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Publisher’s Note: Meet the Finalists!
Did you know that Kristine Kathryn Rusch had not one but two stories from 2022 chosen as Asimov’s Readers Choice Award finalists? (Well, actually, it was technically three, but more on that in a minute.)
“Rocket Girls,” which was published in the May/June 2022 issue of Asimov’s, is a finalist for the Best Novelette category. And we can totally see why. It’s one of our favorites, as well. (And, truth be told, one of Kris’ favorites—shhh, don’t tell her other stories.)
WMG published “Rocket Girls” as a standalone ebook in December 2022. Here’s the synopsis:
Angie achieved fame as a spacer. But when some fresh-faced interviewer asks Angie to tell the origin story of the Space Bimbos, the interviewer gets more than she bargained for.
Instead, Angie tells the tale of a group of ambitious and talented girls who, inspired by an old pulp magazine called Rocket Girls, cobbled together a rocket and tried to blast off into space—and then, made history.
With “Rocket Girls,” Kristine Kathryn Rusch puts her own genius female-empowered twist on the build-a-spaceship-in-your-backyard trope from the pulps.
You can read the story for free right now on the Asimov’s site or buy it here.
The second (and third) stories nominated are in the category of Best Novella. It’s for The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, which was originally published in two parts as novellas: the first in the September/October 2022 issue and the second in the November/December issue. Both novellas are finalists.
You can read the separate novellas for free right now on the Asimov’s site.
WMG will be releasing the full novel, which marries the novellas together into one complete story, in June.
Here’s the synopsis:
The Renegat Renegades finally learn their fate in New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, the gripping new novel in her award-winning Diving series and an Asimov’s Readers’ Choice Award finalist.
As the surviving crew of the Renegat face court-martial for mutiny—100 years in their future—the case makes everyone nervous. Prosecutors worry the survivors will prove too sympathetic to convict. The defense worries about the reliability of the defendants. But the survivors worry about what might happen should the truth—the whole truth—finally come to light. Set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s expansive Diving Universe, The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades adds rich new background to this powerfully written series.
With shocking secrets, a deepening mystery, and a surprise witness, this spellbinding sf mystery mixes the best of legal fiction and space opera and proves Rusch’s place as a master of science fiction.
You can preorder the novel here.
So, read them for free now or buy them for later (or both). And read some of the other finalists, as well. Five of those feature authors WMG has published stories from in the past—Jane Yolen in Fiction River, Rick Wilbur in Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, and Geoffrey A. Landis in The Year of the Cat, so maybe we’re a bit biased.
What can I say? We love our authors!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Hunting for Leprechauns
Growing up, I had a strong sense of my Irish heritage. I also knew I was Spanish, but didn’t have a strong sense of what that meant. Not then. So, the Irish side drove much of my connection to my family’s heritage as a child. My mother’s maiden name starts with the familiar O’, so it would have been hard to avoid, anyway.
Like many Irish Americans, my family emigrated out of Ireland during the potato famine. They weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. My mother still has a sign hanging in her house as a reminder of those times: “Irish Need Not Apply.”
The Irish spent years working to change those attitudes. And they eventually did. You can read all about the history of the Irish in America here.
Unsurprisingly, St. Patrick’s Day has long been a big day in my family. And like any good Irish family, we celebrate with food: Irish soda bread and Irish stew, specifically. (Although now that I live on the West coast with a husband who is not fond of lamb, it’s more beef stew with a Guinness on the side.)
The soda bread is my favorite. But my daughter’s favorite part of St. Patrick’s Day is not the food. It’s the leprechauns.
Ever since Nola’s first-grade teacher had her class make leprechaun traps, she’s determined to catch one. We even have shamrocks in the house year-round to make the house inviting.
But the leprechauns have proven elusive. Maybe that’s because they’re busy doing other things.
Just like the one in Kristine Grayson’s “Cosmic Balances Inc.” So, as my St. Patrick’s Day gift to you, I’m giving you the ebook free this week. (No, gift-giving isn’t normally a thing for St. Patrick’s day, but I like any excuse to give our readers free stuff.)
Click here to get the story and find out why poor Grint’s St. Patrick’s Day just took a turn for the worse.
So, enjoy the story, wear some green, enjoy some Irish food or drink, and have a very happy St. Patrick’s Day this Friday!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Celebrating Women
March is Women’s History Month, something that gets more important to me as I (and my daughter) get older.
