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.

And not just marketing the Sky-Tinted Waters anthology and my new novella, The Curious Case of the Jeweled Alicorn.

I took a trip to Atlanta recently for a conference of the professional organization that Beloved Spouse is an officer of. I tend to go along with her on these trips, just like she comes to all the conventions I attend. We support each other's careers pretty aggressively. Since I'm not part of her organization, I treat the days she is in conference, committee meetings, and panels as a writing retreat.

I ride the bus for hours every week, back and forth to the Day Job, and anyone who has ever ridden public transit more than a handful of times can verify that public transit is full of colorful, weird, wonderful people in all their messed-up, beautiful glory. By the time we got to Atlanta, I had this idea about two mages fighting a low-keyed magical duel every morning on the 94 Express bus between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the unfortunate third-party who gets involved.

By the time we got settled into the hotel, I could see the entire shape of the story and even went so far as to (gasp!) write an outline. This made me happy, except I had several scenes sorted out except the opening, so I had no idea how to actually start the story! Deciding not actually knowing how to start was no good reason to not get things rolling, I kind of flung myself at the story, putting words down and not worrying about if they sucked or not. It felt great (though reading back over the beginning, I think it needs to start in medias res). I wrote a couple thousand of words that first day, the prose coming fast and easy, if perhaps a bit clunky and ugly. No worries though, second drafts and rewrites are for clean-up. I loved it so.

But…

There's always the morning after. When I opened the document the next day, I was nervous and fearful. Oh shiny new story! In the sharp light of morning, I feared you would hustle me out the door with a promise to call sometime soon, but instead you showed up with fresh coffee and a warm smile.

Once we returned from Atlanta things slowed down, not because the story had lost the shiny, but because of my own responsibilities (day job, conventions) and because I caught a cold that made writing something akin to pushing my brain through jello. I started to find the flow harder to maintain, but I knew if I just kept pushing forward, things would be fine. This was a rough patch, nothing more.

This week, I was able to get back to it. It's up over 14,000 words and counting. I'm guessing it will hit between 20- 25K before it's all said and done. Novella seems to be my natural storytelling length. Which is weird, because I use to be Mr. Under 4K.

I wrote a nice, quick 800 words on Sunday morning. I've written past all the notes and outlining I had created and am now wondering through uncharted territory. I'm at the end of a scene, so I should probably stop and think about where we are heading before I write myself into a corner.

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

Eli Effinger-Weintraub is a whirlwind of energy. Since joining MinnSpec, she has thrown herself wholeheartedly into being an assistant organizer and general minion-at-large. One of her primary minion duties was to also copyedit this anthology. I highly recommend her services, but be prepared to be amused by line comments.

I ended the anthology with “The Weed on the Floss” because it is a story that has everything: drama, humor, adventure, strong characters, and a wondrous alternative-history steampunk world to explore.

“The Weed on the Floss” originally appeared in Steampunk Tales #5 in January, 2010.


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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

I’ve known Hilary for a long-time now. She’s one of the greatest cheerleaders for new SFFH writers in Minnesota, a dynamo of energy, and a relentless promoter of MinnSpec. She’s is also a fine writer.

“The Grand Cheat” is a fantastic story of using your wits to affect change in life, even when the Gods themselves are working against you. And any story where smarts and cunning is used to resolve the plot instead of violence and force is a winner in my books.

“The Grand Cheat” originally appeared in the April 2002 issue of Tales of the Unanticipated.


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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

A longtime and highly active member of MinnSpec, Abra is one half of the team that records our meetings for podcast. A terrific writer, gifted with a great reading voice, and a brilliant conversationalist, Abra is the real deal and I look forward to her hitting the big-time any minute.

“These Things Take Time” is a quirky bit of SF driven by the sharply drawn characters and clever premise. I loved this story on the first read and knew I wanted to include it for you, good reader. Enjoy.

