Book Launch for "Runtime"!

Today is the big day. My first book (of many, I hope!) is out in the wild, wooly world, ready to be read (and loved or hated). I'm feeling like a parent whose child is on her first sleepover - proud, excited, and a wee bit terrified. 

Runtime features cyborgs in a grueling race through the wilderness, set against a backdrop of new immigrant laws and a gender-neutral social movement. You can read the first part for free at Barnes & Noble Readouts, and then delve deeper into the challenges of long-distance running with Chris Lough's analysis over at tor.com.

If you pre-ordered the eBook, it should have landed in your eReader of choice by now. The print version might be waiting on your doorstep. If you start reading it tonight and it keeps you up too late (it had the effect on some of my early readers), um, sorry-not-sorry! 

Links to purchase it are on the banner at the top of this page. If you enjoy the book, I'd be grateful if you can spread the word and leave a review. 

My Favorite Things (Part 2)

Better late than never, right? I promised a list of some of my favorite fiction written in 2015. This post is too late to affect award nominations so rather than call out the stories which are on ballots (or likely to be so), I'm going to pick out some short fiction that received less attention but are dear to me.

I'll start with this story from Jason Kimble, which (full disclosure) was the first one that made me swoon as a submissions reader. The story is entirely science fiction and told by someone who's viewed by society as not all there. It was published on Escape Pod and of course podcast, as well. Have a look or listen here: Broken.

Next is story told mostly via tweets, which is a brilliant concept - one that I've tried out myself - and Henry Lien has executed it very well. This one is highly relatable and relevant science-fiction, featuring a plucky protagonist, dolphins, and...well, I won't give anything more away! Originally published by The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, it has been made available for free on Henry's website. Read it here: Bilingual. 

Love Letters to Things Lost and Gained: when I read this story by Sunny Moraine's in Uncanny Magazine last year, I was overwhelmed with envy. I wish I'd written this! I won't say anything more because much of its beauty comes from the discovery of what's happening.

Here is a story that arrived at year end, always a tough time to garner attention from (voting) readers. It's by A. Merc Rustad who I think is a brilliant storyteller and seems to love exploring post-human and non-binary gendered worlds as much as I do. It was published online by Lightspeed Magazine: Tomorrow When We See the Sun.

If you need to cheer yourself up or simply want a good laugh, check out Laura Pearlman's ode to Reddit, aliens, and radishes, published by Flash Fiction Online. I'm in awe of anyone who can write humor - especially humorous science fiction! - and I think this story is a great example of how to do it well. Read it here: I am Graalnak of the Vroon Empire, Destroyer of Galaxies, Supreme Overlord of the Planet Earth. Ask Me Anything.

Last but not least, a flash fiction piece by another wonderful writer, Rachael K. Jones. She published a lot of short stories last year, but this one was my personal favorite. It's a fast read with delicious prose so I will simply point you at where you can read and enjoy it for yourself: The Law of Conservation of Hair.

I want to note that this is not at all a comprehensive list! I happened to choose these highlights, but that doesn't mean I didn't love a whole passel of other stories. You can find many of those other stories (and more that I would've loved to read if only the day had more hours!) on the SFWA Nebula Reading List for 2015.

An Open Letter to Voters on the Political Left

I'm hearing that some of you would rather vote for Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton for president, and I'm deeply disturbed. I get that you're going to be upset if Bernie Sanders loses the primary. You're feeling the Bern. That's awesome. Bernie Sanders is an amazing person and has shown great moral fortitude in his behavior as a politician. Go ahead and be his champion for the primaries.

But if he loses, if Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' candidate in the general election, you won't vote for her? Why not? She is a product of the equal rights and civil liberties movements. She's a champion of women's rights and a living example of hard work to earn success. Even in the 2008 general election, she was considered to have a more liberal voting record than Barack Obama, and I'm pretty sure you were all happy to vote for him.

Donald Trump is a the son of wealthy, white parents, who was given every advantage and safety net from the day of his birth. He's not a maverick! Yes, he's outside the political system, but all that means is that he hasn't the foggiest idea of how to govern. We have no indication of what he stands for (other than money money money). And let's not even get into the other Republican candidates, all of whom have appalling voting records when it comes to liberal policy, especially for women's rights.

The Republican party is already threatening to stonewall President Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court. Do you not realize the magnitude of this in shaping decades of policy to come? If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency - and nominates a female justice - we have a chance to see near gender-parity on the highest bench in the nation. Have you seen what three women justices can do for a case that deeply affects women's rights? These women - Hillary Clinton included - have smashed through multiple glass ceilings to arrive, cut and bleeding, where they are today. They are going to carry these scars forward and think of them every time they have to rule on policy.

You're going to stand at the polls and say that you'd rather have "the Donald"? You'd rather see us go from a self-made, dark-skinned, ultra-dignified President to a rich, white-skinned, entitled man who wouldn't know dignity if it walked up to him with a badge. Really? And it's not because Hillary Clinton has a uterus, right? It's not because "there's just something about her that's annoying and unlikeable, kind of like your Mom when she bugs you about getting to the gym," right?

(Because if it is that, I'm not sure we can still be friends.)

Okay, so let's suppose you don't agree with a lot that Hillary Clinton stands for. She's hawkish. She pushed for welfare reform, and she's not after Wall Street. Fine. I can respect that you disagree with some of her policies, but if you don't vote for her in the general election, you're basically telling the rest of the country to go to hell because you didn't get the candidate of your dreams.

That's...well, frankly, that's childish. Petulant. And short-sighted. Because you didn't get the toy you wanted, you're going to smash every other toy. No. I can't believe this would happen. You are all better people than this. You're voting-aged adults. You can see past the primary to the future of the country that you live in, and you know that nobody ever gets exactly what they want.

So please, my Bern-feeling fellow liberals, when you cast your ballot in November, act your age.