Never Gets Old
26 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
“Selling a story never gets old.”
Koi, by Klyph (DeviantArt)
Someone told me this, long ago and far away, and I thought “yeah, right,” but you know…they were right. Every sale is as delightful as the first one was.
Today, I (and you!) have the pleasure of experiencing my first audio podcast, “The Lady of the Lake” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #86), read by the editor’s uncredited wife (secret agent? One has to wonder!).
I haven’t given audio fiction a lot of consideration over the years. I’ve certainly enjoyed listening to stories, but never imagined my own read in such a manner. I was surprised and pleased when Scott asked for the audio rights here; it’s a story that contains mouthfuls of strange names, a story of complicated transformations, a play of Japanese myth twined with a story I wrote long, long ago.
As I listened to “The Lady of the Lake,” though, I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. Certain phrases caught me off guard, because a story has a different sound when read aloud. Had I written that? Clearly I had, but it was different, given a new life.
After the finishing the story, iTunes shuffled on to “I Will Survive,” covered by Cake, which amused me to no end, based on the content of “The Lady of the Lake.” Sometimes, it seems like there’s a sentient DJ inside my iTunes, knowing exactly what needs playing.
No, selling a story never gets old. In any form.
The story is downloadable from the story’s various pages within the magazine, but it’s also streaming on the forums: http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=853 And it’s on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/beneath-ceaseless-skies-audio/id295833491
Ladies in Lakes
12 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Writerly
Long ago and far away (August 2006) “Indigo With Distance” appeared in Realms of Fantasy. It’s a curious story and one that had a difficult time finding a home. I always felt there was more to tell there, so in recent months, started poking around with the story that became “The Lady of the Lake.” Not a story of Camelot, unless Camelot were in Japan, and populated by Japanese gods and goddesses.
“The Lady of the Lake” appears in the current issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies (#86; and will also soon be podcast there, too). It tells the story of Min from “Indigo With Distance,” and what happened after her mother strangled her and dropped her into a lake. Water is powerful; water takes a person where they never quite expect to go.
Cover art is: Tower of Babel, by Zack Fowler. Super striking image!
Anywhere But Here
04 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Me
Many years ago, a friend send me a mix CD called Anywhere But Here (For February is Cold), and it remains a favorite of mine, a collection of music that really takes you elsewhere, and often some place warm. It’s a nice escape.
Returning to the gym this week, Monday was deserted but today was packed — and another girl took my usual locker. Insanity! As I ran my miles this morning, I watched the people in the gym and discovered a uniting thread. (Other than the one that says these are all new people and will be gone by next month.) I started looking at the shirts people were wearing. In and Out Burger. Oregon. JRS Track. Maui. Faded rainbow. Even my own shirt calls to the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. It felt as though we were all thinking of being elsewhere and not in the gym where we actually found ourselves. Or maybe we wanted proof that we had been elsewhere and wouldn’t always be between these yellow and purple walls.
When I first started going to the gym (more than a year ago now), I crossed paths with a guy there. I still don’t know his name and he doesn’t know mine, though we often talk. He showed me how to use one of the machines way back when. This morning, he noticed I was wearing new shoes — he said that was a proper way to start a new year, and he also asked how long I’d been coming to the gym “Two years now?” he asked. And I said no, only one. But still, it was curious to be recognized as a regular now. To have made it that far. To not fail to show up in February, because this is part of what I do now.
