Ellen Datlow has given an Honorable Mention to two stories from the RoF publishing year for her first annual Best Horror of the Year from Nightshade Books:

"All Beautiful Things" by Sharon Mock (slush survivor!)  A second story set in this world is actually coming out in the December 2009 issue of RoF.

"And Spare Not the Flock" by Margaret Ronald

Congrats, ladies!

Courtesy of Jeff Vandermeer's blog, I offer you the TOC to volume 3 of Best American Fantasy, which covers fantasy published in 2008.

One story from Realms of Fantasy has been included, "The King of the Djinn" by David Ackert and Benjamin Rosenbaum, from the February 2008 issue.

I believe this marks the first time a story from RoF has been included in this particular Best of series.  Also, a shout-out to Richard Parks for "On the Banks of the River of Heaven" for being on the "Recommended Reading" list.

So while I was at Readercon, I happened upon Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction 26, which covers science fiction in 2008.  While the stories he reprints tend to be science fiction (obviously), in the Honorable Mention section he does give nods to a number of fantasy stories, including a number of stories published in RoF:

--"Daughter of Botu" by Eugie Foster

--"Late in the Day" by Gregory Frost

--"The Singers in the Tower" by Peni R. Griffin

--"The Purple Basil" by M.K. Hobson

--Someone Desperately Needed to Neil Gaiman" by Way Jeng

--"The Snake" by Tanith Lee

--"On the Banks of the River of Heaven" by Richard Parks

--"A Letter to Nancy" by Carrie Vaughn

--"Gift from a Spring" by Delia Sherman

--"Spiderhorse" by Liz Williams

Congrats to the authors!

Ellen Datlow has announced the TOC for Best Horror of the Year # 1, from Nightshade Press.  Two Realms of Fantasy stories have been included:

--"Harry and the Monkey" by Euan Harvey

--"Girl in Pieces" by Graham Edwards

Congrats to the authors!  The entire TOC is listed below:


Cargo E. Michael Lewis (Shades of Darkness)

If Angels Fight Richard Bowes (F&SF February )

The Clay Party Steve Duffy (The Werewolf Pack)

Penguins of the Apocalypse William Browning Spencer (Subterranean)

Esmeralda Glen Hirshberg (Shades of Darkness)

The Hodag Trent Hergenrader (Black Static 7)

Very Low-Flying Aircraft Nicholas Royle (Exotic Gothic 2)

When the Gentlemen Go By Margaret Ronald (Clarkesworld #21 July)

The Lagerstätte Laird Barron (The Del Rey Book of SF & Fantasy)

Harry and the Monkey Euan Harvey (Realms of Fantasy December)

Dress Circle Miranda Siemienowicz (Hecate volume 34, No. 1)

The Rising River Daniel Kaysen (Black Static 5)

Sweeney Among the Straight Razors JoSelle Vanderhooft (Star*Line Sept/Oct)

Loup-garou R.B. Russell (The Werewolf Pack)

Girl in Pieces Graham Edwards (Realms of Fantasy, April)

It Washed Up Joe R. Lansdale (Subterranean)

The Thirteenth Hell Mike Allen (The Journey to Kailash)

The Goosle Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of SF & F)

Beach Head Daniel LeMoal (On Spec summer #73)

The Man From the Peak Adam Golaski (Worse Than Myself)

The Narrows Simon Bestwick (We Fade to Grey</div>Tags:

Go Realms!  IMHO, a nomination for Best Magazine reflects a real team effort for everyone involved in putting the magazine together, including the publisher, the writers, the artists, the columnists, the editor, the managing editor, art director, and even little old me as assistant editor (which is all I was for the issues that earned this nomination).  Wish us luck, although I'm uncertain if any of the RoF team will be on hand for the ceremony.  You can read about all of the nominees here.

