Ketchup

So I'm excited to share the news that I have a nice long new story in Asimov's and, surprise, I made the cover! Wow! Nobody tells me anything! I mean, the artwork must be for Nick Wolven's story, but look at that splashy little bit of love just above the bar code. Who is that guy?!?!

Uh, I'm also told there's a full page ad for Plague Zone in this issue, which is pretty rockin'. It's always awesome to get some love from Ace/Penguin USA.

More to the point, the story itself is a jolly biotech-and-special-weapons adventure set in Missoula, Montana, where our heroine Julie Beauchain returns with her sidekick Thomas Highsong for another unique, sexy, mayhem-filled caper. "Christmas Fire" is one of my favorites, like "Gunfight" before it, because these stories are light-hearted action comedies unlike most of the very dark thrillers I'm known for.

Also fun: "Christmas Fire" has been published simultaneously in Germany in Piper Verlag's Das Fest Der Elfen anthology (Elves' Christmas). This story has also sold already in the Czech Republic, where it's slated to appear in Pevnost Magazine in December 2010.

So run! Run to your nearest book store or news stand! The bugs are coming!!! What bugs? The hyper-active gene-altered Heterotermes aureus machovsky termite swarms! Gaaaah!!!

Labels: A Lovely Little Christmas Fire, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, er, Short fiction, The cover of the Rolling Stone

My short story “Snack Food,” a sly little tomato surprise originally published in Tales of the Unanticipated #24, has just been released as a podcast by the crew at Clone Pod.

This is one of those rare stories for which I can pinpoint exactly where I came up with the idea — in the SuperCuts in the Madonna Plaza in San Luis Obispo on the central California coast. Don’t you hate making small talk with somebody who’s got their hands in your hair? (Unless it's your lover, I mean.) It’s even worse when someone has their fingers in your mouth or your eyeballs, but chatting with a barber about inane things is not my favorite chore. Instead, I think weird thoughts!

Bruce McDonald does a nice job narrating the piece, and I encourage everyone to go give “Snack Food” a listen. It’s fun, it’s free, and, yes, it’s freaky. ;)

Their web site is right here.

Labels: audio, Clone Pod, podcast, Short fiction, Snack Food

I've been meaning to write this up, too, some fun and success on the short fiction front. My novelette “The Frozen Sky” was given an honorable mention in the new The Year’s Best Science Fiction by Gardner Dozois. Unfortunately, it was credited to another writer. There’s a guy named Bruce Carlson who also got the nod… for two stories... the second of which is mine. That’s fine. I’m happy just to see the story recognized.

Bruce, where are you, man? Maybe we should start a club or something.

In the meantime (and blame this one on British Steve Gaskell) I’m continuing to have success selling the audio rights of old short stories to various podcasters. Podcasting is the new, hot thing, I guess.

“Gunfight at the Sugarloaf Pet Food & Taxidermy” (Asimov’s, January 2007) went to Starship Sofa, who can be found, unsurprisingly, at www.starshipsofa.com. That’s my second piece to them.

“Enter Sandman” (Artemis Magazine, Spring 2002) went to Dunesteef, a new podcasting outfit at http://dunesteef.com/

And “Monsters” (Space and Time #97, March 2003) went to Horror Addicts, also a new upstart, which can be found at http://www.horroraddicts.net/

Exciting stuff!

Labels: podcasting, Short fiction, Years Best Science Fiction