/word, and for several years I had as one of my yearly goals to get one SFWA-qualifying sale. Then I did, and my goal became to get two more so I could join. I had several at pro-paying markets–Penumbra was trying to jump through the hoops to get qualified, and that would have vaulted me easily into acceptance–but there were other criteria for a market to be approved, and none of them met those criteria at the time.</p><p>By the time I had three pro sales, I realized there was another requirement (whether it was new or something I’d missed)–your word count for those pro sales had to total a minimum of 10,000. One DSF flash story, and fairly short shorts to Strange Horizons and Diabolical Plots did not get me to 10k.</p><p>So a couple more DSF stories and another Diabolical Plots story over the next couple of years, and I guessed I must have the 10k minimum met, but then I read the requirements and saw another part (new? something I’d missed?)–there was a minimum payment per story as well, one that would have eliminated some of my DSF stories. If I read it right. I didn’t have it in me to go back and try to figure out whether I still qualified or not. So I just put it out of mind, discovered Codex and got accepted there, anyway, and plugged away.</p><p>Then in 2021, a third Diablolical Plots acceptance definitely put me over the top. I decided that once I got the payment for that, I’d apply. Shortly after, an acceptance at the newly-qualifying Zooscape was just an added insurance on top. It came out at the end of 2021, but since I’d already decided to wait for the Diabolical Plots payment to come through, I didn’t do anything right away.</p><p>And then…SFWA changed its requirements again. Entirely. This time to a much easier threshold for me. I just had to go through and gather the receipts. Which, you know, took a year to gear myself up to make an effort on (and less than an hour once I decided to actually tackle it).</p><p>So I’ve finally achieved the New Year’s goal I put on so many of my (formal/informal) yearly goals. Maybe I can just declare this year’s goals met as well, just as a bonus freebie… </p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-18627729195831676762022-12-10T12:24:00.002-08:002022-12-10T12:24:43.946-08:002022 publications -- Award Eligibility Post<p>These past months have been chaos. No apologies or explanations, but there have been a number of things published since my last post. They will be included in this award eligibility post:</p><p>In 2022 I had 8 short stories published, 3 poems, and 2 novels (though one was first serialized in 2021). I have some other works forthcoming, including some that might be out before the end of the year, but if so, they would be eligible for next year's awards instead.</p><p>***</p><p><b>Novels:</b></p><p><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spire-City-Occupied-Daniel-Ausema-ebook/dp/B09QKPMTKZ/">Spire City: Occupied</a></i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq79L6TWl9y8umoHjbwXFRDCufHVK-p936lFtvu9K-9ayp-3D6vdcPsv1PIX_1Qorek0iNN4ptldXejUIi11oGXa0H6MnFlIcsmVSUNsJrR_3BmY8n4NH695t4xGMR4fu2QPHdU8i5w0Tv6y5bKbGejmHB8ZzxbxY2KGS44enL783-N22Tz_c/s1800/occupied%20cover1200.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq79L6TWl9y8umoHjbwXFRDCufHVK-p936lFtvu9K-9ayp-3D6vdcPsv1PIX_1Qorek0iNN4ptldXejUIi11oGXa0H6MnFlIcsmVSUNsJrR_3BmY8n4NH695t4xGMR4fu2QPHdU8i5w0Tv6y5bKbGejmHB8ZzxbxY2KGS44enL783-N22Tz_c/s320/occupied%20cover1200.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>The death of Spire City's greatest inventor couldn't come at a worse time.<p></p><p>The fabled city of beetle-drawn carriages is occupied by a foreign power, and that country is at war with another.</p><p></p><p>Five people find their lives spiraling together in the aftermath of his death: Temli, an airship captain; XXXXX, an unnamed correspondent from the front lines; Keene, a grizzled beetle hunter; Jensha, a singer chained to one of the city's spires; and Alless, the former apprentice to the late inventor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVANmRwbOBr_0lb2O1Oj1SqENYXjKWZ2WqQraSffyg9ENbiSahSM7SrW5okWOd0nALAkzqW8pGnO5hf5Mf-z4g9fBbKwZ7L-frVroIgm9jf2A55dwNty05rcm-zqYuCyumjjM9WQETDBVTc1iM6537rvma930XoZ_IOpESGH7b8R9bnBI2Am0/s468/RootsOfBetrayal-310px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVANmRwbOBr_0lb2O1Oj1SqENYXjKWZ2WqQraSffyg9ENbiSahSM7SrW5okWOd0nALAkzqW8pGnO5hf5Mf-z4g9fBbKwZ7L-frVroIgm9jf2A55dwNty05rcm-zqYuCyumjjM9WQETDBVTc1iM6537rvma930XoZ_IOpESGH7b8R9bnBI2Am0/s320/RootsOfBetrayal-310px.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><i><a href="http://www.guardbridgebooks.co.uk/books/RootsOfBetrayal.html">The Roots of Betrayal</a></i><div><p>Terrorists attack the Princes, Outcasts build a new city, and the mage Pavresh discovers that Arcist Magic is more powerful than ever imagined.