Posts Tagged ‘Excision’

Cheers, Capclave

Sunday, October 24th, 2010

I had a great time at Capclave this past weekend! Some highlights:

-the panel on Short Fiction in 2010, with Neil Clarke and Guests of Honor Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.  Neil asked me to recommend some new writers.  I mentioned Yoon Ha Lee, one of whose stories from BCS was up for an award at the con.  Also Margaret Ronald, one of whose steampunk stories from BCS, “A Serpent in the Gears,” is in the VanderMeer’s new steampunk anthology Steampunk Reloaded, and Genevieve Valentine, who has a story forthcoming in BCS in November.

-the panel on e-publishing, with Neil Clarke and Odyssey alum novelist James Maxey.  James has recently begun selling his back-list novels on Amazon Kindle US and UK, with good sales and generating good buzz for his current and upcoming novels.

-a quick chat with Guest of Honor Connie Willis, who was one of my instructors at Taos Toolbox.  She was witty and delightful, as always.

-taping a radio interview with Jim Freund, host of the New York City SF/F radio show Hour of the Wolf.  Jim and I have talked often about audio podcasting and audio in general–I was a college radio DJ many years ago. :)  The interview, which will probably air early next year, touched on my own fiction but mostly talked about BCS, including my editorial vision for the magazine and things I do in the BCS podcasts.

-my reading.  I read from a new unpublished story, “Letters on an Enlightened Discovery,” an epistolary set in colonial India about an archeologist who finds an ancient design for a metal elephant.  Attendees included Larry Hodges and Oz Drummond.

-dinner with the VanderMeers, Neil Clarke, and Genevieve Valentine.  Lots of great chat about steampunk stuff and editor things.  Ann remembered my story “Excision” that she published in her first issue of Weird Tales, and I learned that Jeff enjoys micro-brews almost as much as I do. :)

-Genevieve Valentine’s reading, from her forthcoming novel Mechanique, which is set in the same world as her forthcoming BCS story.

-the awards ceremony.  Capclave hosts the WSFA Small Press Award, and Yoon Ha Lee’s BCS story “The Pirate Captain’s Daughter” was a Finalist.  The winner was an author from Australia, Tansy Rayner Roberts, whose Australian editor, Alisa Krasnostein, was on-hand to accept.  It was an honor to be nominated, and I’m grateful to WSFA for having an award to acknowledge small presses and their authors.

Capclave 2011 Guests of Honor will include Carrie Vaughn, a bestselling Odyssey alum who I haven’t yet met in person, and they will have the WSFA Small Press Award again.  I’m there!

Excised Audio from Dunesteef

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The audio podcast of my story “Excision,” which appeared in Weird Tales a few years ago, is out now from Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine. You can check it out here.

Audio fiction podcasts I believe are one of the most exciting areas of F/SF short fiction these days. They have a growing audience, something that print short fiction hasn’t had for over twenty years, and they’re a perfect match for current technology in portable music players and internet audio distribution.

The folks at Dunesteef were great to work with. They had me tape a segment of author’s notes explaining the genesis of the story, which you can hear at the end of their reading performance. And they have this very cool cover art for the story! I love its vibe of medical-ness and blood.

Dunsteef Excision Artwork

Check out their podcast, and let me (and them) know how you liked it!

“Excision” to be a Podcast

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

I recently received word that my story “Excision,” which appeared in Weird Tales #347, has sold as an audio reprint to Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine. Woo!

Dunesteef isn’t as well-known yet as the top podcast ‘zines, like Podcastle etc., but they have very good production and an impressive back-catalog of stories by neo-pro writers whose work I’ve enjoyed (Ian Creasey, to name one). They stage their podcasts like an old-timey radio drama, with sound effects and different voices for each character, so it will be very cool to see what they do with “Excision.”

They also have an Author’s Notes segment after the story audio, where the author explains the inspiration for the story. I recorded that segment in my home studio and sent it to them. So even if you’ve already read the story, you can still check out the podcast to hear my reflections on what went into it.

I don’t know yet when they plan to release it–I’m guessing early next year. When I find out I will definitely post here.

Another Review of “Excision”

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

The Fix, an online SF/F review zine from the publisher now behind the British SF/F magazine Interzone, recently posted a review of Weird Tales #347, including my story “Excision.” The review has a brief summation of the story and makes some good general observations, but never expresses a firm opinion one way or the other. The reviewer does call another story “one of the few failures in this issue,” so I’ll go out on a limb and infer that mine was not among them. :)