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Month: June 2016

In Short Fiction, 2016 Belongs to Rich Larson and Dominica Phetteplace

In Short Fiction, 2016 Belongs to Rich Larson and Dominica Phetteplace

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Interzone-261-smaller Asimov's Science Fiction March 2014 Asimovs SF July 2016-small

It’s all subjective, but 2015 really seemed to be the year of Sam J. Miller and Kelly Robson. If you weren’t reading their stuff you were missing something special. There were others, like Alyssa Wong, but you needed to read Sam and Kelly. Just like the year before it was Kai Ashante Wilson and Usman Malik.

While thankfully none of those fine writers have gone away, this year seems to belong to Rich Larson and Dominica Phetteplace, both of whom have had fine stories in a range of publications. Larson has had strong work in Interzone, Analog, F&SF and elsewhere, while Phetteplace has set up home in Asimov’s with a series of excellent stories. She also has a new one in the upcoming July/August F&SF, “Spells Are Easy If You Have The Right Psychic Energy,” that I really enjoyed. And both authors are in the current issue of Asimov’s, July 2016 (above right).

Using Feedback from Beta Readers and Editors: The Parable of Frankenstein’s Monster

Using Feedback from Beta Readers and Editors: The Parable of Frankenstein’s Monster

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frankenstein
A book, my friends, is like Frankenstein’s monster.

Beta readers — friends who read and comment on your work — and, if you are lucky or flush, professional editors, are great. They tell you things like:

“The characters seemed thin… I just lost interest.”

“The main character was such a #### that I couldn’t read on.”

“Too much technical detail. I got bored.”

“The fight scenes went on too long.”

And they are always right — because reading is a subjective experience — but they are usually wrong, because the issue is usually not the issue.

It’s like Frankenstein’s Monster.

No, really. Let me explain…

In fact, let me tell you a story.

…

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Tor.com is Buying Science Fiction Novellas

Tor.com is Buying Science Fiction Novellas

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Tor.com bannerTor.com is on a roll. Their new line of novellas has been a commercial and critical hit — the $2.99 digital price pretty much makes them irresistible, and Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti just won a Nebula Award. Plenty of others in their catalog are getting award attention, too. And in addition to their premium publishing line, they continue to publish fine novellas for free on their website.

All in all, it’s not an exaggeration to say that Tor.com has helped usher in a new era for the novella in SF & Fantasy publishing. They certainly haven’t done it alone — Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and other top sites have all recently announced that they’re starting to publish longer work — but they’ve definitely led the way in making the novella sexy again.

So I was delighted to see Tor.com recently open a new reading period for unsolicited novellas. Here’s the announcement.

Starting June 5th, Lee Harris and Carl Engle-Laird will be reading and evaluating original novellas submitted by hopeful authors to http://submissions.tor.com/tornovellas/. You can find full guidelines here, and we highly recommend you read the guidelines, because we’re doing things a little differently this time. Until the end of June, Tor.com will only be considering novellas of between 20,000 and 40,000 words that fit one of the following science fiction subgenres:

  • Time Travel
  • Space Opera
  • Near Future Thriller
  • Cyberpunk

…As always, both Lee Harris and Carl Engle-Laird actively request submissions from writers from underrepresented populations. This includes, but is not limited to, writers of any race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, class and physical or mental ability.

If you’ve had that unfinished space opera/cyberpunk thriller gathering dust on your hard drive, now is definitely time to polish it off an submit it! Read complete details here.

Future Treasures: Icon by Genevieve Valentine, Book II of The Persona Sequence

Future Treasures: Icon by Genevieve Valentine, Book II of The Persona Sequence

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Persona Genevieve Valentine-small Icon Genevieve Valentine-small

Genevieve Valentine’s first novel Mechanique received a Nebula nomination and placed #2 on the Locus Award list for Best First Novel. Her second was the highly acclaimed The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. Her third, Persona, was the first installment in The Persona Sequence; it was released last year as part of the freshman class of Saga Press releases, and very warmly received.

The sequel, Icon, arrives at the end of the month. Here’s the description.

Suyana Sapaki survived an assassination attempt and has risen far higher than her opponents ever expected. Now she has to keep her friends close and her enemies closer as she walks a deadly tightrope — and one misstep could mean death, or worse — in this smart, fast-paced sequel to the critically acclaimed Persona.

A year ago, International Assembly delegate Suyana Sapaki barely survived an attempt on her life. Now she’s climbing the social ranks, dating the American Face, and poised for greatness. She has everything she wants, but the secret that drives her can’t stay hidden forever. When she quickly saves herself from a life-threatening political scandal, she gains a new enemy: the public eye.