</p><p>Pavresh spent the last 5 years exploring the mountains around the Eghsal Valley, seeking to expand Arcist magic by incorporating the foreign traditions of the mountain tribes. But he discovers these barbarian tribes might be more deeply connected to his own people than the official histories admit.</p><p>Now, news from home has him hurrying back to the Valley: A mysterious, violent group called the Sons of Ryo are terrorizing the cities. The ruling Princes are under threat, and his friends are losing the only shelter they have.</p><p>What is this mysterious group, and who is pulling their strings? Who is the man claiming to have crossed the inpenetrable mountains from the Forgotten South? Can Pavresh use new more powerful magic to protect his friends’ new home, or will the cost be too great?</p><p>***</p><p><b>Short Stories:</b></p><p>"<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/daniel-ausema/the-cities-rise-up-on-legs-of-lead">The Cities Rise Up on Legs of Lead</a>" in Daily Science Fiction</p><p><i>The city of Letura stand up, drawing its own buildings up to form a gigantic avatar. Surely so it can fight its neighboring city-avatars, its citizens believe.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://sites.google.com/newmyths.com/newmyths-com-issue-58/issue-58-stories/goddess-of-the-braided-light">The Goddess of the Braided Light Drive</a>" in New Myths</p><p><i>Tycha tends the knots and braids of light on a spaceship. An emergency forces her to take on a more mythic role to save her ship.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://mythaxis.co.uk/issue-30/the-quartermaster-trial.html">The Quartermaster Trial</a>" in Mythaxis</p><p><i>A people in a run-down future try to find a new home.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/daniel-ausema/the-forgotten-treaties-of-wildfire-and-feathers">The Forgotten Treaties of Wildfire and Feathers</a>" in Daily Science Fiction</p><p><i>A mythopoetic take on wildfires, mountains, and the treaties of non-human powers.</i></p><p>"The Stockings of Santa River" in the anthology <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Holidays-Alternatives-Alex-Shvartsman-ebook/dp/B0B94Q587Y">Alternative Holidays</a></i></p><p><i>A quietly horrific tale of two siblings in a post-apocalyptic world, exchanging gifts.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/story/2022/by-the-scars-shall-you-know-daniel-ausema/">By the Scars Shall You Know</a>" in Metaphorosis</p><p><i>A non-linear story of a closed society protected by a thick forest of thorns...and of one who tries to break free.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-91a-the-grammar-of-city-streets-by-daniel-ausema/">The Grammar of City Streets</a>" in Diabolical Plots</p><p><i>In a city where street names become sentences, the mapmaker Sayya has the power to help those who are lost.</i></p><p>"<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/daniel-ausema/the-counter-poison-pigment">The Counter Poison Pigment</a>" in Daily Science Fiction</p><p>The apprentice Cinna uses the magic of pigments to fight back against corrupt rulers.</p><p>***</p><p><b>Poems:</b></p><p>"Unveiling the Moon" in <a href="https://eyetothetelescope.com/archives/044issue.html">Eye to the Telescope 44</a></p><p>"The Battle Monument over Tessain II" in <a href="https://eyetothetelescope.com/archives/045issue.html">Eye to the Telescops 45</a></p><p>"The Boatman Statue" in <a href="http://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline44.3.html">Star*Line 45.3</a></p><p>***</p><p><b>Kindle Vella:</b></p><p>I've also continued experimenting some with Kindle Vella this year.</p><p><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09TDLKWW7">Other Sam and the Shadow Squad</a></i> is an MG story about a group of kids who have to fight to protect our world from shadows...until they get pulled across the boundary into the shadow world itself and learn that everything they thought they knew was wrong. This is complete.</p><p><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BGRSP15Y">Darkness Comes Without a Song</a></i> is the first novel I ever wrote. It's the story of Aerrem, the son of a vanished people who commands a powerful magic of music, one he doesn't yet understand. The tangled truths and lies of the past force him and those around him to confront their complexity in the midst of war, in pursuit of peace. This is ongoing and will wrap up in a few months.