In praise of virtual connections
My new essay "In praise of virtual connections" is now live on my Sci-Fi Strange Medium.com collection. In the essay I discuss why our interconnected world isn’t the cause of social disengagement, and might even fix it. For good measure I even throw in Sturgeon’s Law and apply it to human communications and lives.
If you like the essay, consider following my Sci-Fi Strange collection, which is updated regularly with works by myself and many others.
Million Writers Award top ten stories released; public vote now open
The storySouth Million Writers Award top ten stories have been released and the public vote for the overall winners is now open. We have more than $1,000 in cash and prizes for the winners, so go check out the stories and vote.
I also want to thank our three final judges: Forrest Anderson, Jeff VanderMeer, and the one judge who wished to remain anonymous. You three are amazing! Even though all three of the judges are extremely busy with their own writing careers, they still took the time to read through all of this year's notable stories and pick their ten favorites. If that doesn't fit perfectly into the definition of awesome, I don't know what does.
Books
Quick links
Never Never Stories (Print Edition)"The most original speculative fiction that I’ve ever read." Catherine Russell, Functional Nerds Jason's stories "reward reading, and presage what could be an excellent career." "If you're new to (Sanford's stories) then this is a very highly recommended collection indeed." Spaceships passing through the sky like endless clouds. A woman whose skin reveals the names of sailors fated to die at sea. A virus which causes people who touch each other to turn into crystalline trees. These are only a few of the stories in my collection, Never Never Stories. Ranging from science fiction to fantasy, the 10 stories contained in the print edition of Never Never Stories have won the Interzone Readers’ Poll, been nominated for the BSFA Award, longlisted for the British Fantasy Award, and printed in numerous magazines and book anthologies including Year's Best SF. The collection also contains an original essay on archeology and fantasy and a cover by award-winning artist Vincent Chong. Stories included in this collection:
Reviews “The most original speculative fiction that I’ve ever read.” — Catherine Russell, Functional Nerds |
Spotlight Publishing The price is $15.95 Note: The small press publisher of this print edition went out of business. Used copies, though, are still available online. |
Never Never Stories (Ebook Edition)The ebook edition of Never Never Stories contains all of the content from the print edition along with four additional stories (one of which has never been published) plus a different introduction. Stories included in this ebook collection:
Reviews "Sanford (and some other writers) are producing SF that truly has a different feel than much that has gone before." — Rich Horton, Locus, February 2011 "Few SF/fantasy writers generate a buzz through short fiction alone, but Jason Sanford is an exception. Over the past few years, he's created a growing fan base through his brand of modern speculative fiction, something he called 'SF Strange.'" — Jeff VanderMeer on Amazon's Omnivoracious blog
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The price is $4.99 Purchase for the Amazon Kindle (U.S.A. site)
Purchase for the Barnes and Noble Nook In the iBooks Store: |
Sublimation AngelsOriginally published in the British magazine Interzone, my novella Sublimation Angels was a finalist for the Nebula Award, won the Interzone Readers' Poll for best story, and was longlisted for the British Fantasy Award. The ebook edition contains the complete text of Sublimation Angels along with a short essay on why I wrote the novella. Reviews A Tangent Online 2009 recommended story Five stars. "A captivating story about freedom, rebellion, and seeking the truth." SF Signal "One of the best novellas of the year." Suite101 "Sanford shows again just what a talent he is." SF Revu "Superb ... a satisfying and wonderfully rounded story." SF Crowsnest "SF of the purest quality." Tangent
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The price is $2.99 Purchase for the Amazon Kindle (U.S.A. site)
Purchase for the Barnes and Noble Nook In the iBooks store: United States |
Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval FantasyPrincess Krisja Jerome lives in a futuristic playground universe of stone castles and dragons, where gallant knights fight for honor and glory using lasers and unbreakable synthetic swords. But when invaders destroy Krisja's carefully managed life, she sets out on a quest with a King Arthur duplicate to discover the truth of their world. Along the way she learns it’s not enough to merely experience great deeds – to be a true hero you must risk everything you love and hold dear. Originally published in the British SF magazine Interzone. Reviews "You can always count on Jason Sanford for something imaginative and ‘Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy’ certainly more than achieves that goal. Another stunning piece by a talented writer." — Sam Tomaino, SF Revu "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." — Tomas Martin, Stephen's Hunt SF Crowsnest
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The price is 99 cents Purchase for the Amazon Kindle (U.S.A. site)