We’ve made progress as women, of course. Just check out all the amazing women’s history resources that can be found here.
But there’s still much work to be done. And it’s up to all of us to do it.
We start with our kids, of course. We’ve been careful to demonstrate to Nola since she was a baby that she can be and do whatever she wants.
When she was little, I didn’t surround her with all pink and girly things. I incorporated primary colors whenever I could. She had pink princess stuff, of course, but she also had red, blue, and green blocks and toy cars. She watched Sofia the First and Handy Manny.
As she got older, I let her choose where her interests would take her. She did T-ball one year and cheerleading the next. Now, she’s a green/brown belt in karate and a member of a girls volleyball tournament team. She’s also the lead villain in the high school musical and plays the tuba.
She’s a remarkably versatile kid, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
But it’s not just real-world people she can draw inspiration from. Fictional characters can open whole new worlds to young women who don’t have the same exposure and opportunities that my daughter does.
And it’s not just young women that fiction can inspire. I find myself gravitating more and more to strong female characters.
It’s why I love Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Diving Series so very much.
Her main female character, Boss, is seriously badass. (Kris, by the way, is pretty badass herself.) If you haven’t been introduced to Boss yet, start with Diving into the Wreck.
Here’s the synopsis:
Boss dives derelict space vessels, for money, yes, but more for their historical value. So, when she uncovers the find of a lifetime, she enlists the best divers she knows to help her pursue it—off the grid and under the Empire’s radar.
Boss’s discovery leads her and her team to the Room of Lost Souls. Boss remembers the Room. It haunts her. Her mother died there. Now, a client wants her to go back to help uncover the Room’s mysteries. But the truths they discover might destroy everything Boss holds sacred.
Because the more they discover, the less they realize they know—and the more it will cost them all.
An Asimov’s Readers’ Choice winner and RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice pick.
Click here for buy links.
And if you’re already familiar with the series, but missed our recent Kickstarter, you can now preorder The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades. Boss isn’t in this one, but there are other badass women.
Here’s the synopsis:
The Renegat Renegades finally learn their fate in New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, the gripping new novel in her award-winning Diving series.
As the surviving crew of the Renegat face court-martial for mutiny—100 years in their future—the case makes everyone nervous. Prosecutors worry the survivors will prove too sympathetic to convict. The defense worries about the reliability of the defendants. But the survivors worry about what might happen should the truth—the whole truth—finally come to light. Set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s expansive Diving Universe, The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades adds rich new background to this powerfully written series.
With shocking secrets, a deepening mystery, and a surprise witness, this spellbinding sf mystery mixes the best of legal fiction and space opera and proves Rusch’s place as a master of science fiction.
Click here to preorder the book from the WMG Books Shopify Store.
Now, let’s raise a glass (or a mug, if you prefer) to amazing women everywhere!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Unexpected Discoveries
A series of strange events happened last week. For the first time in my daughter’s life, she had an actual snow day. And honest to goodness snow day where you go out and play in the snow for hours. It was an amazing thing to behold.
We live on the Oregon Coast, so we don’t get snow much. When we do, it’s flurries, or, if it sticks, it’s like an inch, tops.
But this was a legit snowstorm. Almost six inches of snow. Enough to sled on. And miraculously, our neighbors had some sleds (from a vacation to snow country).
And it was enough to build a full-size snowman instead of the lego-size version.
So, while it was unexpected, sometimes the unexpected leads to wonderful new things.
Take Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Fey series. The original books were epic fantasy. But the new books are an unexpected but wonderful blend of fantasy and steampunk.
And thanks to release of The Kirilli Matter, the first new Fey novel in more than 20 years, you can experience just what I mean.
Gripping, imaginative, and a tour-de-force of thrilling storytelling, New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Kirilli Matter launches her acclaimed Fey series into exciting new territory.
When the investigation of a brutal murder scene points to terrifying suspects, Augusta Kirilli must find a way to protect her family’s secrets—secrets so long buried, she must discover their meaning or risk her own destruction. Set in the world of The Fey and masterfully blending fantasy and steampunk elements, Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Qavnerian Protectorate saga adds rich new dimension to this powerfully written series.
From its shocking opening to the deepening mystery at its conclusion, this groundbreaking novel takes epic fantasy in a whole new direction and proves Rusch’s place as the greatest storyteller of our time.
