Congrats to Naomi and Kelly!

 

Congratulations to all the nominees, of course, but this is a stellar year for the Wyrdsmiths! Naomi is up for three categories:

• Novelette: “The Year Without Sunshine”, Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny 11-12/23)
• Short Story: “Better Living Through Algorithms”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 5/23)
• Andre Norton (Middle Grade & YA) Liberty’s Daughter, Naomi Kritzer (Fairwood)

And Kelly:

• Novella: The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)

Best of luck to them both! See the full list of nominations, here: https://www.sfwa.org/2024/03/14/sfwa-announces-the-finalists-for-the-59th-nebula-awards/

Back in Print after 20 Years!

 

Hey, everybody, this is your friendly neighborhood author just popping in to tell the GOOD NEWS....

*foot goes into door quickly*

Not so fast there, friend! I can promise you this a Good Deal. *talks really fast, as you are crushing her foot trying to get the door shut in her face* SoMyAngeLINKBooksAreAvailableInPaperAgain! Including HARDCOVER!!! PleasebuythemPleasebuythem! Okay, Thanks!

Also Available Here!

*limps away to try another unsuspecting customer*

Big Idea: Naomi

 Naomi's new book Liberty's Daughter is featured in John Scalzi's Big Idea: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2023/11/21/the-big-idea-naomi-kritzer/

New Fiction from Naomi Kritzer

 

Naomi's short story "The Year Without Sunshine," is available in the most recent issue of Uncanny Magazine: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-year-without-sunshine/

Lyda's ConFABulous Schedule

  In which I will be game-mastering for the very first time!!!

FRIDAY

6: 00 pm 

The Queering of Good Omens. The second season of Good Omens had an explosion of canonically queer characters and couples. There were lesbians, nonbinary demons, and queer side characters galore. Yet our mains, Crowley and Aziraphale, couldn't seem to get it together, despite "the kiss." As we prepare for the Second Coming, let's talk about the good and the bad of the second season. 

 Lyda Morehouse, Naomi Kritzer, Don Kaiser

9:45 pm 

 Lesbian Space Opera: A Reading and Q&A by Lyda Morehouse. 

Lyda Morehouse has signed a deal for a new lesbian space opera trilogy. Come and join her for a reading and discussion about the forthcoming first novel in the trilogy.


SATURDAY

1:45 pm 

Yaoi and Yuri, the 2023 Edition. 

This panel is becoming a staple of ConFABulous, so it's time to move beyond 101 definitions of this manga genre. What's new (or new to you) and fun this year? There may be some discussion of manhwa and manhua (as well as anime and dongha,) but we're sticking with 2-D for this conversation. 

Lyda Morehouse, Jason Tucker


7:00 

Dance in the Neon-Pixelated Dark: A Thirsty Sword Lesbians Cyberpunk Homebrew. 

A rogue artificial intelligence that has escaped its corporate masters into the dark and rain-spattered streets of Neo-Toyko’s Akihabara’s “Electric Town.” A sleek, sexy agent of MegaCorp offers the thirsty lesbians gathered at the Potable Pussy Coffee Shop a hard-to-resist bounty to return this rebellious robot. Will they accept? If so, will they be able to find this runaway android before the machine-hating Luddite Cult gets their hands on it? Thirsty Sword Lesbians RPG. Simple rules will be taught. Up to 7 players.
GM: Lyda Morehouse


SUNDAY

3:30 pm 

Writing for RPGs. 

What are some best practices when designing adventures or sourcebooks for tabletop RPGs, either for publication or for your own gaming group? Discussion topics may include sources of inspiration, research and preparation, game balance, and having fun! 

James Satter, John Everett Till, Lyda Morehouse

5:00 pm 

Why Do Queer Women Write so Much M/M? 

This phenomenon has been true since the first Spock/Kirk slash was penned in the late 1960s. But this fan fiction trend has been mainstreamed lately with books like Everina Maxwell's Winter's Orbit, T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Hope, and an entire romance m/m genre (https://www.goodreads.com/genres/m-m-romance). Why aren't these queer and straight ladies writing F/F? Where are the male, gay authors? What are some concerns about this trend--are we being mainstreamed right into heteronormativity?

Lyda Morehouse, Naomi Kritzer, Lauren Crabtree

Naomi Gets Another Award!

