Publications and Sales in 2022
Jan. 1st, 2023 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
p_h_leeI am continuing to embrace the fact that no one reads Dreamwidth and considering it a strength.
I published ten short stories in various venues in 2022:
This Story is Called "The Transformation of Things" in the Xenocultivars anthology, then reprinted in Zooscape. A parable about a redwood tree that wants to become something else, some specific thing that it cannot put a name to. Has guest appearances from a dimetrodon Buddha and the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou.
The Honest Fox, or, A Truth Shared is Not a Truth Lost in Lightspeed. Part of my "Tales of the Great Sweet Sea" series, this is a parable about a fox who, alone among all foxes, is honest and kind. A story about finding your place in the world, and learning that anxiety is not the same thing as decency. Quite different from the other Great Sweet Sea stories, because it is actually a parable from the "far and sunward lands" which has been adapted to local tastes.
An Ill-Fated Girl Meets an Ill-Fated Man in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A doomed romance in a magical Qing dynasty leads to tragedy not only on a personal scale, but throughout the empire. A bit of a tribute to "The Dream of the Red Chamber," my favorite novel.
(Also, my first publication in a "big three" print magazine! Cool!)
The Turnip, or, How the Whole World Was Brought to Peace in Lightspeed. A story about two brothers, one poor and clever, the other rich and selfish, and the enormous turnip that comes between them. A retelling of my favorite Grimm's fairy tale, with a slight addition onto the ending.
A True and Certain Proof of the Messianic Age, with two lemmas in Fantasy. A version of Rabbi Akiva's parable of the fox and the fishes, from the Talmud, but retold as it might be remembered by an entirely digital, post-singularity society. Yes, it's another talking fox parable. I will never stop writing talking fox parables.
How the Crown Prince of Jupiter Undid the Universe, or, The Full Fruit of Love's Full Folly in tor.com. Once upon a time, The Crown Prince of Jupiter happened to glance at a miniature portrait of Esmerelda, Princess of the Sun, and full hopelessly in love. But was that really such a good idea? A lovelorn planetary romance about the foolishness of romantic entitlement, with cameo appearances by some of my favorite science fiction authors.
(My first story with tor.com! Yay!)
The Tragic Fate of the City of O-Rashad, in Lightspeed. A prophetic warning about the dangers of transgressing divine edicts. Particularly, the divine edict regarding military spending as percentage of GDP.
To my daughter, in the dark of the moon, in Lightspeed. In a bizarre and alien world, a warrior women gives some advice to her young daughter before heading off to a foolish and almost-certain death.
Two Megabot stories, in fuckit issues #11 and #12. What if the Power Rangers were in group therapy? What if the Power Rangers were really good at group therapy? (Not actually the Power Rangers for various reasons.)
I sold just three stories in 2022, down from thirteen in 2021 and ten in 2020. This is, to a degree, expected. Through a combination of things, 2020 and 2021 represent a career peak for short fiction sales which I'm probably never going to reach again, both because I no longer have a two decade backlog of unsold short fiction to polish, and because I am shifting my priorities to focus more on producing books (novels and novellas and collections) rather than standalone short fiction. Nonetheless, it does feel at least a little bit disheartening.
(no downer scale ratings for these yet, but may edit the post to include them later.)
I published ten short stories in various venues in 2022:
This Story is Called "The Transformation of Things" in the Xenocultivars anthology, then reprinted in Zooscape. A parable about a redwood tree that wants to become something else, some specific thing that it cannot put a name to. Has guest appearances from a dimetrodon Buddha and the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou.
The Honest Fox, or, A Truth Shared is Not a Truth Lost in Lightspeed. Part of my "Tales of the Great Sweet Sea" series, this is a parable about a fox who, alone among all foxes, is honest and kind. A story about finding your place in the world, and learning that anxiety is not the same thing as decency. Quite different from the other Great Sweet Sea stories, because it is actually a parable from the "far and sunward lands" which has been adapted to local tastes.
An Ill-Fated Girl Meets an Ill-Fated Man in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A doomed romance in a magical Qing dynasty leads to tragedy not only on a personal scale, but throughout the empire. A bit of a tribute to "The Dream of the Red Chamber," my favorite novel.
(Also, my first publication in a "big three" print magazine! Cool!)
The Turnip, or, How the Whole World Was Brought to Peace in Lightspeed. A story about two brothers, one poor and clever, the other rich and selfish, and the enormous turnip that comes between them. A retelling of my favorite Grimm's fairy tale, with a slight addition onto the ending.
A True and Certain Proof of the Messianic Age, with two lemmas in Fantasy. A version of Rabbi Akiva's parable of the fox and the fishes, from the Talmud, but retold as it might be remembered by an entirely digital, post-singularity society. Yes, it's another talking fox parable. I will never stop writing talking fox parables.
How the Crown Prince of Jupiter Undid the Universe, or, The Full Fruit of Love's Full Folly in tor.com. Once upon a time, The Crown Prince of Jupiter happened to glance at a miniature portrait of Esmerelda, Princess of the Sun, and full hopelessly in love. But was that really such a good idea? A lovelorn planetary romance about the foolishness of romantic entitlement, with cameo appearances by some of my favorite science fiction authors.
(My first story with tor.com! Yay!)
The Tragic Fate of the City of O-Rashad, in Lightspeed. A prophetic warning about the dangers of transgressing divine edicts. Particularly, the divine edict regarding military spending as percentage of GDP.
To my daughter, in the dark of the moon, in Lightspeed. In a bizarre and alien world, a warrior women gives some advice to her young daughter before heading off to a foolish and almost-certain death.
Two Megabot stories, in fuckit issues #11 and #12. What if the Power Rangers were in group therapy? What if the Power Rangers were really good at group therapy? (Not actually the Power Rangers for various reasons.)
I sold just three stories in 2022, down from thirteen in 2021 and ten in 2020. This is, to a degree, expected. Through a combination of things, 2020 and 2021 represent a career peak for short fiction sales which I'm probably never going to reach again, both because I no longer have a two decade backlog of unsold short fiction to polish, and because I am shifting my priorities to focus more on producing books (novels and novellas and collections) rather than standalone short fiction. Nonetheless, it does feel at least a little bit disheartening.
(no downer scale ratings for these yet, but may edit the post to include them later.)