</p></div>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-92035159435996865552022-07-06T14:01:00.004-07:002022-07-06T14:01:42.142-07:00The Boatman Statue an editor's choice in Star*Line<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJgzXB2muSZcHN79xTQSNRMhDSn6ST66i6jVQQzz95QGbjQe-7yajUg4UXCtOsVhUK4yXxR8tlAOKl9ccGmH0-Nl0HpF0AQ021MLkzGajmUPRa1pvNGnYJrKXLgSctcakvz2rUpV56mqIOrM-PvNm_656KfbzNq6jl94SqgzmHHexqzocXyc/s5484/fachy-marin-LiJkXJIbU4o-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5484" data-original-width="4387" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfJgzXB2muSZcHN79xTQSNRMhDSn6ST66i6jVQQzz95QGbjQe-7yajUg4UXCtOsVhUK4yXxR8tlAOKl9ccGmH0-Nl0HpF0AQ021MLkzGajmUPRa1pvNGnYJrKXLgSctcakvz2rUpV56mqIOrM-PvNm_656KfbzNq6jl94SqgzmHHexqzocXyc/s320/fachy-marin-LiJkXJIbU4o-unsplash.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><p>I have a new poem out this week! "The Boatman Statue" is in the latest issue of <a href="https://sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline45.3.html">Star*Line</a>, and because the poem was selected as an editor's choice, it's available to read online, as a teaser to get you to buy the full issue--or even join the SFPA and get every issue for free!</p>This poem was inspired in part by some art another poet found on Deviant Art and shared as a prompt: "<a href="https://www.deviantart.com/peterkmiecik/art/Passage-of-the-damned-speedpainting-795050053">The Passage of the Damned</a>" by PeterKmiecik.<br /><p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-12373717673398207552022-06-21T07:51:00.003-07:002022-06-21T07:51:44.548-07:00The Quartermaster Trial live!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBrbpQfBxlsoAjKidQ9G61pQQvsDVC1bFRp2osMbb-36JUlb5Y3prS7Si7ShEROweS7HnR4mqpEymTnCZti05Xzun8C_tRYuiB6EGf0cNiI1Y0XXu8u7A-eIn_nO1tycTdeE_LhjH9JIYvXkJbUYG7ESJczs3qxDgMKvSXG-9zQOIB54RPAg/s239/Screenshot%202022-06-21%208.38.54%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="239" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBrbpQfBxlsoAjKidQ9G61pQQvsDVC1bFRp2osMbb-36JUlb5Y3prS7Si7ShEROweS7HnR4mqpEymTnCZti05Xzun8C_tRYuiB6EGf0cNiI1Y0XXu8u7A-eIn_nO1tycTdeE_LhjH9JIYvXkJbUYG7ESJczs3qxDgMKvSXG-9zQOIB54RPAg/s1600/Screenshot%202022-06-21%208.38.54%20AM.png" width="239" /></a></div>"<a href="https://mythaxis.co.uk/issue-30/the-quartermaster-trial.html">The Quartermaster Trial</a>" is live now on Mythaxis. It's a companion piece to the story "<a href="https://mythaxis.co.uk/issue-23/huntress-conveyor.html">The Huntress and the Conveyor Worlds</a>," which was published in Mythaxis two years ago. The characters are different (well, except for one who may not exactly count...), but this returns us to that world of dimension-hopping conveyors and lived-in, breaking-down technology.<p></p>When Andrew accepted the earlier story, he suggested I should send him some more stories in that setting. I didn't have more stories... But doesn't mean I couldn't consider writing more.<p></p><div>Around the time the story came out, I was tinkering around with the opening to this. It wasn't coming together, so I set it aside. A few months later, I took it out again and wrote the rest, but by then the bulk of the story didn't quite match up with the opening I'd written earlier. So I set it aside again and only finally got it all working together in this form late last year/early this--just in time for Mythaxis' January submissions period.</div><div><br /></div><div>So now you get to read Paikle and the way of life for the peoples who scavenge for scraps along the conveyor routes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Will there be more Conveyor-worlds stories? Time can only tell.</div>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-26134246206332654132022-05-18T03:30:00.001-07:002022-05-18T03:30:00.176-07:00An online reading...and cover art!<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz1ffPtYypp3XLQC6jHez6A3VscRcq63nCXZosgcKCYkO52LLu-wGJBZ7DxMQ-Bs_PZjyGtq8f5SfFB-XilaDquBv7K3HQpP7V0p69k44W693vV6hS6284PXiUyOIk-_rh-s1PvQsqUyQMgqrUKg0pj37Vxz9_ixAzIbFhODxxHs4CAUhuLw/s468/RootsOfBetrayal-310px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDz1ffPtYypp3XLQC6jHez6A3VscRcq63nCXZosgcKCYkO52LLu-wGJBZ7DxMQ-Bs_PZjyGtq8f5SfFB-XilaDquBv7K3HQpP7V0p69k44W693vV6hS6284PXiUyOIk-_rh-s1PvQsqUyQMgqrUKg0pj37Vxz9_ixAzIbFhODxxHs4CAUhuLw/s320/RootsOfBetrayal-310px.jpg" width="212" /></a>I'm doing an online reading this evening! Tonight at 7:30 pm Pacific time, there will be a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3l1QZAruk5Pp1qo5Ja_YTA">live viewing of Fae News</a> on YouTube. (I'm not in Pacific time, but they are, so that's the time I'm giving--do the math to figure it out, just like I have to... :p ) I'm scheduled to appear around 8:00 Pacific. If you're up at that time, I'd love to have you tune in to listen to me read, join in the comments section, enter a drawing for a copy of <i>The Silk Betrayal</i>, and catch up on...whatever happens to come up during the show.