Click here to buy the ebook directly from our Shopify store or here for more options.
The whole Fey series has been republished with gorgeous new covers, so there’s never been a better time to get the whole series in paper!
Click here to see all the books in the series.
In other news, The New Diving Novel Kickstarter has hit four stretch goals and is still climbing. And since we hit that fourth stretch goal, all backers at the $5 reward level and up will get a very special notebook filled with chapters pulled from the final version of The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades. I’ve read it, and it’s a fantastic look behind the scenes to the events that play out in the book.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, click here now. It ends this week!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Future is Now
In case you don’t keep up with the news, we reached a tipping point with artificial intelligence recently. AI technology is spreading and accelerating at a pace I’ve not seen with technology since the advent of the internet. AI art creation, AI chat bots, AI-enhanced search engines… Heck, even my language learning app Duolingo just added an AI-enhanced tutorial model.
It feels a bit like we’ve just found ourselves 100 years in the future overnight. Or like we’re in a science fiction novel. Or both.
Which is ironic, because that’s exactly what happened to the crew of the Renegat in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s latest novel, The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, which is the feature of our latest Kickstarter.
Every supporter of The New Diving Novel Kickstarter at the $5 level and up will get an early copy of The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades in ebook format.
Here’s the synopsis:
The Renegat Renegades finally learn their fate in New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, the gripping new novel in her award-winning Diving series.
As the surviving crew of the Renegat face court-martial for mutiny—100 years in their future—the case makes everyone nervous. Prosecutors worry the survivors will prove too sympathetic to convict. The defense worries about the reliability of the defendants. But the survivors worry about what might happen should the truth—the whole truth—finally come to light. Set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s expansive Diving Universe, The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades adds rich new background to this powerfully written series.
With shocking secrets, a deepening mystery, and a surprise witness, this spellbinding sf mystery mixes the best of legal fiction and space opera and proves Rusch’s place as a master of science fiction.
In addition to early access to this fantastic new novel, the Kickstarter also features Kickstarter exclusive rewards for readers and writers alike.
For readers, we have a reward for signed/limited hardcovers for the new novel as well as stretch goal rewards featuring three special notebooks full of cut chapters from this new novels and false starts and supplemental material from past books in the series.
For writers, we have three rewards featuring two special new workshops: Creating Science Fiction Technologies and How to Create Ships as Characters. And we’re launching a brand-new series of writing workshops in the stretch goals featuring Space-Cowboy Pete and Rocket-Fuel Rachel.
And we might even have a surprise or two up our sleeves we have yet to reveal.
Click here to check out the Kickstarter.
Or, if Kickstarters just aren’t your jam, you can preorder The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades directly from us on our Shopify store.
Just click here.
It’s a brave new world out there. And the future is now.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Genius at Play
Patrick Mahomes is a genius. Of this, I’m convinced. Watching him play is like watching a great artist. What he creates is breathtaking.
I grew up watching football, and it’s my second-favorite sport to watch (after baseball), but I’ve never been a die-hard sports fan. I always watch the Super Bowl, and since my husband is a huge fan, I watch it more now than I have at other times in my life.
And since John is a lifelong Chiefs fan, I watch Mahomes a lot. And he fascinates me.
I can see him working out puzzles in real time on the field. I’ve seen great players over the years, but watching him is different. He has a beautiful mind, and I love seeing it in action.
He reminds me somewhat of great writers who write into the dark (like our own Dean Wesley Smith). If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it means, in its simplest terms, that you write without an outline. You sit down, start writing, and go where the story takes you.
This takes skill, of course. You need to have the fundamentals in place and some great storytelling talent to write this way.
Just like Mahomes. Talent: check. Fundamentals: check. And then he goes out there each play and sees where the game (or the story) takes him. And he trusts that he’ll get somewhere good.
Sometimes, it doesn’t work out, of course. But he regroups and gets back to the process. Trusting himself and his ability to move the story forward.
Just like a great writer.
I spent the past week surrounded by great writers…and up-and-coming writers, and aspiring writers…at the Superstars Writing Seminar in Colorado Springs, and I flew home on Super Bowl Sunday, so perhaps that’s what caused me to make the connection.
I also watched writer after writer thank Dean for his seminars on writing into the dark. It freed them. In one case, the writer said that it saved her career.
