FREE for International Short Story Day

Yes, the longest day of the year is devoted to the shortest of stories. Happy summer solstice -- how are you spending the longest day of the year? I'm sharing some of my short stories that are available on the net for your reading pleasure, which ought to keep you busy a while:

“Homework.” Flash fiction. Necon E-Books. June 2012. Honourable mention, May Flash Contest.
“Twitter Wedding.” Poem. Asinine Poetry (Summer 2012).
“Just Waiting.” Short story. Near to the Knuckle, 5 June 2012.
“On seeking a place for a picnic.” Poem. Short Humour, 22 May 2012.
“Biscuits.” Flash fiction. Short Humour, May 2012. Also available at Postcard Shorts, May 2012.
“Bill is Dead.” Flash fiction. Pulp Metal Magazine, Spring 2012.
“Words.” Flash fiction/podcast. Dogcast 5: March 2012.
“Yuletide Feast.” Short story. Short-Story.Me: 21 Jan 2012.
“Mandrake Anthrax.” Short story. A Twist of Noir, 14 Dec 2011.
“A Charming Situation.” Short story. Written for the Sherlocking fan site: Scribd (Nov 2010).
“Touched by an Angel.” Short story. Kalkion (Jun 2010).
 “Wixey.” Flash fiction. Wild Violet 8.1 (2009).
“Fluorescence.” Short story. The Harrow (Jul 1008).
“Palakainen.” Short story. New World Finn 7.2 (Apr-Jun 2007): 4-6. Reprinted: Mythic Passages (Feb 2009).
“Sinikka Journeys North.” The Beltane Papers 25 (2001): 14-19. Reprinted: Mythic Passages (Feb/Mar 2004). Collected in Unikirja.

 ~and the one that started everything off

“Revelation.” The Official Clive Barker Page, www.clivebarker.com. Winner, MGM/United Artists/Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions Short Story Contest, November 1995.

NEWS!

☼ The big news is the cover art for UNQUIET DREAMS, my forthcoming story collection from Tirgearr Publishing. I love the spooky gal in the hennin and the magpie OF COURSE! Judging by the reaction when I posted it on Facebook, folks dig it. I am quite bowled over by Mike (FREAKIN'!) Mignola saying, "Wow - great cover!" I tell you, Kem is floating on air with that praise. And the always generous Steve Bissette has given me a sweet pull quote (thanks!):

“Kate Laity’s Unquiet Dreams  is the long, deep plunge in the coldest quarry in the woods; the lingering look under the rotting wood at all the writhing life there; the stare into the abyss until one realizes something is staring back.”

☼ The lovely Maura trundled me out on a little jaunt to Kinvarra, Yeats' Tower and Coole Park, which was simply glorious. You can see the pictures beginning here. It was a magical day! Fitting as I took "unquiet dreams" from Yeats, I owed him a visit.

☼ A new poem up at the Short Humour Site: "Kingsley Amis in the Afterlife" -- be sure to check out Chloë's poems, too!

☼ My post "How to Write More" over at A Knife and A Quill seems to have hit a nerve, and I have an hilarious interview with Mr B where we do our best Morecambe and Wiseing. I have another writing gig to announce soon, the direct effect of ROOK CHANT. I don't want to jinx it, but everything's coming up Milhouse lately: I hope it lasts.

☼ I'm planning to migrate the blog over to the website, where you may notice I've been tinkering with the layout and the look. It would be advantageous to have everything in one place, though it's a bit of a wrench to shift from here where I've been for EIGHT years. I experimented by migrating the serial over to Kit's page and all seems well, though of course there are about ten times as many posts here. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

News & The Ongoing Madness

I don't know what I fundamentally do not understand about the process but the yardsale, as many already heard on Facebook and Twitter, was pretty much a bust. I sold a few things but I ended up abandoning the cause and leaving folks to loot as much as they wanted for free. Not all of it, oddly. Some great stuff went begging. I took what was left to donate in the morning. I guess people just don't want my stuff :-(

I am dividing everything I own into three categories: things I must take to Galway, things I want to hold onto but won't take to Galway (and must be loaned or stored) -- and everything else, which must go. And must go now. I have given stuff away and donated stuff and still there is way too much.