</p><div><div>Hope you can make it!</div></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div>Oh yeah, and there's cover art for <i>The Roots of Betrayal</i>...and a new <a href="http://www.guardbridgebooks.co.uk/books/RootsOfBetrayal.html">landing page for the novel</a> on Guardbridge Books' website. Pre-order and ordering links will go live as they become available (one is already available...).</div><div><br /></div><div>What's the story about?</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b>Terrorists attack the Princes, Outcasts build a new city,</b></div></div><div><div><b>and the mage Pavresh discovers that Arcist Magic is more powerful than ever imagined.</b></div></div></blockquote>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-10878253793231201652022-05-03T13:44:00.004-07:002022-05-03T13:44:26.576-07:00Poem "Unveiling the Moon" in ETTT<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-iICycEQszX9DAtwjGn5a_0MDTUPS-5qVcz7rHXUZoxzdBdQ-MA4AbkU4Voiadz3i9NBx7jVWc3_PPnGYrT5PwywdYEcUDy0MqbaMf2lQuQjgXFk7I9wJJgareV-tGbTzW4453PyiEpv2SgYUNVPNYgO4zf6HYdxijWmjSgOpxyWybZe_ZQ/s4928/ganapathy-kumar-ve_uN9V8xqU-unsplash.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="4928" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-iICycEQszX9DAtwjGn5a_0MDTUPS-5qVcz7rHXUZoxzdBdQ-MA4AbkU4Voiadz3i9NBx7jVWc3_PPnGYrT5PwywdYEcUDy0MqbaMf2lQuQjgXFk7I9wJJgareV-tGbTzW4453PyiEpv2SgYUNVPNYgO4zf6HYdxijWmjSgOpxyWybZe_ZQ/s320/ganapathy-kumar-ve_uN9V8xqU-unsplash.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@gkumar2175?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Ganapathy Kumar</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/moon?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Continuing with catching up, my poem "Unveiling the Moon" is in the <a href="https://eyetothetelescope.com/archives/044issue.html">44th issue of <i>Eye</i> <i>to</i> <i>the</i> <i>Telescope</i></a>. Like all the poems in this issue, it is a poem about an imaginary work of art, in this case about an artist who designs a moon.</p><p>Speaking of poetry and the SFPA (which sponsors ETTT), I have also just received my physical copy of the <a href="http://sfpoetry.com/ra/pages/22rhysling.html">Rhysling Anthology</a>, and it looks great. It has the nominated poems for this year's award (including the one by me...).</p><p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-63623595325613424012022-04-25T08:00:00.007-07:002022-04-25T08:00:00.169-07:00Goddess of the Braided Light Drive in New Myths!<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_yjBpUgSgn0E5xylvHNlMwF1GWCzbM9PtrlO7WYcUODuHPS7Ae6VWarSmVaRhjabQaEPoVN4NciQlWbCrSiamBtwqq_-kH0ZB00Etw-Xxj_x7pZ5Mp65MN90ufWyo1USdJ38O_INNbtVKyJe99p44BJIEooSg3T2GJfhCniJsdpMWZjNOB8/s4872/akshar-dave-XJDEd9-ojks-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4872" data-original-width="2740" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_yjBpUgSgn0E5xylvHNlMwF1GWCzbM9PtrlO7WYcUODuHPS7Ae6VWarSmVaRhjabQaEPoVN4NciQlWbCrSiamBtwqq_-kH0ZB00Etw-Xxj_x7pZ5Mp65MN90ufWyo1USdJ38O_INNbtVKyJe99p44BJIEooSg3T2GJfhCniJsdpMWZjNOB8/s320/akshar-dave-XJDEd9-ojks-unsplash.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@akshar_dave?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Akshar Dave🌻</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/braided-wires?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table>In my last post I mentioned this story, which sold to New Myths. And it was published soon after that, so in the interest of catching up on some of the things have been slipping through my fingers in the chaos of recent months, here is the story: "<a href="https://sites.google.com/newmyths.com/newmyths-com-issue-58/issue-58-stories/goddess-of-the-braided-light">Goddess of the Braided Light Drive</a>."</p><p>This was a story I wrote a few years ago when I decided to do a bunch of short stories for NaNo instead of a novel. Before the month started, I jotted down some ideas of what stories I might write, and one was to write something that captured some of the feeling I get from some of Yoon Ha Lee's SF stories. Sometime when I wasn't by that list of ideas, I had the idea of a braided light star drive and filed that away...</p><p>And forgot it by the time I got to writing a space-based SF story. I wrote one with a card game and inter-planetary politics instead (and I still hope that one gets published so you can read it too, sometime...). Then I remembered about the braided light idea, and the month wasn't over, so I wrote it as well. I think there's some Gene Wolfe influence in there as well, especially <i>The Book of the Long Sun</i>. It ended up with some mythic undertones and a character who chooses to use the superstitions of the people around them for their own benefit.