This time last year, 13 writers from around the country headed to Los Angeles to take part in the Writers of the Future workshop and awards ceremony. For many, this was their first professional publication. We bonded, we hung upon the wise words of workshop leaders Tim Powers and David Farland. We wrote a 24-hour story. We ate perhaps a smidge too much greasy food. But that was 12 long months ago, and the question arises: What have they been doing since then? Are these really the writers of the future?

Highlights

Several stories from Writers of the Future Vol. 29 were featured in the Tangent Online Recommended Readings List for 2013 (“Master Belladino’s Mask,” “Cop for a Day,” “The Ghost Wife of Arlington,” “Dreameater,” “Planetary Scouts,” “Twelve Seconds,” and “The Grande Complication.” Other winners had new stories singled out as reader favorites: Marina J. Lostetter took 2nd place in both the Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest and the IGMS Readers’ Choice Awards. WotF Grand Prize winner Tina Gower won first place in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Futuristic category) for her unpublished novel, Identity. Brian Trent’s “A Matter of Shapespace” was voted 2013 Apex Magazine Story of the Year.

Marina J. Lostetter

• “Comet Man.” Penumbra, Vol. 3, Issue 3, “Family Traditions.” December 2013.
• “Dateline: Sesen.” Star Citizen’s Spectrum Dispatch. January-April 2014.
• “A Debt Repaid.” Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction. Forthcoming June 2014.
• “Elsa’s Spheres.” Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, Issue 37. January 2014.
• “Imma Gonna Finish You Off.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 6. January 2014.
• “Lenora of the Low.” Fantasy for Good: A Charity Anthology. Forthcoming 2014.
• “The Prayer Ladder.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 4. September 2013.
• 2nd place, 2014 Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest (“Balance”)
• 2nd place, 2012 InterGalactic Medicine Show Readers’ Choice Awards (“Sojourn for Ephah)

Andrea Stewart

• “This Doesn’t Appear to Be the Alien I Paid For.” Daily Science Fiction. March 13, 2014.
• “The Dreams of Wan Li.” Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Forthcoming 2014.
• “Honey, Plums, and Cinnamon.” Galaxy’s Edge. Forthcoming 2014.
• “A Spray of Bittersweet.” When the Hero Comes Home 2. Edited by Gabrielle Harbowy & Ed Greenwood. (Dragon Moon Press), September 2013.
• “The Unchanging Nature of Stones.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 5. November 2013.

Shannon Peavey

• “Dogs from Other Places.”  Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, Issue 38. March 2014
• “Ghosts in the Walls.” Daily Science Fiction. May 30, 2013.
• “Saltcedars.” Daily Science Fiction. February 18, 2014.
• Attended Clarion West workshop, 2013.

Alisa Alering

• “Absolute Pony.” Perihelion. Jan 12, 2014.
• “The Island of White Houses.” Flytrap #11. March 2014.
• “Madeline Usher Usher.” Missing Links and Secret Histories: A Selection of Wikipedia Entries From Across the Known Multiverse. Edited by. L. Timmel Duchamp. (Aqueduct Press), July 2013
• “The Same Song.” Every Day Fiction. July 5, 2013.
• “The Wanderer King.” Clockwork Phoenix 4. Edited by Mike Allen. (Mythic Delirium Press), July 2013.
• “The Wanderer King.” Podcastle. October 10, 2013. (audio reprint)
• Individual Artist Grant awarded by Indiana Arts Commission, 2014.

Kodiak Julian

• “Not Even if I Wanted To.” Witches, Stitches, & Bitches. Edited by Shannon Page. (Evil Girlfriend Media), November 2013.
• Attended Clarion Writers’ Workshop, 2013.

Lex Wilson (Alex Wilson)

• “The Angel & The Hound.” To End All Wars. Forthcoming.
• “My Universe Expands Until I Have No Center.” Outré #1. Outré Press. May 2013.
• “No Dog Before Dog.” Quinate. Forthcoming.
• “Romeo and Meatbox.” Shimmer #17. 2013.
• “Vestigial Girl.” Escape Pod. July 19, 2013. (audio reprint)

Alex has done narration work for Lightspeed Magazine and the anthology series Apocalypse Triptych, edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey. He has also appeared as an actor in an episode of True Crime with Aphrodite Jones as well as several independent films.

Eric Cline

•  “The Boiga Irregularis Boogie.” Plasma Frequency, Issue 10. Feb/March 2014.
• “Follow Us on Facebook and Twitter.” Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble. (St. Martin’s Paperbacks), September 2013.
• “Silent Stakeout.” Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, forthcoming September 2014.
• “Will YOU Volunteer to Kill Wendy?” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 5. November 2013.
• “The World of Kurt Vonnegut: So It Goes Until It Doesn’t.” Kindle Worlds. September 2013.
• Tangent Online Recommended Reading List 2013. (“Will YOU Volunteer to Kill Wendy?”)

Chrome Oxide

In the past year Chrome has been busy recording live musical performances and doing audio work on the documentary film Reverb Junkies. He has also appeared at conventions, bookstores, and musical events in the Los Angeles area, signing his books and CDs.

Christopher Reynaga

• “I Only Am Escaped Alone to Tell Thee.” Drabblecast #268 . January 2013. (audio reprint)
• “A Million Miles from Graceland.” Cemetery Dance #71. Forthcoming 2014.
• “Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree.” GigaNotoSaurus. January 2013.
• “Trickster’s Song.” Tales from Indian Country. Edited by Troy D. Smith. (Standing Stone American Indian Cultural Center), Forthcoming.

Tina Gower

• “Dig.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 6. January 2014.
• “Pocket Full of Mumbles.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 8. Forthcoming May 2014.
• “Today I Am Nobody.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 2. May 2013.
• Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Futuristic category (Identity)

Stephen Sottong

• “Dinner Date.” Every Day Fiction. September 2013.
• “Friends.” 100 Worlds: Lightning Quick SF and Fantasy Tales. Edited by David Nell. October 2013.
• The Remnant. (E-book). January 2014.

Brian Trent

• “A Matter of Shapespace.” Apex Magazine. August 2013.
• “The Nightmare Lights of Mars.” Escape Pod #415. September 2013.
• “The Scholar and the Books of Thoth.” Penumbra, Vol. 3. No. 5. February 2014.
• “Sparg.” Daily Science Fiction. August 2013.
• “Through the Eons Darkly.” Galaxy’s Edge, Issue 6. January 2014.
• “Wedding Day.” Daily Science Fiction. March 2014.
• 2013 Apex Magazine Story of the Year. (“A Matter of Shapespace.”)

As you can see, it’s been a pretty exciting twelve months. Here’s to more stories and more sales in the next twelve. And, oh yeah, congratulations to this year’s winners!