Gene Wolfe book club

John Klima at Tor.com, along with Christopher Rowe, Mark Teppo, and William Shunn, have launched the Gene Wolfe Book Club. The club is dedicated to the twelve novels of Gene Wolfe's Solar Cycle, which begins with four-volume The Book of the New Sun. I finished reading these first four books last year and, as I mentioned here, they now rank among my favorite works of literature from any genre. I'll definitely will be taking part in this book club as time allows.

Wading into the flash fiction wars yet again

I have a bit of a reputation with regards to flash fiction, thanks to an essay I wrote a while back and my decision to not consider stories under a 1000 words for the Million Writers Award for best online short story. As a result, I probably shouldn't go anywhere flash fictional lands, unless I want to receive even more nasty e-mails in my in-box.

But what the hey. I might as well live a risky life. So I present my newest review for The Fix, in which I review SF/F flash fiction from Bruce Holland Rogers. Flash fiction lovers should feel free to begin flaming my in-box whenever they wish.

To dump, or not to dump

Ah, the information dump. That wordy bit of fictional exposition, during which all the background information the reader needs to enjoy a story is expressed in one great big pile of, well, dump.

The fictional info dump is nothing new. After all, at least half of Tolstoy's War and Peace is an extended info dump of bowel-extending dimensions. But while all fictional narratives rely to a degree on info dumps to quickly explain needed information, science fiction has taken the info dump to heretofore unseen proportions of dumpiness.

In many ways, the embrace of info dumps by science fiction is totally understandable. Traditional fiction deals with worlds with which readers are already familiar. But when an author creates a brand new world that no one has ever before imagined, said author has to explain the world so the reader will understand it. In addition, science fiction is grounded in the ideas and jargon of science, meaning SF authors have to explain concepts which, while clear to them, may not be easily understood by the general reading public.

Now comes my info dump confession: Forgive me Father, for I have info dumped.

Yes, as a science fiction writer I have engaged in info dumps. The first time I got called on it was by Edmund Schubert, editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. Edmund wanted to publish my story "Rumspringa," about Amish settlers on a far away planet, but first he asked me to clean up an info dump in one of the scenes. I looked at the scene and realized that Edmund was right. This was a classic case of info dump original sin. I rewrote the scene as a mix of action and explanation, and the scene emerged much stronger and far better than it was.

So in general, the writing teachers are correct when they say it is better to pass on information by mixing it into the narrative and action than to remove the reader from their imagined world to inject a sudden shot of understanding.

But that rule isn't absolute. Look at how we live our real-life lives. Just as there are many times when we understand the world in little drops and dribbles, so too are there times when we understand something new in a great burst of insight. Remember: epiphanies are merely a nicer word for real-life info dumps.

So my advice to writers is to spread the info dumping around. Push it about, like the manure you throw into the rose garden so your flowers will grow strong and healthy. But also realize that there are times when a great big dump is called for. In such cases, don't be afraid of the info dump. But like all big dumps, make sure they are spaced few and far between!

(originally printed in Grasping the Wind)

Ghosts of Thailand, the commercial

For such powerful supernatural creatures, ghosts are very culturally specific. What scares people in one country might end up being laughed at in another. As proof of this, I present this wonderfully funny commercial featuring a whole bunch of Thai ghosts. I came across the ad while writing a ghost story set in Thailand.

I spent two years in Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer and can state that while the ghosts seem funny in the commercial--which is the intention, to show that ghosts are not scary when seen in the light--few Thai people would laugh if they ran into these ghosts on a dark country road.

The commercial also contains a Thai-specific joke about a "jackfruit ghost," which is a pun on the Thai slang word for a cheap street prostitute (many of whom evidently used to hang around jackfruit trees in old Bangkok). The translation printed on the screen at this point--which reads "transvestite"--is wrong and was created by someone with a poor grasp of the language. Instead, when the kid asks if that is a jackfruit ghost, his father merely says "human" in Thai.

TOC for Year's Best Science Fiction, 26th annual edition

Over on the Asimov's forum, Gardner Dozois has posted the table of contents for his new 26th annual Year's Best Science Fiction. The contents are:

  • TURING’S APPLES, Stephen Baxter (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
  • FROM BABEL’S FALL’N GLORY WE FLED, Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, February 2008)
  • THE GAMBLER, Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
  • BOOJUM, Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails, ed. Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer)
  • THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, Alastair Reynolds (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)
  • N-WORDS, Ted Kosmatka (Seeds of Change, ed. John Joseph Adams)
  • AN ELIGIBLE BOY, Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
  • SHINING ARMOUR, Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
  • THE HERO, Karl Schroeder (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
  • EVIL ROBOT MONKEY, Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
  • FIVE THRILLERS, Robert Reed (F & SF, April 2008)
  • THE SKY THAT WRAPS THE WORLD ROUND, PAST THE BLUE AND INTO THE BLACK, Jay Lake (Clarkesworld, March 2008)
  • INCOMERS, Paul McAuley (The Starry Rift, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
  • CRYSTAL NIGHTS, Greg Egan (Interzone, April 2008)
  • THE EGG MAN, Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s, February 2008)
  • HIS MASTER’S VOICE, Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone, October 2008)
  • THE POLITICAL PRISONER, Charles Coleman Finlay (F & SF, August 2008)
  • BALANCING ACCOUNTS, James L. Cambias (F & SF, February 2008)
  • SPECIAL ECONOMICS, Maureen McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Ellen Datlow)
  • DAYS OF WONDER, Geoff Ryman (F & SF, October/November 2008)
  • CITY OF THE DEAD, Paul McAuley (Postscripts # 15)
  • THE VOYAGE OUT, Gwyneth Jones (Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures, ed. Lynne Jamneck)
  • THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM, Daryl Gregory (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
  • G-MEN, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Sideways in Crime, ed. Lou Anders)
  • THE ERDMANN NEXUS, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, October/November 2008)
  • OLD FRIENDS, Garth Nix (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann)
  • THE RAY-GUN: A LOVE STORY, James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s, February 2008)
  • LESTER YOUNG AND THE JUPITER’S MOONS’ BLUES, Gord Sellar (Asimov’s, July 2008)
  • BUTTERFLY, FALLING AT DAWN, Aliete de Bodard (Interzone, November 2008)
  • THE TEAR, Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)

I should note that there are a lot of great stories here, among them quite a few which numbered among my recent recommendations for the Nebula Award.

F&SF goes for larger, bi-monthly, format

Over at SF Signal is the disturbing news that Fantasy and Science Fiction will be going to a larger format published on a bi-monthly schedule. I understand the reasoning behind this move. I also think the larger issues will be a bigger seller on newsstands. However, it's hard to see this as good news. As I've previously mentioned, NYRSF and Locus are both having circulation problems, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more SF/F magazines follow F&SF's lead in the coming year. After all, the economy is bad and when people cut back, they always cut back on the non-essentials first (with that statement being about essentials from a life-supporting view--I know many people including myself think of our SF/F reading as essential). As I mentioned in that earlier post, this next year will likely be critical for the survival of SF/F magazines. Unfortunately, this is turning out to be an accurate prediction.

Million Writers Award preliminary judges needed

As I begin work on the 2009 storySouth Million Writers Award for best online short story, I'm putting out the call for preliminary judge applicants. These judges help screen the nominations and select the list of notable stories of the year. As always, I will select a group of judges from across the literary genres.

To apply, e-mail me your writing and/or editing experience at lapthai (circle a sign) yahoo (dot) com--be sure to tell me why you'd make a good preliminary judge.

Rules of rejections

This is an old post, but I thought it would be good to bring it to people's attention again: The 8 Rules of Rejections. While all the rules are worth reading, I think rule #5 is particularly insightful: "Most rejection letters are a long, long way from direct, forthcoming, or meaningful."

Now that I'd given up day-to-day editing at storySouth, let me confess that submission editors don't want to go into great detail on why they rejected your story. We didn't like the story. That's all that matters. But we don't always say that. Maybe we don't want to hurt your feelings, or we want to encourage your writing. Maybe we like your other stories and simply think this one is poo. Or maybe we think you're psychotic and don't want you tracking us down at our house. So we reach into our bag of pleasant banter and tell you pleasant words to mollify you.

Such is life. But this is why it's never good for a writer to obsess on what a rejection letter says.

A Happy New Year of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing

I'm back after taking a blogging break, and have discovered several critics have said very nice things about my story "When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees" (published in Interzone, issue 219, Dec. 2008). Colin Harvey's review in Suite 101 praises the story as "One of the year's best," while Neil Beynon selected it as one of his top ten stories of 2008. Many thanks to both Colin and Neil for their kind words.

During my blogging break, I finished a good deal of fiction. Among the completed stories is a 5,800 word SF story submitted only moments ago for John Joseph Adams' Federation anthology, a 13,000 word novelette merging SF and fantasy themes, and a 20,000 word hard SF novella. Amazing how not blogging can really increase one's productivity!

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'snew 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.

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)

StarShipSofa launches first ever listeners' poll

StarShipSofa, the great British audio science fiction magazine, has just launched their first readers' poll (named, appropriately, the Sofanauts). To nominate your favorite stories from first 52 episodes of StarShipSofa's "Aural Delights," use either this online poll or head over to the StarShipSofa forums. Nominations will be open for two weeks, after which listeners can select their favorites from the story shortlists.