If you’re a writer, and this resonates with you, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean’s Teachable workshops on the subject. You can find them, and hundreds of other writing workshops, here.
Now that the Super Bowl is over, I won’t be able to watch Mahomes’ artistry again for a while. But at least I have plenty of other genius storytelling to experience in the meantime.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Magic of Machines
We live in weird times. Technology is evolving so fast that it sometimes feels like magic.
I recently had a conversation with an author who wanted my take on the evolution of AI, particularly as it comes to the creation of prose (such as ChatGPT).
That’s a complicated topic. I’m not just a book publisher; I’m also a professor. I think AI text generation has its uses. I think it could be sure useful for helping people write cover letters, reference letters, business correspondence, that kind of thing. Especially for people who struggle with those.
But I recently took a test the New York Times originally posed to education experts (and the venerable Judy Blume) to see if they could tell the difference between a student’s writing and ChatGPT. And here’s the thing: I spotted the AI every single time. It wasn’t always easy, but humans are, well, human, and their strengths and weaknesses in writing are fairly easy to spot if you know what to look for. It’s still hard for AI to fully mimic those. Especially kids.
But the extent that AI gets close? Well, that makes machines seem rather like they’re using magic.
Which brings me to steampunk. And our latest StoryBundle. Here’s what curator Kristine Kathryn Rusch has to say about The Fantasy Steampunk Bundle:
The best steampunk gives us fantasy with an attitude and weird mechanical somethings or other. When we expect magic, we get machines. When we expect machines, we get magic. Sometimes we get both at the same time. We called this StoryBundle Fantasy Steampunk because most of the stories here are either steampunk, fantasy with steampunk elements, or fantasy that feels like steampunk.
The bundle includes three books exclusive to the bundle, all of them brand-new. The Victorians make a big appearance here, although we also have a story set in the Old West during the Victorian Era. A touch of H.G. Wells (the original steampunk writer) and some Orcs working in the Motor City, which, even though it’s set during Prohibition, feels steampunk to me.
WMG has three books in this bundle: The Reflection on Mount Vitaki: A Prequel to the Qavnerian Protectorate by Kris, Card Sharp Silver: A Cave Creek Novel by Dean Wesley Smith, and Fiction River Presents: Sorcery & Steam.
Add in the seven other fantastic titles, and the ability get all of them for just $20 and contribute to charity all the while, and what could be better?
You can learn more about the bundle here.
Machines or magic. Or both. You decide.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: The Importance of Being Educated
Last week, as I sat through the longest two and a half hours I’ve ever spent in a theater, I was reminded why it’s so important for us to expose our kids to the arts.
My daughter was in her first high school play (her school is a 7-12, so they let the middle-school kids participate, too). It’s the first play they’ve done in years because of the pandemic. In fact, I’m not sure they did dramatic plays before the pandemic, either.
So, this was new territory for them. And the first play the well-intentioned but poorly reasoned directors chose for these 12- to 18-year-olds to perform? The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with that play, click here and read about it. Don’t worry, I’ll wait…
So, yeah. Heavy stuff for kids. Hard material for any actor.
Add to that the fact that they had basically a month to rehearse.
You guessed it. It didn’t go well. Only Nola, who had a smaller part, and one of the other main actors had their lines memorized. The rest had to have lines fed to them from the wings by the director. It was a small theater, so we all heard those in stereo. And one of the actors was so poorly prepared that he had to carry around a book the whole time with his lines in them. He didn’t look up once, not even when he was trying to strangle Dorian Gray.
It. Was. Torture.
And I had to sit through it because I love my kid. When I wasn’t trying not to gouge my own eyes out, I was jealously looking over at my husband, who can nap anywhere…
I don’t blame the kids. This is a poor community, and they probably haven’t been exposed to real theater. Plus, they didn’t have the time to prepare, and they were set up to fail by the material. I also don’t blame the directors (much) because they’re young and at least they’re trying to offer these kids some access to the arts.
But I did have plenty of time to think about how we can get these kids more exposure to quality art. I will be working on that.
A huge part of teaching is understanding your subject. Those directors did not. But when the teacher does: wow, is that powerful!
And if you’re a writer looking to hone your craft, have I got some powerful teachers for you! Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch are masters of their craft and will gladly share that mastery with you through online workshops and the occasional in-person one.
If you prefer in-person workshops, you still have time to sign up for the Romantic Suspense Craft Workshop or the Fantasy/Thriller Craft Workshop, both taught by Kris later this year in Las Vegas.
