Today is my 43rd birthday. Because I like to give party favors when I throw a shindig and can’t have an actual birthday party today, I’d like to offer you a virtual party favour.

This is my novella “Kiss Me Twice,” which appeared in Asimov’s magazine in the June 2011 issue. (Totally eligible for a Hugo nomination, if you have an empty slot on your dance card and were wondering what to get me for my birthday. Yes, I’m shameless on my birthday. SHAMELESS.)

Kiss Me Twice

by Mary Robinette Kowal

A group of trendy-somethings milled outside the police line, clearly torn between curiosity and the need for a caffeine fix at the coffee shop next door. Scott Huang glanced to the corner of his VR glasses where the department AI hovered. “I guess murder trumps coffee, huh?”

Metta, currently wearing the face of Mae West, lowered her voice to the star’s husky range. “I take my coffee black, like my heart.”

“You don’t have a heart.”

“Then I take my coffee black, like my processor.”

“Nice.” Huang grinned at her. She customized her interface for all the officers on the force, but tended toward silver screen starlets with Huang. Her Diamond Lil was pretty special though; she’d even gone black and white for the occasion. Continue reading I am 43 today. Have a novella as a party favor.

Poor Mary. Even after recording an entire season with Brandon, Dan, and Howard, she still scratches her head sometimes and asks herself “why?”

“Why does Dan say ‘these marshmallows are delicious’ in a funny voice? And why do Brandon and Howard think it’s funny?”

“Why” indeed.

In this particularly self-indulgent episode of Writing Excuses we take you behind the marshmallow. We explain the origins of the ‘cast, and offer you rare insight into what makes this show what it is. We talk about how the show evolved, how our equipment came to be “borrowed,” and how Mary came to be involved.

And throughout the discussion we abandon our typically tight style and talk all over the place (and each other.) Will this help you with your writing? Maybe. If the knowledge that we are silly allows you to relax a little bit concerning your own secret goofiness, then maybe this episode has instructional merit.

It may be, however, that it’s just a warning.

via Writing Excuses 7.6: Behind the Marshmallow » Writing Excuses.

On the first day off from the Month of Letters Challenge, I thought I would report in on how it was going. So far I think it is going really, really well. I should pause here to say that I did not expect this to go viral but, lo, it has. I have no idea how many people are participating at this point beyond suspecting that it is way more than the number of people signed up at the website.

The Month of Letters Challenge has been covered by The Guardian, the New York Times, The Spectator, GalleyCat, and blogs in languages ranging from English to Hebrew. I had no idea — NO idea that it would take off like this. I think it has because I’m not the only one for whom the computer has become a place of work. Other people also want to step back a little and letter writing allows you to do that without pretending that you don’t also love the internet.

I have, at this point, answered seventy-seven letters or postcards and that only takes us through Day Four. Yes. That is a lot of correspondence. But I am loving it. I’m hearing from people that I would never get to talk to otherwise. Housewives from Lousiana, fountain pen enthusiasts from Minnesota, artists from Estonia… It’s amazing.

As much as that, I’m also loving sending out mail to my friends. Before the month started, I used the Month of Letters Calendar to decide who I would write to each day. Even with the volume of mail that has been coming in, I’m still mailing something to one of my friends every day, knowing that they probably won’t write back.

That’s okay. They don’t have to. What’s satisfying is taking the time to think about them and — weirdly — to complete a task. Jackie Gamble pointed this out to me and, by gum, she’s right.

Apart from the magic, which is undeniable, I’m enjoying the sense of accomplishment. It only takes a few minutes to write, seal, stamp, and walk down to my mailbox. As soon as I flip up the flag, I’m done. I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. If only all goals were as easily met! That’s magic, too, I think.

Having a goal of mailing one thing a day is a simple, achievable task. It means that there is at least one thing every day that I can complete and feel good about. You know? So many things that I need to do are open ended.

