Richard Horton's summary reviews of SF/F magazines

Anthologist and reviewer Richard Horton just blogged a year-long summary review of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show in which he mentioned me for my short story "Rumspringa." Many thanks. More importantly, Horton loved Peter S. Beagle's "We Never Talk About My Brother" and Tammy Brown's "Original Audrey," both of which were published in the same issue of IGMS as my story.

Horton has also published excellent year-end summary reviews for a number of other SF/F magazines, including Neo-Opsis, Talebones, Black Gate, Apex Digest, Yog's Notebook, Cemetary Dance, Fantasy Magazine, Tales of the Unanticipated, Strange Horizons, and many more. To access all the summary reviews, go here or here.

"Book Scouts of the Galactic Rim" in Menda City Review

My short story "Book Scouts of the Galactic Rim" has just been published in Menda City Review. The story skirts the boundaries of science fiction and literary fiction, placing the tale well within the slipstream genre (which in many ways simply means the story doesn't fit neatly into any literary genre). My thanks to Terry Rogers for taking a chance with the story and publishing it in his amazing literary journal, which is one of the best designed and most thought-provoking online journals out there.

New anthology I Am This Meat

I'd like to draw people's attention to a wonderful new electronic book anthology called I Am This Meat. The anthology is based around Kurt Vonnegut's famous quote and features the short story "Freelanga" by yours truly.

This is one of the best designed electronic anthologies I've ever seen. You can chose to read the stories individually on the website or download a beautiful PDF to either print out or read on your PDA. And as a bonus, there are several interesting introductions and essays in the anthology. My favorite just might be by someone named Sheos, who writes tongue-in-cheek about how the creation of an anthology causes editors to hate one another as they reject each other's favorite stories.

New review up, interview with Matthew Cook

My latest book review, of Blood Magic by Matthew Cook, is now up at Monsters and Critics along with a featured interview with the author. From the interview:

"I think that the 'hidden world' element that you mention is popular because we, as modern human beings, have a yearning for a bit more mystery in our lives. Think about it: we inhabit an ever-shrinking world where the answer to any question, no matter how esoteric or obscure, is no more than a Wikipedia article or Google search away. No wonder people are drawn to the fantasy of a world where things are a bit more mysterious and grand than the everyday reality they inhabit. The sad part is that people have taken so much of the wonder of our everyday situation for granted. For example: when I was a kid, the idea of a phone that would let you access a global information network, or the ability to have parts of your body repaired with artificial replacements, was pretty much the stuff of Sci-Fi. Now, you can buy a disposable web-enabled cell phone at a gas station for $25 or get your joints repaired with surgical steel and plastic replacements." --Matthew Cook

This is my second "countdown" interview, so named because the interviews focus on science fiction and fantasy authors and countdown to what I hope will be an explosion of insight for readers. The title's a little cheesy, but the interview are extremely fun to do and so far readers seem to like them.

Yes, my site's been redone

I didn't think I needed to mention it, but two people have e-mailed me asking if I've redesigned my website. Yes indeed, that's what happened. After having the old site for about five years, the design was creaking and the functionality was zero. All the info from the old site is here (see the links to my writings at left), but now I also have an integrated blog with the site.

Interzone accepts one of my science fiction stories

Interzone has just accepted my science fiction short story "The Ships Like Clouds, Risen by Their Rain." I don't know which issue the story will be in, but as a long-time admirer (and now subscriber) of the British magazine, I'm really excited about this.

In case anyone is interested in how the submission process works, in this case I submitted the story during Interzone's May e-mail submission period. Editor Jetse de Vries kept a running dialogue on how the submission process was going on Interzone's forum and in his blog. Evidently 500 stories were submitted, of which he sent 17 to the other editors. I'm not sure how many of those 17 will be accepted, but it's likely less than half or a third. If I'd known those numbers beforehand, I think I'd have been too intimidated to submit anything. Who says ignorance isn't bliss. :-) A big thanks to Jetse, Andy and the other Interzone editors for accepting my story. Coming on the heels of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show publishing my story "Rumspringa,"  2007 is shaping up to be a decent publication year.