Category: Publishing

Reading at Seattle WorldCon

You can hear me read “Wishbone,” from my new collection Patti 209, at 3 p.m. Saturday (August 16) in Room 428 of the Summit building at the Seattle Convention Center (WorldCon membership required).

I could freak out about the fact that my reading is in competition with readings by two of the biggest names in science fiction (Brandon Sanderson and Mary Robinette Kowal) or I could breath a sigh of relief that I didn’t get relegated to a late-afternoon reading on the final day of the convention or an early-morning reading on the opening weekday. I’ll go for the sigh of relief. It’s better for starting a reading. BTW, I’ll be followed by Matt Youngmark, who writes delightfully zany and beautifully illustrated children’s books.

Copies of Patti 209 will be for sale in the Dealers Room at the LimFic and Fairwood Press tables.

If you’re in the publishing field, you know all too well how hard it is these days for authors to get any sort of traction for their new publications. I won’t add to the laments; I’ll just refer you to this excellent and dispassionate explanation by Cherie Priest, author of the brilliant new novel It Was Her House First.

How (and Why) to Review a Book

Want to delight an author whose work you enjoy? Post a three-sentence review of their book (or story) on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads.

I had coffee this week with a fellow author and we noted that while we’re both selling books, we’re not getting the online reviews that are essential for building reputation and getting the next book (or story) published. We don’t mean book reviews from newspapers (most papers don’t even have reviewers any more). We mean reviews from the readers who’ve purchased the book!

Anyone with an Amazon account can leave a book review, even if they bought their copy of the book at a local bookstore or borrowed it from the library. Even if they just read one chapter, and liked that.

And the formula for a short review is pretty simple:

• Is this the sort of book you usually read?
• What did you like (or not like) about your experience with the book?
• Who do you think might want to read it?
• If you enjoyed it, what scene, character, or story was your favorite?

Karen Eisenbrey, author of A Quest for Hidden Things, Ego & Endurance, the Daughter of Magic trilogy, and the St. Rage duology, loves to review books by other authors.

“Writing a review is balm for a book hangover, when the book was so good, you didn’t want it to end,” she says. “Reviewing allows you to spend more time with a story and characters you enjoyed, putting into words what you liked and why. At the same time, a review is a cost-free way to promote a book and author you like, letting more readers know whether the book is right for them.”

Need inspiration? Check out these short reviews of three new books:

Amazon.com review of Evan J. Peterson’s Better Living Through Alchemy:

“Better Living Through Alchemy reads like William S. Burroughs meets American Gods in a Micky Spillane tale. The sense of smell is paramount in this book, kinda like in Patrick Susskind’s Perfume, but taken in an entirely different occult direction. The book is queer AF, incorporates cut-up poetry, and is a romp of a read. And though it stands alone, the ending sets us up for possible sequels.”

BarnesandNoble.com review of Alternative Liberties:

“This handful of writers had the visceral courage to write this book. In the midst of madness, this book presents a soul-stirring kick of reality into what we have become and where we are headed. Wonderful, begs deep introspection, the stories linger in your conscience, if you have one….”

Amazon.com review Irene Radford’s The Barefoot Sheriff:

“If you loved the smart-ass dialog in the film Tombstone, if your heart was stolen by Deadwood, you will be blown away by The Barefoot Sheriff. Phyllis Irene Radford puts a clever twist on all of the Wild West stereotypes, starting with her sheriff—a feisty, seductive, and magical woman—and continuing on to the evil banker, the fearsome widow, the madam with the heart of gold, and the mysterious clan living on the outskirts of town. Friends or foes? Radford will keep you guessing right to the last sentence.”

“Unwanted Visitors” (a Seattle story)

In a week when the federal government ordered troops into Los Angeles and Seattle’s police chief said that he expects to be arrested for resisting federal bullies, I invite you to read an excerpt from “Unwanted Visitors.” Originally published by B Cubed Press, it’s one of the stories in my new collection Patti 209: Fifteen Tales of the Very Near Future.