Purchase for the Barnes and Noble Nook In the iBooks store: Coming soon! |
Million Writers Award: The Best New Online VoicesFor nearly a decade the Million Writers Award has honored the best fiction published in online magazines and journals. Now collected for the first time are the most exciting literary voices recognized by this award. Read these groundbreaking short stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging stories. Table of Contents
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Spotlight Publishing The price is $15.95 Note: The small press publisher of this print edition went out of business. Used copies, though, are still available online. Purchase print or Kindle edition from Amazon Purchase print or Nook edition from B&N
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Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and FantasyFor nearly a decade the Million Writers Award has honored the best fiction published in online magazines and journals. Now collected for the first time are the most exciting science fiction and fantasy voices recognized by this award. Read these groundbreaking short stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging stories. Table of Contents
Reviews Publisher's Weekly Starred Review: "Sanford, editor of the online literary journal storySouth, assembles a remarkable collection of science fiction and fantasy works, all originally published online and heralded in storySouth’s annual Million Writers Award contest (some are winners, others finalists and notables). Many of these stories have earned other awards and nominations, and they prove that online journals and magazines deserve readers’ respect and attention." Jamie Todd Rubin, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show: "We are living in a golden age of short science fiction and fantasy. Having read and written a great deal about classical Golden Age science fiction, having done a pretty good job keeping up with most of the short fiction markets today, I feel I can make this statement with some authority. If further evidence is required, however, I point to Jason Sanford's recent anthology,Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy."
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Spotlight Publishing The price is $15.95 Note: The small press publisher of this print edition went out of business. Used copies, though, are still available online. Purchase print or Kindle edition from Amazon Purchase print or Nook edition from B&N
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Guess What Inspired "The Blue Room" and Win Autographed Copy of Interzone 231
My full-length short story "The Blue Room" is now available on the Daily Science Fiction website.The story is a non-traditional fantasy set on the Great Plains. When the story was emailed last week to DSF subscribers, I announced a contest: The first person to figure out who and what inspired the story would receive an autographed copy of Interzone 231.
But while I've received a lot of responses, so far no one has guessed correctly. That means the contest is still on. Simply email or message me your answers. All the clues you need are in the story.
Reader Nominations for 2011 Million Writers Award
The 2011 Million Writers Award is now open for nominations. This page is for READERS to nominate one short story published in an online magazine during 2010. Editor nominations are here.
Nominations will be accepted through March 15, 2011. As always, there is no fee to nominate a story or to take part in the award process. If a story is already nominated below, there is no need to nominate that story multiple times. Attempts to "stuff" multiple nominations of the same story by one reader or a group of readers will be deleted.
To nominate a story, please first read the rules then use the following format to place information in the comment box at the bottom of this page.
Asimov's Science Fiction
http://www.asimovs.com
Story: "Stone Wall Truth" by Caroline M. Yoachim
Story URL: http://carolineyoachim.com/Stories/StoneWallTruth.html
(Note: the above story—while a top-notch piece of short fiction—is not eligible for the Million Writers Award because it was first published in Asimov's, a print magazine.)
Failure to use the above format when making a nomination can result in nominations not being considered.
Please enter your nomination into the comment box at the bottom of this page. To post nominations people will need to log into this site using either Facebook, Twitter, Typepad, or another social media account. If anyone experiences problems please contact Jason Sanford.
Finally, if you like what we're doing with the Million Writers Award please consider making a donation to increase the amount of prize money we can offer.
Casting the SFWA election ballot
My ballot for the 2010 SFWA election arrived today and I have cast my vote for the following:
- John Scalzi for President
- Mary Robinette Kowal for Vice-President
- Bob Howe for Secretary
- Amy Sterling Casil for Treasurer
- Diana Rowland for South/Central Director
I really like the changes SFWA has instituted in the last two years, which are helping return the organization to its former glory. I'm confident if these candidates win they will continue the hard work needed to finish revitalizing the SFWA. 'Nuff said.
