Because some have forgotten

In 1883 a Jewish writer named Emma Lazarus was asked to write a poem to help raise money for the pedestal needed before the Statue of Liberty could be erected on what became Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She refused until southern writer (really southern--she helped sew the original Confederate battle flag) Constance Cary Harrison convinced her how important that statue could be to immigrants sailing into the harbor.

Ultimately she wrote a sonnet titled "The New Colossus", after the statue which stood astride the harbor of Rhodes, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Since 1903 the words have hung within Lady Liberty's pedestal. They read:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
 With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
 Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
 A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
 Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
 Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
 Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
 The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

 "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
 With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
 Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
 The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
 Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
 I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As someone who was in the Pentagon on 9/11, two corridors away from the point of impact, I reject the hypocrisy of those hiding their craven bigotry under the flag of national security. I stand with the Mother of Exiles. I welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. I live for the day when we once again open that golden door.

The Annual Awards Eligibility Post, 2017 Edition

We writers ask a lot of our readers. Not only do we ask you to read--and love!--our stuff, we want you to buy it, rate it, review it, and yes, nominate it for awards. Reading and loving feeds our twisted little writer souls. But sales, promotion and awards are what pay the rent and keep the cat in kibble. (Trust me, you do not want to attempt stringing words together around a hungry cat. It never ends well.) 

With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you again for everything you read and reviewed over the past twelve months. If your 2016 keepers happened to include any of my stories, I'd be thrilled if you nominated them. But the important thing is to recognize the work you loved in 2016. Awards are one of those rising tides that lift all boats. The recognition gives us all a boost. 
To get you started, here are some links to the awards now open for nominations: 

- The Dragon Awards 

- The Hugo Awards 

- The Nebula Awards

- The WSFA Small Press Award 

And just in case you were trying to remember the details of that story you loved, here is the relevant information for my 2016 releases, including excerpts: 

Story: "The Clockwork Nightingale" 
Length: 16,000 words (novelette) 
Publisher: E-Spec Books 
Release Date: May 29, 2016 
Excerpt 

Story: "The Five Bean Solution" 
Length: 9,200 words (novelette) 
Publisher: Zombies Need Brains, LLC 
Release Date: September 15, 2016 
Excerpt 

Tales from the Vatican Vaults (which includes "Cooking up a Storm", my secret history story about the Burning of Washington in 1814--with voodoo) was published in the United Kingdom in 2015, but wasn't released in the US until last month. I'm adding it to this list, because that 2016 US publication date means it wasn't eligible for a Nebula until this year.

Story: "Cooking up a Storm"
Length: 17,700 words (novella)
Publisher: Constable and Robinson
US Release Date: December 27, 2016
Excerpt

 Hey, a girl can dream!