...but only because life has been so busy for me. I'm editing two Million Writers Award anthologies and these books have totally consumed my free time recently. I'll have complete details on the anthologies, including the official table of contents and release dates, later this month.
Until then, here are some random thoughts and a few things to check out:
- Weirdfictionreview.com launched yesterday and it's already creating an impressive buzz in speculative fiction circles. The website is devoted to The Weird and is the brainchild of Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. Until recently Ann edited Weird Tales Magazine and she co-edited with her husband The Weird: A Compendium of Strange & Dark Stories, a 750,000-word, 100-year retrospective of weird fiction. As for Jeff, he is known for writing very weird and wonderful fiction. I'm extremely excited that they've created this site, especially since Weird Tales no longer appears to be interested in publishing truly weird fiction. Among the highlights are an exclusive interview with Neil Gaiman about weird fiction and a translation of Thomas Owen’s short story “Kavar the Rat” by Edward Gauvin.
- I keep watching Terra Nova even though the show can't decide if it wants to be a time-travelling Lost clone or a show for kids. Unfortunately, they keep mixing both extremes together, a blending on horrible display in Monday's "Bylaw" episode. The episode should have been called "Murder by Dinosaur" because that was the main plot point, aside from the kid-candy secondary story of a dinosaur hatching from an egg. The main reason I keep watching is because my kids like the show. But if Terra Nova keeps going like this my kids will soon experience one of my worst reoccuring childhood memories, i.e., having your favorite TV show cancelling in its first season.
- My story "Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy" from Interzone 234 received a great review in Stephen Hunt's SFCrowsnest. Evidently I wrote "a whirlwind of a story that bashes together every trope of speculative fiction into a big chaotic adventure and it is tremendous fun to go along for the ride." Many thanks for the kind words.
- My kids dragged me to see Real Steel and, for a robot boxing movie, it wasn't too bad. Since I expected to be banging my head on the seat in pain at this big-screen version of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, "not too bad" in this instance counts as a win.