My Heart is a Quadratic Equation

Shape of: “My Heart is a Quadratic Equation”, Form of: Live Theater

/ Shane / 3 Comments

I have some very exciting news to announce! Matt Haynes from The Pulp Stage has adapted my story “My Heart is a Quadratic Equation” for the theater.

Matt emailed me out of the blue after hearing my story on Escape Pod. I probably would have just figured Matt was a Nigerian prince or something (I mean, come on. “We want to adapt your story for theater. Just send along your credit card information to cover the costs…”, right?), except he had just done a guest narration over on Toasted Cake, so I had actually heard of him just before he contacted me.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about this whole thing. So I’ve been published online, via email, in print, in audio, and now I can add live action to the list. It’s been a whirlwind to say the least.

I’m not sure about when they will actually be performing the play, but of course I will keep you posted. Unfortunately, the company is in Portland, which is a little far for me to go and see it. Not sure if I have any Portlandian readers, but if anybody is out that way, please go and report back! I’d love to hear how it went!

“My Heart is a Quadratic Equation” now live at Escape Pod

/ Shane / 2 Comments

Escape Pod episode 399, including my story “My Heart is a Quadratic Equation”, is now available for download.

Hearing the story in audio format was absolutely as cool as I thought it would be. I couldn’t help but smile through the entire thing. It’s like I just kept thinking, “Hey! That thing coming out of the radio right now? I wrote that! That’s mine!” And hearing Norm Sherman, my most favorite fiction podcast host in the whole world, read my bio was absolutely surreal.

Special thanks to the narrator, Christina Lebonville, for giving Chrysanthemum just the right twist of intelligence, long-suffering boredom, and sarcasm that I imagined her to have.

Anyway, go check it out, and leave a comment if you’re so inclined.

“My Heart” in Your Ears

/ Shane / Leave a comment

I am very pleased to announce that “My Heart is a Quadratic Equation” has been picked up by the science fiction audio magazine Escape Pod.

I doubt seeing your stories in print would ever get old, but I have to say that the idea of someone actually performing my story leaves me feeling all tingly inside.

As some of you know, I get my fiction almost exclusively through audio, and in fact Escape Pod was the first audio short fiction podcast I ever listened to. Since then, I have listened to many, many episodes of Escape Pod, and in fact I even blogged about them (including a few of my favorite episodes) way back in June of 2011. Although there are dozens of really excellent audio fiction magazines I could recommend, the Escape Artist’s podcasts (Escape Pod for science fiction, Podcastle for Fantasy, and Pseudopod for horror) really are the industry standard for story selection, production value, and just generally putting out a quality product. Needless to say, I am thrilled.

As usual, I will keep you posted when the story is available.

I have reviews!

/ Shane / Leave a comment

My story at Redstone Science Fiction has garnered two professional reviews, one from Lois Tilton at Locus, and another from  Jo-Anne Odell at Tangent.

Can I just tell you how exciting it is to be reviewed by Locus and Tangent? We’re not just talking about Joe Blow on his blog writing a review. (Although I would be excited about that too!)

Selling that story has just been the gift that keeps on giving. I had the excitement of getting an acceptance, the excitement of seeing it go live, and now the unexpected excitement of seeing reviews. Here’s proof that people I don’t even know have read my story. Professional people who read stories like this for a living. Heady stuff.

Locus:

Chrysanthemum is a nuclear rocket scientist supergenius who can’t get a second date without downloading the guy’s brain into a robot. Until she meets a guy who’s a big a nerd as she is. Silly stuff.

Tangent:

Chrysanthemum  is a scientist in “My Heart is a Quadratic Equation” by Shane Halbach.  Although she dates men on a regular basis, we’re not really sure why.  She definitely has no interest in them, except as potential test subjects.  Chet ends up in her lab that way.  Strangely, he seems to have no objection.  When she meets Albert, everything changes.

If you enjoy absurdism, you might like this.  Occasionally, I find an absurdist piece I think is marvelous, but most just leave me scratching my head.  This one was no exception.

“My Heart is a Quadratic Equation” now live at Redstone Science Fiction

/ Shane / 1 Comment

The September issue of Redstone Science Fiction is now live, including my debut story, My Heart is a Quadratic Equation.

I am honored (if that’s even the right word…maybe unworthy?) to be featured alongside the amazingly talented, prolific, and well-nominated Lavie Tidhar.

While you are there, be sure to check out Mr. Tidhar’s story “Earthrise“, and perhaps leave a comment or two about how much you liked “My Heart is Quadratic Equation”. 🙂