Oh, God. Why?

Dressed in a simple white chemise, stitched with a hint of gold at the bosom, the Faerie Queen made a symphony of white and gold.

White and gold, huh? You don’t say.

The Faerie Queen, on a dais across the room, rose from the simple wood chair in which she sat talking with a cluster of other Fae.

It’s like I was trying to use every preposition in one sentence.

On the other hand, I’m quite fond of this image.

The naiad hummed under her breath and the gills on the side of her neck yawned pink against her pale blue skin.

Lois Tilton at IRoSF reviewed Clarkesworld, which includes “Clockwork Chickadee.”

The chickadee hatches a plot with the live mouse, but it’s hard to believe that the sparrow would have been so foolish as to fall for their trick. I don’t think the chickadee is very nice.

Hee hee. I don’t think the chickadee is very nice either.

Scott M. Sandridge at The Fix reviewed Clarkesworld Magazine, #21, which included my story “Clockwork Chickadee.”

…don’t let the surface innocence of the story fool you. Kowal delves into shades of gray and exposes the grayness in a fairy-tale style trapping often used (at least in modern times) to compare the usual black-and-white view of morality. All these reasons and more make this story well worth reading.

I read all my manuscripts out loud. It’s not just spelling errors or missing words that I’m looking for. It’s things like this.

Cassie looked ahead, expecting to see the Queen’s Court, but the road through the forest still wove through the trees.

No kidding. Really? The forest had trees in it? Wow.

Maybe I should just say…

Cassie looked ahead, expecting to see the Queen’s Court, but the road still wove through the forest.