Snurched from Ogre_san's LJ, I present to you the TOC for Year's Best Fantasy 9, edited by David Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer.  This series clearly has a little bit of feline in it, because it keeps landing on its feet ...from EOS to Tachyon and now its latest publisher, Tor.com (publication date TBA).  Anyway, two stories from Realms of Fantasy will be appearing in the volume, these being "Gift from a Spring" by Delia Sherman and "The Olverung" by Stephen Woodworth.  Congrats to the authors!  One of these days I shall pluck something from the slush that will find its way into this TOC.  And since I did lift the list from ogresan's LJ, I must extend additional congrats to him, even if "Skin Deep" originally appeared elsewhere. :)


Shoggoths in Bloom • Elizabeth Bear

The Rabbi’s Hobby • Peter Beagle

Running the Snake • Kage Baker

The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm • Daryl Gregory

Reader’s Guide • Lisa Goldstein

The Salting and Canning of Benevolence D. • Al Michaud

Araminta, or, the Wreck of the Amphidrake • Naomi Novik

A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica • Catherynne M. Valente

From the Clay of His Heart • John Brown

If Angels Fight • Richard Bowes

26 Monkeys and the Abyss • Kij Johnson

Philologos; or, A Murder in Bistrita • Debra Doyle & James MacDonald

Film-Makers of Mars • Geoff Ryman

Childrun • Marc Laidlaw

Queen of the Sunlit Shore • Liz Williams

Lady Witherspoon’s Solution • James Morrow

Dearest Cecily • Kristine Dikeman

Ringing the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta • Randy McCharles

Caverns of Mystery • Kage Baker

Skin Deep • Richard Parks

King Pelles the Sure • Peter Beagle

A Guided Tour in the Kingdom of the Dead • Richard Harland

Avast, Abaft! • Howard Waldrop

Gift from a Spring • Delia Sherman

The First Editions • James Stoddard

The Olverung • Stephen Woodworth

Daltharee • Jeffrey Ford

The Forest • Kim Wilkins 

Rich Horton has announced his TOC for Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2009.  Two Realms of Fantasy stories have been included:

--"Spiderhorse" by Liz Wiliams

--"Gift From a Spring" by Delia Sherman

Congrats to the authors!  You can see the complete TOC by following this link.

So the 21st edition of Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, is out, covering fantasy & horror short fiction published in 2007.  A number of stories from Realms of Fantasy received Honorable Mentions, including four of my slush surivors:

--"Little Miss Apocalypse" by Christopher Barzak
--"Paper Cuts Scissors" by Holly Black
"The White Isle" by Von Carr (slush survivor)
--"Pennsylvania Dragon" by Stephen Chambers
--"The Rope" by Noreen Doyle
--"Still Point" by Graham Edwards
--"MetaPhysics" by Elizabeth Glover (slush survivor)
--"The Tao of Crocodiles" by Euan Harvey (slush survivor)
--"Black Jack Davy" by Trent Hergenrader (slush survivor)
--"The Hotel Astarte" by M.K. Hobson
--"Bottles" by Samantha Henderson
--"Number of the Bus" by Jay Lake
--"When the Train Calls Lonely" by Devon Monk
--"A Touch of Hell" by Richard Parks
--"In the Thicket, With Wolves" by Josh Rountree

Congrats to all the authors!  Apologies if I missed anyone, but I got these names from reading tiny print off the screen--a tiring combination on the eyes.  Also, thanks go out to Josh Rountree, Sam Henderson, M.K. Hobson, Cherie Priest, J Cheny, and Charles A. Tan for answering yesterday's call concerning how I might hunt down the HMs for Realms of Fantasy.
  

I'm seeing mentions cropping up for Honorable Mentions for the latest edition of Year's Best Fantasy & Horror by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin Grant.  Would anyone with a copy of the goods care to let me know which stories and authors from Realms of Fantasy received honorable mentions?  If you, please feel free to drop the info in my LJ inbox.  You'll have my deep thanks and I'll be certain to give you a shout-out on my blog!

P.S. If you're so inclined, you may also check to see if I received an HM for "Feelings of the Flesh." :)

I'm pleased to announce that two Realms of Fantasy stories are on the 2008 Nebula preliminary ballot for Best Short Story:

--"Bottles" by Samantha Henderson

--"The Hotel Astarte" by M.K. Hobson

Neither of these lovely ladies are slush survivors, yet I have an attachment to both of their stories.  While I don't believe it's appropriate to post the specifics about my role in "Bottles," Sam can confirm that I played a behind-the-scenes role in bringing this story to ROF's pages.  That it should be receiving such wonderful recognition leaves me immeasurably happy ...and immeasurably happy that I keep this blog, since it too played a role.

