February 13, 2024

Reading My Stories in Order (Not That It’s Necessary)

My new short stories “Crush” and “Planet 42 Alpha” are out!  “Crush” is in Tree and Stone‘s (website: https://www.tree-and-stone.com Twitter/X:  @TreeAndStoneMag Facebook: @Tree and Stone Magazine) ‘Queer as F’ Issue #3.

Download the .PDF of “Crush” here:

https://www.tree-and-stone.com/queer-as-f

“Planet 42 Alpha” is out in 4 Star Stories‘ Issue #28.

Read “Planet 42 Alpha” here: https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm

  (A prequel, “Planet 38” appeared in an earlier issue of 4 Star Stories.  There will also be a sequel titled “Planet 42 Beta” in a future issue of 4 Star Stories.)

Since both stories are part of a linked set of stories, some fans have been asking me where to catch up on the other stories.

Here is a list of the stories in internal chronological order, with links:

1) This is Not a Love Story  in Black Denim Lit (October 2015)

     Link: https://www.bdlit.com/this-is-not-a-love-story.html

2) “Nightskyman Hope” in Expanded Horizons (January 2016)

  Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160405075704/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3825

3) “The World in His Throat” in Things We Are Not: An M-Brane SF Magazine Queer Science Fiction Anthology (2009)

    Buy a copy here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/things-we-are-not-christopher-fletcher/1115376673?ean=9781449522964

4) “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/inducement.html

5) “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls Issue #1 (August 2021)

    Read or Download the .PDF here: https://acoupofowls.com/2021/08/01/issue1/

6) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit Issue #8 (December 2014)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/searching.html

    Buy a copy here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-denim-lit-8-black-denim-lit/1120945723?ean=2940046470680

7)  “Nightskyman Hope” in Expanded Horizons (January 2016)

   Archived site here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160401171854/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3855

8) “Life on Earth” in Expanded Horizons (January 2015)

    Archived site here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160401232705/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3645

9) “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012)

    Link: https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/autumn-2012/no-woman-no-plaything-by-lisa-shapter/

10) “Planet 38” in Four Star Stories (Summer 2013)

    Link: https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue10/story_4.htm

11) “Planet 42 Alpha” is out in 4 Star Stories‘ Issue #28 (February 2024)

    Link: https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm

12) “Planet 42 Beta” is out in a future issue of 4 Star Stories‘ (forthcoming)

    Link: Not yet out

13) “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (September 2015)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/planet-50.html

14) “Crush” in Tree and Stone‘s ‘Queer as F’ Issue #3 (December 2023)

    Download the .PDF here: https://www.tree-and-stone.com/queer-as-f

15) “The Other Two Men” (Play, produced Summer 2016)

    Archived review: https://www.portsmouthnh.com/stirring-sci-fi-at-the-ring/

And an unrelated alternate history novella set in New England about the unintended side effects of a WWII-era drug developed to create affinity between an interrogator and interrogatee:
A Day in Deep Freeze Aqueduct Press (Conversation Pieces series no. 46)  (April 2015).

Buy a copy here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-day-in-deep-freeze-lisa-shapter/1121682868?ean=2940151492928

An finally, sign up for my mailing list for early access to future announcements here:

https://lisashapter.com/tag/my-mailing-list

-Lisa Shapter

Planet 42 Alpha, Planet 42 Beta, Crush, Tree and Stone, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
February 16, 2024

About “Crush”

My new short story “Crush” is out in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue #3 (December 2023). Download the .PDF by clicking on the cover of Issue 3 here: https://www.tree-and-stone.com/queer-as-f

This story is part of a larger network of stories that has been leading up to this: Ke and Resada’s ultimate futures as a colonial governors, parents, and spouses. Things that were unlikely, only undercurrents, in previous stories between them and those around them have become a future where their worst problem is straw in the wool (a minor nuisance). This is a story about contentment and unlikely love.