>_<

Somehow it will all get done in the shockingly short amount of time left -- despite starting to teach a three-week long course today, yeah. How will this happen? I don't know, it's a mystery.

I got a nice email from the US Embassy in Dublin on Thursday. Apparently Sept 8th is International Literacy Day and they want to feature my project in Digital Humanities, "Writers in Motion," in a news clip on their website. So there'll be a picture of me and an abbreviated description of my project for the first day of my Fulbright orientation in Dublin. By the by, I'll be leaving from JFK on Sept 4 and flying to Shannon, then probably taking a bus to my new home in Eyre Square.

The new issue of Pagan Friends features an excerpt from Pelzmantel. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, and think you might enjoy a story of medieval magic, here's a fine opportunity.

Oh, and um -- print editions of The Mangrove Legacy! Did I mention that already? :-)

Travel Twitterfeed

Big News!

Okay, so remember how I got that form letter rejection from the Fulbright Foundation? Turns out that was an error. I'M GOING TO GALWAY!



I got the phone call this morning (and yes, still nervous not to have something tangible to show but they assure me it's real :-) and wow, was it hard to teach with all that in my head but I couldn't see the dean until this afternoon. I was fairly certain that the college wouldn't have a problem with supporting a Fulbright scholar but you know, best to be sure. Now I'm going to have to run around banging on my pots shouting, "Fulbright, Fulbright, Fulbright!"

UPDATE: I've got a PDF of the offer letter which is winging its way to me now.

Things to Celebrate

UPDATE: I'll be reading as the narrator for the College of Saint Rose Women's Initiative's presentation of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues Saturday night at 7pm. The show plays on Sunday at 3pm with my fabulous colleague and friend Angela Ledford as narrator. Tickets benefit Equinox. Girls Next Door will be performing at the interval.

The desk wombat announces (though the odd angle makes it look like a two-legged creature, eh?) that there is some news to share. First, that my William Blake-inspired short story "Eating the Dream" has received the FEMSPEC: The Best of the Second Five Years first prize in fiction. They're going to announce the prizes at the Popular Culture Association Conference in San Antonio and also at Wiscon, but I won't be able to be there. FEMSPEC also gave prizes for criticism, memoir and poetry. A big party has been planned to celebrate. Congratulations to all the winners!

The other good news is that I have my ticket to Rome for spring break where I will be staying with the fabulous Alessandra. I can't wait! I've never been to Italy. I was hoping to go last fall, but things didn't quite work out. So tell me your useful Italian phrases and recommendations! I definitely want to see the Caravaggios and probably the Coliseum and the catacombs and who knows? Dance in the Trevi Fountain! I want to relax and eat good food and drink good wine and laugh and talk. Whatever happens, I'm sure I will have a wonderful time.

Kit Marlowe has been busy, too, talking about making book trailers at Tease Publishing's blog and she'll be reading from The Mangrove Legacy for the Tuesday Talking Teaser this coming week over at JoJo's Books.TODAY! Kit is the Friday Guest at Isabel Roman's blog: stop by!

BitchBuzz: Made (Over) in Dagenham & News

Good news: "High Plains Lazarus" finished 9th in the Predators & Editors poll for Best Horror Short of 2010. I seem to be the only woman in the top ten. Thanks to everyone for their support and voting. It's always awkward asking people to vote for you, but I'm learning to be a little more shameless.

If you need a chuckle, stop by and read my piece for Polite Company Magazine, "Deleted Scenes from the State of the Union." I'm particularly proud of the birthers joke.

I'm still buried under the madness of the semester's start. Ay yi yi -- why re-entry has been so difficult, I don't know, but it has. I have to find some way to get minions. It's the only answer. But of course, the main event: my column for this week incorporates (obliquely) my review of Made in Dagenham, grumbles about the inflated praise for The King's Speech and the Oscars' preference for women who are mad, drunk or dying. Bleh:

Made (Over) in Dagenham

 We don’t really need to see the true grit of history, do we?