As to M.K., anyone who has been reading this blog for any amount of time knows that when "The Hotel Astarte" first came out I told people they needed to read this one, that it deserved awards and recognition.  That's not something I did lightly.  I read lots of stories I enjoy in ROF.  Many of them are great.  But I'm careful about going on record for our stories in such a manner as I did with M.K.  It might seem like I'm just trying to drum up business so people buy the current issue.  Also, if I did this sort of thing too often I suspect it wouldn't mean too much ("There goes ROF's assistant editor again, yakking about another story they've published that we need to read.  What a surprise!")  But I had to say something about "The Hotel Astarte" and I'm glad to see others shared my views on this one.

Ladies, I salute you both!  You've done ROF proud!

Anyone interested in reading the full list of preliminary nominees can do so here.        

 

So hot on the heels of Realms of Fantasy snagging some Chesley Award nominations, I've just learned that Realms of Fantasy's very own Shawna McCarthy is up for a World Fantasy Award this year in the Special Award Category for her editorial work on the magazine.

Woo hoo!  And building on that, it's about bloody time! :)  Shawna has been nominated for this award before, once in 1985 for her work as editor at Asimov's, and again in 1988 for her work as an editor at Bantam Spectra.  But this is her first time being nominated for her editorial work at ROF.  We've been publishing quality fantasy for fourteen years now (okay, so I've only been part of the team for three), and I'm glad the WFC committee has finally seen fit to recognize Shawna's achievements.

Congrats, Shawna!

As to her competition:

Special Award—Professional:
Allison Baker and Chris Roberson        for MonkeyBrain Books
Alan Beatts and Jude Feldman              for Borderlands Books
Peter Crowther                                           for PS Publishing
Gordon Van Gelder                                    for F&SF
Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams     for Night Shade Books

I wish you all luck.  But to Shawna I wish heaping piles of luck!  Go get 'em, boss!

Now I must glare at my finances and see if I cAN figure out some way to go this year (unlikely at best) ... 

So Realms of Fantasy has snagged several nominations for Chesley Awards, which are voted on by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists.

All the nominations are for work done in 2007.  Three different artists received nominations for Best Interior Artwork.  They are:

Stephanie Pui-Mun Law for "Witch Child", illustration for the story "White Isle" by Von Carr (Realms of Fantasy, December)

Dave Leri for "The White Queen", illustration for "Roger Lambelin" by Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold (Realms of Fantasy, December)

Tiffany Prothero for "A Touch of Hell", illustration for "A Touch of Hell" by Richard Parks (Realms of Fantasy, April)


Also, Realms of Fantasy's very own Laura Cleveland is up for Best Art Director!  Congrats, Laura!

I'll be rooting for everyone (of course!) but I must admit I'm pulling just a bit extra for Stephanie Pui-Mun.  "The White Isle"--the story on which her artwork is based--is one of my slush survivors.  It's the first time that the artwork for one of my slush survivor tales has been up for an award.  "The White Isle" is one of my favorites that I've pulled from the slush, and being as I worked with the author on a rewrite I can't help be a tad excited.  

sl

So as many have noted on their LJs already, the deadline for Nebula Recommendations is fast approaching (December 31st).  If I could recommend stuff, I would.  But alas, I'm not part of the promised land.  But if you are able to recommend stuff, I'll encourage you to do so.  Not only is it nice for authors to receive attention for their excellent stories, but it also lets us know about stories we should make a point to read.

Now, if I could recommend something, in the short story department I'd recommend Realms of Fantasy's "Hotel Astarte" by M.K. Hobson.  This may sound a little self-serving, but I don't much care.  Her story isn't one of my slush survivors, and I was actually talking it up ages ago (though I can't find my original post).  But it deserves consideration.  So if you're not sure what to recommend, why not check this one out:

http://www.demimonde.com/SFWA/astarte.html
  

Four entries.  I seem to have a lot to say today. 

