Under Strange Skies

The current issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies has something by me, alongside the intriguing-sounding story "Scry" by Anne Ivy, as part of their special science-fantasy month. I hope you'll check them out. (Plus, next issue, there'll be even more science-fantasy, courtesy of Yoon Ha Lee and Megan Arkenberg.)

I also got the great news recently that my story "Grand Tour," featuring a younger version of the protagonist of the BCS story, is slated for the May/June 2012 Fantasy & Science Fiction. And just to make me downright giddy, a third story in that universe (though not featuring that particular character) is in inventory at Asimov's.

Cosmology and Undeath

Just resurfacing again to say that my poem "The Vampire Astronomer" is up in the current issue of Strange Horizons.

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The Mermaids Resurface

My Gaunt and Bone story "The Mermaid and the Mortal Thing" has been reprinted at the online magazine Lightspeed. Check out the magazine! The current issue has free stories by Brooke Bolander and Keith Brooke, with more to come later in the month. You can also buy the full issue as an ebook, which includes a new story by Lucius Shepard (the link goes to a recent interview.)

Peace on Earth (and Elsewhere Too)

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People look east and sing today
Love, the Star, is on the way.

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) "People Look East"

Thanks to NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team for showcasing this cosmic "snow angel." (Despite my Christmas sentiment, this scene is not exactly peaceful -- though the bright star does indicate a birth.)

Edit for clarity: The bright star in top center is not the new star causing all the ruckus; the youngster is shrouded in the cloud in the middle.

Happy Halloween

I drew this one at work for storytime. Wish I'd done better with the kid's arm, but I was in a hurry...

The Distracted Goblin

Lots of things going on, and luckily some of them are writing. I don't think I've mentioned here that F&SF recently bought my science fiction story "Grand Tour" (no date set.) I've managed to get another short story sent off and I think I'm 90% done with another one. For me this is very fast! Hope I can keep it up.

Here are some things around the net I've been interested in:

The film Miss Representation, about media imagery of women and its impact, on girls especially, has been broadcast by the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN.) My wife and I got to see a screening of the uncut version of the documentary at a school. Recommended. It covers so much ground, and offers so many perspectives, I haven't really thought through a response. But it's an excellent conversation starter, and I think it's a conversation we should be having.

Lauren Ipsum is an interesting-looking Kickstarter project -- a children's story about computer programming. The project is funded, but is still open to contributions. (Kickstarter itself is an interesting phenomenon, and really seems to be taking off.)

The film grenade is a ball that takes panoramic snapshots. Imagine adding a bunch of them to a Mars probe, or rigging them with the ability to squirt data to the Internet in case of a catastrophe. (Edit: The proper name for the item is "Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera." "Film grenade" was just the header of blogger Geoff Manaugh's post about it. Catchy, though.)

I've been enjoying Merrie Haskell's children's novel The Princess Curse, about an attempt to thwart a curse like the one in the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." I've just been too darned distracted to finish it. It's a curse!

If you're into pen-and-paper roleplaying games, head over to Grognardia and vote in a poll as to when you began playing. Apparently most of us got in during the last century. I feel old...

More Microstories

My experiment with posting ten tiny "stories" on Twitter the 10th of each month has fizzled, but because it's 10/10, here's the set from last month. I made a few small edits.

In the firelight the shaman told of lost Atlantis: "It fell, but one day we will rise." He raised an ancient plastic toy, winged and white.

We shattered the Moon to make the LuneNet that enmeshes us, giving up tides for technology. Silver songs we sing, in our cage.

Jesus: "Love thy neighbor."

Humans: "Eh? Speak up."

Jesus: "Love thy enemies."

Humans: "Ah, our neighbors are enemies."

Jesus: [facepalm]

Ours and myriad other universes flew into existence like bubbles. The Children who made us now reach out their hyperspatial fingers...

The horde torched the civilized lands. Dying metropolises whispered, "Revenge." Now nomads' children are born with the souls of cities.

The Teddy bear AI comforted generations, wore out a thousand plush skins. It knew the family secrets, where the bodies lay. It spoke softly.

On a bet I wrote Finnegans Wake and Zombies. I had to burn the manuscript to save the world.

2011: Lost my contacts, so I can't drive. 2021: Lost my contacts, so I can't signal my car to come get me.

Under the swollen red Sun, the last descendant of trees produced the last fruit. To the alien visitors it whispered Earth's last word: Eat.

Phaeton leaned from the sun-chariot and snagged Icarus, who joined the struggle with the reins. They lived to surpass their sires.