The Journal of Michael Merriam

I am pleased to announce that my short stories "Darkly Through the Light Waters" and "Rainfall" will be reprinted in the Artema Press anthology Magic Creatures from Celtic Mists to be published this spring.



Originally posted at michaelmerriam.net. You can comment here or there.

It is a bear sometimes.

My "Mage Duel on a Bus" novella has ground to halt. Not only am I unsure of the ending, but I need to work out the continuity of not only the novella, but where it fits and how it affects and is affected by all the other pieces in this setting.

oof dah...

I suppose this is the danger of writing stories using the same setting. You build a mythology and continuity and you have to live with it once you've published a piece. Or several pieces that are part of a larger whole. I've been writing and selling stories in my Magical Twin Cities setting since 2005. I've sold 13 short stories and one novel using this setting. I've written three yet-to-be-sold novels, outlined three more novels, and now have this novella as part of the setting. I have a lot invested in this Magical Twin Cities setting (Beloved Spouse says I need to come up with an actual name for this setting, something unique, descriptive, and recognizable).

There is a lot of continuity to deal with.

What's worse, if the Oklahoma rural fantasies I'm writing are part of this setting (right now they don't have any published characters in common, but do share a magical system), then it adds another seven short stories and one novella to the whole mess.

Not that I'm complaining. This is a great problem to have. But it is a problem, because I have to keep everything consistent with everything else and there are stories all up and down the setting's timeline. I suppose I need to create some kind of spreadsheet or wiki or something to help me keep track of everything (characters, timeline of events, changes to the setting, rules for magic, rules for monsters, etc) going on in this setting.

And all the other settings I've been writing stories for. Besides the Magical Twin Cities setting, there is the Oklahoma Rural Fantasy setting (seven short stories, one novella, and touched on lightly in two of the MTC unsold novels), the Space Opera setting (12 short stories), the Sword and Sorcery world (The Dolenbyd Cycle, with five short stories and a yet-to-be-sold novel), the Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction / Urban Fantasy setting (two novellas and three short stories) and the Gaslights and Grimoires Steampunk setting (two novellas).

As an aside: Yes, I count yet-to-be-sold novels, novellas, and other works as being part of the continuity. I am a firm believer that I will sell everything I write. Seriously. Yes, once I sell them they will come in for some serious rewrites which may change how they affect the overall continuity of the series, but rewrites after you've sold the novel are just part of the editorial process.

So, my fellow writers, readers, tech-geeks, and friends, how would you suggest I handle keeping track of…well…everything?

Originally posted at michaelmerriam.net. You can comment here or there.

Because I know some of you got eReaders of one type or another for the holidays. And because as much I love writing, I also have to eat and pay bills. So here is my post-holidays marketing sales pitch for all my available books, both print and electronic.

Coffee For Your Body, Flames For Your Soul: Urban Fantasy Short Story

It came to the diner looking for a soul to devour.

At a late-night diner, the manager finds himself faced with a nightmare from his past: The Nalusachita, a mythical-creature of his Choctaw ancestors.

Determined to protect his customers from the shape-changing soul-stealer but unsure how, the manager sets out to clear the restaurant at closing time.

What neither manager or monster counted on was the eccentric patrons of the diner, and how they would react to the mythical creature…

Coffee For Your Body, Flames For Your Soul is available in ebook at Musa Publishing, Amazon, and Smashwords.

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The Horror at Cold Springs: Steampunk / Supernatural Western Novella

When a disparate group of travelers find themselves stranded in a ghost town on the western Nebraska frontier, will they unravel the mystery of the missing townsfolk and survive to tell the tale?

The Horror at Cold Springs is available in print from The Sam's Dot Publishing Bookstore and in all ebook formats from Smashwords.

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Last Car to Annwn Station: Urban Fantasy Novel / Paranormal Romance - Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women's Fiction Blog pick for Top Ten Books, 2011.

“The fare is ten cents, miss.”

Mae Malveaux, an attorney with Minneapolis Child Protective Services, is burnt-out, tired and frustrated. Passing on an invite from Jill, her flirtatious coworker, Mae just wants a quiet night in. Leaving the office late, she’s surprised to find the Heritage Line streetcars up and running and hops aboard, eager for a quick trip home.
But this is no ordinary streetcar. Death is one of its riders, and Mae is thrust into Annwn, a realm of magic and danger.

“Your transfer, miss. You’ll need that.”

Mae’s life is turned upside down as human and fae worlds collide. Her budding relationship with Jill takes a perilous turn when they are hunted by mythical beasts, and Mae is drawn into a deadly power struggle. With Jill at her side, Mae must straddle both worlds and fight a war she barely comprehends, for not only does the fate of Annwn rest in her hands, but the lives of both a human and fae child…

Last Car to Annwn Station is available in ebook format at Carina Press, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and in audio format at Audible.

