Okay, I promise I’ll stop posting soon.

Disabled

Want to read Doppelganger right now?

You can buy it on eBay.

Seriously, it’s just a little bit surreal to find an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of your very first novel floating around the internet. And then disappointing to realize nobody’s bid on it yet. <g> I mean, I knew there was a secondhand market for these books — they get sent out to generate advance buzz and get reviews circulating — so I knew that yes, someday, there would be ARCs of my own work out there. Somehow, though, I just wasn’t expecting it so soon.

(Yes, I was Googling myself. Don’t ask me why Doppelganger got mentioned on a romance forum, but the person there said it was excellent. Woot!)

So I think I’ve entered two new realms of writer-hood today. This review business is one of them. The other, I was reflecting on this morning, as the reports start to come in of the lineups for Year’s Best anthologies.

In 2004, I published precisely one story: “White Shadow”. Other than a brief, wistful bit of dreaming when I heard there was going to be a Year’s Best YA Fantasy anthology, I didn’t give it much thought.

In 2005, I had five stories hit print: “The Princess and the . . .,” “Silence, Before the Horn,” “Shadows’ Bride,” “The Twa Corbies,” and “For the Fairest.” Now, mind you, of those all, only “The Twa Corbies” is more than five hundred words long — I published a lot of flash this year. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have hopes, though; I have a writer’s ego, which is to say volatile and capable of great delusions of grandeur along with pits of blackest despair. We’ll see if it comes to anything; I know Ellen Datlow was eyeing some stories from Jabberwocky, though I don’t know which ones. (I love all my creative children, of course, but some have special places in my heart, and “Silence, Before the Horn” is one of them.)

But the point is that I’m moving into a realm I’ve never been in before, namely, one where Year’s Best anthologies mean something to me as something other than just a reader. I might end up in one. I’m following their construction for the first time in my life, paying attention to who edits what, when they make their decisions, when they get published. I’ve
got seven more stories in the publication pipeline; they may not all make it out next year, but I might also sell more. I’m playing a new game now, and it’s kind of fascinating.

But that’s enough writerly procrastination for the night. I need to take the IRB test, which means getting into anthropologist-head.

0 Responses to “Okay, I promise I’ll stop posting soon.”

  1. unforth

    It’s really totally awesome. We’re all gonna know, like, a famous author or something, and that’s totally spiffy. 🙂 (congrat’s on stuff!)

    • ninja_turbo

      This is very true, and we are better for knowing her. Gods know I’ve learned more about being a Writer than most anyone else. And every writing-related post comes with a built-in reaffirmation that yes, It Can Be Done.

      But the Changeling Gang is not going to be known as having claim to only one famous author.

      There’s also , whose L337 Feminist Spec Fic will be taught in universities worldwide. There’s the thrilling and seductive tales of , which will be gobbled up by lovers of the sexy and macabre near and far. And who knows? Perhaps will take breaks from Golemizing the world to give us some of his fiction.

      And maybe, just maybe, their combined clout could get their token turbo ninja fox gamer some fame. Maaaaybe.

      A guy can hope.

      • Marie Brennan

        A guy can revise, and send out the revision for comment, and get himself ready to make use of whatever clout I’m actually able to muster on his behalf. ^_^

        • azorielios

          Or, in my case, a guy could actually attempt on occasion to put his thoughts down coherantly on paper (or screen, I suppose), then follow the advice listed above. At least the first two parts of it, anyway.

      • selenya

        Awww…*blushes just a little*

        Sexy and macabre! Yay!

      • princess706

        Let’s not forget that other guy, in Norway, who has been writing for a living for more than a year now…

      • sarcastibich

        A guy can get ahold of a girl so she can give her feedback about a novel because a guy didn’t give a girl a call while he was in state.

        *poke*

  2. locke61dv

    For more self-stalkering, try Technorati. It’s scary good!

  3. lowellboyslash

    Hooray for Year’s Best! If Terri Windling were still running it, I’d say you should ship “Twa Corbies” over to her right frickin’ now. As it is, I fully expect to be warned when they do pick up one of your stories, because they will. Oh yes.

    • Marie Brennan

      The various YB editors automatically get copies of any magazine worth its salt; no shipping necessary on my part. Should they want something, they’ll let me know.

  4. danielmc

    and i have decided to bid on the ARC.
    …that’s not illegal is it?

    • Marie Brennan

      You’re certainly not breaking any laws, no. Technically ARCs aren’t supposed to be sold (it says so on the cover), but the entire publishing world blithely ignores that — in part because the circulation of an ARC is really only going to raise the profile of a book. The only upsetting angle is when, as is the case here, the ARC is new and unread. They’ve acquired something of a status as collector’s items, but honestly, they’re meant to be read.

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