Category Archives: WFH (work for hire/tie-ins)

2023 WRAP-UP-Y THING/HAPPY 2024!

Writing

I actually was not going to do a 2023 wrap-up post because I’m sick and I didn’t think I had that much to say, but I realized I was wrong, so here are some things I did or that happened in 2023 that I’m proud of or happy about (in no particular order):

  • Had my second Marvel book published (Marvel Zombies: The Hunger)
  • Had two poems selected as Rhysling Finalists (“EMDR” and “A Spell for Winning Your Personal Injury Lawsuit”); neither placed in the top three, alas
  • Had my first role-playing adventure published (“The Case of the Great Underwater Panther”)
  • Got an agent for the book of my heart
  • Found the perfect crit partner for said book
  • Wrote my first solo comic book script

Everything Else

  • Started driving again, after having been unable to do so since getting hit by a cop and a subsequent spine surgery in 2019
  • Attended Stasia Savasuk’s Style School (literally life-changing; you should totally do it if you can)
  • Reconnected with several members of my LaFountain family (and connected with some further back in my Métis line)
  • Went to Paris and London over the summer and got to sit inside the circle at Stonehenge during the full moon
  • Got a really nasty case of Covid while in Europe that murdalized my immune system; said immune system is still rebuilding (I am not happy about this, but it has been an ongoing challenge I’ve had to overcome, so the fact it hasn’t completely derailed the latter half of my year should probably be acknowledged)
  • Lived to tell the tale

Here’s hoping 2024 brings more of the good and less of the bad for all of us! Happy New Year!!!

Hungry for Some MZ: The Hunger Links? Feast Your Fingers!

Writing

Lots of Marvel Zombies: The Hunger-related stuff:

-an interview with Paul Semel
-a review from Amy Walker over at Trans-Scribe
-an appearance on “My Favorite Horror” with Erik Smith
-an interview with Rob Ribar & Guido Sanchez over at Dear Watchers

I also have a poem up over at Eye to the Telescope: “Frybread at the Colony Powwow,” a SF haibun about the legacy of internalized colonization.

Finally, Jeff and I will be attending TusCon 50 in Tucson this upcoming weekend. My schedule is as follows:

Friday, November 10
8-9 PM, Panel Rm 1
In a world of hybrid vigor, do genres actually have meaning?
Diana Terrill Clark, Jeffrey J Mariotte, Marsheila Rockwell, Sharon Skinner

Saturday, November 11
3-4 PM, Ballroom
Kill your darlings. How do you keep character death meaningful?
Diana Terrill Clark, Marsheila Rockwell, Thomas Watson, Frankie Robertson

Saturday, November 11
4-5 PM, Autograph Area
Signing
Hal C F Astell, Janni Lee Simner, Jeffrey J Mariotte, KJ Kabza, Marsheila Rockwell
(I will have some copies of The Hunger!)

PLEASE NOTE: The Open Mic Poetry Slam is scheduled opposite my autograph session (i.e., from 4-5 PM), and is being held in the Ballroom. As a Rhysling Award winner, I feel like it’s important that I attend the Slam, even though I was for some reason not scheduled for it, so I will most likely only be at the signing table for the first ten or fifteen minutes. But it’s a small con; you can track me down if there’s something you really want signed.

Everything Else

I am available for editing work and I also do cultural consultation work, so if you’re in need of either, HMU!

I FELL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH & LIVED TO TELL THE TALE

Writing

She lives!!! LOL

It’s been a minute since I posted last. Q3 started out great, with a family trip to Europe (in which I got to celebrate the full moon inside the circle at Stonehenge; I bask in your jealousy), but I contracted Covid a few days before we came home and it’s just been one illness/injury after another since.

Picture taken from the inside of Stonehenge, looking out through two pillars at the heel stone.
Inside Stonehenge

I’m still not at 100%, but there are a couple of things coming up that I need to let you know about, so here goes:

First, I have a new interview with the guys over at Dear Watchers which drops on Monday, where we talk about Marvel Zombies: The Hunger, formative horror movies and novels, and our shared love of the spooky season in general. You may remember I did an interview with them for Sisters of Sorcery last year that turned out to be their most listened-to podcast of the year, so be sure you listen to this one and let’s try for a two-fer!

Second, Marvel Zombies: The Hunger releases THIS Tuesday, October 3rd, so be sure and swing by your local bookstore and pick up a copy!

