As I noted on my News page, World Fantasy Award-winning author Jeff VanderMeer has temporarily turned over his blog Ecstatic Days to his wife Ann, the new editor of Weird Tales, and she has invited upcoming WT authors to write guest blog posts. My guest post should run on Jeff’s blog sometime late next week, around Dec. 27th. I rambled for a few paragraphs about why, even though I’m a scientist, I prefer writing fantasy. So check it out next week–great for curing or intensifying those holiday hangovers. I will pry myself off the sofa and announce it here when it does run.

To celebrate the premiere issue under new editor Ann VanderMeer, Weird Tales magazine is running a trial subscription offer at half price. It’s three issues for $10–view all the details here. If you act soon, you could get the first issue of Ms. VanderMeer’s editorship, #347, which has my short story “Excision” in it. There is also a brand-new Michael Moorcock Elric novella scheduled for early next year. For my money, Elric is the most interesting sword & sorcery hero because he’s actually an angst-ridden antihero. I’m very curious, given Ms. VanderMeer’s literary background, to see how the magazine evolves under her lead. There are plenty of magazines for literary fantasy, but not many at all for “normal” fantasy written with a literary sensibility.

This trial offer ends Dec. 21, so snatch it up before it’s gone. I did.

If what Ann VanderMeer told me last spring still holds, my short story “Excision” will be in Weird Tales #347, her first issue, which is supposed to be out this week. But the Table of Contents hasn’t been released yet, and the Weird Tales blog says #346 is coming out this week. I’m not sure if that’s a mistake or if something has changed — Google tells me nothing. If I had gotten off my ass Saturday and driven up to Capclave, I could have asked someone from Wildside Press. Ah well–all will be revealed in due time.