And if you prefer online workshops, Dean and Kris have hundreds of options for you through Teachable. Click here for the full list.
And this February, Dean has even resurrected two classic workshops to full workshop status, with homework and everything, in addition to the other regular workshops where you can Study with Dean. Click here to see those.
It’s so important to keep learning. Especially from excellent instructors.
As for me, I’ve learned never to go to a high school play again without my AirPods…
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: Middle School: What a Magic Age…
I remember seventh grade vividly. And not just because that was the year of the Challenger space shuttle disaster (because it was carrying a teacher for the first time, we all watched in school). Or because it was also the year for a more local school disaster when the third-floor ceiling collapsed in our science room, trapping our teacher under rubble and seriously injuring her (thankfully, classes were changing at the time, so all of the students managed to get out, albeit barely).
Those were the obvious traumas. But there were so many other traumas that, while not life-or-death, sure felt like it at the time: bullying, frenemies, puberty.
Seventh grade is hard. I knew it would be hard on my daughter. But I didn’t expect it to be so hard on me, too.
My daughter talks to me about most things. (It used to be everything, but naturally that has diminished some as she gets older.) And I will never discourage her from sharing things with me, even though my introverted nature really needs a break from the drama sometimes.
And whoa boy, the drama. I hated it in seventh grade. I hate it now.
But she’s figuring out who she is, and how to deal with it all. So, I’m doing my best to support her while not unduly influencing her—other than to make sure she’s not an asshole. That’s Parenting 101 in my book: Don’t let your kid grow up to be an asshole.
She’s not an asshole, thank goodness. She’s a great kid. And it’s bittersweet to watch her turning into a great mini-adult.
One good thing about the drama of these school-age years, however, is it’s wonderful fodder for fiction.
So much so that WMG has included a three-book bundle in the current offering on StoryBundle for the Magic School Bundle.
Here’s the synopsis on The Daughters of Zeus Trilogy by Kristine Grayson:
When Zeus tried to use his teenage daughters Tiffany, Crystal, and Brittany to destroy true love, they rebelled. So, he stripped them of their magic. Now they live with their mothers in “the real world.”
But magic cuts both ways; it can provide enormous power to any mage who knows how and when to use it, and it can backfire when used without the guidance of wisdom. This trio of Olympian offspring decide to take the on “real world” and reclaim their magic, one way or another.
This omnibus contains three novels, Tiffany Tumbles, Crystal Caves, and Brittany Bends.
Pay at least $20, and you can get this three-book bundle as well as nine other fantastic book offerings around the Magic School theme. Plus, you can choose for a portion of your purchase to go to Girls Write Now and Mighty Writers, charities aimed at helping kids develop their writing skills, and even perhaps nurturing future writers!
Click here to check it out!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must answer a text from my own little future writer about the latest seventh-grade drama.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
Publisher’s Note: A Wonderful New Venue for Our In-Person Workshops!
I’m back in the office this week after a fantastic week in Las Vegas for the Fantasy Caper Craft Workshop. It was so good to spend some time connecting with our writers again.
We had to stop offering these workshops during the height of the pandemic, and then the venue we had used for years became undesirable for a host of reasons.
That’s all changed now!
We held the workshop for the first time at Resorts World Las Vegas. What a fantastic venue for a writing workshop! This new resort (it’s a Hilton property) focuses on entertainment in the greater sense rather than just the casino. In fact, the casino seems secondary. You can avoid it if you want.
The writers loved it. Even our writers with special dietary restrictions had places to eat. And it was quiet. Far different from the noise of our last venue and some other venues in Vegas.
We are excited to keep offering workshops at Resorts World now that we know how well they work. But we do have minimum numbers we need to reach to make these work from a business standpoint.
So, if you’ve been hesitating to sign up for the upcoming Romantic Suspense Craft Workshop in May or the Fantasy/Thriller Craft Workshop in July, I encourage you to get off the fence and sign up. These in-person workshops are one of the rare opportunities to learn the craft face-to-face from bestselling and award-winning writer and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch. And Kris’ in-person workshops are legendary.
To view the full list of in-person workshops on offer, click here.
And don’t forget that the entire curriculum for all of our workshops (in-person and online) is available here.
The Year of the Rabbit hasn’t even started yet, but WMG is already hopping!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.