CliffsNotes to the great short story rate fail debate
Don't know where to start wading through the great community angst and anger session some are already calling rate fail? Never fear, CliffsNotes are here.
- John Scalzi starts with a rant against Black Matrix Publishing for paying nothing for nothing. Unable to let the dead horse remain dead, Scalzi beats the horse over and over and over (in process coining phrase "Aspiring Writer Stockholm Syndrome" and causing one blogger to proclaim him a genius).
- Naturally writers are offended, both at Scalzi for insulting their publishing credits, at Black Matrix for paying so little, at writers for being so insulted over being insulted (say it isn't so), and at the unfair publishing world, which ignores far too many of the writers taking part in this entire debate. (Again, say it isn't so).
- And now, as the bombs die down, a few brave souls emerge from the wreckage to offer their summaries of what all this means. Definitely read this, and this, and this.
As for myself, I'm now officially sick of all this. How about we return to more traditional sources of angst and anger in the genre community. Like how everyone hates the use of red matter in the new Star Trek movie.
Contact
I can be contacted at jasonsanfordsf (at sign) gmail (dot) com. You can also Twitter me at twitter.com/jasonsanford and find me on Facebook at facebook.com/jasonsanford.
Million Writers Award Donations
Last year the Million Writers Award gave away a $1000 in cash and prizes, all of which came from donations. If you'd like to make a donation, please use the link below.
Please note that since these donations do not go through Spring Garden Press (storySouth's publisher), donations are not tax deductible. However, your entire donated amount will be used for the prize money, minus the small fee PayPal deducts for transmitting the money. All donors will have the option of having their name and donation listed on the Million Writers Award page. Donors may also remain anonymous.
To make a donation, click below.
About Jason
Jason Sanford is the award-winning author of a number of short stories, essays, and articles, and an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Born and raised in the American South, he currently lives in the Midwestern U.S. with his wife and sons. His life's adventures include work as an archeologist and as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Jason has published more than a dozen of his short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone, which once devoted a special issue to his fiction. His fiction has also been published in Asimov's Science Fiction, Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, InterGalactic Medicine Show, Tales of the Unanticipated, The Mississippi Review, Diagram, Pindeldyboz, and other places. Book anthologies containing his stories include Year's Best SF 14 edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, Bless Your Mechanical Heart edited by Jennifer Brozek, and Beyond the Sun edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt.
A collection of Jason’s short stories, titled Never Never Stories, was published by a small press in 2011.
Jason’s awards and honors include being a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella, winning both the 2008 and 2009 Interzone Readers' Polls for best story of the year (and being a co-winner of the 2010 Poll), receiving a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, being nominated for the BSFA Award, and being longlisted for the British Fantasy Award. His stories have also been named to the 2012 and 2013 Locus Recommended Reading Lists along with being translated into a number of languages including Chinese, French, Russian, Polish, and Czech.
Jason co-founded the literary journal storySouth, through which he ran the annual Million Writers Award for best online fiction. His critical essays and book reviews have been published in a number of places including SF Signal, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and The Pedestal Magazine. He also writes a regular column for the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
Jason can be contacted at jasonsanfordsf (at sign) gmail (dot) com. He can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, Medium.com, and other social media platforms.
Awards and media
Here are some of the awards and honors I've received for my writing:
- Winner of the 2008 and 2009 Interzone Readers' Polls. Co-winner of the 2010 Readers' Poll.
- Finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella.
- Story reprinted in Year's Best SF 14, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.
- Story nominated for the 2009 British Fantasy Award.
- Two stories nominated for the 2008 BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction.
- Multiple honorable mentions in the 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th annual collections of The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Winner of a 2002 Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship.
- 2003 Gold Award for Communications Crafts, Writing, from University of Minnesota Communicators Forum.
- Winner of the 2005 Fiction Warehouse Hypnologic Experiment writing contest
- Winner of the Magnificent Magnolia 2003 essay contest
- Jury selection in the Walker Art Center's 5 Minutes of Fame, December 2002
- Winner of a 1997-98 Loft Mentor Series Award for Fiction.
- Finalist for a SASE/Jerome Award.
