Niteblade

Posts Tagged ‘Alexa Seidel’

Long time Niteblade poetry editor Alexandra Seidel has an alter ego and that alter ego has a book out today. Luminous Dreams is a collection of erotic speculative fiction.

Congratulations Alexa!

This one is not for the faint of heart (or our younger readers).

Relax, close your eyes… and dream.

Eight tales, eight sensual dreams of enchantment, wanderlust and lovers’ longings, of searching and finding; these dreams tell of birds of fire, curses that lie like bridges between night and day, and hunger for sweet seduction.

Available Now!

If you are a Niteblade author and have an exciting announcement we’d love to help spread the news. Just contact Rhonda with the details!

Back in May, Alexa Seidel agreed be a poetry editor for Niteblade. She and I have worked together on the June and September issues and it’s been painless and fun. Come 2012, however, Alexa is going to take over the poetry editor position. We wanted to do something to celebrate the transition, to look back at some of the awesome poems we’ve included in Niteblade, and include some brand new content too. With that in mind, we decided to do a special edition of Niteblade in December (just in time for Christmas! /sales pitch).

The December issue, tentatively entitled “Looking Back, Going Forward” will only include poetry. Some of those poems will be reprints from back issues of Niteblade, some will be brand spanking new. What’s more, in addition to offering a .pdf version we will also have a limited number of print copies available for sale.

Intriqued? Click here to learn how to submit to the special poetry edition, and keep an eye on this blog for more details as they become available.

 Today’s Niteblade Contributor interview is with Alexandra Seidel.  You may recognize her name – Rhonda announced last week she’s the new poetry co-editor of Niteblade.  This interview was planned before the announcement.  🙂

When did you first recognize yourself as a poet?

Even when I had my first few poems published, I wouldn’t have spoken of myself as a poet, not with any confidence in my talent as a poet at any rate. But at some point, I was able to write a good poem, know it to be a good poem and have it accepted by great markets right away. That was about the time when I would have told you that I’m a real poet, meaning every word of it.

What draws you to speculative poetry?

I have always loved reading spec fiction, but strangely, my first few publications are more literary/mainstream. I think in retrospect, I did that to actually get something published, I just had no idea what the real world of writing looks like. I gradually moved to spec fiction and poetry. I like the people who work in this field, so that is certainly one thing that draws me to it. Another is that spec writing is what interests me as a reader, and as a writer, I like the ostensibly limitless possibilities: I can create a world wherever/whenever, consisting of whatever. The whole thing still has to work, and it’s not like I never spent long hours doing research, but tailoring an entire universe, that is a challenge I cannot resist. I also like writing for people who choose to delve into something like that. But really, the first and foremost reason is that I love dreaming.

Is there a piece of writing advice you’ve never followed?

Probably, but since I didn’t follow it, you don’t seriously expect me to remember what it was, do you?

In the March 2010 issue of Niteblade, Rhonda chose to publish your poem, “The Note Found on the Person of the Dead Wizard Skewered From Above”.  Is there a story behind how the poem came about?

Well, I think I was tinkering with a story in which there are harpies. That played into the composition of the poem, but if there was anything else more concrete I, err, sort of forgot.

What have you been working on lately?

As far as poetry is concerned, I’m writing a lot of poems about a bunch of Greek/Roman gods that have to do with sleep and dreams, Hypnos, Morpheus, Nix and so on. They just appeal to me, and I thought it would be nice to explore them in verse, in a cycle of poems even. Who knows, I might even write a story or two.

Fiction-wise, there are a couple of things, and then there is life which somehow manages to get in the way more often than I like. I plan on doing some darker stuff soon.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with Niteblade’s readers?

Yes, promotional stuff. First, I’m a slush reader for Niteblade, I read poetry and I read stories, and I like doing this. I would love to read more wow-ingly great stuff, so send that. (My blog has one or two posts that might be interesting for people who want to submit; read: http://tigerinthematchstickbox.blogspot.com/)

Second, I just came on board as the new poetry editor for Fantastique Unfettered. It’s a great mag. Read it. If you write poetry, I want awesome (but note that Niteblade’s tastes are quite different from FU’s).

Third, thanks to anyone who ever read anything of mine! And to Amber, thanks for the interview!

I’ve got some great news. Alexa Seidel, who has been reading slush for us for quite some time, has agreed to wear a new title. She will be joining me as a poetry editor for Niteblade.

Alexa blogged back in March about her slush reading expirience (here and other places). One comment from that blog post that stuck out to me was “I only ever see stories, so my poetry slush experience is still non existent”. I thought ‘Huh, well, another set of eyes on these poems would not be a bad thing.’ so I started sending her poetry slush as well. The results have been completely positive and I look forward to working with her to make the poetry section of Niteblade shine even more than it already does.

Please welcome her aboard by sending us all your fantastic poetry to read and fill our pages with 🙂