From Locus Magazine: “The Dragon Project” by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld 3/22) is the winner of the 2023 Washington Science Fiction Association (WSFA) Small Press Award for Short Fiction, presented September 30, 2023 at Capclave in Rockville MD.

 https://locusmag.com/2023/10/kritzer-wins-wsfa-small-press-award/

New Anthology News

I have a short story, "Go Ask A.L.I.C.E." in the Reinvented Detective: Welcome to Tomorrow anthology, which you can pre-order right now! Somehow I missed the cover art reveal, but I am INSANELY chuffed to discover my name listed among the featured authors. This may, in fact, be a first ever for me. Normally I'm listed among the "...and more."

Anyway, it will make a lovely holiday present! Go get yours now!

Naomi Kritzer's Schedule (CONvergence)

Thursday, July 6 • 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Hyatt 4 Great Lakes A1

"The Big I"

There are an abundance of novels written in the first person. What are the strengths and weaknesses of having a single point of view character? Participants: Alison R Sommer, Danith McPherson, Naomi Kritzer (mod), Joy Ward, Katherine Jo Pysick

Thursday, July 6 • 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Hyatt 1 Lakeshore A

"Grimm's Fairy Tales"

What are the themes? How do the popular ones end? How do authors reinterpret these stories? From Catherynne Valente's Snow White themed stories to the works of Tanith Lee, these fairy tales still have power. Participants: Stephanie Zvan, Naomi Kritzer, Renate Fiora (mod), Megan Noel Johnson

*

Friday, July 7 • 11:00am - 12:00pm

Hyatt 4 Great Lakes A3

"Finish Your Book!"

Many people have started a book, but few ever finish. What's the secret? Published authors share their tips on getting words written, chapters finished, and books completed. Authors, come get a little tough love if you're stuck on page 57. Participants: Steve Semler (mod), Nate Gillick, Alison R Sommer, Joan Marie, Naomi Kritzer

Friday, July 7 • 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Hyatt 1 Lakeshore A

"The Villain's Journey"

The theory of "The Hero's Journey" is long established and is a valuable tool for the writer. Villains are crucial for any hero's journey and follow a similar cycle in a narrative. Discuss the similarities and differences. Participants: Patrick William Marsh (mod), Steve Semler, Sonni de Soto, Janelle Kloth, Naomi Kritzer

Friday, July 7 • 3:30pm - 4:30pm

Hyatt 1 Exhibit Hall Signing Table A

"Meet and Greet: Naomi Kritzer"

Signing. Participants: Naomi Krizter

COMING SOON - Liberty's Daughter (Naomi Kritzer)

Between 2012 and 2015, I had six linked stories published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction about a teenage girl living on a near-future seastead. Seasteads are real-ish: there are people actually trying to make them happen, although so far the various attempts to do it have not gone particularly well. In the stories, Beck Garrison is the daughter of a powerful man, which offers her some limited protection as her curiosity and loyalty to friends lead her into discovering things about her home that were supposed to remain secret.

 

The novel version — the existing stories, plus one more — will be coming out this fall from Fairwood Press! (This is the publisher that published my short story collection.) No order link yet, but I'll post again once there is one!

 
Also, I had a new short story come out last month! "Better Living Through Algorithms," published in Clarkesworld. https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_05_23/

New Books Forthcoming (Lyda & Tate)

 BIG NEWS!

https://wizardstowerpress.com/media/wizards-tower-acquires-earths-shadow-trilogy-from-lyda-morehouse/

I'm going to be busy for the next three years. The first book in my new science fiction trilogy will be coming out before the end of this year (and I'm still not fully finished with it. GULP!) Then, I have also promised Cheryl Morgan (and my Tate Hallaway fans) a third book in the Alex Conner series. 

Whew!

I'm incredibly thrilled by this, however. There's nothing quite so amazing as having a publisher who fully supports all your endeavors. 

B-Cubed Press Guest

 

Lyda (me!) was a special guest on B Cubed Sunday Mornings's Pride Month edition show, along with Lambda Award winning author Deborah J Ross.  Host Cliff Winnig led a fascinating discussion about GLBQIA+ science fiction and fantasy throughout the years.  

Everything was going really well until my microphone decided to play hooky last minute, but so it goes sometimes! Give it a listen if you feel so inclined.

Kickstarter is LIVE

 

The Kickstarter that two Wyrdsmiths (Adam Stemple and Tate Hallaway) will be in has gone live:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wolfinmybeard/a-day-at-the-dragon-shelter If you are so inclined, please consider contributing what you can. 

Thanks so much!

Kickstarter News Coming...