- Finalist at the 2001 Op-Ed Slam, sponsored by the National Writers Union.
- Three-time judge of the Minnesota Book Awards, including judge of the 2003 fiction category.
Below is a sampling of the media coverage about my work. Reviews of my fiction are on this page.
- Nebula Award 2010 Interview with Jason Sanford.
SFWA's Nebula Award website - An interview with Jason Sanford by John Coyne
November 2007 issue of Peace Corps Writers - Short interview by Emma Larkins, Emerging Emma blog, August 29, 2008
- Million Writers Award coverage, LA Times Jacket Copy by Carolyn Kellogg, April 23, 2009
- From the blogs column by Sarah Crown, The Guardian newspaper, England, July 7, 2007
(This was coverage of both my essay "Dipping Their Toes in the Genre Pool: The U.S. Literary Establishment's Need-Hate Relationship with Speculative Fiction" from The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Matthew Cheney's reaction to the essay in "The Shibboleth of "The Literary Establishment"). - "The Million Writers Award: raising the profile of online literary journals" by Simon Owens, Bloggasm, July 11th, 2007
- "Personal Views: Jason Sanford" by Mary Cox
2005 Novel and Short Story Writers Market
(Note: This is a six-page feature interview on online publishing and literature.) - "Rank and Slush Pile: Is There a Literary Hierarchy" by Timothy Schaffert
Poets & Writers Magazine, May/June 2009
(Note: Quoted at the end of the article, which stirred a minor bit of controversy.) - "Introduction to Online Markets"
2007 Novel and Short Story Writers Market
(Note: quoted about online markets and storySouth.) - Short profile in Auburn Magazine, Spring 2006
Reviews and interviews
Quick links
Here are reviews of my fiction along with interviews with me. For specific publication information on these stories, please see my fiction page.
Interviews with Jason
- SciFi Strange, an interview with SciFi Strange author Jason Sanford on Apex Publications website
- "Confronting the Unfamiliar," intervew by Andy Hedgecock in Interzone 231.
- Nebula Award 2010 Interview with Jason Sanford, SFWA's Nebula Award website. (Note: interview not available online.)
- Interview on Functional Nerds podcast, hosted by Patrick Hester and John Anealio.
- Transcript of SFF Writer Chat interview on Twitter, hosted by Bryan Thomas Schmidt.
- Interview on the Skiffy and Fanty Show where Jason is named the "Lord of SciFi Strange."
- Interview on StarShipSofa.
- An interview with Jason Sanford by John Coyne in the November 2007 issue of Peace Corps Writers.
- Short Interview by Emma Larkins, Emerging Emma blog, August 29, 2008.
- "Personal Views: Jason Sanford" by Mary Cox in 2005 Novel and Short Story Writers Market. (Note: This was a six-page feature interview on online publishing and literature.)
General Reviews about Jason's Stories
- "Sanford (and some other writers) are producing SF that truly has a different feel than much that has gone before." — Rich Horton, Locus, February 2011
- "Few SF/fantasy writers generate a buzz through short fiction alone, but Jason Sanford is an exception. Over the past few years, he's created a growing fan base through his brand of modern speculative fiction, something he called 'SF Strange.'" — Jeff VanderMeer on Amazon's Omnivoracious blog
- "Interzone is really spoiling me when it publishes Jason Sanford so regularly. As far as I'm concerned, they couldn't publish too much of this author if they named it Jason Sanford's Science Fiction Magazine." — Sam Tomaino, SFRevu
- "A writer whose reputation grows with each story." — author Colin Harvey
- "Sanford expertly blends world building and storytelling. In fact, he makes it look easy." — John DeNardo, SF Signal
Reviews of Selected Stories
"Plague Birds" (short story originally published in Interzone)
- "Breath-taking in its audacity ... a story to remind jaded reviewers why they fell in love with SF in the first place." Colin Harvey, Suite 101
- "Hugo-worthy." SFRevu
- Five Stars. SF Signal
- "Ingenious fiction." Tangent Online
- "Intriguing and a worthwhile base story for what seems like a planned series." Rich Horton, Locus, Aug. 2010
- "Good solid entertainment." Gardner Dozois, Locus, Oct. 2010.
