Sorry for being away so long from the blog! I had a lovely trip to Washington, D.C. to visit my parents, and now I'm back. I have more than one cool story to share from the trip, but the most exciting news is something that happened just yesterday: I sold a second story to Clarkesworld!
"Soul's Bargain" is special to me because it's a story from my Varin world, making this the first time I've ever sold a story from Varin to a pro market. It's actually a peek into the world's distant past, 750 years before the "present" (as represented in the novel that I just signed on with my agent Kristopher O'Higgins).
Pelisma has worked passionately her entire life to expand and strengthen the cavern city where she lives, which has borne her name ever since she saved it from a catastrophic flood. But the city of Pelismara can never achieve its greatest potential, because the surface wilderness of Varin is dominated by wysps, tiny floating sparks that pursue and burn anyone who builds a fire or attempts to clear land.
Now Pelisma's eyes have failed, leaving her dependent on the assistance of others, able only to ask in frustration, Is this all the ambition we have left? To beautify and perfect a confined existence?
Something more alarming has also changed: wysps have begun to approach
her without warning or reason, piling fear and uncertainty atop her
frustration. Are the wysps a force of nature, or are they souls? What possible explanation lies behind their anomalous behavior? Can she find it before they consume her in flames?
The story comes out tomorrow, July 1! I hope you enjoy it!
#SFWApro
Wonderful news! Congrats.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, E.L.
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