“Routine check of the block.” The agent’s speech was devoid of inflection. He probably said that same phrase 50 times a day. Or, in the case of Federal Security, a night. They usually came at night.

His partner was already pawing through magazines on my coffee table, peering at books in my bookcases, and opening drawers in the table where I sort the mail. Marie had come out from the kitchen. Now she perched on the arm of a club chair, her open mouth proclaiming her disbelief.

I stood by the sofa, my eyes on anything but the agents. I always stood when Federal Security came.

The taller agent, the one who’d spoken, brushed past. I wrinkled my nose. His cloying body spray was an assault in and of itself. He jogged heavily upstairs to the bedrooms, squeezing his bulk through the narrow staircase. Meanwhile, in the dining room, his colleague stuck his hand in a vase.

I moved closer to Marie. “Security theater.” I kept my voice low. “Ever since the new administration declared Seattle a terrorist haven—” I rolled my eyes to indicate the absurdity of it, “the feds have been sending these rent-a-cops around to keep us on our toes, keep us frightened. They’ll check the computers, maybe ask to see my phone.”

“But that’s illegal!” Marie said, spluttering. “They need warrants! You should just tell them to leave.” 

I wished she’d keep her voice down. I kept my tone even. “Well, the feds have declared a state of emergency and they claim that means they don’t need warrants. Of course, people are filing lawsuits. But in the meantime, putting up with these visits is easier than being arrested.” I didn’t add that my next-door neighbor who’d resisted an inspection had disappeared the following day. His bungalow now sat empty, the front lawn overgrown. The couple across the street had adopted his dogs. Had he left town? Or was he in a detention camp? 

A big, beautiful bill and the “Wishbone”

The latest legislation have you in shock? Things could be worse, as it they are in this excerpt from the short story “Wishbone.”

Originally published by Third Flatiron Press, “Wishbone” appears in my new collection Patti 209: Fifteen Tales of the Very Near Future, available now:

“But don’t you have grandparents, Representative Podestra?” the talk show host leaned forward in an eager posture of faux concern. “How will you explain your proposed Age Equity Act to them?”

My grandson, Tory Podestra, decked out in a blue suit, crisp white shirt, and camera-friendly burgundy tie, didn’t even blink. He’d had media training.

“As a leader of the Third Parties Coalition, I’m committed to ensuring that everyone in the United States gets a fair share of our remaining resources,” he said. “There’s no question that the Olds have consumed far more than their share. The Age Equity Act actually benefits them, by ensuring that those of them who reach their 72nd year will enjoy discounted access to adequate housing, healthcare and other resources all the way through their 79th year. I think the AEA is extremely generous, when you consider how all the short-sighted Baby Boomers voted for the Trump administration in 2016 and 2024. They’re the ones responsible for everything that’s gone wrong. This great nation of ours can still recover—the Coalition is here to see to that—but not if young people like us have to pay endlessly to keep a bunch of old right wingers with dementia on life support. Frankly, I think the Olds should be grateful that they can at least contribute something to society by getting out of the way.”

I’d watched the clip of that interview over and over, first stunned, then regretting that I’d helped send that little prick to law school. Tory had been a pushy, grabby, unpleasant child and now he’d grown up to be a political nutcase. A few weeks later, at the dentist’s office, I’d actually denied that I was related to him. 

“Podestra is a very common name,” I told the receptionist.

Just Published: Patti 209

The ebooks are up at Apple Books and Amazon.com, and print editions will be available May 9 at Amazon.com and (through Ingram/Spark) from your favorite bookstore or library. Check the UnCommon Sense page for up-to-date ordering links and detailed information on the June 6 book launch and reading in Seattle.

book cover showing an stern middle aged woman and the words Patti 209: Fifteen Tales of the Very Near Future

Patti 209: Fifteen Tales of the Very Near Future (UnCommon Sense, 2025) is a collection of the short stories I’ve published over the past eight years about people who experience, and resist, the worsening political situation in the United States. They range from humorous essays (“Yoga for Protestors”) to satirical fantasies (“The Best Man for the Job”) to science fiction stories about individual protests (“Patti 209”) and civic disruption (“The Bodies We Carry”).