</p><p>Enjoy! (and stay tuned for more to come...)</p><p>Enjoy</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-15452220565785889222022-03-09T18:40:00.002-08:002022-03-09T18:40:47.533-08:00February whirlwind of news...<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">February turned out to be a crazy month, with most of the craziness coming in the span of a week. I'm still rather dizzied from it, so this will simply be a rundown of what's happened:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">Spire City: Occupied was </span><a data-link-id="936481421" href="https://www.amazon.com/Spire-City-Occupied-Daniel-Ausema-ebook/dp/B09QKPMTKZ/" style="color: #09c269; direction: ltr; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">released</a><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"> as an ebook. It will remain available on Kindle Vella and on Ko-fi as well.</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">There is a "</span><a data-link-id="937953977" href="https://www.guardbridgebooks.co.uk/forthcoming.html" style="color: #09c269; direction: ltr; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">forthcoming</a><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">" page for </span><em style="color: #6f6f6f; direction: ltr;"><strong style="direction: ltr;">Arcist Chronicles #2: The Roots of Betrayal </strong></em><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">on my publisher's website! And I've seen a couple possibilities for the cover art, and either one is great. Can't wait to share it with you!</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">"<a data-link-id="937953983" href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/daniel-ausema/the-cities-rise-up-on-legs-of-lead" style="direction: ltr; text-size-adjust: 100%; word-break: break-word;" target="_blank">The Cities Rise up on Legs of Lead</a>" was published in <strong style="direction: ltr;">Daily Science Fiction</strong>. It's a story of cities that take on a towering, human-like form and...battle? The residents of the cities are eager to see what their homes will do.</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">I also sold a new story to <strong style="direction: ltr;">DSF</strong>--"The Forgotten Treaties of Wildfire and Feathers." So watch for that coming up!</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">And I sold a story to <strong style="direction: ltr;">Mythaxis</strong>. "The Quartermaster War" will be my second story in that magazine and shares a setting with the previous story there, "The Huntress and the Conveyor Worlds."</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">That's not all--my SF story "Goddess of the Braided Light Drive" has been accepted by <strong style="direction: ltr;">New Myths</strong>, my fourth story to appear in that magazine.</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;"><br /></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #6f6f6f; font-family: inherit;">And one more thing... my poem "The Forbidden Path to Forgetting," which was published by Fantasy Magazine, has been nominated for a <strong style="direction: ltr;">Rhysling Award</strong>! Many thanks to the person or people who nominated it!</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #6f6f6f;">Phew, I'm sure I'll have more to say about all of these items in time, but for now I just want them up here on record. Happy March!</span></div></div>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-16110458721588484392022-01-21T11:36:00.001-08:002022-01-21T11:36:29.104-08:00Spire City: Occupied ebook up for pre-order<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIcXB2YGSchZNnHD4dM9D25ySZ7SM1o9hzQee2lghkHdsHpC0Bz12PAjXDs2blFlBKWCzcMDFDbNRxw7bOEMAHb7DKZyAak0Ay2P2OoRE3-e9LRyVZ4qKl6squgsvXMu7yNxQvmjtSmh3B-sMtHA2CCekrwuVpGNXVurnkwPRWpqPOHdpbAXY=s1800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIcXB2YGSchZNnHD4dM9D25ySZ7SM1o9hzQee2lghkHdsHpC0Bz12PAjXDs2blFlBKWCzcMDFDbNRxw7bOEMAHb7DKZyAak0Ay2P2OoRE3-e9LRyVZ4qKl6squgsvXMu7yNxQvmjtSmh3B-sMtHA2CCekrwuVpGNXVurnkwPRWpqPOHdpbAXY=w213-h320" width="213" /></a>Spire City: Occupied is going to remain on Kindle Vella, at least for now, but it is also <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spire-City-Occupied-Daniel-Ausema-ebook/dp/B09QKPMTKZ/">going to be released as an ebook</a> in a few weeks (on my birthday, as a matter of fact!). So if that's how you prefer to read your books, I'd love to have a healthy number of pre-orders in place when the book releases! And if a print book is your preferred way to read, then just know that it's in the works as well and should be out in another month or so, if all goes to plan.