Yes, I’ve finished writing Without a Summer, but it’s just a second draft. Yes, I’ve finished proofing Glamour in Glass, but I have to plan the launch party. Yes, I’ve finished carving the Fuzzy’s toes, but I still have to ship him. There’s almost always one more step, even after finishing something. Not so with a letter. Once it is in the mail, you have completed your task. All that remains is the potential that someone might write back.

So, yes. Having a passel of people to write back to is terrifying, but awesome.

Are you participating? If so, how’s it going for you?

I am delighted that my story has been picked for the new anthology WILFUL IMPROPRIETY: 13 Tales of Society and Scandal (to be published in the US by Running Press. This is a Victorian YA anthology that takes a fine look at the social restrictions of the period.

Having already seen the proof, may I say that there are some darn good stories in here. Just look at the TOC.

Introduction by Ekaterina Sedia

• THE DANCING MASTER by Genevieve Valentine
• THE UNLADYLIKE EDUCATION OF AGATHA TREMAIN by Stephanie Burgis
• AT WILL by Leanna Renee Hieber
• STEEPED IN DEBT TO THE CHIMNEY POTS by Steve Berman
• OUTSIDE THE ABSOLUTE by Seth Cadin
• RESURRECTION by Tiffany Trent
• MRS BEETON’S BOOK OF MAGICKAL MANAGEMENT by Karen Healey
• THE GARDEN OF ENGLAND by Sandra McDonald
• FALSE COLOURS by Marie Brennan
• NUSSBAUM’S GOLDEN FORTUNE by M. K. Hobson
• THE COLONEL’S DAUGHTER by Barbara Roden
• MERCURY RETROGRADE by Mary Robinette Kowal
• THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Caroline Stevermer

You can read an excerpt from the introduction at ekaterinasedia.com » Blog Archive » New anthology.

If you are a writer seeking an agent AND participating in the Month of Letters Challenge, let me tell you about a neat thing. My agent, Jennifer Jackson, is offering to respond with letter to one randomly chosen query letter per business day. That’s right. A  personal response, mailed back with feedback on either the query itself or the concept of the novel.

In support of this endeavour, I am offering a special query letter #LetterMo. Due to the nature of this proposal, the kind and beneficent Mary Robinette Kowal has given me a variance on rule #2 (see official site here and sign up to participate in the challenge). I will only be responding to the queries received once and not engaging in additional correspondence (unless, of course, I request your manuscript).

For full details, go over to The Month of Letters Challenge | Et in arcaedia, ego. And for heaven’s sake, read the guidelines.

So, people who are new to following me on Twitter sometimes wander in when a game of #marygoround starts up and are justifiably confused. Allow me to explain.

I have had some extraordinarily bad travel karma. It ranges from things like being delayed for two days coming home, to an airline stewardess being so severely shocked that she had to be removed from the plane, to brake failure. On a plane.

Someone suggested that there needed to be a drinking game. So there is.

The rules are simple.

1. When travel goes right, you take a drink (This does not need to be alcohol, nor the entire beverage)
2. When travel goes wrong, I take a drink.

(The advanced version says that for Rule 2 you get to take two drinks.)

You can follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #marygoround

The Guardian has written an article, “Writers bid to revive letter-writing,” about the revival of letter writing. I’m interviewed about the Month of Letters Challenge along with Rumpus editor Stephen Elliot, and publisher Scott Pack who are also bringing back letter writing.

Also… The Guardian. Eep.

My outgoing mail. I keep it on the typewriter closest to the door so I can just grab it as I head to the post office.

I feel like this is the little challenge that could. I had thought that I was going to issue a challenge to my readers and that it might spread a little beyond that. To say that I am stunned by the reception that my Month of Letters Challenge has received would be to understate it quite a bit.

Something in the neighborhood of 20,000 people have at least read the challenge. I’m not certain how many of them are participating but it has certainly spread far beyond my expectations.

I started a website for it, where I’m also blogging throughout the month. And of course, I’m writing letters and postcards.

