Weird Tales, the very long-running SF/F/H magazine where my first published fantasy story appeared, has made some major upgrades.

As detailed in this announcement, WT will now be paying 5 cents a word, up from 3 cents.  They’ve also adopted the very slick electronic submissions system that Clarkesworld Magazine pioneered and that Fantasy Magazine and Asimov’s use.  Ann VanderMeer, who as Fiction Editor bought my story “Excision” several years ago, is taking over as Editor-in-Chief.

I’m sure these changes will only improve this run of the magazine under Ann, which has already won the 2009 Hugo for Best SemiProZine.  I’ve been a fan and subscriber ever since “Excision” appeared in WT #347, her first issue, the one with the cool cover art of a severed head in a jar.  :)   I had the pleasure of dining with Ann and Jeff at Capclave, and they are tireless champions for short fiction.  I look forward to this new era for Weird Tales!

‘Tis the season, in F/SF circles, to nominate for Hugo and Nebula Awards!

I had several stories come out this year, but by far the most award-worthy stuff I’ve done is with my magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.  We had a dozen very well reviewed stories in 2010, including by breakthrough authors such as Erin Cashier and Yoon Ha Lee.

Here’s a shortlist of the best-reviewed BCS stories that are eligible for nomination and the official Hugo/Nebula categories they fit into (Short Story, Novelette, etc), with links in case you’d like to read them.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies itself is also eligible for the Best SemiProZone Hugo.  Last year we published 52 stories and novelettes and 20 audio fiction podcasts. Editor and Locus reviewer Rich Horton  calls BCS “a really important source of fantasy.” John Klima, Hugo winner at Electric Velocipede, thought BCS deserves to be on the final ballot for Best SemiProZine.

To nominate and later vote for Nebulas, you have to be a member of SFWA, but to nominate and vote for Hugos, you only have to be a member of WorldCon, and anyone can buy a membership.  But you need to do it before Jan. 31 to be eligible to nominate.  Nomination deadlines are in February (for Nebulas) or March (for Hugos).

Thanks very much if you find BCS or our stories worthy of nomination.

My story “The Halberdier, by Moonlight,” has been bought by the Canadian semi-pro SF/F magazine On Spec.  Woo!

I wrote the story three years ago as a bit of an experimentation.  It’s much shorter than my usual, and quite a bit more “literary fantasy”, almost even “slipstream”–it has an omniscient point-of-view that’s centered around the protagonist but also drifts into each of the people he meets, as he walks home after a war.

It also features a halberd, of course, and icewine–a type of wine made in cold climates (such as Canada, ironically) by letting the grapes freeze on the vine and pressing them while still frozen.  The freezing, like the old Appalachian way of making apple jack by chipping ice off the top of cider, removes water and thereby concentrates everything else.  So icewine tastes very sweet and rich, almost syrupy–unique.

On Spec is a long-running and well-respected ‘zine.   They don’t seem to get much attention, maybe because they’re out in western Canada, but they certainly deserve it.  They’ve published Leah Bobet and Tony Pi, among many others, and I’m delighted to be appearing in their pages.

I had a great time at World Fantasy!

I saw a bunch of people I know from other cons: my drinking buddy Saladin Ahmed, who read from his novel coming out next hear from DAW. I had read parts of it in draft form, and the final version he read is even better. BCS author and Sybil’s Garage editor Matt Kressel read from his upcoming BCS story “The Suffering Gallery”; I think I had a beer with him three days in a row. :) Fellow Codexians Corry and Mary, my former instructor now BCS author Steve Rasnic Tem, my Oddfellows drinking buddies, the ever-rosy Mike Allen, and more.

I met a ton of people I know online but hadn’t met before: BCS authors Marie Brennan, Vylar Kaftan, Erin Cashier, Ferret Steinmetz, Renee Stern, Brad Beaulieu, J. Kathleen Cheney, and more. Fellow Codexians Lon Prater, T.L. Morganfield, Jeremy Tolbert, and more. Fellow editors who dig what I’m doing with BCS Janson Sanford (storySouth, The Million Writers Award), John O’Neill and Howard Andrew Jones (Black Gate), John Klima (Electric Velocipede).

The swords & sorcery panel I sat on was quite good. Howard Andrew Jones mentioned many of the classics and the biggest new author out of Black Gate, James Enge; I mentioned Clark Ashton Smith and my favorite current author, Chris Willrich; Patricia Bray and Martha Wells mentioned a number of insightful things, including Charles Saunders and Saladin.

Patricia said that a lake monster in some S&S she’d read years ago felt like “the coolest thing ever.” That I think is a great tagline for the coolness or awe in S&S that all of us love–stuff that’s the coolest thing ever. :)

I enjoyed the panel on epic fantasy–all the panelists had good ideas and were into the discussion. Here’s some online video of that panel. Also here are some quotes of wisdom that Jason Sanford compiled and blogged.

The BCS not-officially-a-party went well–attendees included Steve Tem, Blake Charlton, Walter Jon Williams, lots of BCS authors and fans, and apparently the whole class of Clarion 2010! We only had a little beer left over, and I didn’t mind showering Sunday morning standing in three inches of still-melting ice. :)

Thanks all! It was an awesome weekend.