Yet all of the stories I write have something larger going on, some thing larger that the characters in the story may not see or notice. All of the characters are on a journey that may not have been part of their initial mission briefing but they are participating in something much larger than themselves: history. Their own personal successes or failures affect their teammates, for certain, and the next generation – but also their ship or base or colony world, and their sector of space, and the whole success of humanity in unforgiving environments. Each of the stories in the 74 stories network is not just “Did I inspect the stored space suits, again, today, for the nth time” but “Can I stay on this ship, with this team, or this career track?” ‘All of humanity’s future’ is a distant abstraction: less-than-ideal circumstances, tedious meals, and ‘no where else to go’ are ever-present realities – how does that shape the larger story: history?

All of these stories are part of a set of works covering the thousand year history of the colonization of the Milky Way galaxy. They are stories about how mundane choices and daily chores become a future for all of humanity: less grand diplomatic missions and decisions from orbit; more remembering to put the tarp over the firewood and raking out the livestock paddock. Some of this is Ursula Le Guin‘s influence in her attention to the practical and everyday even among the fantastic (i.e. The Tombs of Atuan is set in a desert but it’s quite clear how they get food and clothes).

Yet in that grand sweep of my 1,000 year galactic history are smaller, more individual stories, of how people cope with the distances, mission plans that cover more time than most people can keep in mind, the delayed communications, and the limited company. As Resada’s first husband notes, people respond in the way they often have in difficult, isolating circumstances: by creating found family. (How much of this is planned ahead of time by base staff and whether it quite works as intended is another matter.) These are stories about people looking for peace, for hope, for happiness, for community: in “Crush” someone has found it.

To understand where the characters in “Crush” start from, read “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014). To travel with Ke through prior stories read “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016), “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (July 2015), and This is Not a Love Story in Black Denim Lit (October 2015).

(To travel with Resada through prior stories (most of them appearing in 4 Star Stories) read “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012), “Planet 38” in Four Star Stories (Summer 2013), “Planet 42 Alpha” in Four Star Stories (out now!), and “Planet 42 Beta” in Four Star Stories (forthcoming). To see Resada’s first husband beginning a family before they ever marry, read “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls (August 2021)).

To just read the entire network of stories in internal chronological order, see “Read My Short Stories in Order.”

Follow Tree and Stone Magazine at:
February 15, 2024

About “Planet 42 Alpha”

I set out to write how a character changes over 74 sequential stories. The main character, Resada Gestae, is not always the narrator, but the entire arc of 74 stories is Resada Gestae’s story over a number of years. I thought there would be exactly 74 stories, one for each planet my narrator visits, but in writing the stories there were some surprises: the 42nd stop included two worlds, an asteroid belt, and a break in the journey – two stories set in the same solar system.

These two stories will appear in 4 Star Stories: “Planet 42 Alpha” and “Planet 42 Beta”. The first story, “Planet 42 Alpha” is out now. It starts as a typical stop on Lt Gestae’s mission of reconstructive justice. (None of these visits turn out as base staff may have envisioned them.) If this sounds familiar, the 38th stop also appeared in 4 Star Stories: “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013).

Five stories in this arc of 74 are now out and I am tremendously pleased to have two appearing in 4 Star Stories. To follow Lt Gestae across this larger story, read: 1) “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012), 2) “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013), 3) “Planet 42 Alpha” in 4 Star Stories, 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (forthcoming), and 5) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023). This last story may be a bit disorienting: we see Lt Gestae from the outside and not as a narrator.

This is a trait of my work: the minor characters in one work may be the narrators in another. To follow the broader story of Ke, Resada’s spouse who narrates “Crush”, read: 1) This is Not a Love Story in Black Denim Lit (October 2015) (two partners meet), 2) “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016) (two partners solve a case), 3) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014) (two partners get a new case, that of one Resada Gestae), 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (forthcoming) (trying to keep tabs on Lt Gestae), 5) “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (July 2015) (stuck on one ship with Lt Gestae), and finally 6) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023) (married – to of all people, Resada Gestae), (and in 7) my play “The Other Two Men”) (cloned in the far future – to solve a problem in “Crush”).

