Last year when visiting our journalist friend Eve Conant in D.C., I asked Eve for advice in getting my own writing career started. She passed on some advice that had been given to her at one point by a mentor, and that advice stuck with me. While I don’t remember her exact words, the gist of it was to think about building my writing career on three pillars:
Category: Writing Page 10 of 19
I have a new short story in Issue #11 of Compelling Science Fiction called “Targeted Behavior.” It’s about a tech startup in San Francisco attempting to “solve” homelessness via pharmaceutical means (which, as you might guess, doesn’t go quite as planned). It’s free to read online, but please consider subscribing or purchasing the Kindle edition anyway. Editor Joe Stech is doing great work.
Like anyone who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, I think about homelessness everyday. It’s impossible not to, given the current state of the housing crisis. Thousands of people live on the streets without permanent shelter, some of them quite visibly in tents or sleeping rough, others (who might sleep in their cars, or couch surf) much less so.
I just returned from the 2018 Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh. It was my first writing con of any kind, and going in I was nervous. When I signed up (and reserved my hotel, and purchased my flight) I knew literally zero people who would be attending the con. Some I followed on Twitter (and some of those even followed me), but in terms of people I’d actually met in person–none. I was that unconnected with the sci-fi/fantasy writing community. And I knew that was something I needed to fix.
To celebrate the release of my first book in print, I’m giving away a prize to a random purchaser of my novelette “The Icelandic Cure.”
Since the story is about genetic engineering, I thought a DNA-related prize would be appropriate.
The Prize
One 23andMe Health + Ancestry Kit (retail price $199)
or
$150 cash (if you’ve already gotten your 23andMe results, or don’t want them)
The Rules
Contest rules are simple:
- Purchase “The Icelandic Cure” on amazon.com, directly from Omnidawn, or anywhere else.
- Follow me on Twitter and DM me a proof of purchase (a screenshot of your email receipt, a picture of the book on your coffee table, etc.). Or, if you don’t use Twitter, email the proof of purchase to jd_moyer at looq.com. Either way is fine.
- To double your chances of winning, share this post with your followers on Twitter and tag me AND/OR leave a review on amazon or goodreads and send me a link to the review. So far the book only has one review on each site, so reviews are especially appreciated!
The contest will run until June 15, 2018. I’ll announce the winner and award the prize by June 22nd.
I don’t directly profit from sales of the book–I won the 2016 Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction prize which granted a flat fee prize of $1000. But I’d still like to do what I can to boost sales and promote the story.
This is a strong, thoughtful story that inspires hope for the future, curiosity about medical progress, and sheer terror at what might be done in its name.—Publishers Weekly
Thank you, and good luck!
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The contest winner is Hardy Stegall of Pretty Prairie, Kansas. Congratulations Hardy!
In June of 2016 we took a short family trip to Europe, visiting my dad in France and doing some genealogy research in a small town in Italy with my mom. An unexpected highlight of the trip was a two-day stopover in Reykjavik. The cheap flights on WOW airlines lured us in, but arriving in Iceland’s capital on the day of their historic Euro cup tie with Portugal got us into the national spirit.
Something about the city must have stuck with me. On our return I wrote a investigative sci-fi thriller set in Reykjavik. I submitted the story to the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction contest, and to my surprise it won.
This is a strong, thoughtful story that inspires hope for the future, curiosity about medical progress, and sheer terror at what might be done in its name.—Publishers Weekly
If you enjoy philosophical, plausible science fiction, I think you’ll enjoy this story. Please do me a solid and pick up a copy (or more, for friends and family). “The Icelandic Cure” is now available for purchase directly from Omnidawn, or via Amazon. And if you’ve already read the book, please take a few seconds to rate it on goodreads or amazon.
Moyer’s research into neurology and gene therapy gives Jane a credible persona. Her intellectual progress as she unearths fragments of the mystery is lovingly tied to the ever-greater—and ever more crucial—questions of self-determination. . . . Jane writes, “Who wouldn’t fix a genetic flaw or two if they could?” Beyond the human desire for personal improvement, the consequences of this technology involve systemic corruption and the preservation of our right to choose.—The Arkansas International
Speaking of plausibility, recent events made me wonder if my writing might be a little too plausible. My recently-published story “Plastic Eater” (2nd place winner of the sfreader.com contest) appears to be unfolding in real life.
One note–if you do purchase the chapbook, please retain your proof of purchase (email receipt or other) for reasons I’ll explain in a forthcoming post.
Thank you!