 In the next week, expect some news about a Kickstarter for a shared-world anthology that I will be part of edited by Steven Brust and Chris ‘Fox’ Wallace.  Among the contributors are not only myself, but also Jane Yolen, Adam Stemple, and Emma Bull.

Just to whet your whet your appetite, here's a hint as to what it will all be about..

---

You probably remember where you were when you heard the dragons had returned. No doubt, unless you were one of the first to see one, you thought it was a hoax, and I'm sure it took you a while to be convinced. And you have certainly seen how it has changed things--destroying some businesses, creating others, but in one way or another, having an effect on almost everyone.

For us, here at the shelter, it's seasonal. Every Christmas, parents see a cute little hatchling and think what a wonderful present it would be. And, in many cases, they're right. But too many don't even bother looking up even the most basic information about whatever breed they've settled on, and there are too many unscrupulous breeders who don't bother telling them to. Many of these well-intentioned dragon owners somehow miss the two most important facts about a dragonling – It will grow, sometimes very large, and it may not choose you.

That's why, every spring, things start to really pick up here at the City of Lakes Dragon Shelter.

---

I really had a great time writing the story for this anthology. I got inspired, in part, by my work at the Ramsey County public library... and, of course, drag queen story hour.

It's a Wyrdsmiths two-fer. So, if you get a chance to support this when there is more information, please do!

Congrats to Eleanor!

 Eleanor's novelette, "Grandmother Troll," made the Asimov's Readers' Awards list!  https://www.asimovs.com/about-asimovs/readers-award-finalists/  Congrats, Eleanor!

Guest Appearance on Adam's Podcast

 Two Wyrdsmiths for the price of one! Check out Lyda's guest appearance on Adam's podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/53Er1jeTXgXaVEN3bNzQK3

Best of List - Kelly Barnhill

 Congrats to Wyrdsmith, Kelly Barnhill, and her book When Women Were Dragons for making Book Riot's list of 42 OF THE BEST FANTASY NOVELS FROM THE LAST 10 YEARS.

Wyrdsmiths WorldCON (Chicon 8)

 If you are looking for Wyrdsmiths at Chicon 8 (80th World Science Fiction Convention) in Chicago, Septemeber 1 - 5, 2022, here's where we will be:

THURSDAY (September 1)

2:30pm - Autographing, Naomi Kritzer

5:30 pm - Virtual Table Talk, Lyda Morehouse/Tate Hallaway

5:30 pm - Virtual and in-Person, Neurodivergence, Mental Health, and the Myth of Genius, Adam Stemple & others

5:30 pm - Dirty Drafts, Beta Readers, Critique Partners and Groups, Naomi Kritzer & others

7:30 pm - Virtual Reading, Lyda Morehouse

FRIDAY (September 2)

4:00 pm - The Low-Down on Low Fantasy, Adam Stemple & others

5:30 pm - Canon, Continuity, and Other Fictional Realities, Naomi Kritzer & others

SATURDAY (September 3)

10:00 am - Virtual, The Legacy and Influence of Satoshi Kon, Lyda Morehouse & others

11:30 am - Masks Required: Navigating Fictional and Real Places, Naomi Kritzer & others.

1:00 pm - Reading, Adam Stemple & others

2:30 pm - Teen Meet and Greet, Naomi Kritzer

4:00 pm - What Happened After My Story Got Optioned, Adam Stemple & others.

4:00 pm - Reading, Naomi Kritzer & others

7:00 pm - Virtual, Noir and Science Fiction, Lyda Morehouse & others

SUNDAY (September 4)

2:30 pm - How Do You Make an Impact, A Geek Guide to Activism, Naomi Kritzer & others

4:00 pm - Deconstructing Songs, Adam Stemple & others

5:30 pm  - Adam does music with others

Short Story: Naomi Kritzer

 This is an oldie, but a goodie. It's a story of Naomi's from 2015, where she fairly accurately predicted what life would be like under a pandemic:

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_11_15/

Happy Book Birthday, Kelly!

 Kelly Barnhill has ANOTHER book out this year and today, May 3rd is the very first day it is available for you to buy!

This is one of those books that we all read in critique and told Kelly that it was a winner. This is just gorgeous and heartbreaking and All The Things. Here's a list of some of the places where you can buy your very own copy of it: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/kelly-barnhill/when-women-were-dragons.htm

Short Story - Naomi Kritzer

 "Little Free Library" by Naomi Kritzer was also up for Hugo last year. It was first published in Tor.com in April of 2020. 

https://www.tor.com/2020/04/08/little-free-library-naomi-kritzer/