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Shimmers & Shadows: Short Story Collection

These diverse short stories unfold where the faery realm intersects with the mundane world of the Twin Cities, in the spacefaring future of exploration and adventure, and in a mythical land of sorcery and danger. Here you will find tales of adventure, horror, enchantment, humor, tragedy, and romance where:
…a young outcast strikes a hard bargain with the Muddy River
…two very different spirits find sanctuary in a historic shopping mall
…a space transport captain makes a difficult choice and falls headlong into the middle of a conspiracy
…a fallen Seelie champion is caught between his dark past and unusual mortal friends
…estranged lovers discover whether science or magic will save their dying Earth
…death is not the end, time does not always run in a straight line, and the rain blesses both mortals and fae.

Shimmers & Shadows is available at Lulu and in ebook for Kindle from Amazon.

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Should We Drown In Feathered Sleep: Near-Future Post-Apocalypse Fantasy Novella -- Long Listed for the 2010 Nebula Award.

A New Order

A new world is emerging years after war destroyed society. In a Minnesota lake, the last surviving loons, direct descendants of the legendary First Pair, await the one who can help heal the earth. Each year a human sacrifice is brought to them to be endowed with special gifts, but they come at a terrible price.

A Free Spirit

Even as the rest of the world rebuilds, Grace Kriske’s life is shattered. Unable to walk, she feels utterly dependent on her family and trapped in a community that disapproves of her rebellious ways. Grace’s only solace is her lover, David Tvedt, a trader who wants to take her away with him—if she’d let him.

An Impossible Choice

Yet something else calls to Grace—the loons. They haunt her dreams, lurking in her mind as if part of her deepest primal self. But when Grace is chosen as the new sacrifice, she’s afraid. Will she risk everything to help the community that shuns her, or will she choose her own path?

Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep is available in ebook at Carina Press, Amazon, and B&N. and in audio format at Audible.

Coming soon from MUSA Publications. This story of was part of my Minnesota Fringe Festival 2011 performance. It will be available for download in December.

I have been writing on Dead Brew II (title pending). I’m about to the middle of the book and finally have the shape of the thing clear in my head. What I need to focus in now is writing the synopsis for Dead Brew and get it sent out.

Speaking of sent out, I submitted three new pieces to Anthology Builder. I have more pieces to submit to them, but I thought I would start with these three and once a decision was made, submit three more. If I can get all the stories on Anthology builder I would like, that would be 12 pieces. I also sent out a query on a small short fiction collection of my space opera pieces. The publisher in question has told me he is looking for more SF and space opera, so I have high hopes.

Attempts to integrate Belyn—aka Temp-to-Perm Kitty—with the Reverend Selena have been mixed. It would help if Belyn would read her signals (which are pretty obvious, considering how vocal she is) and back off when she’s angry. I wonder if the male inability to read signals a female is sending is a universal thing.

He is still very cute and we are patient. Belyn really wants to make friends with Selena. She is not all that interested right now. I think she might be willing to ignore him, if he would stop getting in her face.

Snippet four of Last Car to Annwn Station is more character and relationship development, with an indication that Jill is about to be drawn into the metaphysical mystery that Mae is dealing with.

I received my postcards and 8x10 prints from Carina Press for Last Car to Annwn Station. They are lovely, and I will have them to give away at 4TH Street Fantasy Convention, Convergence, and Diversicon if I attend.

( Snippet #4 Behind the Cut )
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Last Car to Annwn Station. Releases on June 27th. Pre-Order at Carina Press, Amazon U.S., and Amazon U.K.

Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep. Available in ebook format at Carina Press, Amazon, B&N, and in audio format at Audible.com

Speculations Reading with Michael Merriam
Friday, February 4, 2011 6:30 PM
DreamHaven Books
2301 E 38th St
Minneapolis MN 55406

The reading will be at DreamHaven Books, 2301 E 38th St, Minneapolis, MN. Speculations Reading is accompanied by a reception with free soda pop and cookies. We will also bring baked goods and there will be prizes! Michael plans to read from his novellas, The Horror at cold Springs and Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, and from his forthcoming novel, Last Car to Annwn Station.

Copies of The Horror at Cold Springs, Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales and Shimmers and Shadows will be for sale and available for signing.

After the reading, we will probably adjourn to Parkway Pizza (4457 42nd Ave South, Minneapolis, MN 55406) for pizza, drinks, and conversation.