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks, as always, for reading!</div><br /><p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-22206645464638667592022-01-06T15:51:00.002-08:002022-01-06T15:51:33.664-08:00Weird Christmas flash!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrERGAAoNyEoitRiXk8UCOtBF-gwE691Dp9tX-BuU22G8zWdVMXYSXrk0kYdHYvmekNBVOG0rjRjtTl9YsHE0ETcKUIvTrbfsOq-y0C3Si7WlzXnNLjNN9Nd17TdNBGcfJOBzWcXfEAJ4f2HdFZ5S77db9q_LcYTt7sNuPsHghMk_pRq6y7Wk=s840" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="840" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrERGAAoNyEoitRiXk8UCOtBF-gwE691Dp9tX-BuU22G8zWdVMXYSXrk0kYdHYvmekNBVOG0rjRjtTl9YsHE0ETcKUIvTrbfsOq-y0C3Si7WlzXnNLjNN9Nd17TdNBGcfJOBzWcXfEAJ4f2HdFZ5S77db9q_LcYTt7sNuPsHghMk_pRq6y7Wk=s320" width="320" /></a></div>I was traveling over the New Year and didn't get a chance to post this until now, but <a href="https://weirdchristmas.com/2021/12/31/2021-weird-xmas-flash-fiction-contest-results/">the results of the Weird Christmas flash contest</a> went up just before New Year's Day, and the audio for the episode went up a few days later.<p></p><p>And my story "The Power of Presents and Spidersilk" won in the Stocking Stuffer category! Of the three categories it was the biggest, with something like 400 entrants, so I'm very thrilled, of course. I aimed for solidly weird--the story includes spider-elves, an eel-drawn sleigh, and begins: </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Santa, the jolly old frog, croaks his delight at the shiny new swamp-sleigh. Candy red with green trim, just as he ordered. Decorated green, for the blood of his defeated enemies the lizards...</span></p></blockquote><p>So give it a read, and give the podcast a listen (you'll hear me reading it!). Some other writer friends are among the winners and honorable mentions, and you'll find a delightful range of weirdnesses to satisfy whatever seasonal mood you might be in or want to delve into.<br /></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-85909679915241972372021-12-16T08:00:00.001-08:002021-12-16T08:00:00.176-08:00"A Chance to Breathe" published in Zooscape!<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNvUKfKorRgF7wd5xn-_wWzQSKpIJjyqzxpcqUwznJCyp9GcdsSUtfKScWPbHcQX77u5QiRR4YR5r5Rpa5OEYZbQjPtTSZVEC8CA3LQxP_bFkBo6pMIgubm6xcpfB7lvT5VZBzc-VuS__3I2S3knqFSEvGp035nkvXXlAwLFK-hS9A_lAUxv8=s300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNvUKfKorRgF7wd5xn-_wWzQSKpIJjyqzxpcqUwznJCyp9GcdsSUtfKScWPbHcQX77u5QiRR4YR5r5Rpa5OEYZbQjPtTSZVEC8CA3LQxP_bFkBo6pMIgubm6xcpfB7lvT5VZBzc-VuS__3I2S3knqFSEvGp035nkvXXlAwLFK-hS9A_lAUxv8" width="300" /></a></div> My story "<a href="https://zooscape-zine.com/chance-to-breathe/">A Chance to Breathe</a>" is in the latest issue of Zooscape. This is a story I wrote years ago and could never find the right market for--until now. There are three main inspirations for the story: <p></p><p>1) My grandma's family immigrated to what was then New Mexico territory because the Dutch doctors recommended it for the tuberculosis that both her mother and grandfather had. Her grandfather died within a few weeks of their arrival (well before she was born), but her mother went on to live a long life in south-central Colorado. I've always been fascinated by their story, and it creates the basis for another of my favorite stories as well, "<a href="https://mythicdelirium.com/featured-story-%E2%80%A2-november-2017">The Desert Cure</a>."<br /></p><p>2) The image of the Victorian consumptive, the young and beautiful maiden who dies before her time--not the reality of the sickness, but the way it gets turned into a SYMBOL (I say, somewhat tongue-in-cheekly). Especially, if I remember right, I was thinking about how the book <i>Winter's Tale</i> uses that image, with the girl who sleeps on the roof because the cold air is a relief. (Admittedly, it's been a long time since I read that book, so the particulars are less part of that image than the general sense of it.)</p><p>and 3) Shaun Tan's utterly amazing, wordless graphic novel <i>The Arrival</i>. It's a lovely book that celebrates the arrival of an immigrant to a new land where everything is strange and unfamiliar.</p><p>Earlier this year, on one of the writing forums I'm on, we had a thread going of favorite stories that can't seem to find a home. And this was the one I mentioned, a story I've been sending out, getting rejected, revising as necessary, and sending out again for so long, because it was a story I kept believing in. I'm so happy to be able to share it with readers at last! So with that...<a href="https://zooscape-zine.com/chance-to-breathe/">give the story a read</a>, and enjoy!