In light of the fact that I completely forgot I meant to post this on the blog, and that I was just browsing through the short stories in my Round Robin folder (yeah, I have them separated between the ones I’ve sold, the ones I’m selling, and the ones I really need to finish but unfortunately haven’t done so yet), I should probably go ahead and squee about this. On WordPress, of course. I’m pretty sure I already told a few people that I sold another steampunk short.
I’m talking about Ticonderoga Publications’ upcoming summer anthology, Kisses by Clockwork. Now, some of you are probably sniggering, because, let’s be honest, “Mari, you’re haaaaaaardly a romance writing kind of person!” Or, you know, some of my friends go the ever-popular route of, “Did you write a bad romance?!”
Shame. Shame on you. I’m sometimes a sap for romance, honest! Whether or not I write the “ideal” form that rends heartstrings is clearly subjective, because my version of romance these days hinges less on the carnal and more on the path to get there. Oh, who am I kidding. I totally wish I could write something as sappy as the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Sometimes I wish I could write romance like Juliet Marillier in Cybele’s Secret or Kristin Cashore in Fire or Tamora Pierce in Lioness Rampant. But we know that’s a craft that will take a fairly long time to hone.
So I will settle for Aurora Gaigna and Frederick Newgate in “Smuggler’s Deal.”
If you haven’t clicked on the link above yet, the lineup of the anthology (though not necessarily the order of the stories–I got lucky last time, who knows what will happen this time):
Marilag Angway, “Smuggler’s Deal”
Cherith Baldry, “The Venetian Cat”
Gio Clairval, “The Writing Cembalo”
M L D Curelas, “Ironclad”
Ray Dean, “Practically Perfect”
Stephanie Gunn, “Escapement”
Richard Harland, “The Kiss of Reba Maul”
Rebecca Harwell, “Love in the Time of Clockwork Horses”
Faith Mudge, “Descension”
Nicole Murphy, “The Wild Colonial Clockwork Boy”
Katrina Nicholson, “Lady Presto Magnifico and the Disappearing Glass Ceiling”
Anthony Panegyres, “The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople”
Amanda Pillar, “A Clockwork Heart”
Angela Rega, “The Law of Love”
Carol Ryles, “Siri and the Chaos-Maker”
DC White, “South, to Glory”
———–
On an unrelated note: Apparently it’s been a year to this day since I started this blog. Happy birthday to blog!me?
Story and Somnomancy 
“…Kristin Cashore in Fire or Tamora Pierce in Lioness Rampant…” high standards but you can do it.
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