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Recent Posts
Crypticon 2019: Where I’ll Be
Here’s my schedule for Crypticon, here in Seattle at the end of the month. Come say hi if you’re around! I proposed most of these panels, so I’m excited about them. Friday What Is SFWA and What Does It Offer … Continue reading →
What I’m Looking Forward to about This Year’s Nebula Conference Programming: An Appreciation of Kate Baker
Back when I was VP of SFWA, Executive Director Kate Baker told me she had a dream. “I want to make the Nebula conference -the- premier conference for professional F&SF writers,” she said. “Something that no one wants to miss. A conference so good that if someone has budget for only one convention each year, that’s the one they know they’ll get the most value out of.”
It seemed like a pretty good goal to me. After all, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America is over fifty years old, has close to 2000 members, including some pretty impressive names, has and continues to do major work in the field protecting professional F&SF writers, and gives out one set of the industry’s major awards as well as the recognition of the SFWA Grand Mastership.
It’s five years later, and in my opinion, Kate’s done what she set out to do. She didn’t do it alone, of course. She had the help of a whole lot of amazing SFWA staff and volunteers, including the amazing Terra LeMay and Steven H Silver. Mary Robinette Kowal got turned loose on programming the last couple of years and has been doing a stellar job. And others have made their mark with additions, such as the Nebula Award Alternate Universe Acceptance speeches or the mentoring program led by Sarah Pinsker or (I’d like to think) two I’ve contributed: the volunteer appreciation breakfast as well as the spouses and partners reception that have been regular features (and I hope will continue to do so!) Or the Book Depot, because I don’t know of ANY other con that takes as much care to make sure that its authors — including the indies — can sign and sell their books there.
We’ve only got a small fraction of the schedule so far, with plenty of new stuff getting added every day, but here’s some highlights.
Continue reading →Recent News and Changes from Chez Rambo
I’m very pleased to announce that Tor has acquired my recent space fantasy (maybe?), as part of a three book deal, and I’ll be working with Christopher Morgan there. While I’ve had a lot of short stories published traditionally, this is the first novel to go through that, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the process is like.
I’m so pleased by this. The book Tor took was written last October/November as part of a change in my writing routine, and if that routine pays off this well, you better believe I’m going to stick to it. So — up at 5:30 AM and off to the gym, then only writing through 11 AM. I love these characters, who are a lot of fun, and they’ve informed me they’ve got plenty of story to tell.
Continue reading →Where I’ll Be: Norwescon, 2018
Friday FOSTA-SESTA 10:00am – 11:00am @ Cascade 9 Sienna Saint-Cyr, Cat Rambo Reading: Cat Rambo 1:00pm – 1:30pm @ Cascade 3 Cat Rambo (M) Negotiating Contracts 3:00pm – 4:00pm @ Evergreen 3 & 4 Cat Rambo (M), Patrick Swenson, Yanni … Continue reading →
Writing Contests and Fees
I recently tweeted this: “PSA/Pro tip: Do not submit to writing contests that charge entry fees. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
Many folks agreed; others wanted to argue a bit. Here’s some of the arguments and my opinion on them. Let us remember here that I am speaking as someone representative of professional writers, and that I have some experience with selling short stories as well as editing and publishing them.
Continue reading →Resist Through the Way You Exist
One thing that’s emerging from discussion about the New Green Deal is that to act ecologically, to believe that climate change is real and that we must all work together to avert the worst of it, is now considered by some a radical leftist notion.
It is a given that the corporations must change their ways, must stop polluting and destroying the commons – the natural resources that belong to us all as citizens of this planet. The government must stop rolling back environmental protections — and put back the ones it’s stripped away while also stopping the flow of those resources to profiteers. But at the same time we as individuals can live in ways that help move us evolve into a society that places less strain on our planet.
You can #resist through the way you exist, and particularly the ways you spend money.
Continue reading →Guest Post: Valerie Nieman on Going Away and Coming Home
Thomas Wolfe claimed “you can’t go home again,” but the place you sprang from is never going to go away from you, that’s for sure. It’s down there in the isotopes layered into your bones and teeth. It’s there in … Continue reading →
Hopepunk Thoughts Plus A Reading List
Last year, I came up with a new class, “Punk U: The Whys and Wherefores of Writing -punk Fiction”, which attempted to explore some of the -punk subgenres, starting with cyberpunk and progressing through steampunk, dieselpunk, nanopunk, solarpunk, and a dozen others. Of all of them, the most fascinating to me — and the one that’s had the greatest influence on my recent fiction, is hopepunk.
What is hopepunk? The term was first coined by Alexandra Rowland as the antithesis of “grimdark,” a speculative genre featuring fatalistic nihilism and a tooth vs. claw environment.
Continue reading →
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Want to Support Cat? Buy Some Books!
Twenty fantasy stories of our world and others. Publisher's Weekly called them 'crisp and compelling'.
"If you want some really excellent stories, get the e-book. If you also want a physical object to warm the heart of any print-book collector, go for the paper version." Don Sakers, Asimov's
Cat's first nonfiction book talks about how to set up and maintain an online presence -- without cutting into your writing time.
Clockwork Fairies, a steampunk short story, originally appeared on Tor.com.