To follow the wider story of Resada’s first husband Rain (who, despite his importance, never narrates any of these stories), read: 1) “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls (August 2021) (becomes an unmarried father), 2) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014) (brings future spouses in on an ongoing case that will change all their futures), 3) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (forthcoming) (a brief chance to be married), then 4) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023) (married for good).

Since all of these works are part of a network of related stories, to understand why Resada Gestae is making these visits start with: “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014). To read about previous stops read “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012) or “Planet 38” in Four Star Stories (Summer 2013). The people Resada speak to in the opening paragraphs of “Planet 42 Alpha” are introduced in “Life on Earth” in Expanded Horizons (January 2015) and appear in other works that are not yet out. To take a jump into the future read “Crush” now out in Tree and Stone‘s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023).

To see the entire arc of stories laid out in chronological order (and, in fact, all the stories happening during a thousand-year effort to colonize the galaxy) see “Read my Short Stories in Order”.

  • Lisa Shapter
March 4, 2021

Five Below’s “8 Count Fountain Pens” Review

For however long it lasts, Five Below currently stocks an “8 Count Fountain Pen” set of $5 (US) rainbow-colored “Made in China” fountain pens that look a lot like the set of rainbow Ooly fountain pens at bookstores and art supply stores. They are not exactly like the Ooly pens: the design of the pen and nib is slightly different and the pen body colors and ink colors are slightly different. The cartridges are narrower (less ink!) than Ooly proprietary cartridges and the 2 cartridges do not swap (i.e. to get more cartridges for your Ooly pens buy them from Ooly.)

The 8 Count Color Fountain Pens/8 Colored Inks in their package. (The inks are inside the pens.)

Of my set of 8 pens Five Below most wrote after the usual steps with any new fountain pen: wipe the tip of the nib with rubbing alcohol (or hand sanitizer) to remove any protective wax or grease, give the feed a brief bath in warm water with a drop of dish soap or Castile soap, blow through the feed (as if blowing up a balloon) to remove any dust or microscopic plastic shavings, then rise the nib in warm water and shake it dry. Insert the cartridge (directions are on the back of the package: I had to press hard on a firm surface and then remove the cartridge and dip the point of the nib into the cartridge to be sure the plastic seal was really broken – then put the cartridge back in.) One pen out of the 8 was a slow starter so I pressed gently back on the metal nib and dipped it in water: after that it worked as well as the rest.

Briefly cleaning the feed and nib is a helpful step with any new fountain pen.

These pens all came with a little piece of white paperboard to cushion the cartridges inside the pens during shipping. It’s not a part of the pen and can be recycled but it’s an odd touch and a sign of how small these cartridges are. (The back of the package notes that the ink cartridge diameter is “2.6mm”. That would be great if I had any idea of the diameter of a standard pen feed ….) I did get a standard international cartridge (a generic fountain pen ink cartridge) to fit on one of the pens and it wrote without leaking: so once the cartridges that came with the pens run out they can write with ordinary cartridges and there are several brands in rainbows of colors to choose from.

The pens with their matching inks.

These are also not eyedropper pens: unless you can make the full 16th of an inch hole in the back of the pen watertight there will be no filling the whole body of the pen with bottled ink.

The 8 Count Fountain Pen inks vs. the Ooly fountain pen inks on Hammermill Multi printer paper.

These pens write well enough, have a slight flex in their nibs, take standard cartridges, and are an inexpensive pen for matching the color of your pen to the color of ink, inside (or for trying out no-name inks that might clog a prized, more expensive pen). They are as good as most low-end pens with stamped steel nibs (inexpensive or disposable Pilots, Itoyas, Zebras, Oolys, etc.) and I haven’t yet gotten them to leak. (They do write better if kept point down: better pens should be kept nib up.)

Top: The 8 Count fountain pen Bottom: An Ooly fountain pen

-Lisa Shapter

Note: I have no connection with Five Below, I bought these pens on my own at full price, and I owe a thanks to YouTuber SuperRaeDizzle for mentioning that Five Below has a website.