Here’s my post, Welcome to the first day of The Month of Letters from A Month of Letters Website.

I know what you might be thinking… depending on where you are, it could still be January 31, but in Australia people are already starting to send their missives.

You can send anything. A letter, a postcard, a ticket from a movie you saw with a note jotted on the back… You can hold something in your hands, put it in a little box, and then somewhere else the person you were thinking of can hold the same thing. It’s sort of amazing, when you think about it. Sometimes starting the letter is difficult, but let me share with you some advice from Hill’s Manual of Business and Social Forms, published back in 1879.

“The expression of language should as nearly as possible be the same as the writer would speak. A letter is but a talk on paper. The style of writing will depend upon the terms of intimacy existing between the parties… In your letter be yourself write as you would talk.”

There is a tendency to overthink before putting pen to paper because it seems more permanent somehow than a computer screen. There is no delete key. Don’t fret. The letter you are sending will delight the recipient simply because you thought of them. The little bobbles simply prove that you are not a robot.

Be yourself.  Are you ready?

I have been a little nervous, waiting for the official reviews to start coming in. Library Journal has this in their current issue. May I just say, whew.

Kowal, Mary Robinette. Glamour in Glass. Tor. Apr. 2012. c.336p. ISBN 9780765325570. $24.99. FANTASY

At the start of 1815, newly married and eager to explore her gifts as a glamourist, Jane Vincent (Shades of Milk and Honey) is pleased with life. A recent glamural, commissioned by the Prince Regent, has provided the Vincents with the funds and status to travel abroad. Their destination is Binché, near Brussels, and the workshop of artisan M. Chastain, where they secretly attempt the groundbreaking work of containing a glamour within glass. But soon Jane’s husband’s erratic behavior and misleading communication leave her feeling unsure of her future. VERDICT This sequel to Kowal’s Nebula Award–nominated debut continues to build a historically recognizable world made anew by the addition of “glamour.” The focus remains on Jane’s internal struggle to find a satisfying balance between society’s restrictions and the person she’d like to be, endearing her further to series fans. Espionage and tangled feelings over family create a nice sense of mystery and provide great action and drama. Prepare to settle in and snuggle up in your comfiest chair; once you start reading, you won’t want to stop.—Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

The current Battersea Bridge crosses the Thames and is an iron structure. In the days of The Glamourist Histories, it was still a wooden bridge and the oldest remaining wooden bridge crossing the Thames. This painting is from 1840, so twenty-five years after the events in Glamour in Glass, but looking very much the same. It does give you a sense of how much more rustic certain parts of London were.

An excerpt from Glamour in Glass

The following morning, Jane rose with the intention of visiting her family before their mutual journeys separated them. Vincent declined the opportunity to accompany her, saying that he wanted to paint the Battersea Bridge and catch the morning light. After the fi asco of the previous evening, Jane could hardly blame him for wanting to escape under the thinnest pretence.

Dan and Mary were joined by Sam Sykes at World Fantasy, and invited him to talk about sensory writing, which he had recently discussed in a workshop.

The heart of the discussion is which senses (typically beyond sight) to include as we write. Sounds, smells, tactile information, and even tastes are necessary to engage the reader. And while it’s possible to include too much of that, Sam counsels writers to err on the side of excess because it’s always easy to edit things back a notch should you find upon re-reading that you’ve gone too far.

Sam, Mary and Dan offer lots of good advice on the matter — when it’s important and why, how to do it well, and how not to overdo it.

via Writing Excuses 7.5: Sensory Writing » Writing Excuses.

