Michael Kelly's Blog, page 21
March 25, 2015
These Last Embers
I have now mailed all purchased copies of ‘These Last Embers.’ There are still some copies available. Strictly limited to 200 signed and numbered copies. 85% of the print run is gone, so act now if you’d like to secure one of the few remaining copies.
March 1, 2015
Simon Strantzas to Edit third volume of Year’s Best Weird Fiction
Simon Strantzas to Edit ‘Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3’
Press release
Toronto, Canada, March 1, 2015 — Simon Strantzas, whose elegant and enigmatic stories have made him a master of the weird tale, has signed on as Guest Editor for the third volume of the Year’s Best Weird Fiction, due 2016.
Series Editor Michael Kelly says, “When I first conceived of this series, and contemplated Guest Editors, Simon sprang immediately to mind. Not only is he at the top of the weird fiction class, he has also established himself as a first-rate anthologist.”
“I’m honored and beyond flattered that Michael asked me to guest-edit a volume of Year’s Best Weird Fiction,” Strantzas said. “Undertow Publications is at the forefront of world-class fiction. I love what they are doing.”
Established in 2009 by writer Michael Kelly, Undertow Publications (UP) is home to the acclaimed weird journal Shadows & Tall Trees, and Year’s Best Weird Fiction. The initial release from UP, Apparitions, was a finalist for The Shirley Jackson Award. As editor, Kelly has been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson and British Fantasy Society Awards, and his fiction has appeared in a number of venues, including Best New Horror, Black Static, and Weird Fiction Review.
Simon Strantzas is the author of four story collections, including BURNT BLACK SUNS from Hippocampus Press (2014), and editor of SHADOWS EDGE (Gray Friar Press, 2013) and AICKMAN’S HEIRS (Undertow Publications, 2015). His stories have appeared in various “best of” annuals; been translated into other languages; and been nominated for the British Fantasy Award. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his ever-understanding wife.
Forthcoming from Undertow Publications:
‘These Last Embers’ by Simon Strantzas (March, 2015)
‘Aickman’s Heirs’ ed. By Simon Strantzas (May 2015)
‘Skein and Bone’ by V. H. Leslie (July 2015)
‘Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 2’ eds. Kathe Koja & Michael Kelly (October, 2015)
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February 28, 2015
Signed copies of Aickman’s Heirs available for pre-order
The trade-paperback edition of Aickman’s Heirs, edited by Simon Strantzas, is now available for pre-order. All pre-ordered copies will be personally inscribed by the editor. The trade edition will ship in May. The eBook will be available a few months later.
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Mailing To:
Overseas $30.00 USDU.S.A $25.00 USDCanada $20.00 USD
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Nina Allan – “Change of Scene”
Nadia Bulkin – “Seven Minutes in Heaven”
Michael Cisco – “Infestations”
Malcolm Devlin – “Two Brothers”
Brian Evenson – “Seaside Town”
Richard Gavin – “Neithernor”
John Howard – “Least Light, Most Night”
John Langan – “Underground Economy”
Helen Marshall – “Vault of Heaven”
Daniel Mills – “The Lake”
David Nickle – “Camp”
Lynda E. Rucker – “The Dying Season”
Lisa Tuttle – “The Book That Finds You”
D.P. Watt – “A Delicate Craft”
Michael Wehunt – “A Discreet Music”
February 23, 2015
Story chosen for Best Horror #7
Congratulations to Robert Shearman! His story ‘It Flows From the Mouth,’ from Shadows & Tall Trees 2014, has been selected for reprint in Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 7, edited by Ellen Datlow.
If you are keeping score at home, that’s 5 tales from the book chosen for 3 “Best Of” anthologies. So far. Here’s hoping for more.
February 22, 2015
Update on ‘These Last Embers’
Just a quick update on ‘These Last Embers.’ The file has gone to the printer. I should have the chapbooks in about a week. Then I will number them, and get Simon and Drazen to sign them. Then we ship! Thanks for your patience. There are still a few copies remaining if you’d like one (or two). Strictly limited to 200 copies, signed by Simon Strantzas AND Drazen Kozjan. A rare collectable. http://www.undertowbooks.com/embers/
February 16, 2015
Call for Submissions
Call for Submissions 2015 – Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3.
Each volume of the Year’s Best Weird Fiction will feature a different Guest Editor. Laird Barron guest-edited Vol. 1, and Kathe Koja was guest editor for Vol. 2. Our Guest Editor for Vol. 3 will be announced on March 1.
This is a reprint fiction anthology, to be published in 2016. Series Editor Michael Kelly is seeking material first published this year only, 2015. To be clear, only weird fiction published in 2015 is eligible for inclusion in Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3.
This is for 2015 only!
My remit includes ghost stories, the strange and macabre, the supernatural, fantasy, myth, philosophical ontology, ambiguity, and featuring a helping of the outré. Weird fiction, at its best, is an intersecting of themes and ideas that explore and subvert the laws of Nature. It counts among its proponents older and newer writers alike: Robert Aickman, Laird Barron, Charles Beaumont, Ambrose Bierce, Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury, Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson, Kathe Koja, John Langan, Thomas Ligotti, Kelly Link, H. P. Lovecraft, Simon Strantzas, and many others.