March 4, 2021

Five Below’s “2 Count Calligraphy Fountain Pen” Review

I like fountain pens for their longevity (I have 100 year old pens), how they write, how comfortable they are to write with (if you are willing to try out different weights and widths of pens), and the variety of ink colors. Expensive pens write well and have the durability and workmanship to last 100 years but (since it’s a good time to carry your own pen) I try not to own anything I’d fear losing while running errands.

My few (not very) expensive pens stay home for letters and long form writing but I am always on the lookout for inexpensive pens to treat more cavalierly. I especially like finding fountain pens at drug stores, office supply stores, and discount stores. For this hot minute Five Below sells two types of fountain pens: the “2 Count Calligraphy Fountain Pen” ($3.25 US) and the “8 Count Fountain Pen” ($5 US). This is a review of the first (a “Made in China” knock off of the excellent and more expensive Lamy pens found in bookstores and stationary stores).

The 2 Count Calligraphy Fountain Pens in their package

The package comes with two pens (one with a Fine nib, the other with an Extra Fine nib) and four generic black ink cartridges. There are directions on the back but you will need to push firmly if you are using your own ink cartridges, instead. (The package helpfully(?) notes the ink feed’s diameter is 3.4 mm. I have no idea how this compares with other, standard pens.)

The 2 Count Calligraphy Fountain pens ready to be put together, with the box of spare ink cartridges.

The “2 Count Calligraphy” pens are not calligraphy pens. They have ordinary fountain pen nibs that write “Fine” (hooded nib) and “Extra Fine” (standard nib) – not the wide square tips for fancy lettering.

The nibs and feeds of the pens (which kept rolling when I tried to get a top view).

They will write with a line like a ballpoint’s: for actual calligraphy fountain pens there are several good choices at most crafting stores. These pens do have an advantage: most high end fountain pens do not come with “Extra Fine” nibs (“Medium” is far more common – think of a thick-lined 1 mm gel pen) but the tradeoff is that fountain pen fans are always looking for paper that won’t feather the ink like a cheap felt-tip pen or have it show through badly on the other side of the page. If you want a fountain pen that will write well on nearly any paper (ordinary notebook paper, printer paper, most cards and stationary) an “Extra Fine” pen is your best bet. There are two flat places on these pens for your fingers so you know you’re holding the pen correctly. (Write with a fountain pen at a low angle to the paper: for best results write with the blob on the side of the nib not with the very tip of the sharp point.)

These Five Below pens write beautifully. They have ink windows that let you see when you’re running low on ink. These are not eyedropper pens: blowing into them shows air leaks around the ink window. Unless you could seal the window without covering it over there will be no filling the whole back of the pen with bottled ink. (I recommend using up the ink they came with then filling the empty plastic cartridge from your choice of bottled ink with a dull syringe: an online pen store of your choice can set you up with both.)

How the 2 pens write (top: the black ink they came with bottom: a standard international cartridge of Thornton’s green).

These pens take standard international ink cartridges (ye generic standard ink cartridges) but I had to press hard on a firm surface to get the narrow end of the cartridge to seat correctly. (It took a few tries to get the cartridge flush to the back of the feed so the pen could not leak.)

Top: one of the black cartridges that came with the pens Bottom: a standard international cartridge of Thornton’s black for comparison.

I was prepared to write a you-get-what-you-pay for review about the usual faults of cheap pens (‘won’t write, write only in ink blots, won’t take any kind of cartridge you can ever find again, leaks’) but I recommend these pens: they are good starter pens that write surprisingly well and pleasantly, do not feather or bleed on most ordinary types of paper (sticky notes, free charity notepads, printer paper, school notebooks, inexpensive Thinking of You cards), and so far they write without blobbing or leaking. They are a good choice if you want to try out fountain pens or want a pen for that off-brand glitter-filled or corrosive vintage ink that might clog (or eat) a pricier pen.

-Lisa Shapter

Note: I have no connection with Five Below, I bought these pens on my own initiative at full price, and I owe a thanks to YouTuber SuperRaeDizzle (check out both channels, esp. the tests of historic art supplies and vanished paint colors!) for mentioning that Five Below has a website.