I’m sure there’s more that happening during The Q3 from Hell, but hopefully you follow me on social media and saw anything important there.

Writing

We also unexpectedly lost our beloved ginger catdog, Jonesy, and that devastated the whole family. I don’t know if it was more salt, yet another wound, or both, but it still hurts, and I still miss that little pest like the dickens. He went to the vet for an ultrasound and never came home. So if you’re lucky enough to have a furbaby of your own, give ’em a hug for me.

Ginger cat laying on low interior wall looking at camera
Beloved ginger catdog

Jonesy
May 25, 2019 – August 25, 2023

PRIDE MONTH NEWS

Writing

First, the cover for Marvel Zombies: The Hunger has finally been released, and here it is:

Cover for novel Marvel Zombies: The Hunger showing a chained and zombified Dr. Strange.

Creepy, amiright? You have NO idea, LOL. Available October 3rd (but you should totally preorder, because it totally helps authors when you do that).

Also, in the days leading up the the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, the publishers of Mine: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror are doing an author read-along for each piece in the antho, from June 9th through the 24th. My reading of my poem “Child Bride” will go live on June 12th. You can find out more and follow along with all the authors here.

Author Readalong schedule for bodily autonomy horror anthology.

Also, also, while I have been announced as a guest at Tucson Comic-Con, Jeff and I will not actually be attending this year, as we will be in Montana for the Lewistown Métis Festival instead, meeting up with family and MMF folks coming down from Canada. But don’t despair – we are hoping to be at Tucson Terror Fest in October to make up for our absence at TCC, so hopefully we’ll still see some of you.

Finally, after several years without an agent (my choice, having parted ways amicably with my last agent, who was very good at his job), I have rejoined the ranks of the represented. I’ll be working with Wayne Arthurson at The Rights Factory, one of only a handful of Indigenous literary agents in North America. Should be a good partnership.

Everything Else

Happy Pride Month! And while yes, love is love, this Pride, please remember that LGBTQ+ rights are under attack and trans folx in particular face increasing danger in many places in the US, so our focus should maybe be less on catchy slogans and more on actually protecting those who need it most right now.

#TransRightsAreHumanRights

APRIL DROUGHTS BRING SNOTTY MAY SNOUTS (AHH-CHOO!)

Writing

I’ve been feeling like I desperately need to update my blog, but now that I actually sit down to do it, I’m not sure I have all that much new to report. (Maybe it was my website…LOL)

The Rhysling Award has move to a juried process this year, so being nominated doesn’t make you an Insta-Finalist anymore. That said, two of my nominated poems ARE Rhysling Finalists (Yaay!):

Short category:

“A Spell for Winning Your Personal Injury Lawsuit” – Dreams & Nightmares

Long Category:

“EMDR” – Unnerving Magazine

Oh, and I made (created) a list for Shepherd.com of The Best Contemporary Fantasy Books About Witches, so check that out. I hadn’t read it at the time, but if I had, I definitely would have included Cherie Dimaline’s VenCo.

They have lots of cool curated lists of witch books, so you should totally hop over there and take a peek!

Still no cover art for Marvel Zombies: The Hunger, but I will obviously post it when it drops.

Jeff and I will be doing a local library event this coming weekend:

Phoenix Public Library Con-Fusion 2023
Weird and Wild West
Ironwood Library
4333 E Chandler Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85048
Saturday, May 20th
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Jeff and I have a panel on publishing at 10 AM, and Jeff has one on weird westerns at 3 PM. They have had other events over the past several weekends, focusing on different genres, but this is the only date we could make. Come see us!

Also, I believe I will be doing a reading of some sort of my poem, “Child Bride,” as part of a readalong with the other authors involved in the Mine: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror, a charity antho whose proceeds go to NARAL. That will be on June 12th, so keep an ear out!

Okay, I think that’s everything. Further bulletins as events warrant! Heh.

Everything Else

Just a reminder: trans rights are human rights, trans women are women, trans men are men, and people who are obsessed with what’s down someone else’s pants or what bathrooms they use are creepers. Gross.

LET’S CATCH UP!

Writing

Hey, look! I didn’t actually fall off the face of the earth! Been very busy writing Marvel Zombies: The Hunger, but it’s turned in now and, with its release date having been moved to October to take advantage of the “spooky season,” it’s now a part of Aconyte’s 2023 Fall catalog. Still no cover art that I can show you, but I promise I’ll do a post when it’s revealed.

