Jason Sanford

Taking a blogging break

As part of family celebrations around Christmas, I'll be taking a blogging break from now through the new year.

New publisher and editors for storySouth

Seven years ago, I founded storySouth with my co-editor Jake Adam York. While I've really enjoyed working on this literary journal, the time has come to move on. Anyone wanting all the details can read my introduction to the current issue of storySouth.

storySouth's new publisher will be Spring Garden Press, a well-regarded literary publisher in Greensboro, North Carolina. storySouth's new editor is Terry Kennedy, the Associate Director of the MFA Writing Program at UNCG Greensboro and the editor of Spring Garden Press. Joining him as fiction editor is Drew Perry, a UNCG alum who teaches fiction writing at Elon University. Julie Funderburk, who previously served as one of storySouth's associate editors, will be the poetry editor, while Andrew Saulters, who created the websites for the UNCG MFA Program, The Greensboro Review, and Spring Garden Press, will be storySouth's new designer.

I will continue to run the magazine's Million Writers Award, but otherwise all the current storySouth editors will be fading into the journal's background. Thanks to all the writers and readers who have supported the journal over the years. But also realize this isn't the end of storySouth--instead, this change is an exciting new start. In the coming months Terry and his crew will be rebuilding and improving the journal, all while continuing to keep the focus on promoting the best new writings from the new South.

Nebula Awards Report update

The SFWA has released the November 2008 Nebula Awards Report, covering all stories recommended for the award through the end of that month. This was my first time recommending stories for the award, and I'm glad to see some of the stories and novels I recommended have now qualified for the upcoming preliminary ballot--specifically "The Political Prisoner" by Charles Coleman Finlay, (F&SF, Aug. 2008, here's my earlier review of the story) and "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story" by James Alan Gardner (Asimov's, Feb. 2008). I'm also a fan of David Moles' "Finisterra" (F&SF, Dec07, see my earlier review here), which previously qualified for the ballot.

I should note that this isn't the final list of stories to qualify; active members of the SFWA can continue to make recommendations. And just as an FYI, stories need ten recommendations to qualify for the ballot.

So without any more delay, those novels and stories which have made the preliminary ballot are:

Novels

•  Abraham, Daniel: A Betrayal in Winter (Tor, Jul07)
•  Barzak, Chris: One for Sorrow (Bantam, Sep07)
•  Bull, Emma: Territory (Tor, Jul07)
•  Doctorow, Cory: Little Brother (Tor, Apr08)
•  Goonan, Kathleen Ann: In War Times (Tor, May07)
•  Le Guin, Ursula K.: Powers (Harcourt, Sep07)
•  McDevitt, Jack: Cauldron (Ace, Nov07)
•  McDonald, Ian: Brasyl (Pyr, May07)
•  Pratchett, Terry: Making Money (Harper, Sep07)
•  Rothfuss, Patrick: The Name of the Wind (DAW, Apr07)

Novellas

• Asaro, Catherine: The Spacetime Pool (Analog, Mar08)
• Benford, Gregory: Dark Heaven (Alien Crimes, Resnick, Mike, Ed., SFBC, Jan07?)
• Eskridge, Kelley: Dangerous Space (Dangerous Space, Aquaduct Press, Jun07)
• Finlay, Charles Coleman: The Political Prisoner (F&SF, Aug08)

 Novelettes

• Bowes, Richard: If Angels Fight (F&SF, Feb08)
• Flynn, Michael F. : Quaestiones Super Caelo et Mundo (Analog, Aug07 <Jul/Aug07 issue>)
• Gardner, James Alan: The Ray-Gun: A Love Story (Asimov's, Feb08)
• Goldstein, Lisa: Dark Rooms (Asimov's, Nov07 <Oct/Nov 07 issue>)
• Kessel, John: Pride and Prometheus (F&SF, Jan08)
• Kosmatka, Ted: The Prophet of Flores (Asimov's, Sep07)
• Moles, David: Finisterra (F&SF, Dec07)
• Sinisalo, Johanna: Baby Doll (The SFWA European Hall of Fame, James Morrow & Kathryn Morrow, Ed., Tor, Jun07 <trans. from the Finnish by David Hackston>)
• Wentworth, K.D.: Kaleidoscope (F&SF, May07)

 Short stories

• Allen, Mike: The Button Bin (Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly, WS & LWE, Ed., Oct07 <Reprinted in Transcriptase.)
• Cassutt, Michael: Skull Valley (Asimov's, Nov07 <Oct/Nov 07 issue>)
• Finch, Sheila: Stranger Than Imagination Can (The Guild of Xenolinguists, Golden Gryphon Press, Sep07)
• Ford, Jeffrey: The Dreaming Wind (Coyote Road, Trickster Tales, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Ed., Viking Juvenile, Jul07)
• Henderson, Samantha: Bottles (Realms of Fantasy, Apr07)
• Hobson, M. K.: The Hotel Astarte (Realms of Fantasy, Jun07)
• Jones, Gwyneth: The Tomb Wife (F&SF, Aug07)
• Kelly, James Patrick: Don't Stop (Asimov's, Jun07)
• Plante, Brian: The Astronaut (Analog, May07)
• Rickert, Mary: Holiday (Subterranean, Sep07 <#7, Datlow issue>)
• Scholes, Ken: Summer in Paris, Light From the Sky (Clarkesworld Magazine, Nov07)
• Van Pelt, James: How Music Begins (Asimov's, Sep07)

A few SF/F publication notes

Interzone has announced the contents of issue 220. It looks like a great line-up of authors, and I'm pleased to see a story by Eugie Foster in the issue. I should also note the amazing cover by Adam Tredowski. Wow! There's already talk on the Interzone forum about publishing the cover as a poster.

