When social media was swarming with not just “what have you done in the last year,” but also “what have you done in the last DECADE” posts, I tuned it all out for various reasons. My mind fixates on the past enough without me doing it on purpose, and honestly those retrospectives have always felt dicey to me (which I discussed a couple posts ago).
That said, since this blog was quiet from March through December, I feel like giving a rundown of everything I got up to in 2019. Partly to collect everything in one place for anyone who likes my work, but also as a reminder to myself that I was actually pretty busy last year, even though it felt slow in terms of releases and big news.
Short Fiction: “Exactly What You Need” in Abyss & Apex
This was my only 2019 short fiction release, but it went way further than I expected. “Exactly” focuses on a bookstore that knows the deepest desire of every customer who comes in – even if they don’t – and the shopkeeper who has to defend everyone inside when one customer pushes that magic too far. It was a neat story to write and it’s
gotten some great feedback from readers. Plus it was selected for The Best of Abyss & Apex Volume 3 AND got mentioned in a Locus review. AND it was one of two A&A stories for 2019 selected by the editors to be nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Hugely grateful to Wendy Delmater Thies and the A&A team for their faith in this story!
New Podcast! Broadcasts from the Wasteland
In the category of things I never thought I’d be doing when I started in this business, I ha
ve a podcast now! Evan May and I are lucky enough to know a lot of other creative types, so we decided to sit down with some of our friends to casually talk fandoms, creative process, and whatever else we think of. We don’t prep any questions or have any specific angles; we’re just hanging with people we know or would like to know better, and inviting you to listen in.
Season One included eight episodes (plus an “Episode Zero” introducing the podcast to the world) with paired guests like Violette Malan and Tanya Huff, Kevin Hearne and
Julie Czerneda, Marie Bilodeau and Jay Odjick, and Matt Moore and Lydia Peever. Then we did three “Escape the Fall” podcasts in September/October. It was so much fun that we’re launching Season Two this spring, and have already recorded episodes with guests like KT Bryski, stormchaser Mark Robinson, and E.L. Chen. Plus we have a #BatmanDuel to open the season – stay tuned!
(Sidebar: If you like Broadcasts, it’s totally eligible for the 2020 Aurora Awards. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.)
Narration for PodCastle
Last minute at Can*Con in October, KT Bryski and Jen Albert asked me to stand in as narrator for a reading of “Franken-Puppy” by Derek Kunsken, a PodCastle Original being recorded live at the con. I’m not busy enough at Can*Con so naturally I said yes, joining a cast made up of Charlotte Ashley, Sylvain Neuvel, Jay Odjick, J.M. Frey and Rati Mehrotra. My first time narrating was a blast, and you can listen to the finished product on PodCastle right here!
Can*Con
Speaking of Can*Con, I did my fourth(?) stint as one of the Programming Leads again this year, for what became our busiest and liveliest event yet. 450 people, a new Science Literacy track, and hosting the Aurora Awards … where Can*Con finally won for Best Fan Organizational!
What is Solarpunk?
Apparently I did a lot of media stuff this year. You’ve likely seen me talking about solarpunk across the Interwebs. If you have no idea what it is, or want to hear more perspectives on this emerging genre, my European colleagues Commando Jugendstil and Tales from the EV Studio put together a video with short clips from a bunch of solarpunk authors – including me! You can check it out here.
Upcoming Stuff: Flame Tree and a comic with Markosia
I had a couple sales that will be released early this year, which involved some behind-the-scenes work through 2019. The first is a reprint of my story “Rainclouds” in Flame Tree Publishing’s A Dying Planet – my first sale with them! Keep an eye out for that probably next month.
The second is my short comic “True Balance,” coming out in the second volume of Flip, an anthology series edited by Jack Briglio for Markosia Press. My comic looks at a world where the old “eye-for-an-eye” concept from Hammurabi is the basis for today’s justice system, and follows a seventh-grader who needs to decide the right punishment for the kid who bullies him. The art by Scott Drummond is amazing, and I’ve been sharing sample pages to get primed for release day. (There might be one more popping later today…)
And I’m pretty sure that’s it! On the sidelines, I’m still writing occasionally for my column on BlackGate.com. I’ve been hard at work with an agent on a novella that’s quickly becoming a novel. Plus drafting and sending around short stories, and a couple super-secret can’t-talk-about-it yet projects that will be really exciting once I can talk about them.
Thanks for continuing to follow my work, and for scoping out anything above if it’s new to you. Stay tuned for more ramblings!
Brandon Crilly - Writer / Teacher / Human 