Here’s a quick recap of writing-related happenings since my last post:

I had two poems, “Unleashed” and “Tapping on the Void,” published in the Winter 2023 issue of Frozen Wavelets, which you can download for free here.

Jeff and I did go to Tuscon Festival of Books this year, but not as vendors or presenters. Jeff had a signing at the Tucson Sisters in Crime booth for the Trouble in Tucson anthology, and then we visited some writer friends, hit some panels, and bought some books. Fun but tiring day.

I had three poems nominated for the 2023 Rhysling Award:

Short category:

“The Honorable Iris C. Thaumantos, Presiding” – Musing of the Muses (Brigids Gate Press)
“A Spell for Winning Your Personal Injury Lawsuit” – Dreams & Nightmares

Long Category:

“EMDR” – Unnerving Magazine

Good luck, little poems!

I was slated to attend the Arizona Comic Book Arts Festival in February, but I got sick right before, so Jeff valiantly manned our table alone.

I had another poem, “Final Arrangements,” published in Bloodless: An Anthology of Blood-Free Horror from Sliced Up Press.

I think that’s everything? Maybe not, but hopefully you’ve been keeping tabs on FB & what remains of the bird app, to catch anything I might have missed here.

Everything Else

Two surgeries, lots of holidays & birthdays, and politics gone wild pretty much sums up everything else, I think. Tonight we’re going to see the D&D movie, which I’ve really been looking forward to (seeing as how I’ve written three D&D novels, heh). Hope you all have something fun to look forward to, as well!

SEKRIT PROJEKT REVEAL!

Writing

Well, the big news has finally broken, and my sekrit projekt is no longer secret!

[INSERT DRUM ROLL]

I am writing a Marvel Zombies book!!! The Hunger will be out in August of 2023. Here’s the teaser:

“The Incident has infected the planet, creating zombified Super Heroes who destroy everything they swore to protect. Doctor Strange realizes the plague cannot be allowed to spread to other realities, but his Hunger is irresistible…

Now Earth’s only hope is the Sanctum Sanctorum librarian, Zelma Stanton. She knows every spell in the book, but she’s no fighter. Enter witch Nico Minoru, monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, and Deadpool. They plan to trap the zombies in a time loop, but it goes horribly awry (thanks, Deadpool), crushing a million butterflies, and the timeline unravels, making the original Incident look like a cakewalk. It’s going to take magic bullets, bloodstones, and brains to fix this flesh-eating nightmare.”

No cover art yet, but for now:

Placeholder cover for Marvel Zombies: The Hunger by Marsheila Rockwell.

Yeah, so, that’s been keeping me pretty busy, and will continue to do so into the new year.

Also, just a quick note that the December issue of Penumbric is out and you can read my poem “Soiled Dove” here.

I also have a poem (“Child Bride,” a reprint) in Mine: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror from Creature Publishing, which released on December 1st. All proceeds go to NARAL.

And you can listen to the Graymalkin Lane podcast where I get to blather on about Sisters of Sorcery and how little I know about Gwen Stacy here. Also bonus Tristan Palmgren’s cat licking itself during recording! LOL.

Everything Else

Chances are good I won’t post again before 2023, so Happy Whatever You Do Or Don’t Celebrate & may next year be better than this one for all of us!

I WON A MAJOR AWARD AND IT’S NOT A LEG LAMP!

Long time, no update! I’ve been busy on stuff I can’t tell you about. Sorry!

I CAN tell you this, though:

My #MMIWG2ST poem, “Reservation Fairy Tales 101 – Final Exam,” won second place in the Long Form Category of the Rhysling Award!!! This is my 13th nomination, and I am so pleased that this particular poem is the one that finally broke my losing streak, especially in light of it being Native American Heritage Week.

In other poetry news, the Bloodless anthology, which includes my witchy poem “Final Arrangements” released on October 25th.

Also, my weird western poem “Soiled Dove” will be appearing in the December issue of Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine, so keep your eyes out for that.

In prose news, Sisters of Sorcery was reviewed in the Midwest Book Review, which was cool.

I will be on an episode of the Graymalkin Lane Podcast (hosted by Chad Anderson) on December 8th, along with fellow Aconyte authors Carrie Harris and Tristan Palmgren, where we discuss Sisters and some chick named Gwen Stacy.