</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-48695205289168804892021-11-17T15:40:00.004-08:002021-11-17T15:40:59.784-08:00Award Eligibility 2021<p>Are you reading for award nominations? Just curious for an update on publications? This is what I've had published in 2021:</p><p><b>Novel</b>: </p><p><i>Spire City: Occupied</i> (serialized on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B094Y3F427">Kindle Vella</a>/Curious Fictions/<a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/Introducing-Spire-City-Occupied-Q5Q26UGRI">Ko-fi</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Short Stories</b>: </p><p>"<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/nmwebsite/flash_fiction/triptych-of-the-final-string">Triptych of the Final String</a>" in New Myths (flash)</p><p>"<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/magic-and-wizardry/daniel-ausema/the-mirror-merchants-tales">The Mirror Merchant's Tales</a>" in Daily Science Fiction (flash)</p><p>"Fire and Death and the Terror of a Fair Barker, Enraged" in <a href="https://www.blackinkfiction.com/festival-of-fear">Festival of Fear anthology</a> (drabble)</p><p>and for awards that count December of the previous year, "<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/slipstream/daniel-ausema/the-bridge-fugue-variations-on-emptiness">The Bridge Fugue: Variations on Emptiness</a>" in Daily Science Fiction, Dec. 15, 2020 (flash)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Poems</b>:</p><p>"The Pelagic Colossus" in <a href="https://www.sfpoetry.com/sl/issues/starline44.3.html">Star*Line 44.3</a></p><p>"<a href="https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/poetry/the-forbidden-path-to-forgetting/">The Forbidden Path to Forgetting</a>" in Fantasy Magazine</p><p><br /></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-19588028145148598402021-11-16T11:21:00.000-08:002021-11-16T11:21:38.059-08:00Try some Kindle Vella serials!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B094Y3F427">Spire City: Occupied</a></i> has now completed its run on Kindle Vella!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's still there for people to read--and I'm intending for it to stay available to Vella readers. But now you can read the whole novel without having to wait for new episodes to appear. I think you'll really like this one, so please do check it out!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But it's far from the only worthwhile novel being serialized there. Wendy Nikel, a fellow Codexian writer, has put together a visual with several Kindle Vella stories for readers to check out. This is intended mostly for newsletters, so if you got my newsletter last week, then you've already seen this. But I wanted to get a feel for how it would look here on my blog as well [ETA: it looks better in my preview than in the final published version because of the gaps between images that this blogging software keeps adding no matter how I tweak it...] and to make sure even people who don't (yet...) subscribe to my newsletter have a chance to see what's out there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Be sure to check out the <b>tips</b> at the bottom of the image. And then go read <i>Spire City: Occupied</i> and the others as well!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3riKsz_eDbOiE6dL7lgpsnJ_ZbTuWGxOOr77TfIeCj9z8KF2Xy-p2rlkeJWkSxZ5aZmMjij4w2wKI8mRXtFdrnTw1ZrMDGFaXpJZ3i5Vc5xG4heJ4VqLdxIKGSnDcKyrauOI7RQ/s640/Codex+Vella+Header.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3riKsz_eDbOiE6dL7lgpsnJ_ZbTuWGxOOr77TfIeCj9z8KF2Xy-p2rlkeJWkSxZ5aZmMjij4w2wKI8mRXtFdrnTw1ZrMDGFaXpJZ3i5Vc5xG4heJ4VqLdxIKGSnDcKyrauOI7RQ/w400-h200/Codex+Vella+Header.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B094Y3F427" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6POLD52nRMuX3nE1RHK9xo9CJrexgp9f5Zqz7o5Q77npndtlJiCKvxrBaIwFda_AP_oh2Tz5xSrT192e7SiKUenIPOjLb2YR7hEs84yvow0oru7aIpE9FilmvZem8sh8hFNPXw/w400-h150/KINDLE-VELLA-SERIALS-SERIES-800-x-300-px-Spire.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B097ZYGTYT" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXAi1j-mUuokgC-tKoloY-p59wiBcmdnxkQys2bY-FLpRBt5elvN6mXxtxazkibavIYMTPLNfZXjokg6l2ByYBWu-_9xdLtdNnH0PqCzOn9qVwC0jYlvcRXWvb-Rvj38gDSHT_Pg/w400-h150/KINDLE-VELLA-SERIALS-SERIES-800-x-300-px-Stars.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/That-Which-Sea-Has-Claimed/dp/B09KWNXPPL/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRAN04vrXIfRz3dm9K1UEbdl1uVMaHI05Xm2BKB0nLSc51s53wlzgBuH5gXHW5Y2ngCOfLOzOE8q9BDwQjeTUM1NST70NmjVlX8vN0MC38Aoa_EkaZf6UBTMIddQYlaCuisV6ig/w400-h150/KINDLE-VELLA-SERIALS-SERIES-800-x-300-px-Sea.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Dungeon/dp/B094ZV5HWS/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IOWMTQ1B6qLQIP05kUBH0vx1nr2e3Br9qD7YqtGGWf69O0Pt8Q8euXwxt9mzSiCECaQPFWahKH6kM9sFGOG-zhY0pvmFnCi5mG1rNGt8UoBYe4x7F2eJGglpLuBjF60qsDv3aw/w400-h150/J+Maxey.