Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 105

Steampunk Reloaded: One Week Left

I thought I'd just re-post the Steampunk Reloaded anthology guidelines below. We've had a really good response so far and have taken several reprint stories submitted during this open reading period. But there're only a few days left. Please note that it's probably a little too late to send us a snail mail submission–would rather see only e-submissions at this point.

Ann and I are both excited about the stories we've taken, and about the anthology as a whole.

STEAMPUNK RELOADED, edited by Ann ...

Everything, Interwoven Together, From Everywhere

Ann and I had a wonderful weekend at St. George Island, much of which consisted of sitting at the Blue Parrot and sipping margaritas whilst reading for various projects, including the humungous book of weird fiction.

In reading the excellent Foundations of Fear edited by David Hartwell, we were curious to discover the presence of either the word "onion" or "opinions" in Clive Barker's "In the Hills, the Cities"–and simultaneous with that impulse a guy asked us what we were reading, and it...

Having a Tea Party in Reality Land

So, some people are having a tea party in Washington D.C. this weekend. It's very much like the tea party in Alice in Wonderland. There are many participants who seem to share genes with the Mad Hatter. Unlike with Alice's tea party, though, the surreal absurdity on display isn't harmless. In tough economic times, the potential rise of a far-right political movement—especially one based on lies and on simplifications—is cause for concern. It shifts the consensus reality just a little farther ...

The Quickening

In the old, tattered photo Sensio has been dressed in a peach-colored prisoner's uniform made out of discarded tarp and then tied to a small post that Aunt Etta made me hammer into the ground. Sensio's long white ears are slanted back behind his head. His front legs, trapped by the crude arm holes, hang stiff at a forward angle. The absurdly large hind feet with the shadows for claws are, perhaps, the most monstrous part of Sensio—the way they seem to suddenly shoot from the peach-colored...

Weird

Just a fraction of our library of strange short fiction–there're another ten to fifteen shelves not shown. Ann and I are beginning to read for a "big book of weird" we're editing for Grove Atlantic. It'll be 750,000 words, covering 100 years. To be published in November.

A tale of 9 novellas – Rachel Swirsky's Nebula reading, 2009

First off, thanks to Jeff for letting me continue these guest posts even though he hath returned. This is the end of my nebula posting series, so I'll be toddling back to the corners of the internet where I usually post — Big Other, Alas a Blog, Ambling Along the Aqueduct, and my livejournal.

Now, novellas. Well, first things first — novellas are long. Anyone else notice that? I guess I always knew they were long, but it didn't really strike me until I compiled a list and started to read. You ...

Lovecraft Slithered Onto the Floor

I've been posting a draft of a very strange story on facebook. I don't actually have access to facebook right now–I've locked myself out–but posting photos remotely seems to work out just fine. I have no idea if anyone's reading and am not really curious to find out. But the upshot is I'm slowly building a tale…of sorts. Lately, it's gotten out of hand.

(But don't read that–read this!)

Kage Baker, RIP

According to Kathryn Cramer and others, Kage Baker passed away this morning. Rest in peace, Kage. You were one of the good ones, and I would like to think that this is not the end, that instead you have merely been assigned by The Company to some new mission.

Ann and I can't claim to be close friends of Kage's, but she was one of those colleagues who you could always count on and who you always expected to be there, and whose loss you feel severely. She contributed to several of our books...

Awards Season in Smaragdine

February is not just the month in Smaragdine when things turn a little colder. It's also the month when Smaragdineans announce the winners of various literary awards. Fisticuffs have been known to break out at the award ceremonies, along with more serious scuffles. These people take their awards seriously, and they expect the finalists to be full-blooded Smaragdineans.

Thus, it was with some trepidation that I attended one such awards banquet several years ago, accompanied by Big Bad Bear...

Rachel Swirsky's Nebula Novelette Recommendations & Nominations, 2009

The novelette ballot was harder for me to come up with than the short story ballot because I came into my reading with three PodCastle-produced novelettes in mind as being among this year's best, and it was difficult for me to find ones that I felt were as good or better.

I am genuinely excited by the five I found to nominate, though, and I found a number of other very good novelettes along the way. I was most excited by Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Gambler" as a single piece — but the real trove w...