Archive for the ‘my magazine’ Category

Summer Marches On

Tuesday, July 1st, 2008

Summer is marching on, and I’m keeping after things as best as I can–fielding rejections and re-submitting, digging into my new editorial commitments, working on all the logistics and paperwork for Beneath Ceaseless Skies, planning for my trip to ReaderCon, and trying to squeeze in some time on my own writing as well. Ah, summer.

"Literary Adventure Fantasy"?

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Even though meticulous definitions of subgenres in writing or music often spawn endless discussions, they are sometimes necessary to show other people what you ‘re talking about. With the founding of my new online fantasy magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies, I’ve had to craft some definitions of my own. I’ve thought a lot in recent years about the exact type of fantasy fiction I want to publish and what I should call it.

I love traditional fantasy–classics from the 1930s pulp era and the new wave of fantasy in the 1970s post-Tolkien boom. But I also love the way the recent influence of literary writing on fantasy short fiction has expanded and advanced the genre. Fantasy writers now have the the freedom to use literary devices such as tight points-of-view, round characters, discontinuous narratives, and unreliable narrators in their genre stories. This sophisticated level of craft makes those stories far more powerful.

Unfortunately for me as a reader, there has been very little intersection between these two movements–classic-style fantasy told in a modern literary-influenced approach. Barely a couple stories of this type make it into the major markets every year, perhaps because those magazines aren’t interested in traditional-style fantasy anymore. And the few markets dedicated to traditional-style fantasy don’t seem to appreciate the more powerful and mature storytelling that modern literary devices offer.

That’s where Beneath Ceaseless Skies comes in. I will publish classic-style fantasy written with all the skill and impact of modern literary-influenced fantasy. That’s what I mean by “literary adventure fantasy.” Let the quest for great reads begin!

Mwuh-ha-ha-ha

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

The first step in my super-villain plan for world domination….