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 28th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
"A Twenty-First Century Fairy Love Story"
- "Highly recommend." Fantastic Reviews Blog
"Into the Depths of Illuminated Seas"
- "Will make my Hugo short list when I nominate in 2011." SFRevu
- "The original premise and good writing recommend the story." Tangent Online
"Here We Are, Falling Through Shadows"
- Longlisted for the 2010 British Fantasy Award.
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 27th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine Ikarie and the French book anthology Ténèbres.
- "A dark, tragic tale that somehow ends with a measure of hope." Suite 101
- "Will make my Hugo shortlist." SFReview
- "A chilling story of the unknown." SF Crowsnest
- Four stars. "Marvelously engaging story." SF Signal
- A "haunting story that stayed with me long after the first reading." Tangent
"Sublimation Angels" (Link to ebook editions)
- Finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella.
- Winner of the 2009 Interzone Readers' Poll.
- Longlisted for the British Fantasy Award.
- A Tangent Online 2009 recommended story
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 27th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Five stars. "A captivating story about freedom, rebellion, and seeking the truth." SF Signal
- "One of the best novellas of the year." Suite101
- "Sanford shows again just what a talent he is." SF Revu
- "Superb ... a satisfying and wonderfully rounded story." SF Crowsnest
- "SF of the purest quality." Tangent
"When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees"
- Winner of the 2008 Interzone Readers Poll.
- Nominated for the 2008 BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction.
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 26th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Review in Locus by Rich Horton ("Recommended")
- Review in SFRevu ("Hugo-worthy")
- Review in Suite 101 ("One of the year's best.")
- Selected as one of the top ten stories of 2008 by Neil Beynon.
"The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain"
- Nominated for the 2008 BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction.
- Longlisted for the 2009 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 26th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Review in Suite 101 ("One of the best stories of the year.")
- Review in The Internet Review of Science Fiction ("A very strange and wonderful creation. Recommended.")
- Review in Best SF ("As inventive a piece of world-building as you generally see in short SF.")
- Review in SF Crowsnest ("A very enjoyable yarn.")
- Review in SFRevu (A "poignant tale of hope.")
- Honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 26th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
- Selected by Richard Horton as one of four impressive Analog short stories for 2008.
"Book Scouts of the Galactic Rim"
- Review in BestScienceFictionStories.com ("If you are a fan of printed science fiction you are bound to love this story!")
- Selected as an honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories, 25th Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois.
Being Gregory Benford
Via the Fantasy and Science Fiction blog comes this test to determine which science fiction writer you are. Evidently I am "Gregory Benford, a master literary stylist who is also a working scientist." Of course, people should take the test with a grain of salt, because as my tests results stated "The real Greg Benford once took this quiz, and it told him he was Arthur C. Clarke."
Cloverfield review
My wife and I saw Cloverfield last night and it was an enjoyable throwback to old Hollywood spectacles like King Kong, where the film takes the audience to places we'd prefer not to see in real life (but are perfectly happy to watch on the big screen). Overall, the film does a masterful job of creating a realistic yet sensawunda story about a monster attacking New York City. The movie also strikes me as very 21st century, with scenes that people will be playing over and over on their iPods and DVD players as they attempt to figure out more of the story. Big hint: That last scene at Coney Island isn't simply a flashback to happier times in the main characters's lives. Check out what's making a splash in the ocean.
My one criticism is that the jerking and shaking of the handheld camera quickly grows old. When the Blair Witch Project came out, technology was such that the only way to hold a camcorder steady was to use a tripod. Now most camcorders come with built in image stabilizers. Would it have really taxed the directors' imaginations for their characters to have a Canon GL2? I know the audience would have thanked them.
Nonfiction and essays
Quick links
- Essays on Literature and Writing
- Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Author Interviews
- Book and Magazine Reviews
- General Essays
- Selected Nonfiction Articles
Note: If a publication isn't given for an essay, that means it was originally published on my website.