When I wrote these stories for various anthologies and magazines during the first Trump administration, COVID, and the run-up to the 2024 election, I fully expected them to become dated relics soon after publication. Surely the nation would return to normal, and outrages like violent deportations, suppression of free speech, unobtainable healthcare, and Project 2025’s proposed destruction of federal agencies would be of interest only to a few historians!

But, no. Here we are again. Several of the dystopian elements my characters face in these stories, considered pure science fiction when I submitted them to editors, are now elements of everyday life. Other plot points, intended to be far-fetched, now seem horrifically plausible (see “Wishbone”).

The dystopia is here.

But…so is the resistance!

MISCosity—it will stick with you

Book Review

Early on in journalist Clark Humphrey’s refreshing new book, The MISCosity Manifesto: A Guide to Flowing Smoothly Through an Ultra-Complex World, he quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald:

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”

The second half of that quotation is pretty clearly the underlying premise of Humphrey’s book. It’s a non-linear, richly illustrated and footnoted presentation of the author’s extensive knowledge of philosophy, history, politics, and pop culture. Each two-page spread (a “mini-essay”) takes on a topic. My favorites include “More Dada, Less Data,” “The Futile Wish for Order,” “Turn Off the Dark,” and “Dance Me to the End of Love”). And Humphrey doesn’t just take on a topic, he opens the topic and lets ideas pour into the reader’s mind. “Make Your Own Utopia” starts with Sir Thomas More, covers Callenbach’s Ecotopia, and ends with the ongoing journeys of the Star Trek shows.

You’ll come away with something fresh to think about, talk about, or act on (and, if you’re a writer, think of each spread as a juicy prompt to inspire your own work). You might be even able to understand opinions from “the other side” of a topic a bit better.

I’m reading a lot of articles and books about political dystopias and resistance these days (as well as getting ready to publish my own book of resistance short stories). The MISCosity Manifesto is the book doing the most for my spirit.


Predictions You Don’t Want to Come True

A story I wrote under the pen name Alma Emil appears in the new short story anthology Southern Truths.

I wrote “Delia’s Legacy” in January 2024, when we thought the 2024 presidential election would be Biden v. Trump. I suspected the Democrats would lose that contest. So my near-future story is about an elderly couple, possibly the only liberals in their small Southern town, and how they respond to that defeat.

After Kamala Harris got the nomination in July, we considered taking “Delia’s Legacy” out of the anthology. It was possibly through inertia that we left it in. On Tuesday night, to my surprise and dismay, reality caught up to fiction.

Publisher Bob Brown of B Cubed Press has given me permission to reprint the story online. If you’re curious, you can click to read “Delia’s Legacy”.

Speaking the Southern Truths

This weekend B Cubed Press released Southern Truths, an anthology (ebook and print) of short stories, essays, and poems about the politics and culture of the American South as seen through the lens of speculative fiction. I co-edited it with Bob Brown.

The stories in Southern Truths range from contemporary humor (“It’s Election Day in Texas and I’m a Democrat Rarin’ to Vote” by Larry Hodges) and alternate history (“The Gateway” by Zachary Taylor Branch) to near-future dystopia and fantasy. “Mascot” by Adam-Troy Castro explores the transformation of Florida’s famous theme park culture in the wake of a dark cultural divide. In the book’s opening piece, “They Hear,” Kay Hanifen imagines the mother of a child killed in a school shooting appealing to the Devil for help when it appears that no other supreme beings will listen.

We obtained rights to reprint Jim Wright’s “Antipodes,” an essay describing insights into Southern politics gained from his morning bike rides through a small Florida panhandle community. Sara Wiley’s essay, “The Great Georgia Lesbian Potluck,” is a heartbreakingly beautiful story about a young woman’s return to the traditional camp meeting she still loves.

