For pin money–and by that I mean, finding a way without freaking out to treat myself to a double “it comes in pints” margarita at MSG during the amazing Weird Al concert because that drink, it turned out, cost $50 with tip (!!!)–I take on a few jobs here and there through the freelance editing Reedsy, and the service never disappoints. I enjoy being able to pick my work from what interests me and what I can help with, as well as providing a little gratis advice on jobs I do not need to take because the authors just need that advice. Every author I have worked with has been pleasant and professional, even when my personal opinions differ from theirs, which is fine. My goal is not to make friends, although that is a nice bonus, it is to make manuscript the best the can be so authors have their best chance to make their pubishing dreams come true.

There have been a couple of instances where the specific and special needs of a job and/or a client have not fit with how the service works in general, but in consultation with the moderators Reedsy and I were able to accommodate them.

If you are interested in signing up with them, please use this referral link: https://reedsy.com/p/stephen-s-power, because then a make a little more pin money. And, of course, once you have signed up, your own referral links will get you some pin money too, which you are free to blow as you please. I certainly recommend you do so on Weird Al tickets; margaritas, maybe not so much.

“A Bowl of Shadow” is going to be reprinted by The Stygian Zine in THE OLD GODS.

After having a bunch of reprints accepted, it occurs to me that maybe I should write something new, however tough that is when you write about near-future “if this goes on” technological dystopias and you’re living in a present-day “this is happening” technological dystopia.

“The Tube Worm” is now out in The Growers: Best of New Myths Anthology Volume V!

Who doesn’t like to be accepted? My fantasy story “The Empress and the Kite Maker” will appear in In Another Time. It features the greatest kite maker accepting a tacit artistic challenge from a new and radical empress. It’s very poignant. And it took so many rewrites to figure out.

Reedsy continues to provide great side gigs for me, especially when it comes to getting some extra cash for the holidays as well as feeding a need to see Broadway plays (whose tickets are often bought for the holidays).

I don’t want to talk about my jobs in particular for reasons of privacy, but what I value most about Reedsy overall is the ease of communication. For example, when I got a request, I quickly read over the brief and sample material to assess what the potential client needs, then respond with either a polite refusal and reason or either a query for more information and details on what I could do for them. In the latter case, I also provide a fee to get their approval before putting it in formally.

I’ll then discuss in more detail what my work will consist of before the fee is approved and the offer formally put in or the client decides I’m not the right person for them or the fee is not within their budget. Which is fine.

I know other freelancers who have a hard time dealing with clients, who can get nasty and who can’t be gotten rid off. Reedsy provides a great screen in this regard. It’s a safe place for both freelancers and clients.

I also appreciate reminders from Reedsy and notifications that payment has been made. A couple of times payment wasn’t made–in both cases for entirely understandable reasons–and Reedsy stepped in to handle the matter. Taking the matter of filthy lucre out of my hands let me focus on the editorial work and helped me maintain my relationship with the client.

Plus, I love to edit. So it’s fun to work with the platform.

If you’d like to work with Reedsy to, please click on this referral link : https://reedsy.com/p/stephen-s-power. Full disclosure: I’ll get a bit of that filthy lucre if you do.

Heathen #1 includes my story “The Dunwich Hunt Club.” The question, I’ve been asked is, Does putting on the wolf suit turn the main character into a wolf or is he still a guy in a wolf suit? What do you think?

And “Tales of Horror” accepted my story “The Revivalist,” turning around a contract in less than 12 hours (most of which I was asleep, so it could’ve been quicker). And it’ll appear in the next issue! I love this story. I’d love to turn it into a series of novels about an Explorer’s Club of the Weird featuring the main characters as steampunk Mulder and Scully.

It was nice to be include in this list from LitReactor: 10 Speculative Fiction Editors Who Have Worked on Mind-Bending Stories.

In the fastest sub to pub I’ve experienced, Unorthodox Stories has taken a story called “Tennis,” which I wrote based on a prompt in George Saunders’s online class, and Lightspeed has taken a second story of mine, “City of One,” which is written in the form of game instructions.

I still got it.

I haven’t written a short story in a long time, but my store of unpublished ones is being whittled down with two being accepted recently and two more enjoying holds. What I have been writing is the outline for a new novel, momentarily titled NIGHTMARE IN THE AFTERNOON, and several 10-minute plays, one of which I’ll eventually submit to the Cut Edge Collective, whose most recent 10-minute play festival inspired me.

I also contributed to Shepherd.com, a new book discovery site, a list of my three favorite reads of 2023. You can find that here, and the overall list of all the authors contributing here.

Happy to report that my mirror sestina The Water Dragon’s Lark will appear in the anthology A Flight of Dragons being put out by West Avenue Publishing. And I get paid! The poetry market being what it is, this is only the second time I’ve gotten a check. And I’m grateful.

The sestina, like those published by Clarion and Innisfree, uses as its unlike repeated word an “Avatar” element, in this case, stone (for Earth).