Essays on Literature and Writing
- "Singing the Songs of Distant Earth"
(SF Signal, June 21, 2011)
(Originally published in a slightly different form as "Singing the Songs of Arthur C. Clarke's Distant Earth" in The New York Review of Science Fiction, October 2008, Number 242.) - The World's Smallest Essay on Our New Miniaturization of Literature (April 10, 2011)
- Why We Write Literary Reviews and the follow-up essay Why It's Worth Expressing Opinions on Literature
(November 19 and 23, 2010) - World Fantasy Convention's Authors and Ideas Panel
(November 1, 2010) - A Writer's Guide to Social Media
SFWA blog, Nov. 14, 2010.
(Please note this is a rewritten version of an earlier post on my website) - The bad writer's tripping point
(July 19, 2010) - Living in a world where most writers suck
(May 6, 2010) - Simultaneous submissions: Should you sim sub or not?
(January 13, 2010) - Will Online Magazines End the Eternal Slugfest Between Genre and Literary Fiction?
(SF Signal, May 22, 2010) - "The Liar's Review of James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning."
(Monsters and Critics, May 16, 2008.) - "Dipping Their Toes in the Genre Pool: The U.S. Literary Establishment's Need-Hate Relationship with Speculative Fiction" (The New York Review of Science Fiction, June 2007, Number 226. You can also read Matthew Cheney reaction to my essay in "The Shibboleth of "The Literary Establishment," the combination of which resulted in coverage in places like The Guardian newspaper in England.)
- "T. Coraghessan Boyle and Surviving the Baby Boom"
(The Pedestal Magazine, Issue 28, June 2005. Reprinted in storySouth.) - "How to Expose New Writers: Online Versus Print Magazines"
(storySouth, winter 2002.) - "Returning Insight to Stories: Science, Stories, and Loren Eiseley"
(Cosmoetica, revised and reprinted in storySouth, winter 2003.) - Who Wears Short Shorts? Micro Stories and MFA Disgust
(Cosmoetica, revised and reprinted in storySouth, fall 2004.)
Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Our science fiction isn't your father's SF
(August 16, 2010) - The Noticing of SciFi Strange
(August 12, 2009) - The online SciFi Strange anthology
(August 19, 2010) - For students: A few words on genre and literary fiction
(August 10, 2010) - On the learning tool that is genre gossip
(July 7, 2010) - Why science fiction predictions hold back the genre
(June 17, 2010) - Positively positive that positive SF doesn't have to be positive to be positive
(December 19, 2009) - Is the term SciFi still derogatory?
(August 27, 2009) - To Dump or Not to Dump
(January 10, 2009) - Singularity blues, or how science fiction and humanity will survive the not so looming technological crunch
(March 11, 2008)
Author Interviews
- "Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: One Southern Boy's Ramblings with Mike Resnick"
(storySouth, Feb. 2007) - Interview with Larry Eisenberg
(SF Signal, Nov. 23, 2009) - Interview with Tobias Buckell
(Monsters and Critics, August 15, 2007) - Interview with Jim C. Hines
(Monsters and Critics, March 6, 2008) - Interview with Matt Cook
(Monsters and Critics, Oct. 8, 2007)
Book and Magazine Reviews
- Review of Brave New Worlds, edited by John Joseph Adams
(SF Signal, May 18, 2011) - Review of Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
(SF Signal, December 20, 2010) - Review of I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes)
(SF Signal, August 9, 2010) - Review of Dark Faith anthology, edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon
(SF Signal, July 26, 2010) - Review of And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
(SF Signal, February 15, 2010) - Review of Tokyo Godfathers, directed by Satoshi Kon
(SF Signal, December 24, 2009) - Review of Booklife by Jeff VanderMeer
(SF Signal, October 29, 2009) - Review of Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
(SF Signal, October 8, 2009) - Review of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
(SF Signal, Sept. 8, 2009)- Translated into Romanian for the Romanian Science Fiction & Fantasy Society
- Reviews of Strange Horizons fiction from 2009: January, February, March
(All from The Fix Short Fiction Review) - A Sleuth of Poe Books
(Monsters and Critics, January 28, 2009) - Review of Review of Tesseracts Twelve, edited by Claude Lalumière
(The Fix Short Fiction Review, January 18, 2009) - Review of Shortshortshort.com
(The Fix Short Fiction Review, January 11, 2009) - Featured book review of Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
(Monsters and Critics, October 28, 2008) - Reviews of Strange Horizons Fiction from 2008: June, July, August, September, October
(All from The Fix Short Fiction Review) - Featured book review of The Hounds of Ash and Other Tales of Fool Wolf by Greg Keyes.