“These Things Take Time” originally appeared in the April 15, 2010 issue of Emerald Tales


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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

My first really clear memory of Leanna is from the MinnSpec Publication Potluck Party this past year. I mean, I’m sure we've spoken before. I know she’s been to other MinnSpec functions and she takes part in the message board, but memory being the foggy thing it is... Anyway, she read from her work at the party, obviously nervous, but her story was so lovely to hear that I was left wishing for more stories by Leanna.

I picked “A Veiled Affair” because I loved the atmospheric noir style of the piece and the unique and clever world building. The plot is well-constructed and the story a pleasure to read, and Timanus hits all the right notes for fantastical noir/pulp

“A Veiled Affair” originally appeared in Big Pulp in September 2010.


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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

I’ve been friends with Catherine for some time now, starting with seeing each other at conventions and eventually doing readings together, and finally getting together for friendly chat. She’s smart about the business and willing to help promote writers who works she enjoys.

I picked “At the Roots of the World Tree” because it pushed several of my buttons as a reader; including being heavily character-driven and being about story itself. This is a great combo for me as a reader.

“At the Roots of the World Tree” originally appeared in Kenoma: Speculative Fiction and Myth in 2004.


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

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

John is one of our overseas members, a former Minnesotan now residing in the United Kingdom. He is still active on the group message boards, offering his thoughts and opinions on a variety of matters important to writers.

“Unbelieving Jaxx” is one of the longer pieces in the anthology, a twisting, turning tale of an alternate world of steam tech and powerful magic written very much in the style of Victorian speculative literature. I am quite pleased to present it here.

“Unbelieving Jaxx” originally appeared serialized in Steampunk Tales issues #6, #7, and #8


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

Joel Arnold is another of our returning contributors. In the last year, Joel has been highly successful marketing his previously published short fiction on Amazon. Always a pleasure to talk with, Joel is a mainstay at various book festivals around the Twin Cities.

“The Starlite” is both a dark fantasy and a wonderful bit of pathos. Well-realized characters filled with both sadness and noble dignity make this sometimes grim story click.

“The Starlite” originally appeared in issue #7 of Dark Recesses Magazine .


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.

I found myself at the Twin Cities Book Festival in 2010, standing next to Tyree Campbell, owner and publisher at Sam’s Dot Publishing. Tyree and SDP had published the first Minnesota Speculative Fiction anthology, Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales, and I was helping Tyree sell the anthology and other items to the people passing by his table.

Northern Lights was selling well, an anthology of stories by local writers being a hit with the Minnesota crowd. I asked Tyree if he would like to publish another anthology in conjunction with MinnSpec. He agreed, and we set a tentative publication date for early 2012. I brought Eli Effinger-Weintraub, another MinnSpec member, on board as copy editor.

I sent out a call for submissions to the group. The stories arrived in my email inbox. All of the stories were high-quality. These twenty stood out for various reasons. Of the twenty-one author's, nine had appeared in the previous anthology, so it was good to get some new blood between the pages

This second anthology was significantly easier to get off the ground than the first, proving the value of both networking and having a product that sold reasonably well against which to measure another potential project. It is my hope that you enjoy reading Sky-Tinted Waters as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Michael Merriam
Hopkins, Minnesota
2012

With Sky-Tinted Waters, award winning small-press publisher Sam's Dot Publishing and the 350+ member strong Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers follow up their successful Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales anthology with twenty new tales certain to thrill, entertain, and illuminate. Within these pages the reader will find exciting fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories featuring:

…Rampaging steam-powered constructs
…Bioengineered killer squirrels
…Military serums filled with nanotech
…A demon who pounces on mispronounced words
…An invisible flying pony
…The two worst friends in the world at the edge of space

…And fourteen more tales of adventure, enchantment, humor, terror, magic and science gone wrong, the unexplained, and the unanticipated by twenty authors ranging from debut talents to established professionals in the field of speculative fiction.


Sky-Tinted Waters is available from Sam's Dot Publishing.