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gnombo-A-Tinkerverse-LitRPG-Adventure/dp/B09KMQ7DQQ/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4v9hGwALhYX7wXMhrY92g9AGem1vJ4P3rgEFLD5JKaq6IA6ncvBzm-PA3bwySrlp8nkqkblpXFsfIFmS6BjkiZH1VevpeIvZNETsHuaTuWkSW9B_kgw41pULvBSjrAc1VglmOQ/w400-h150/TK+Carpenter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhPsg5I8P6m7ZuXwWEZK4ZeGcLfyrqtVPSXNxZQGdRAS07WXPTBH7v6NZoXUECNA2uu6EtlHF9H8puPjVk5bUVstSQLJwcr-iVnDVnBJc-tlIbmwrYF4uxlMRxIOiVSf2CXQZdg/s800/KINDLE-VELLA-SERIALS-footer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhPsg5I8P6m7ZuXwWEZK4ZeGcLfyrqtVPSXNxZQGdRAS07WXPTBH7v6NZoXUECNA2uu6EtlHF9H8puPjVk5bUVstSQLJwcr-iVnDVnBJc-tlIbmwrYF4uxlMRxIOiVSf2CXQZdg/w400-h200/KINDLE-VELLA-SERIALS-footer.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /> <p></p></div>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-15586307481659447822021-11-03T15:25:00.000-07:002021-11-03T15:25:06.133-07:00New story out! "The Mirror Merchant's Tales"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKWkV0nAMBO5fOIS_khgvt-4TcaBKtdCKBnz5eYi6PKBvRYsYRtpaQ3WRuYE4VU4tcg0-nDp9d6mMIafDsfX-34cY0szBo8HCYVlFluZhL8HE_cu7RXqWhwEsC4noba9k_vW7nA/s300/dsf-logo-300-225.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKWkV0nAMBO5fOIS_khgvt-4TcaBKtdCKBnz5eYi6PKBvRYsYRtpaQ3WRuYE4VU4tcg0-nDp9d6mMIafDsfX-34cY0szBo8HCYVlFluZhL8HE_cu7RXqWhwEsC4noba9k_vW7nA/w200-h150/dsf-logo-300-225.gif" width="200" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>My story "<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/magic-and-wizardry/daniel-ausema/the-mirror-merchants-tales">The Mirror Merchant's Tales</a>" came out yesterday in <i>Daily Science Fiction</i>. The story was originally written for a writing prompt contest at SFFWorld where the prompt was simply "mirrors." As I mention in the author note there, it's meant to occupy a similar space to some of Lord Dunsany's evocative little tales of imaginary cities and places.</p><p>Give it a read!</p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-22489657804954270052021-10-22T15:23:00.001-07:002021-10-22T15:23:33.956-07:00AI character art!<p>As <a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B094Y3F427">Spire City: Occupied</a> continues to be serialized on Vella, I've been playing around with the AI-generated characters from <a href="https://artflow.ai/">Artflow</a>. Part of what makes it fun is that I never know how it will respond to the prompts I give, though that sometimes makes it frustrating as well... So here are my favorite results I got from the prompts I fed it. Are they exactly how I pictured them as I wrote the story? No. But I like seeing how the pictures come out, and there's something about these five that fits, even so.</p><p>I've been posting them <a href="https://ko-fi.com/album/AI-Character-S6S56NGAA">individually to a gallery album</a> on my new Ko-fi page. You can click on each image to learn more about how that specific character came out that way.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7d7yZcW0S2UtX7INB4KdWkZzgQoU4l7V_gfXcwNrxi5YN3UF9YX6tH9l5kuSlUUNSdPPePviUvtYWZMpE8O5YvJwryzLopeP12y2FPK6sKuSGDxa5itwMgGbg-wMUSOCsDGOFA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="671" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7d7yZcW0S2UtX7INB4KdWkZzgQoU4l7V_gfXcwNrxi5YN3UF9YX6tH9l5kuSlUUNSdPPePviUvtYWZMpE8O5YvJwryzLopeP12y2FPK6sKuSGDxa5itwMgGbg-wMUSOCsDGOFA/w640-h483/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29478962.post-77520327618314486572021-09-21T12:48:00.004-07:002021-09-21T12:48:22.250-07:00"The Forbidden Path to Forgetting"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHu3RxXFU6t8xihKyKHfCTUrLbNKlajbDO1cR6xfZ_HkMerDu_sXbzjtU2RHsrZhCivmFo40wdrYjz2Hduvk3eUYQhwCpcEbL9qLFFXgC6OT81HlSE4s4LI5f8il5Dnw35VqT_w/s1156/Fantasy+Magazine+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="1156" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHu3RxXFU6t8xihKyKHfCTUrLbNKlajbDO1cR6xfZ_HkMerDu_sXbzjtU2RHsrZhCivmFo40wdrYjz2Hduvk3eUYQhwCpcEbL9qLFFXgC6OT81HlSE4s4LI5f8il5Dnw35VqT_w/w640-h120/Fantasy+Magazine+cover.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>My poem "<a href="https://www.fantasy-magazine.com/fm/poetry/the-forbidden-path-to-forgetting/">The Forbidden Path to Forgetting</a>" has been unlocked for everyone to read! The poem was inspired by a picture of the stone labyrinth on an island off the coast of Sweden, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%A5_Jungfrun">Blå Jungfrun</a>.</p><p></p>Daniel Ausemahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00478942286366751753noreply@blogger.com0