(Monsters and Critics, June 25, 2008) - Review of Tales of Moreauvia Number 1
(The Fix short fiction review, June 10, 2008) - Featured book review of Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, edited by John Joseph Adams. (Monsters and Critics, May 16, 2008)
- Featured book review of Jim C. Hines's Goblin War.
(Monsters and Critics, March 6, 2008) - Featured book review of Paolo Bacigalupi's Pump Six and Other Stories.
(Monsters and Critics, Feb. 26, 2008) - Featured book review of Matthew Cook's Blood Magic.
(Monsters and Critics, October 8, 2007) - Featured book review of Nathalie Mallet's The Princes of the Golden Cage.
(Monsters and Critics, August 28, 2007) - Featured book review of Tobias Buckell's Ragamuffin.
(Monsters and Critics, August 15, 2007) - Review and essay on The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
(Flak Magazine, November 2, 2002) - Review of Better Than Well by Carl Ellion.
(M, spring 2003) - Review of Boneyard by Richard Moore.
(Pop Matters, February 5, 2004)
General Essays
- Remembering the dead through the pattern of their words
(September 27, 2010) - In the future, will anyone care that you have an opinion?
(July 22, 2010) - How to waste your life
(November 21, 2009) - Ageless Arts (storySouth, fall 2003.)
- Radio Wave Ethics and Back-Woods Beatings (storySouth, winter 2004.)
- Not So Posh Corps (storySouth, summer 2004; reprinted in Abroad View Magazine.)
- Casting the Artist: Allen Peterson and Cast-Iron Sculpture (storySouth, spring 2002.)
Selected Nonfiction Articles
- Return of the Poet (Published in the July 27-August 9, 2000 edition of Siren, an alternative newspaper in the Twin Cities.)
- The Journey that Matters (Published in a slightly shorter form in M.)
- Getting Fleeced: "Aggressive Accounting Empties Pockets, Delays Retirements. (Published in M.)
- General College: Access to Excellence for 70 Years. (PDF download; article is halfway down. Published in Kiosk, the staff newspaper of the University of Minnesota. Reprinted in Access, the magazine of General College).
Short Stories
Quick links
- Book editions of these stories
- Science fiction and fantasy
- Podcasts
- Jeremiah (short novel)
- Other fiction
"Interzone is really spoiling me when it publishes Jason Sanford so regularly. As far as I'm concerned, they couldn't publish too much of this author if they named it Jason Sanford's Science Fiction Magazine." — Sam Tomaino at SFRevu
Science fiction and fantasy
"What Is Sand but Earth Purified?"
- Short story forthcoming in the Oct./Nov. 2014 double issue of Asimov's Science Fiction.
"We Eat the Hearts that Come for You"
- Novelette in the anthology Bless Your Mechanical Heart, edited by Jennifer Brozek.
"Paprika"
- Novelette in issue 249 (Nov./Dec. 2013) of Interzone.
"Monday's Monk"
- Novelette in Asimov's Science Fiction, March 2013.
- Named to the 2013 Locus Recommended Reading List.
- Named to Lois Tilton's Locus Magazine year's best list.
- Named to the Tangent Online recommended reading list of 2013.
- Reprinted in the Polish SF magazine Nowa Fantastyka
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
"Mirrorblink"
- Novelette in issue 243 (Nov./Dec. 2012) of Interzone.
- Won 2nd place in 2012 Interzone Readers' Poll.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
"Heaven's Touch"
- Novelette in Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2012.
- Named to the Locus 2012 Recommended Reading List.
- Reprinted in the Polish SF magazine Nowa Fantastyka
- Reprinted in Czech SF magazine XB-1.
"The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plagues"
- Novelette in issue 236 (Sept./Oct. 2011) of Interzone.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
- Ranked 3rd in XB-1's annual contest of the best foreign SF stories of the year.
- Finalist for the 2012 Parsec Awards.
