Sunday, December 29, 2019

2019 in review

Xposted from my main blog on Dreamwidth.
Since it's almost over, I'll go out on a limb and do my year end post. The decade one will be turning up in a day or two.
So the writing part first.

Catherine Lundoff - books and stories either published this year or accepted for next year:

  • Unfinished Business: Tales of the Dark Fantastic (Queen of Swords Press). Single author collection of my horror, dark fantasy and weird fiction.
  • “By Her Pen, She Conquers” - LHMP Podcast, Heather Rose Jones, editor/host. Historical setting - young female playwright in Regency England finds new opportunity and a love interest at Drury Lane Theater.
  • “Good for Your Career? Evaluating Events for Writers” - SFWA Blog
  • “Inheritance” - forthcoming, media tie-in story for Wraith: The Oblivion edited by Matt McElroy (Onyx Path Publishing). If you read my story "Incarnadine Seas" in The Cainite Conspiracies for Vampire the Masquerade, this is a sequel.
  • “Lost Girl” - Fireside Magazine October, 2019, edited by Julia Rios (Fireside Fiction). Lesbian ghost story.
  • “Hunger” - American Monsters Part Two edited by Margrét Helgadóttir (Fox Spirit Books). A story about Minnesota nice, Minnesota monsters, Minnesota winter and toxic masculinity.
  • “The Rani’s Dream” - forthcoming, Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives edited by John Linwood Grant (Belanger Books). Mystery short story in which the acclaimed detective has to work with an Anglo-Indian agent who specializes in the occult to solve a jewel theft.
As Emily L. Byrne:
  • “Nights in Red Satin” - The Sexy Librarian's Dirty 30 Vol. 3 edited by Rose Caraway (Stupid Fish Productions). A middle-aged Latina tries to find her spark again.
  • “Arachne” - forthcoming, Nobilis Erotica Podcast, Nobilis Reed, editor/host. Reading of my Arachne and Athena story from Knife's Edge.
As publisher at Queen of Swords Press:
  • Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks. More Ramos, Simms and Deliah! If you liked Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures, this is the sequel (and if you haven't read either of them yet, you should check them out).
Selected events - MultiverseCon, Twin Cities Book Festival, Untitled Town Book and Author Festival, The Loft’s Wordplay, WisCon, St. Cloud Pride, 13 Gears, MCBA’s FallCon, the Minnesota Ampersand Club. Plus 3 classes taught at Cat Rambo's Rambo Academy and a whole bunch of readings, presentations, talks, book tables, etc.

Other things that happened this year:
  • I worked 60-70 hours a week all year, between my day job, writing and publishing-related stuff. This was on top of doing the same thing last year and the year before.
  • It was, in short, unsustainable madness. I got laid off at the end of October and have spent the last 2 months recovering.
  • I lost my dear friend Beth to ALS earlier this year and several other friends to other unpleasant things. I miss them all.
  • There are ongoing family health issues that I won't go into.
  • I am actually reasonably healthy at the moment, knock wood.
  • Reconnected with some friends I haven't seen for a while.
  • Finally got the furnace replaced and put in central air.
  • I've done a whole bunch of writing on a couple of novels in progress, revived my Patreon and did a bunch of things to get Queen of Swords Press to the point where it is mostly paying for itself. The next steps are covering all its costs and paying me.
  • Travel this year has been mostly regional, with the exception of a trip to D.C. for Outwrite. Other places visited for events: Madison, Green Bay, St. Cloud.
  • The endless political and environmental trashfire has definitely taken a toll on me and everyone I know.
So there it is, my 2019. Better than a lot of people's, worse than a few. Here's hoping 2020 is a better year all around for all the best reasons. Let's make things better, people!

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

So MUCH news!

I am thrilled to report that my story "Arachne" from my collection Knife's Edge has been accepted for the Nobilis Erotica Podcast! I'll post when it's live. And my novel Medusa's Touch got a nice shoutout on Cynthia Ward's year end wrap-up at Ambling Along the Aqueduct!

All of my books are on sale for the I Heart Lesfic Holiday Mega Sale (starts tonight and runs through 12/29/19).

And since my publisher, Queen of Swords Press, has to reset everything to match the Amazon proces and the Smashwords end of year sale also starts tomorrow, my books are on sale at Smashwords starting 12/26 and running through 1/1/20. All Queen of Swords Press titles are also on sale direct from the website from 12/26 - 1/1/20. Sale prices should also be reflected on all other platforms by 12/26 so if you prefer Apple or Kobo or B&N or international ebook platforms, those are options too!

Happy holidays and please enjoy!

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Booksale to benefit Scarleteen!

Buy one or more of my books direct from Queen of Swords Press
between now and Oct. 1 and I’ll donate 50% of my royalties to Scarleteen! Scarleteen is a terrific sex-ed resource for teens and anyone else who wants more information on sex-ed, reproductive rights, consent and related issues. They could use some donations right now so I'm hoping to help out!






Saturday, September 14, 2019

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Smashwords sale and new story posted!