Daniel Park was hoping for the story of a lifetime. And he got her. He’s been following Suyana for a year. But what do you do when this person you thought you knew has vanished inside the shell, and dangers are building all around you? How much will Daniel risk when his job is to break the story? And how far will he go for a cause that isn’t his?

Icon will be published by Saga Press on June 28, 2016. It is 322 pages, priced at $24.99 in hardcover, and $7.99 for the digital edition

The Further Adventures of Cija the Goddess: Jane Gaskell’s Atlan Saga, Part II

The Further Adventures of Cija the Goddess: Jane Gaskell’s Atlan Saga, Part II

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Orbit Futura Cover
Orbit Futura Cover
Pocket Books Cover (Boris Vallejo)
Pocket Books Cover (Boris Vallejo)

A Tale of Two Books

Back in December I wrote about Jane Gaskell’s classic 1960’s fantasy novel The Serpent. We pick up the story with a book that’s been published here and there as the second in the series, The Dragon.

Calling this Book Two is a bit of a misnomer, as certain publishers have included this slim volume as part of The Serpent. For our purposes (and because the Orbit Futura series I have at hand separated them into two distinct volumes), I am referring to it as a separate book. My copy weighs in at 206 pages of small print, continuing the exploits of our reluctant heroine, the young goddess Cija.

The two-book split is preferable in at least one sense, in that it acts as a visual divide that emphasizes events in the tale.

You see, our heroine is growing up. From her secluded upbringing we saw her blunder from point to point in The Serpent. She was naïve and had a skewed sense of the real world, having had only books — chiefly romances and sagas — to help her form opinions in her youth. One got the distinct impression that life happened to Cija.

That kind of inherent fatalism starts to change in The Dragon.

Of course, there’s another advantage to having two editions – awesome cover art. I would love to know who painted the covers of the Orbit Futura series, but the artist isn’t credited. One needs a magnifying glass to appreciate it fully, but the cover of The Dragon is not only captivating, in my humble opinion, but also shows that the artist has done his homework, as it depicts events within the book almost as accurately as the author’s fine prose.

…

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Amazing Stories, October 1962: A Retro-Review

Amazing Stories, October 1962: A Retro-Review

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Amazing Stories October 1963-small Amazing Stories October 1963-back-small

Back to Cele Goldsmith’s Amazing. This is a minor issue in context.

The cover is by an artist I’m not familiar with, Bill Conlon. The interiors are by Virgil Finlay, Austin Briggs, George Schelling, Lloyd Birmingham, and Dan Adkins. Norman Lobsenz’ editorial is about science vs. the humanities. The science fact article is called “The Nuclear Putt-Putt,” by Frank Tinsley, and it’s about Project Orion (the notion of propelling a spacecraft by nuclear bombs). Sam Moskowitz contributes a profile of the late Henry Kuttner, reflecting the view that much of what he wrote under his own name was garbage, so no one could believe he was behind the Lewis Padgett stories.

S. E. Cotts’ book review column covers Great Science Fiction by Scientists, edited by Groff Conklin; The Long Tomorrow, by Leigh Brackett; Return to Otherness, by Henry Kuttner; Telepath, by Arthur Sellings; and The Super Barbarians, by John Brunner. He praises the Conklin anthology for its off-center focus — the fiction of actual working scientists — less than for the quality of the actual stories. The review of The Long Tomorrow is an out and out rave (with an apology for having taken so long to get around to it).

…

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New Treasures: Alive by Scott Sigler

New Treasures: Alive by Scott Sigler

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Alive Scott Sigler-small Alive-Scott Sigler-back-small

New York Times best-selling writer Scott Sigler is the author of fifteen novels, included Infected and Pandemic. His popular Generations Trilogy began with Alive, published in hardcover in July of last year, followed by Alight, released on April 5 of 2016. The final novel, Alone, is scheduled to be released in March of next year.

Alive follows the story of a band of young teens who awaken in a coffin-strewn underground chamber, and the disturbing discoveries that await them when they finally escape. Led by a girl who has no memory of her identity, they explore a labyrinth of corridors filled with bones and dust… and much worse. Cherie Priest (Boneshaker) calls it “A tense, unsettling page-turner of a story — both deeply strange and wildly compelling,” and Entertainment Weekly say it “lives up to its hype, packing plenty of thrills.” It was an Amazon Best Book for July 2015. Del Rey released a trade paperback edition earlier this year, at the bargain price of $10. Well worth checking out.

Alive was published by Del Rey on February 2, 2016. It is 369 pages, priced at $10 in trade paperback, and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover was designed by David G. Stevenson.