"Her Scientifiction, Far Future, Medieval Fantasy"
- Novelette in issue 234 (May/June 2011) of Interzone.
- Short story in Daily Science Fiction, April 1, 2011.
"The Never Never Wizard of Apalachicola"
- Cover story in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show issue 20.
- Reprinted in the French literary journal Le Frisson Esthetique.
"Memoria"
- Originally published in issue 231 (Nov./Dec. 2010) of Interzone.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
- Ranked 5th in XB-1's annual contest of the best foreign SF stories of the year.
"Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep"
- Originally published in issue 231 (Nov./Dec. 2010) of Interzone.
- Podcast on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
"Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime"
- Originally published in issue 231 (Nov./Dec. 2010) of Interzone.
- Reprinted in the Russian magazine ESLI (IF).
"Plague Birds"
- Originally published in issue 228 (May/June 2010) of Interzone.
- Co-winner of the 2010 Interzone Readers' Poll.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1and the Chinese SF magazine New Realms of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
- Podcast on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
"A Twenty-First Century Fairy Love Story"
- Originally published in Tales of the Unanticipated, issue 30, spring 2010.
"Cwazy"
- Originally published in OCHO #28, the print companion to the literary and arts magazine MiPOesias. This special issue was edited by Kirk Curnutt. Fall 2009.
"Into the Depths of Illuminated Seas"
- Originally published in Interzone, issue 226 (Jan./Feb. 2010).
- Placed third in the 2010 Interzone Readers' Poll.
- An earlier version of the story was published in issue 2 of Tales of Moreauvia
- Reprinted in StarShipSofa Stories, Volume 2.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine XB-1.
"Here We Are, Falling Through Shadows"
- Originally published in issue 225 (Nov./Dec. 2009) of Interzone.
- Reprinted in Apex Magazine, Czech SF magazine Ikarie and the French book anthology Ténèbres.
- Self-contained novella originally published in issue 224 (Sept./Oct. 2009) of Interzone.
- Finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella.
- Winner of the 2009 Interzone Readers' Poll.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine Ikarie and the Chinese magazine Science Fiction World.
- Podcast on StarShipSofa:
"When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees"
- Originally published in Interzone, issue 219, Dec. 2008.
- Winner of the 2008 Interzone Readers Poll.
- Podcast on StarShipSofa, May 2009.
- Reprinted in Apex Magazine, the Czech SF magazine Ikarie, the Russian magazine ESLI (IF), and the Chinese SF magazine New Realms of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
"The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain"
- Originally published in Interzone, issue 217, Aug. 2008.
- Reprinted in Year's Best SF 14, edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.
- Reprinted in the Czech SF magazine Ikarie, Russian magazine ESLI (IF), and Chinese SF magazines New Realms of Fantasy and Science Fiction and New Science Fiction.
"Where Away You Fall"
- Originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Dec. 2008.
"Book Scouts of the Galactic Rim"
- Originally published in Menda City Review, Dec. 2007
- Podcast on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
"Freelanga"
- Originally published in the anthology I Am This Meat, 2007
- Podcast on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
- Originally published in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Issue 5, July 2007.
- Reprinted in the anthology Beyond the Sun.
"For Aging Kids Who Dream of Star Treks"
- Originally published in Tales of the Unanticipated, April 2002
Podcasts
- Book Scouts of the Galactic Rim on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- Freelanga on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- Maps of the Bible on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- Plague Birds on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plague on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine
- The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain on StarShipSofa
- Novella Sublimation Angels on StarShipSofa
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3
- When Thorns Are the Tips of Trees on StarShipSofa
- The Never Never Wizard of Apalachicola on StarShipSofa
- Into The Depths of Illuminated Seas on StarShipSofa
Jeremiah (a short novel in four parts):
- Prologue: "Maps of the Bible"
- Monsters and Critics, spring 2008
- Podcast on Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
- Part 1: "Cold Pelts"
- Beloit Fiction Journal, spring 2000; reprinted in Monsters and Critics summer 2007
- Part 2: "One Side, Two Weeks, One Bathroom"
- Monsters and Critics summer 2007
- Part 3: "Water Hearts"
- Monsters and Critics summer 2007