Being under no illusions, but also subscribing to the theory of "you can't win if you don't play," here is a listing of all my fiction that is eligible for Nebula Award nomination this year. I have provided links to fiction online. If someone is interested in nominating a story not online, I will happily send you the file to put up in the SFWA Forums, since I am not a SFWA member.

Novellas:

The Horror at Cold Springs, published by Sam's Dot Publishing. When a disparate group of travelers find themselves stranded in a ghost town on the western Nebraska frontier, will they unravel the mystery of the missing townsfolk and survive to tell the tale?

Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, published by Carina Press. After war destroys modern society, Grace Kriske finds herself trapped in a community that disapproves of her rebellious ways. Grace’s only solace is her lover, David Tvedt, a trader who wants to take her away with him—if she’d let him. Yet something else calls to Grace: Loons haunt her dreams, lurking in her mind as if part of her deepest primal self. Will Grace risk everything to help the community that shuns her, or will she choose her own path?

Short Fiction:

"A Hot Cup at the Last Station" in Bards and Sages Quarterly. "A Hot Cup at the Last Station" is a tale of lost love, ghost trains, and finding your way back to living, set in an old train depot turned coffeeshop in a Minneapolis suburb.

"And the River Shall Be Your Bed" in Tower of Light Fantasy. "And The River Shall Be Your Bed" is a ghost story of love, forgiveness, and redemption set in Minneapolis. When the ghost of Christine Larson reaches out across the veil to her old friend Mandy and her fiancé Chad, what will be the price of forgiveness, and will Mandy and Chad be willing to pay?

"By Moonlight" in Aofie's Kiss #33. "By Moonlight," an urban fantasy tale set in Minneapolis, follows Selma, a blind, middle aged magician as she tries to protect a new friend and potential lover from her half-fae brother.

"Doors Through the Places You Live" in Ray Gun Revival #55 (opens a .pdf). "Doors Through the Places You Live" is a science fiction tale of two salvagers as they roam the haunted decks of derelict ghost-ship. Will they survive the restless spirits, and if so, what will they bring back to their own ship?

"Fourth Dimensional Pony in the Concourse of the Lost" in Golden Visions Magazine's print edition, Fall 2010. "Fourth Dimensional Pony in the Concourse of the Lost" explores the plight of a group lost souls in an airport and the creature summoned to carry them out of the darkness. When one of the lost performs a desperate bit of medicine to save his nephew, what will be the cost and how will reality change?

"The Shipmaster's Widow" in 365 Tomorrows. "The Shipmaster’s Widow" is a flash fiction story of love lost to a neutron star and lives left with unanswered questions.

"Starry Night" in Golden Visions Magazine's print edition, Summer 2010. "Starry Night" tells of James Monroe, a man stripped of his special ability to speak mind-to-mind with others who shared this rare power. When the voice of a dying boy speaks into his mind, James must overcome his own grief to help the boy understand what is happening to him

"Wings" in The Absent Willow Review. "Wings" is the story of Lottie Caldwell and the terrible choice she faces: Save the other passengers on a damaged airplane from the vengeful ghosts of her dead family and lose her soul to them, or save herself from her family and allow the other passengers to die.

Culinary Carnivale reviews "Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep."

Karalynn Lee likes my title.

Here are the pages at Carina Press and Amazon where you will be able to purchase it next Tuesday.

If you enjoy post-apocalyptic near-future fantasy, my short story, "All the Leaves Your Bed," which appeared in Shiny #4 and got a positive review from The Fix, is set in the same world, as is "Out Among the Singing Void," which appeared in the sadly defunct Fictitious Force. However, you can read it for free here.

The loons story clocks in at a hefty 17,500 words. I'll probably be able to cut 2 or 3K (I always include too much in the first draft), but that's still going to be a tough size to sell.

I've talked before about how I do (or don't do) plot. While working on The Loon Story, I found that once again, I've no real idea what the plot is. I'm pretty sure, here at 10,000 words, that there isn't one. This story had been all about Grace being faced with serious challenges while growing as a character, the Loons' desperate quest to find Grace and save what needs saving before it's lost forever and everyone else trying to deal with the world as it has become in their own way. And while that seems like it might be plot. I'm really not seeing it. Or perhaps it's simply not the focus.

10,000 words. Lots of interesting characters. Lots of character development. Lots of solid world building. No plot.

Oh Dear.

Also, Grace might be the most internally angry character I have every written. Here at 10,000 words—which, since I'm writing things out of sequence, I'm guessing to be about the midpoint of the story—I'm just now finding out how incredibly angry Grace is at nearly everything, but mostly at herself and mostly because she thinks she's hopelessly broken. Poor Grace. She's stronger than she thinks she is.