"One Day In A Very Long Dominion War": a fan project anthology has chosen two of my short stories!

 

Earlier this year, I saw that there was a short story anthology coming from the very cool fan outfit, Tranquility Press.  And they had been accepting fan submissions.  Oh, I wish I had known about it sooner, I thought.  Then I saw that the due date was in the future ... I had two weeks left!

I read the prompt: 

We are asking for pieces on events around the galaxy on the 11th of March 2375 – the same day as the baseball match between DS9's "Niners" and USS T'Kumbra's "Logicians." The rules are simple: you can talk about anyone, any group, anything in the galaxy that has been altered by the titanic struggle of liberty against the Dominion: except Primary cast members from any Trek show. We don't want to know what Jean-Luc Picard or Katherine Janeway were up to, we want you to tell us a story we haven't heard before. We want to know about Federation reservists on the ground on Chin'Toka, convoy duty near Minos Korva, or new Romulan fleets working up behind the neutral zone. 

We encourage you to consider stories beyond the front line, Starship crews, Marine Raiders, and Klingon Warriors. One Day in A Very Long Dominion War should be about the people's war too; the Federation factory worker, the Cardassian civilian, the Romulan intelligence attache.

Each story should be between 1500 and 3500 words.

With a burst of creative energy, I sat down and wrote four short stories, finishing them all just in time for the August deadline.  I didn't know if I could submit four ... but I did anyway.  In the end, they chose two.  (In my opinion, the best two.)  That is a huge honor ... there were so few slots, but they gave two to me?  Insane.  I'm very grateful.

Here are one of the judge's thoughts about my two stories, as posted by TP:

"naD tetlh" has an undeniable sense of 'trueness' about it that really left an imprint on me after reading. It's a remarkable, human story that presents as a slice-of-life, but it cleverly sneaks up on you with some great emotional moments. Short but by no means lacking, this story conjures up a great sense of place with economy of description and dialogue. Deft work here, a great 'war-at-home' tale.

"Jolan Tru All Over Again" speaks to my love of cold war spy thrillers, and there's something of a LeCarré feel to this locked-box narrative. It's like a one-act play, an echo of beloved DS9 episodes like "Duet" and "Waltz," with two characters sparking off one another as they fence and dig at the truth. There's no fat on this story at all, it's stripped back, lean and scalpel-sharp, and I enjoyed how it gets into the character of the Romulan and Vorta leads.

I'm not certain when the final anthology will be published, but I'll be sure to keep everyone apprised.  I will absolutely be posting links when it is.  And, when it drops, I will also post my two "leftover" stories: "Loading Torpedoes" and "To Be the First."

So.  Something to look forward to.

Thanks for reading.