David Gerrold, author of the famous Star Trek script “The Trouble with Tribbles,” weighs in with “The Trouble with Dribbles,” featuring mad scientists and greedy politicians. Cliff Winnig’s “Degenerates Against Memphis” pits a cadre of idealistic high school students against a repressive city government. In Allan Dyen-Shapiro’s “Welfare Bitch Is Here for Da People,” a fast-talking New Jersey super-heroine confronts a corrupt healthcare system.

Of course, Southern politicians—past and present, real and fictitious—make their appearances. Marleen S. Barr’s “Teaching DeSantis a Lesson” takes on the governor of Florida while Branch’s “The Gateway” resurrects H. Ross Perot. The Mississippi senator in Ronald D. Ferguson’s “Filibustering the Asteroid” ignores a threat from outer space while the Texas politician in Liam Hogan’s “Best of Five” is cutting deals with aliens. 

That’s Southern Truths for you. What can I say but, “Bless their hearts.”

Southern Truths is the 18th book in the B Cubed Press anthology series that began in 2017 with Alternative Truths. Here’s the full list of Southern Truths stories:

  • They Hear by Kay Hanifen
  • The Great Georgia Lesbian Potluck by Sara Willey
  • It’s Election Day in Texas and I’m a Democrat Rarin’ to Vote by Larry Hodges
  • The Trouble With Dribbles by David Gerrold
  • Pantoum For Recy Taylor (1919-2017) by Elisabeth Murawski
  • Secondary Amendments by Alexander Hay
  • These Words Are Not for Sale by Leanne Van Valkenburgh
  • Mascot by Adam-Troy Castro
  • Filibustering the Asteroid by Ronald D. Ferguson
  • My First Gun by Alan Brickman
  • Best of Five by Liam Hogan
  • A Teacher’s Disillusionment by Leanne Van Valkenburgh
  • Healthcare Bitch is Here for Da People by Allan Dyen-Shapiro
  • Antipodes by Jim Wright
  • Degenerates Against Memphis by Cliff Winnig
  • The Gateway by Zachary Taylor Branch
  • Teaching DeSantis a Lesson by Marleen S. Barr
  • We Owe It to You by Maroula Blades
  • The Last Day on Earth by Heinrich von Wolfcastle
  • The Chatham County Blood Shower of 1884 by Anya Leigh Josephs
  • Watching Public TV in the South by Gary Bloom
  • In the Darkness, Defending the Wall by Allan Dyen-Shapiro
  • The Prodigal Sin by Tom Howard
  • The Southern Whyfors by JW Guthridge
  • Lot of Desert Between Us by Bill Parks
  • Greater Expectations by Manny Frishberg and Edd Vick
  • Neighborhood Watch by Mike Wilson
  • Rapture by E.E. King
  • The Sword and The Trowel by Lancelot Schaubert
  • Leave Hospitality at the Door by Brianna Malotke
  • Delia’s Legacy by Alma Emil


A Woman President

Foremost among the tales in the Madam President anthology from B Cubed Press is “War Zone,” David Gerrold’s story about a female politician handling an international crisis—only it isn’t the crisis she thinks it is.

Kamala Harris’ gender is almost a minor point in the current presidential contest. The two candidates differ so widely that the common ground may only be that both of them are adult humans. And even those attributes might be up for discussion.

cover of the book Madam President. An image of a woman's feet in high heels up on a desk with a vase of flowers. Text says Edited by Debora Godfrey, B Cubed Press

To digress: Eight years ago I watched a debate, and later the 2016 election returns, with my then 98-year-old mother. Having accompanied her mother to the polls in Boston in 1920 after women got the vote (I’m pretty sure my grandmother voted for Harding) my mother was all set to witness history again. She fully expected to see Hillary Clinton become the first woman president.

Seeing Clinton stalked onstage during the debate had shocked my mother. The election returns (we were watching in Florida, where most folks in her retirement community were swaggering around in red hats) devastated her. My mom died in early 2023, at the age of 104. So she didn’t get to see what happened this July. It would have delighted her.

