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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Tinnerty Leaves a Note

During Advent, an evidently-tiny elf sometimes leaves very small messages around the house for N, who a terribly busy small person and easily bored in the absence of daily Peewee football. As I am still laboring away on qarrtsiluni Insecta with poet Ivy Alvarez--please go see our magnificent bugs in word and image--and still struggling to recover from that pernicious bug, The Flu, I now present one of those notes, found under my pillow along with an uncomfortable lump that turned out to be books.

Still wondering what to give your great big lumpen friends of the human kind? How about one of these gigantic books, packed like St. Nicholas's pack with good stories? Love, Tinnerty

There! Getting an elf to write one's blog posts seems an excellent idea. I may have to continue the practice.

Logorrhea has to be the most imaginative idea for an anthology in years. John Klima, editor of Electric Velocipede, invited writers to contribute stories inspired by a winning Scripps spelling bee word. Mine was smaragdine, a word I knew from the marvelous Puritan poet, Edward Taylor. Daydreaming about the metaphysical poet, stuck in the wilds of Massachusetts, I came up with a story called "The Smaragdine Knot. " (I confess to having used the divine Mr. Taylor before, as the unnamed Puritan minister at the close of Catherwood.)

Excerpt from "The Smaragdine Knot"

"Smaragdine" podcast mini-tale by Jeff Vandermeer, from his round-up story that hit each of the words in the anthology.

For author bios, more excerpts, reviews, and more, go here.


Looking for an Epiphany present? Rich Horton's Fantasy: The Best of the Year will be out on New Year's Day. In it, you may find my story, "The Comb." Here’s an Amazon link for reference.


Other recent and forthcoming appearances that may be of interest to the literary shopaholic include my novella set on St. John's, "Drunk Bay," forthcoming in this month's issue of Postscripts (U. K.). The issue is forthcoming in hardcover and paperback. Soon coming up is a story in Firebirds Soaring, the next anthology from Firebird/Penguin and Editorial Director Sharyn November of the magnificent red hair. For more upcoming publications in anthologies and magazines, as well as information about recent publications, see my bibliography for more information.

And here's one final suggestion...

Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling's Salon Fantastique recently won the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology.

The collection includes my "Concealment Shoes" (a Locus Recommended Reading pick.) This is a story that--unlike most of my work--uses real elements from my life. The concealment shoes were at one time in the living room chimney. All three of my children and one of the cats (the calico, not the idiot Russian Blue, cute and bug-eyed) make appearances, and my 1808 house gets a starring role, along with a nearby bit of the Village of Cooperstown. It is related in setting and characters to the story "Rain Flower Pebbles," forthcoming in Postscripts (U. K.)

***

Image credits:
In order of appearance, the covers shown are from Bantam, Prime, and Thunder's Mouth.

8 comments:

  1. Lot of good-looking stuff here, Marly! Those elves are going o be spoilt for choice.

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  2. I think getting to have elves leave you books on your sick bed is great. They totally know when we need random books.

    I got the inclanation to read something the other day, something that has not hit me that strong in a while and I grabbed something out of my yard sale finds at random and would you believe I read it. What are the chances. Those were suppose to be my gothic mystery romances that hadnt read.

    Maybe I need to actually go to a book store and get some real books. Your story the comb sounds really good. Its hard to find a special hair comb. They can make a break. Whether it is a teasing comb or a brush comb or my personal favorite an aptly shaped comb that stays in your hair and makes cool wavy hair styles, a good comb is worth their weight in gold.

    Looking at pictures of starlits from the first half of the century I always wondered how they got those great comb hair styles and I found some old ones at my aunts. and the secret is all in the combs.

    I may be barking up the wrong tree but knowmatter what, I am excited.

    got to run.

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  3. Ive not been blogging lately but its good to return and be intoxicated by all your witing, info, your sizzzzling words...

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  4. Greetings from the Pesthouse to Clare & Susanna & Jan--

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  5. Hey Marly,

    I've another bug, myself and have been off today recovering. Haven't posted lately but so good to see so many of your stories doing well. I want to get some soon.

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  6. mmm, so many riches...and what a good elf!

    Hopefully, you'll get your groove back from that bug sooner rather than later...thanks again for the nudge to go get my shot...i've got 3 mini bottles of Purell with me as well, since i'm boarding a plane today. If some one is sneezing and wheezing next to me, i guess i'll move my scarf up around my face!

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  7. My elves have been busy gilding torn edges of things while I sleep, so there is hope I'll get enough of my school project done in time to merit playing hooky here in The Palace.

    Fabulous excerpt!
    Have already e-winged it off to friends who have a hunger for new words and new stories.

    And looking up smaragdine, I found this:
    http://www.worldwidewords.org/
    weirdwords/ww-sma1.htm

    Hope the Pest passes fast...

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  8. Hi everybody--

    I'm feeling somewhat better but am awash in sickies, so I'm still pressed for time.

    Last round of qarrtsiluni to be read on the 15th, I think.

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Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.