Get an Inside Look at the Hottest Boardgames with Meeple Monthly

Get an Inside Look at the Hottest Boardgames with Meeple Monthly

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Meeple Monthly May 2016-smallIf you hang out in game stores (and who doesn’t?) you’ve doubtless seen copies of GTM, Game Trade Magazine, a monthly industry mag for the Adventure Hobby industry that also doubles as a handy catalog for Alliance Game Distributors. GTM is always a pleasant read, with fun articles and full color pics of upcoming RPGs and card games. While I was browsing the magazine rack at my local game store last month, I came across something called Meeple Monthly, and at first couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like GTM, except for board games… a full color magazine devoted to the very latest releases, with full color throughout, chatty articles, a nice assortment of ads, and enthusiasm for the industry dripping off every page. And that’s exactly what it was.

Ah, what a marvelous world we live in. An inexpensive color magazine devoted to new board games? Yes please! I snatched up that issue and brought it home, and I’ve bought every one I could find since. The May issue, featuring a cover feature on Fireside Games and USAopoly’s Star Trek Panic, covers games shipping in July. It also contains:

  • An inside look at Happy Salmon from North Star Games
  • A sneak peak at 400 new monsters for Dungeons and Dragons Ancient Bestiaries in Tome of Beasts, from Kobold Press
  • Wade Rockett’s preview of the excellent artwork in Tome of Beasts
  • Robin Laws’ inside look at Gumshoe going One-2-One in Cthulhu Confidential, from Pelgrane Press
  • The Battle for Hill 218 comes to the Ogre Universe in Ogre: Objective 218, the newest from Steve Jackson Games

All that plus over a dozen pages cataloging every upcoming board game, from all the major publishers, all in full color. What’s not to love?

Meeple Monthly is edited by Jenna Piller and published by ACD Distribution. It is 48 pages, full color, priced at just $3.95. See more details — including news on the upcoming June issue — at their Facebook page.

Raising Your Young Geek

Raising Your Young Geek

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Some of my earliest memories are of this movie. I had to have been five when I saw it for the first time. The most recent viewing was last month. It's on heavy rotation around here.
Some of my earliest memories are of watching The Last Unicorn. I had to have been five when I saw it for the first time. The most recent viewing was last month. It’s on heavy rotation around here.

A few weeks ago, I was playing with my daughter, who is on the brink of turning four.

“Come here you little demon,” I said.

“I’m not a demon! You’re a demon!” she shrieked before pulling an imaginary sword and shouting “WINDSCAR!!!”

Yup. I got full on Inuyasha-ed by a four year old pixie child.

Raising children as a Geek means forging into unknown territory, at least for me. I’m a natural born geek myself, but I’m one of the few in my family. My older siblings introduced me to Star Wars, and discovered Trek thanks to friends at school. I found my own way into SFF fiction along the way, with help from teachers and other friends.

So figuring out raising kids and passing along the love of these things is a new field for both my husband and I. We’re a multi-fandom household: we love both Star Wars and Star Trek (and Star Gate, for that matter) and we have watched the original Star Wars trilogy with my older daughter, who finishes Kindergarten this week.

We’ve argued playfully over whether or not we will introduce the prequel trilogy… ever. She’s a mature six, so she watches (slightly curated) episodes of Star Gate: SG-1 with her Dad. We watched Avatar: The Last Airbender at an early age, and are now working our way through Inuyasha and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

…

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The Return of Dabir and Asim

The Return of Dabir and Asim

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the-desert-of-souls UK-smallHoward Andrew Jones sent me a letter in the very early days of Black Gate. It was articulate and delightful, and I remember it well. He welcomed the magazine to the fold, speaking enthusiastically about our focus on classic adventure fantasy. He also included a story featuring two characters of his own creation, Dabir and Asim, sleuths and adventurers who strode the crowded streets and dark ways of ninth century Arabia, facing dark sorcery and ancient evils, armed only with their wits and cold steel.

Dabir and Asim had many adventures together. I bought two of those tales for Black Gate — “Sight of Vengeance” (BG 10), and “Whispers from the Stone,” (BG 12) — and they became some of the most popular stories we ever published. Dabir and Asim appeared in two novels, The Desert of Souls and Bones of the Old Ones, one collection, The Waters of Eternity, and many other places (such as the awesome Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters anthology), before Howard turned his talents to other worthy endeavors. But you can’t keep great characters down for long, and on his blog yesterday Howard announced the return of Dabir and Asim in a brand new tale — and hinted at further adventures in the works.

For the first time this year I’ve sold a short story. I’m delighted to relay that the upcoming Skelos magazine will be carrying a never-before-published Dabir and Asim story in its second issue! You can see magazine details here and there is, briefly, still time to get in on its kickstarter.

I still fully plan to finish writing at least one more Dabir and Asim novel. If I can actually maintain the pace with this current set of drafts, I hope to find time to create a new Dabir and Asim every other year or so and market it as an e-book.

Welcome back, lads! You were missed.

Read our own coverage of the exciting launch of Skelos here, and Howard’s complete announcement on his blog.