The road to Oscar success for women can be easily codified, as Film Site does for us:

"Biographies of remarkable, real-life individuals (showbiz figures and entertainers) and portrayals of the mentally ill are heavily represented among Oscar winners (and nominees), particularly in the acting awards. It helps an actress's chances of winning (or being nominated for) an Oscar if the character dies during the movie, or is alcoholic (or drug-addicted), or is a murderess."

It seems that Natalie Portman will most likely prove the winner this year, despite the incredible performance turned in by Jennifer Lawrence in the finest film of the year, Winter's Bone, for her turn as a prima ballerina falling apart, given that True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld received a nomination as a supporting actress, despite being the star of the film.

It's ironic that a saccharine "biography of a remarkable, real-life" man, The King's Speech, has scooped so many nominations when somewhat less saccharine "biography of a remarkable, real-life" woman, Made in Dagenham, was overlooked completely (right down to the Billy Bragg-penned theme song sung by real former Dagenham worker, Sandie Shaw)...

Read the rest at BBHQ: http://culture.bitchbuzz.com/made-over-in-dagenham.html#ixzz1CG9jcRzS

Unexpected

Well, the most unexpected thing yesterday was the snow that fell after the weather report suggested no more than the possibility of some light rain. My first reaction was disbelief, then dismay as it continued to fall. We finally accumulated over an inch and a quarter. There's something distressing about getting snow this early, though there's a part of my brain that says, well, maybe we're getting it out of the way early in the season though of course another part of my brain whispers, oh god, it's going to be a real long winter, isn't it?

Today is advisement day, which always fills me with misgivings. What advice can I offer? Don't do what I do? Life is easier if you conform, follow the rules and do what everyone tells you to do? Nah, I can't really advise that -- then again, all they really want to know is what classes to take next semester. I can do that. Well, with the help of my computer interface, I can do that.

The other unexpected thing came in the mail. Accustomed to getting rejections in the mail (acceptances usually come via email or phone), I experienced a sharp stab of disappointment to see a thin envelope from CIES in the mail yesterday.  But I opened it to find more encouraging news:

Namely that I've sailed over the first hurdle toward the Fulbright. That's something: not everything, but something. My file is now being sent over to Ireland to be considered along with the other finalists. How many finalists? Don't know. When will I know if I make the final cut? Somewhere between "March and May" although sometimes it can be beyond May, depending on, oh, a host of factors. You can be approved, not approved or held in reserve as an alternate. For the latter, you might have to wait until first stringers decide whether to take the opportunity. So more waiting. Trying not to think about it -- yet plan for the possibility of going abroad for an extended period of time. Or not.

Sigh.

"Only the first phase": I love the sentence, "Given the multi-phased review process, it is important that you do not take any irreversible action based on expectation of an award." In other words, don't tell your boss off, quit your job and sell your house.

Two theatre outings to review soonish; a Moore essay sent off that should be appearing in Studies in Comics eventually, part of a themed issue from the Moore conference in Northampton last June.

UPDATE: It's Tuesday, so it's time for another entry in "La Ronde," the round robin story started by Patti Abbot. Check out  Evan Lewis' story.

News Round-Up

Okay, the week has been massively mad -- more than usual? Oh I don't know! -- and I feel like I am scrambling just to be caught up on something. Or maybe I'll just distract you with this li'l doggie from CuteOverload. So... cute...!

Yesterday Steve and I took the tour around Albany, going to bookstores, a coffeeshop and lunch at Karavalli's (mmmm!) and then just hanging out here watching some comedy. It was good to have a chance to hang out with my big brother.

I've been working on the website for Women's and Gender Studies: I hate the web interface we have to use for the college. It's one of these "idiot-proof" systems that means it's infuriating to someone who knows what they're doing. Frustrating. So I've been listening to The Fall a lot ("Stop mithering!"). My endless cries for minions or acolytes go unheeded: there are articles that need reformatting to be sent back to editors. Tedious work! I hate tedious work.

On the plus side, I placed two humor pieces this week. More about these when they become available, but it was doubly pleasing because one of them was requested of me in very flattering language, which really bowled me over. I don't get asked to contribute to a lot of things and if I do, it's generally because I know the editor. This came out of the blue. Quite a boost to the ego, I can tell you. The editor said she really loved "The Last Ant" and wanted a piece like it. She thought the one I gave her to be "absolutely hilarious," so I am pleased.

