In a move that could affect the majority of SF/F short fiction magazines currently operating, there is a motion up for vote at this year’s WorldCon to abolish the Hugo Award category for Semipro Zine.

This Semipro Zine category covers many of the most vibrant magazines publishing today, including Clarkesworld Magazine, Weird Tales (which published my story “Excision” in #347), and Fantasy Magazine. My own magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies also fits this category.

Many great stories have appeared in Semipro Zines since the category was established in the 1980s. These magazines publish far more new writers and experimental fiction than the “pro” zines do. Clarkesworld Magazine and Weird Tales were both nominated for this Hugo this year. I think it would be a shame if we lost this Hugo category as a way to recognize accomplishments made at this vital level of short fiction publishing.

Editor Neil Clarke has started a website to Save the Semipro Zine Hugo. It features listings of Semipro Zines and awards they and their fiction have won. It also explains the WorldCon voting process and how attendees can participate.If you are as concerned about this as I am, please visit his site and learn what you can do to help.

A very complimentary overall review of my online fantasy magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies in a blog post by fantasy novelist Marie Brennan.

Of course, Ms. Brennan also has an interest in BCS because we’ve published several of her stories (the second of which is due out in Issue #14 in a few days). But I think it’s even higher praise to hear that the magazine is impressing people as readers.

I started BCS because no fantasy magazine was consistently publishing the type of fantasy stories that I love to read–set in a secondary world (invented or historical) and focused on strong and interesting characters.

It sounds like that type of fantasy is also what Ms. Brennan likes to read. So I’m delighted not only that she’s enjoyed specific stories in BCS, but even moreso that she’s enjoying the overall flavor of fantasy that BCS specializes in.

If you do too–if you like fantasy with strong, driven characters that’s set in awe-inspiring worlds–definitely check us out.

Opening Day–for some of us, the greatest day of the year. After three months of winter chill and another of spring training, the boys of summer return–a sure sign that the weather will soon warm and leaves will soon be on the trees. There’s also an egalitarian feel about Opening Day that I love–on Opening Day, every team is tied for first place.

With baseball these days just as big-money commercial as everything else, Opening Day now stretches over several days and some seasons over several continents. But my team’s Opening Day actually will be today, thanks to one timeless constant that even television contracts and pushy agents can’t change–the weather. :) To paraphrase a young pitching phenom from the Carolina League twenty years ago, some Opening Days you win, some Opening Days you lose, and some Opening Days, it rains.

Issue #107 of Space and Time magazine is almost here–the current issue announcement has been posted on their cool new website.

In addition to my story “Ebb,” which is a character-driven fantasy story set in a neat secondary world that is really pre-tech SF, Issue #107 also has a story by fellow Odyssey alum Larry Hodges and an interview with legendary fantasy author Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn).

Space and Time also has a cool new deal on online subscriptions. They will sell you a PDF-only subscription for half price. I’ve seen the PDF version of the magazine and it’s very snazzy–perfect for reading on laptops or portable readers. A great subscription option for one of the coolest indie fiction magazines out there today.