Electronic and digital files are greatly preferred – text files(Word), Mobi, PDF, or ePub. Publishers and editors are encouraged to send their books to:
bestweirdfiction@gmail.com
Deadline for all material is December 31, 2015, but sooner (much sooner) is better. Late submissions may not receive proper consideration, especially if we receive a majority of the material at deadline.
Writers: Please do not send unsolicited material. Urge your publisher or editor to send in any relevant work. Feel free to query with any questions or recommendations.
Please note: Only writers whose work is selected for the volume will be contacted.
I am afraid I am not considering any self-published work. There are certainly a number of reasons an author may consider self-publishing—rights, control, etc. The sheer number of self-published books is staggering, and is outpacing traditionally published work. My opinion, though, is that, overall, there is a distinct lack of quality in most self-published fiction as compared to legacy publishing. The gulf is huge, in fact. Your work may be the exception. And that is not to say that there isn’t bad fiction being published by traditional houses, because there certainly is. But, due to the fact I receive a high number of quality submissions from traditional publishers, and I really can’t afford the time to wade through an ever-expanding slush pile—in short, for my own sanity, I have to draw a line somewhere—I am not considering self-published work.
Thank you!
Michael Kelly
Series Editor, Year’s Best Weird Fiction
February 11, 2015
eBook price slashed
On now!! Special Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day eBook pricing on the Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 1 – just $2.49 Canadian. Canadian! Practically free! Get the Mobi or ePub version by sending payment to undertowbooks@gmail.com or by visiting our Books page here:
February 8, 2015
Help needed identifying online venues for weird fiction
Last year, while reading for Year’s Best Weird Fiction, I read a lot of online fiction. (I read a lot of books, too, obviously). 12 of 20 stories selected for volume 2 of YBWF came from online venues. There are a lot of places online to read speculative, weird, genre, experimental fiction. Below is my list of online venues that I currently read with an eye toward YBWF. But I know there must be more. Tell me what I should add to the list.
Tor.com
http://www.tor.com/stories/prose
Nightmare Magazine
http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/
Lightspeed Magazine
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/
Weird Fiction Review
http://weirdfictionreview.com/
Subterranean Online (DEFUNCT)
http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine
Unlikely Story
http://www.unlikely-story.com/
Shimmer Magazine
Farrago’s Wainscot
http://www.farragoswainscot.com/
Uncanny Magazine
http://uncannymagazine.com/type/fiction/
Bourbon Penn
Interfictions
Fiddleblack
The Dark
See the Elephant
http://www.metaphysicalcircus.com/see...
Apex Magazine
Crossed Genres Magazine
Axolotl Magazine
Pank
Strange Horizons
Clarkesworld
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/
Abyss & Apex
Ideomancer
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/
Lovecraft eZine
Lakeside Circus
Lackington’s Magazine
Daily Science Fiction
http://dailysciencefiction.com/
GigaNotoSaurus
Cafe Irreal
http://cafeirreal.alicewhittenburg.co...
Hobart
Monkey Bicycle
http://monkeybicycle.net/fiction/
Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction
http://theakersquarterly.blogspot.ca/
The Book Smugglers
Luna Station Quarterly
http://lunastationquarterly.com/
Conjunctions
February 7, 2015
Call for Submissions 2015
Call for Submissions 2015 – Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3.
Each volume of the Year’s Best Weird Fiction will feature a different Guest Editor. Laird Barron guest-edited Vol. 1, and Kathe Koja was guest editor for Vol. 2. Our Guest Editor for Vol. 3 will be announced on March 1.
This is a reprint fiction anthology, to be published in 2016. Series Editor Michael Kelly is seeking material first published this year only, 2015. To be clear, only weird fiction published in 2015 is eligible for inclusion in Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3.
This is for 2015 only!
My remit includes ghost stories, the strange and macabre, the supernatural, fantasy, myth, philosophical ontology, ambiguity, and featuring a helping of the outré. Weird fiction, at its best, is an intersecting of themes and ideas that explore and subvert the laws of Nature. It counts among its proponents older and newer writers alike: Robert Aickman, Laird Barron, Charles Beaumont, Ambrose Bierce, Octavia Butler, Ray Bradbury, Angela Carter, Neil Gaiman, Shirley Jackson, Kathe Koja, John Langan, Thomas Ligotti, Kelly Link, H. P. Lovecraft, Simon Strantzas, and many others.
Electronic and digital files are greatly preferred – text files(Word), Mobi, PDF, or ePub. Publishers and editors are encouraged to send their books to:
bestweirdfiction@gmail.com
Deadline for all material is December 31, 2015, but sooner (much sooner) is better. Late submissions may not receive proper consideration, especially if we receive a majority of the material at deadline.
Writers: Please do not send unsolicited material. Urge your publisher or editor to send in any relevant work. Feel free to query with any questions or recommendations.
Please note: Only writers whose work is selected for the volume will be contacted.
Thank you!
Michael Kelly
Series Editor, Year’s Best Weird Fiction