I was also a guest on a Very Special Episode of the Graymalkin Lane podcast where we discussed mind control and sexual assault in comics. My other smart and empathetic panelists include Carrie Harris, Stephanie Pitsirilos, Susan Kirtley, and Jessica Baldanzi. You can listen here, but be warned, it is obviously a heavy (but important and necessary) discussion.

Since Twitter seems to be imploding, here are the other places you can find me, all in one handy linktree. If I stay on Mastodon, I will probably be switching servers, or I might try Hive instead, but either way, I will update the linktree.

Oh, and we wound up cancelling on TusCon49 because my disc at the L4/L5 level decided to give out. When I got my L5/S1 fusion in 2017, they warned me that my L4/L5 would probably go, but said I had a good 10 years. Hah, fooled them – only took me 5! I’m an overachiever, LOL.

Everything Else

We got a dog! This is Clio, our special needs rescue. She’s got some brain issues and is super anxious and scared of everything, but she’s ours.

Our special needs rescue dog.

ALERT!!! NEW RELEASE DATE!

First off, I know everywhere still says Sisters of Sorcery is slated to release Sept 20 (next week), but I have been informed that the release date has been pushed back to SEPTEMBER 27. So you’ll have to wait just a tiny bit longer for your copy. Sorry about that!

Also, it will be the day of dueling releases here in Marcyville, because my husband, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, ALSO has a book releasing that day – The Squad, the first book in his new Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix series. So pick that one up, too!

It was great seeing everyone at TCC, but I got food poisoning from Denny’s pancakes on Saturday, so that ended the con early for me. Apologies to everyone who was hoping to get a signed book on Sunday. We’re planning on attending TusCon 49 in November, so hopefully you can pick one up there!

I also have an adventure in Coyote & Crow’s latest crowdfunded effort (which looks like it will be very successful). It’s my first ttrpg credit and I originally pitched it as a Scooby Doo episode, so you really don’t want to miss it!

I was also involved in Part Two of Gwendolyn Kiste’s Pro-Choice Horror Roundtable, which you can read here.

Oh, yeah, and I recently signed a contract for a Super Sekrit Project that you guys are going to LOVE. But I probably won’t be able to talk about it until next year – gotta love those NDAs, heh.

Everything Else

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. You all know this is a very important cause for me, given that my youngest son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was only 4 months old. I’ll leave you with some facts and a link to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a pediatric cancer charity started by a young girl who eventually lost her battle with neuroblastoma. Please consider donating something if you can. Less than 4% of federal research dollars go to pediatric cancers, and Big Pharma has no incentive for research, given that childhood cancers are “rare” in comparison to adult ones – the ROI isn’t large enough for them to bother. So research money has to come from private sectors – that means US.

TCC! POEMS FOR REPRO RIGHTS! AND POSSIBLE TMI!

Writing

Tuscon Comic-Con is less than a week away! Jeff and I will be at Table(s) 129/144 in Artist Alley and we will have a TON of new stuff for you to pick up, hopefully including early copies of Marvel Untold: Sisters of Sorcery. We also have a panel on Saturday from 1:30-2:20 with our friend James A. Owen, “How to Write a Novel.” That should be interesting. (Jeff also has all of this stuff on his blog, including a list of some of the stuff we’ll be bringing, so do check that out.)

I also forgot to mention that my poem, “Damsel in Distress, Redux,” was solicited for the In Trouble anthology by Ominum Gatherum, in support of reproductive rights. That one is available now, at the link provided. I will also be having my poem, “Child Bride,” reprinted in a Body Autonomy Charity Anthology coming from Creature Publishing, also in support of reproductive rights. More info on that one’s availability when I have it.

And the Blog Tour for Sisters of Sorcery has ended. If you missed any of the days, I have links posted on my Instagram account, so you can find them all there.

As part of the tour, the fine folks over at The Book Network did an Author Spotlight on me, which you can read here.

And don’t forget I’m offering personalized poems, poem-spells, and one-card Tarot pulls over on my ko-fi page. Limited availability, so don’t miss out!

Everything Else

Possibly TMI for my readers on the more male end of the gender spectrum, but…menopause fucking sucks, especially for a control freak like me. Ask my poor husband, who has to deal with Irrationally Angry/Dangerously Depressed Marcy every few days (he’s been more patient and kind than anyone could ask for; I’m very lucky to have him). I’ve had some bloodwork done and will be seeing a hormone specialist, so hopefully I will be back to my normal uptight, repressed self very soon, LOL. Fingers crossed!