In June, just before Harris emerged as the Democrats’ candidate, I worked on and contributed a story (more on that, later) to the B Cubed Press‘ anthology Madam President. The short stories in the book, selected and edited by Debora Godfrey, are about the many ways that woman achieve and maintain leadership. The female protagonists in the book handle alien invasions, difficult book clubs, a contentious Home Owners Association, and intergalactic politics. Foremost among the tales, I think, is “War Zone,” David Gerrold’s story about a female politician handling an international crisis—only it isn’t the crisis she thinks it is.

Many of the stories, like “War Zone,” have breathtaking twists. I rarely write stories with dramatic twists, but for Madam President I told the story of a seasoned White House press secretary who doesn’t notice a history-making story that’s developing right under his nose. You’ll have to read “The Second Term” to find out what happened—and how the press secretary dealt with it.

If you buy Madam President, please leave B Cubed Press a quick review. And give us credit for the June-published cover that spookily appears to predict Kamala Harris’ candidacy.



In Search of an Online Platform?

Social media on the internet is rapidly devolving from Speakers Corner to the Tower of Babel to individuals howling in the digital wilderness.

Why is nobody listening?

With X (Twitter) rotting from the top down, most people fond of communicating via pithy snippets have migrated to Meta’s Threads, Bluesky Social, and the aggregation of Mastodon servers. Or maybe CounterSocial. (Remember the hacktivist app CounterSocial? I don’t, but apparently I have an account there. Sigh.)

Is Microsoft-owned LinkedIn filling the online-conversation need for you?

Those of us who write at mid-length now have a choice of drowning in Facebook’s recent onslaught of repetitive ads (mine are for sweaters and Japanese snacks) while reading about our high school friends’ family vacations or reviving our moribund accounts on Tumblr, Medium, and Substack. We can take payments, or ask for tips via Ko-fi.

And, of course, there’s always Patreon where we can harness ourselves to a schedule of content production for a small-but-loyal paying audiencee—and end up spending half of our posts apologizing for not meeting that schedule. Talk about a self-induced guilt trip.

FROM THE Audience Viewpoint

If none of this sounds appealing to you as a content creator, I’ll point out that this fragmented array of platforms is even less appealing to readers. It used to be that if someone stopped following social media, they missed out on a shared experience, be it Twitter or Facebook. And the community missed them. Now…no one notices.

I’m sure that one or two of these platforms or communities make it easy to browse, find, read, and pay for interesting content. But platforms fall in and out of favor pretty quickly (often because they’ve changed their rules—see: Twitter). This does not motivate me, as a writer, to invest time and energy in one. And I certainly don’t have the time to check in on each of them every day to read what’s been posted by friends. I’m a follower, but usually a ghostly one.

It would be wonderful to have some kind of aggregator for all these sites, the way we used to have blogging aggregators (remember RSS feeds?). But if you look at the current aggregator software, it’s commercial stuff aimed at business clients who want to use it aggregate (often to rip off) other commercially produced content and offer it under their own banners. I haven’t found software that lets you aggregate content posted by individual creators who publishing via Automattic’s WordPress and Tumblr, Square’s Weebly, Google’s venerable Blogger.com, SquareSpace, Medium, and Substack. I doubt very much if such a thing would be commercially viable. (And if I type the word “commercial” one more time here, I’m going to gag.)

Bottom line: Reading social media content is not much fun these days. Particularly the bizarre posts generated by AIs, which seem to have a serious problem with gender-pronoun consistency.

Back to the Blog

As for writing, at this point I’m joining the personal blogging revival, going back to my own WordPress blogging here. You’ll notice that most of the affiliate-marketing bloggers have jumped over to visual platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and (to my surprise) Pinterest. That leaves blogging to the writers. So I guess we should get to it.

If any of the platforms mentioned above are providing a rich and comprehensive social media experience (for writers to connect with readers and readers to connect with writers), please leave a comment. What platform is meeting your needs, and why? And if you have a lot of neglected social media accounts out there, ‘fess up—and tell us why that happened. I’m here, and I’m listening.