I got so caught up in the fact that "Brief Candle" got an honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction that I completely missed the fact that "The Singers of Rhodes" from Panverse One was also listed. Woo hoo!
Gardner Dozois's Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Seventh Annual Edition just came out and "Brief Candle" made the honorable mention list. That may not seem like something to get all excited about, but it is to me. To have even been considered in that group is awesome.
Dario Ciriello's Panverse Publishing got some great press on GalleyCat and BoingBoing stemming from his Kickstarter campaign to fund an expansion of the press. Now, that's exposure. The GalleyCat article also includes a nice cover shot of Panverse One and mentions something about "rave reviews."
If you can, you really ought to help Dario out on his Kickstarter campaign. Trust me, as a reader you'll be well rewarded. If nothing else, you can rush out and buy a copy of Panverse One, or Eight Against Reality.
My novelette THE LONG FALL is going to appear in the September edition of the Grantville Gazette. If you haven't heard, The Gazette has added a new section called "Universe Annex" for stories that aren't related to Eric Flint's 1632 universe. It sort of picks up where Jim Baen's Universe left off. It works the same way The Gazette does, all submissions go through the slush forum for comments and critique, then the editors pluck the publishable stories from there. Fellow Baen's Barfly Robert Ortega has a nice story called SUMMERLAND RENTALS up there now. Check it out.
For those of you who remember my short story JOHNNY PLAYS 'ROUND SATURN'S RINGS, which appeared in Jim Baen's Universe, THE LONG FALL is another story featuring the character Mi. In fact, it's essentially her origin story.
Congratulations to Kij Johnson, Eugie Foster, Kage Baker, Paolo Bacigalupi, and the other winners and nominees. The complete list of winners is available on SFWA's Nebula announcement. Tor.com has a list of winners with the nominees. This was an interesting year in Neb nominations, with overall some really tough choices. There were so many really good stories nominated in every category that there were no easy votes.
One interesting note is where the nominated fiction came from. Asimov's was well represented: two short stories, two novelettes, and a novella. F&SF, though, had just one novelette and one novella, and Analog was absent from the list. Anthologies contributed nicely, including Clockwork Phoenix 2 from Norilana Books, I Remember the Future from Apex Publications, and Fast Forward 2 from Pyr Books. Then there was Interzone, which published two nominees, one of which won.
I haven't compared past lists, but it feels like the venues are getting broader and more diverse, as if the audience is scattering into broader interest and the publications are spreading out to follow. If so, I can't believe it's a bad thing for SF; for writers, readers, or publishers.
Clarkesworld back issues are now available as e-books for the Kindle. (Yes, including issue #38.)
Over at Side-Show Freaks, Scott Roberts seems awfully eager to convince everyone that Edmund Schubert, editor of Intergalactic Medicine Show, has not been transformed into some kind of vampiric werewolf android. But, when you think about it, isn't that just what they would say?
So is Mashable. According to Mashable, the AP Stylebook is changing "Web site" to "website". Mashable swoons over the decision, insisting that it's long overdue, because, after all, if the language isn't twisted out of shape, it's not cool. Right? (OMG! Its da c00lz!)
What part of "a server on the World Wide Web" says common noun? In that context, Web is a proper noun--period. Sure, you can run an http server that isn't accessible to the Internet (yes, capital-I Internet). So what? It isn't part of the World Wide Web, then, is it? It's an intranet server. (Or maybe the AP would prefer intranetsite. Come to think of it, I wonder if this aptweet was posted from their twitteraccount and echoed to their facebookpage before it ended up in the mashablepost?)
Here's the World Wide Web Consortium's mission statement, complete with capital letters. And here's Time Magazine's Time 100 article on Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
I know it's somewhat after the fact, but Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus gave a nice review of Andromeda Spaceways Issue 42 and my story "Inside Job". The reviewer singled out editor Edwina Harvey's fine work in putting together a particularly good ASIM issue.
Even though issue #43 is out, you can still get #42 at the link above. If you don't want to pay postage from Australia, you can buy the PDF.
By the way, don't overlook issue #43, either. It has stories by Danial I. Russell and fellow Speakeasian Victorya.
The May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine is out. This issue focuses on writing contests. The special section includes a "guide to the competitions that turn manuscripts into books", so hurry down to your local newsstand and pick up a copy, because that part isn't available online.
But don't despair! As always, the online writing contests database is up-to-date and ready to help you find the right grant, award, or contest for your poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction.