“Aixa the Hexcaster” has been published at Mirror Dance!

I said that I’d post again if I got published.

So, with a ton of self-control, I’d like to say that . . .

OMFG YOU GUYS . . . <clears throat> My short story, “Aixa the Hexcaster,” has been published at Mirror Dance Fantasy.

I have the privilege of sharing the Autumn 2016 issue of Mirror Dance with a bunch of stellar authors. Please check it out if you have a moment; especially because Mirror Dance, a fantasy e-zine devoted to publishing high quality short stories, does it all for free.

“Aixa” is set in a New York broken by a magical apocalypse, divided among the mythics–beings that crawled out of the earth when the old world shattered. More powerful than we are, possessing strange abilities we don’t understand, and enjoying an immunity to all of our weapons, mythics became our masters almost immediately, dividing the city into overgrown wilds that they control, and pushing us into scattered camps where they leave us be. Or use us for their wants and whims. But, no matter what they do, they always demand one thing from us.

The truth. Clean and cruel.

Aixa Silva, a sherpa who guides the uninitiated through the wilds, knows all of this well. But, even though she has no love for the mythics, she finds herself unwilling to fight them–even with her hexcaster–a weapon that she knows can harm them. For a long time, she wonders why.

This is the story of how she finds her answer. And how she learns to hate humanity’s new masters.

What’s Next:

When I wrote “A Long Break,” I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever be published. Now, finally having a piece accepted for publication, I feel . . . I mean, I wish I’d somehow recorded my reaction to the acceptance letter.

I . . . freaked out.

It’s just . . . incredibly validating–and somehow humbling; I’m ecstatic to have finally made it here, but I also know that this is just a first step–one on which I have to build a foundation. It took . . . so much work to get this far, and it’s going to take so much more to get published again.

But now, knowing that I’m at least doing it right . . . I suddenly have the confidence to write everything. So many old story ideas have resurfaced because I have the privilege to consider them again.

Staying on point though . . .

1. The blog’s back. I’m not sure what the schedule will be, but I’ll definitely post once a month, at least. I’m also going to go all in with series ideas I had (things like The Writer’s Gauntlet, and 30 Days of NaNoWriMo 2).
2. I’m spending September and October polishing a single short story, “Lokisday,” and a single novel, Memory, both of which are in final tweak stages (although Memory is definitely veering toward, “Just send it out again because maybe too much editing is a bad thing” territory).
3. I’ve also been working on a table top game. It started as a new puzzle to consider when I really, really didn’t want to think about writing anymore, but it’s snowballed into a complex rule set. A 100% complete version of the game, with board and cards, is still ages away from happening (especially if I’m doing the art), but I’m taking it seriously now. Seriously enough that I’m butchering some flash cards, writing stats and drawing sword-wielding stick figures on them, eager to finalize the rules and test it out.

That is to say that now, finally validated, I’m eager as hell to give voice to other stories. Stories that I finally feel like I can tell as cleanly and honestly as I’d always hoped. I still have to work on my craft–of course I do–but now I genuinely feel like I can become a better writer… and make a table top game… and do pretty much anything else I want, as long as I devote myself to doing it right. Doing it well.

So, that’s what’s next, starting with more submissions before NaNo hits again.

As for this post, that’s all I’ve got. As always, thank you for reading. And, if you must write, write well.