It is also tempting, watching that last very long sentence, to see how long I can make a single sentence without either resorting to semi-colons, which is a form of cheating since it combines two sentences into one, or to parentheticals that contain entire other sentences, (although I will grant that a parenthetical such as this one, which contains a diversion that is directly relevant to the subject at hand, could be interesting under the right circumstances provided that it is part of the current thought and not some tangent thrown in for the express purpose of making a sentence longer through perambulations into areas of no import) because the exercise might be one that would allow me to explore both structure, and theme, in an expanded form in the same ways that something like a haiku allows one to explore structure and theme in a very condensed form, but the nature of a long sentence is such that it requires utmost attention not only from the person writing the sentence but also from the reader, who is, without a doubt, wondering at the length and attempting to parse the various parts of the sentence while laughing — at least I hope laughter comes at some point — at the very length and the structure that is the subject of the exploration while at the same time recognizing that the entire sentence is an exercise in punctuation and the effect it has on breath and also that there is a distinct possibility that the sentence might never come to an end and then it does.

In all seriousness — well, perhaps not ALL seriousness — or at least in partial seriousness, try to read it outloud because the punctuation actually works for breath management even if it is not, at all times, grammatically correct.

It was late. The scene was making me cranky. That is all the explanation you get.

I have just realized that Jane, from Shades of Milk and Honey should participate in the Month of Letters Challenge. So, she is.

If you want to write to her, address correspondence to:

Mrs. David Vincent
P.O. Box 13346
Portland, OR 97213-0346

I will tell you, as a teaser, that she will be writing back to you with an actual quill pen on a writing slope from the 1800s. The letters will be “Real time” for her in that they will be coming from February, 1815. This means that they will contain references to the first chapters of Glamour in Glass and definite spoilers from Shades of Milk and Honey.

As the subject line says, Scalzi has thrown his hat in the circle for another run as SFWA President.  On his blog he speaks of were-badgers and our work with the volcano powered laser.

Then he closes by saying:

Let me also take a moment to note to the SFWA members among you that you may wish to consider to run for office as well, even for the position of President. There are five positions up for election: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Western Regional Director. SFWA does good work for its members and for writers, but that work is dependent on the service of volunteers, including board members. It’s entirely possible to serve on SFWA’s board and maintain an active career — I’ve written two books while serving on the board (and am working on one now) and will have released three by June 30. Serving on the board is work, but it’s not all-consuming. Think about what SFWA does for you, and then ask if it’s time for you to do for SFWA. Here’s the call for candidates, in SFWA’s forums. Give it some thought, please.

I want to echo that. I’ve said before that I’m not running for the board again. It was tempting to run again, for all the reasons Scalzi is — the real reasons, like the work that we still want to do — but I’ve been on the board for four years.

I’m also moving this year.

I need a break. Now, I’ll run again in the future because I’m committed to the organization but this year, I need to step down.

And I need you to step up.

If you are committed to the future of science fiction and fantasy, this is a pivotal time in the industry. We need smart, engaged people on the board. Please consider running for office. If you have any questions, drop me a line and I’ll talk to you about the time commitment.

Meanwhile, you can read Scalzi’s post I Am Running For SFWA President (Again) (Again) at Whatever.

As you might imagine, we’ll be meeting some new characters in Glamour in Glass. Allow me to introduce you to one of them, or at least to her dress.

When Jane was introduced to Mme Meynard, she had a moment of coveting the belle’s beautiful Pomona green gown with blond lace embellishments.

The original dress was Published in Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, September 1815 and described thus:

A white satin slip, worn under a dress made in pomona green French gauze, terminating at the feet with a full flounce of blond lace, headed with a double border of the same, gathered in full, and confined with folds of satin, of corresponding colour to the dress; handkerchief-front, trimmed with white satin, and a falling collar of blond lace; long sleeve of white satin, the fulness upon the shoulder confined under an epaulet of the French gauze, trimmed with white satin; the sleeve drawn alternately across the arm with the pomona green satin ribbon. Long white sash of white satin, tied in front.
The ends of the hind hair brought forward, to fall in ringlets over the temple, confined with a plain white satin ribbon, and ornamented with a tiara of pearl. Necklace to correspond. Gloves, French kid. Slippers, white satin.