My novel, Medusa’s Touch, is on sale this month at Smashwords, though 7/31. Hot women, tentacles and other fun stuff!

Other Me has a new story up at author Heather Rose Jones’ Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast. “By Her Pen, She Conquers” is not erotica but there is an f/f romantic subplot in my story about Regency  playwrights and the theater. Check it out here and please support the podcasts!

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Ebook sale and new story out!

I Heart Lesfic Megasale is going on this week, through 5/31. Pick up ⁦‪SILVER MOON by Catherine Lundoff for your #menopausalwerewolf fix! And my sexy collections DESIRE and KNIFE’S EDGE for $1.99 apiece! Lots of other titles to choose from and our titles are on sale on #Amazon#Smashwords or direct from the Queen of Swords Press Website.


The Sexy Librarian’s Dirty 30 Vol. 3 is here! Includes my story “Nights in Red Satin,” along with some smoking hot tales by some of the best erotica writers out there.



Happy reading! 

Monday, March 25, 2019

Class reminder!

My class on writing effective sex scenes is coming up this Sunday, March 31st!
Why should you take a class with me on this topic? I’m a former Loft Literary Center instructor, a 2-time Goldie Award winner, have 4 collections of my erotica plus one erotic romance novel published and have stories in over 15 year’s best anthologies. In short, I know my stuff and have good pointers.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Upcoming events, etc.

Xposted from Other Me's blog: I'm pretty pleased to announce that my new historical short story, "By Her Pen, She Conquers," will be included on Heather Rose Jones' Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast later on this year. "Pen" is about an aspiring questioning/lesbian playwright trying to get established in the madcap theater world of Regency England. This year's line-up looks pretty interesting! And, of course, you can listen to my contribution from last year, "One Night in Saint-Martin" here (follow the links to the other stories). Please give these a listen and boost them, if you like them. This is very much a labor of love for Heather and one of the few options that those of us who write queer historical short fiction have to earn pro rates. (And please pledge the Patreon for the host site if you'd like more of this kind of programming).

I've got a bunch of interviews coming up on various blogs soon and will post when I have links. I've also just turned in a short book feature to Nerds of a Feather and that will go up in early March. I'm finishing up my outlines for my upcoming classes at Cat Rambo's Academy for Wayward Writers and should have everything finalized soon. I heartily recommend the classes on this site - I've enjoyed the ones I've taken and have found them to be affordable and useful.

Otherwise, I'm wrangling taxes, and snow and more snow and prepping for this weekend's 13 Gears Steampunk Festival, where Queen of Swords Press will be sharing a table with authors Michael Merriam and Patrick W. Marsh. There will be music and tea and costumes and fun and we'll be bringing our steampunkish titles, including Murder on the Titania and Other Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks, Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) and my own collection, Out of This World, which includes a steampunk ghost story. And speaking of both Alex and steampunk, we're working on the next Captain Ramos and crew book, Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures, which will be out in April from Queen of Swords Press. More on that soon!

After 13 Gears, I'll be performing (by which we mean reading my work) at the Not-So-Silent Planet Spoken Word/Open Mic Series: Love & Lust at Kieran's Pub in Minneapolis on 2/19. I'll be reading some sexy Emily L. Byrne fiction and I hope some of you can make it. Other performers include Lyda Morehouse, Laura Packet and Tom S. Tea, as well as brave open mic participants!

New Guest Blog Up on "The Power of Sex Scenes"

I've got a new guest blog post up as Other Me today, this one on author Karelia Stretz-Waters' blog, on the topic of writing good sex scenes. This is a warm-up of sorts for my online class, In Flagrante Delicto, which I'll be teaching on 3/31 (assuming people sign up) at Cat Rambo's Academy for Wayward Writers. Karelia will be doing a series of these posts with different authors so please be sure and follow along.
Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Upcoming classes and sundries

Other Me (Catherine Lundoff) will be teaching a couple of online classes in March/April at Cat Rambo's Writing Academy. These include:

I/Catherine will also be doing a reading at the Not-So-Silent-Planet Spoken Word Series on February 19th at Kieran's Irish Pub in Minneapolis. This will be the erotica/romance edition and should be lots of fun.

And this is just me playing around with widgets from Smashwords (though you are more than welcome to click through and actually buy a book):

Friday, January 4, 2019

Nice shoutout for MEDUSA'S TOUCH

If you need additional incentive to come to my Queer Romance Ink Author Takeover tomorrow (QRI Facebook Group, 2-3PM CST), my novel MEDUSA'S TOUCH just got a nice shoutout and rec on acclaimed science fiction author Martha Wells's blog! 💖

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Queer Romance Ink event coming up this Saturday

Coming up this Saturday, 1/5/19 at 12-1 PST, I'll be doing an #AuthorTakeover at ⁦‪@QueeromanceInk‬⁩! Stop by to chat, ask me about my work and get entered to win a signed copy of my novel MEDUSA'S TOUCH! #authorchat #bookgiveaway You do need to join the Facebook group to participate.