What else? Over at the League, we've had interviews with the staff and next week with some of the contributors. I have a column this week at BitchBuzz, but it hasn't posted yet (not quite sure why, but there are some major changes about to occur at BB, so that probably has some effect because I need to incorporate new developments ). Patti Abbott's got part five of La Ronde, the ongoing round robin story I was part of over at her blog. Todd's got the latest entry in Friday Forgotten Books. Un:Bound is about to unveil a super secret project. Of course, there's always something interesting to see over at the Queen's Eyrie. There's lots going on!

Newsletter

You may have noticed a new box on the right to sign up for my newsletter. This will give you updates on my appearances and publications, and nothing else! I promise not to involve you in pyramid schemes or real estate dodges. I will however offer you freebies, beginning with the story "Tangled Up in Some Sort of Cerulean Hue" -- a mash-up of Dylan lyrics gone slightly askew and Marlowe's Faust that appeared in a small literary magazine and thus, difficult to obtain. Once you've joined the group, you'll find it under "Files" on the main page.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Email:

The group is run through Google groups. While it may be easier to manage if you have a Google account already, that is not required. You send your email and then it sends you a confirming email (which sometimes gets caught in your spam filter, so check there if you don't receive one fairly quickly). So join the Cult of Kaity (thanks again, QoE) and enjoy the fresh citrus flavour!

Vote Today!

I don't usually focus on politics, but today all USA-ians have the opportunity to change our country and our influence on the world. It is your duty as a citizen to get out there and vote. Of course, I have definite opinions about who are the best candidates, but my haranguing you here won't affect your vote. I will say that I'm voting to end the horrors of the last eight years, a culture of deceit and cynical war-profiteering by old men who can't remember how many houses or factories they own, who show contempt for their fellow citizens and got us mired in an illegal war based on lies and personal aggression.

I am tired of fear-mongering fools who use their own mental faculties to disparage intellect and education, to the extent that the education system in this country has reached a crisis of over-management and discouragement to both instructors and students. I despair at a nation that values the arts so little, obsessing instead about their own fifteen minutes of shallow fame.

Vote! Your life, your job and the survival of the world may just depend upon it.

Becoming Elinor Dashwood

We are moving again; at least this time, it's only about 10 miles. Nonetheless, it will be (as always) difficult. Even more so because we are moving into town and, necessarily, into a smaller place (that's city life). On the plus side, the apartment is three blocks from my office and includes heat and water. That means savings in gas as well as money. It's a lovely little apartment and very light. Four closets -- in contrast to the one we share at present. No attic and no shed, however, which will prove a challenge.

I have decided that I must approach this as Elinor Dashwood would. The heroine of Austen's Sense and Sensibility provides the perfect model (appearing above in the fabulous paper doll version by Legacy Pride). We must simply do without a lot. Part one: go to Connecticut and get everything out of storage later this month (probably the 17th). Be ruthless: we will need a storage place here, but we want to unload things we could not convince ourselves to abandon when we moved to Texas. We'll be able to get some of the books that we could not take with us then and swap out some that we do not need at present.

I have a feeling those stairs up to the third floor will make some choices easier.

To seal my fate, I took the requisite on-line quiz which persuades me that I am in fact inclined in that direction:

Take the Quiz here!

Quiet Weekend

Not much exciting to post because we have both been busy writing or scanning (in Gene's case). We did hear from Miss Wendy, who has been terribly busy with her students in Los Angeles, meeting up with my pal Adrean (yay!) and getting ready to visit SF. And we're not in Manchester, so waah! Deadlines loom, so I'll leave you with some wise words which came to me courtesy of the Kripalu Center:



Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. poet, essayist, and lecturer

News and Updates

While Elena suggests naughty habits of wombats, The Harvard University Gazette covers the folklore and witchcraft conference I attended, and Neil's got pictures of Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's wedding. Oh, the craziness of me! Somehow, I will get everything done that I need to do before Monday, right? Oh, yes -- somehow. Then there's that circus on Saturday...

[Image thanks to www.ilikeseamonsters.com]