In other news, Rich Horton has announced the contents of Unplugged, an anthology of the best web-published fiction of the year. According to this post on his website, the selected stories are:

• Beth Bernobich, "Air and Angels" (Subterranean, Spring)
• Mercurio D. Rivera, "Snatch Me Another" (Abyss and Apex, First Quarter)
• Nancy Kress, "First Rites" (Baen's Universe, October)
• Tina Connolly, "The Bitrunners" (Helix, Summer)
• Rebecce Epstein, "When We Were Stardust" (Fantasy, February)
• Jason Stoddard, "Willpower" (Futurismic, December)
• Peter S. Beagle, "The Tale of Junko and Sayiri" (IGMS, July)
• David Dumitru, "Little Moon, Too, Goes Round" (Aeon Thirteen)
• Hal Duncan, "The Behold of the Eye" (Lone Star, August)
• Will McIntosh, "Linkworlds" (Strange Horizons, March 17-24)
• Merrie Haskell, "The Girl-Prince" (Coyote Wild, August)
• Brendan DuBois, "Not Enough Stars in the Night" (Cosmos)
• Catherynne M. Valente, "A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica" (Clarkesworld, May)
• Cory Doctorow, "The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away" (Tor.com)

I look forward to the anthology. Peter S. Beagle''s "The Tale of Junko and Sayiri" from IGMS is one of my favorite 2008 stories.

Best SF/F books and movies of 2008

My picks for the best SF/F books and movies of 2008 are now up at SF Signal. It's interesting to go through the different lists there, compiled by writers and editors like Mike Resnick, Mary Robinette Kowal, Ted Kosmatka, and many more. Plenty of people seemed to like the film WALL-E, but there was no clear consensus on SF/F books.

10 Worst Predictions for 2008

For all those who still believe pundits know what they're talking about, I present the 10 Worst Predictions for 2008. My favorite screw-up is from Jim Cramer, responding to a viewer's e-mail on CNBC's Mad Money:

"Peter writes: 'Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?' No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money out. … Bear Stearns is not in trouble. I mean, if anything they're more likely to be taken over. Don't move your money from Bear! That’s just being silly! Don't be silly!"

Maybe Jim Cramer will consider having Peter on his show. They could team up and explain why only a fool would make financial decisions based on what a TV talking (or in this case, screaming) head says.

More selections for the best SF/F anthologies

Over on the Asimov's forum and his own blog, editor Rich Horton has announced his preliminary picks for his two best of the year books. They are as follows.

Selections for Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2009:

• Elizabeth Bear, "Shoggoths in Bloom" (Asimov's, March)
• Daryl Gregory, "Glass" (MIT Technology Review, November/December)
• Ted Kosmatka, "The Art of Alchemy" (F&SF, June)
• Margo Lanagan, "The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross" (Dreaming Again)
• Robert Reed, "Character Flu" (F&SF, June)
• Rivka Galchen, "The Region of Unlikeness" (The New Yorker, March 17)
• James Alan Gardner, "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story" (Asimov's, February)
• Will McIntosh, "The Fantasy Jumper" (Black Static, February)
• James L. Cambias, "Balancing Accounts" (F&SF, February)
• Charlie Anders, "Suicide Drive" (Helix #7, January)
• Peter Watts, "The Eyes of God" (The Solaris Book of New SF, Volume 2)
• Beth Bernobich, "The Golden Octopus" (Postscripts, Summer))
• Jeff VanderMeer, "Fixing Hanover" (Extraordinary Engines)
• Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, "Boojum" (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• Paul Cornell, "Catherine Drewe" (Fast Forward 2)
• Mary Robinette Kowal, "Evil Robot Monkey (The Solaris Book of New SF, Volume 2)
• Ian McDonald, "The Tear" (Galactic Empires)

Selections for Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2009:

• Kij Johnson, "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" (Asimov's, July)
• Naomi Novik, "Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• Eugene Mirabelli, "Falling Angel" (F&SF, December)
• Meghan McCarron, "The Magician's House" (Strange Horizons, July 14-21)
• Karen Heuler, "The Difficulties of Evolution" (Weird Tales, July/August)
• Jay Lake, "A Water Matter" (Tor.com)
• Liz Williams, "Spiderhorse" (Realms of Fantasy, August)
• Alex Jeffers, "Firooz and His Brother" (F&SF, May)
• Ann Leckie, "The God of Au" (Helix #8, Spring)
• James Maxey, "Silent as Dust" (Intergalactic Medicine Show #7, January)
• Erik Amundsen, "Blue Vervain Murder Ballad #2: Jack of Diamonds" (Not One of Us, October)
• Delia Sherman, "Gift from a Spring" (Realms of Fantasy, April)
• Christopher Golden, "The Hiss of Escaping Air" (PS Publishing)
• Peter S. Beagle, "King Pelles the Sure" (Strange Roads)
• Alice Sola Kim, "We Love Deena" (Strange Horizons, February 11)
• Jeffrey Ford, "Daltharee" (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• Patrick Rothfuss, "The Road to Levinshir" (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
• Holly Phillips, "The Small Door" (Fantasy, May)
• Richard Bowes, "If Angels Fight" (F&SF, February)