So under my recent subject header of "2007 Hugo Nominations," I noted how Realms didn't receive any Hugo nominations, and how I believed Shawna McCarthy, the fiction editor at Realms, deserved to be among those up for the award of Best Editor, Short Form.  A couple of people agreed with me, including writer, Tim Pratt.  Tim also made the following comment: "I agree, Shawna and Realms both tend to be inexplicably overlooked on awards ballots."

This got me to thinking, so I decided to do a little research. I hopped over to the website for Locus Magazine (http://www.locusmag.com) where Tim works as an editor. I checked the indexes there for awards and award nominations. Realms has been publishing since 1994, which means with most awards/award nominations the magazine, its editor, and its stories would start being eligible come 1995.  So here's what I found:

So as I've mentioned before, Realms of Fantasy's sole representative at the Nebulas this year is in the Best Novelette Category, with "The Language of Moths" by Christopher Barzak. This story was published a short while before I joined the ROF team, and I only finally found a chance to read it today.

It's an excellent story. I can see why it's made it this far, and since I like the story, I now have an additional incentive to root for it come May (as opposed to the merely "I feel obligated to root it for it because it comes from Realms of Fantasy"). I don't like reading on computer screens, but thankfully I had a back issue to read. But the story is online. Those who are curious should check it out: http://www.taverners-koans.com/ratbastards/languageofmoths.html

So the 2007 Hugo Nominations were recently announced. Congrats to all those up for the awards, particularly those I know, such as William Shunn, Tim Pratt, John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson & Scott Lynch & Lawrence Schoen (Campbell nominees--not a Hugo), David Hartwell, and Gordon Van Gelder, and good luck to the fine folks at Interzone (publishers of my forthcoming and also what will be my first published story, "Feelings of the Flesh") in the Best Semiprozine Category. I notice Realms of Fantasy didn't snag a single nomination this year. Grr. I won't say anything more, except this: with all due respect to the other nominees, Shawna McCarthy deserves to be on the ballot for Best Editor, Short Form. My biased opinion, of course, but I stand by it. Anyway, here are the nominees for 2007. Good luck to all!

Novel
Michael F. Flynn, Eifelheim (Tor)
Naomi Novik, His Majesty’s Dragon (Del Rey)
Charles Stross, Glasshouse (Ace)
Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End (Tor)
Peter Watts, Blindsight (Tor)

Novella
Robert Reed, “A Billion Eves”
Paul Melko, “The Walls of the Universe”
William Shunn, “Inclination”
Michael Swanwick, “Lord Weary’s Empire”
Robert Charles Wilson, “Julian”

Novelette
Paolo Bacigalupi, “Yellow Card Man”
Michael F. Flynn, “Dawn, and Sunset, and the Colours of the Earth”
Ian McDonald, “The Djinn’s Wife”
Mike Resnick, “All the Things You Are”
Geoff Ryman, “Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter”

Short Story
Neil Gaiman, “How to Talk to Girls at Parties”
Bruce McAllister, “Kin”
Tim Pratt, “Impossible Dreams”
Robert Reed, “Eight Episodes”
Benjamin Rosenbaum, “The House Beyond the Sky”

Related Book
Samuel R. Delany, About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews
Joseph T. Major, Heinlein’s Children: The Juveniles
Julie Phillips, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice Sheldon
John Picacio, Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio
Mike Resnick & Joe Siclari, eds., Worldcon Guest of Honor Speeches

Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Children of Men
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
The Prestige
A Scanner Darkly
V for Vendetta

Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Battlestar Galactica, “Downloaded”
Doctor Who, “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”
Doctor Who, “Girl in the Fireplace”
Doctor Who, “School Reunion”

Editor, Short Form
Gardner Dozois
David G. Hartwell
Stanley Schmidt
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams

Editor, Long Form
Lou Anders
James Patrick Baen
Ginjer Buchanan
David G. Hartwell
Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Professional Artist
Bob Eggleton
Donato Giancola
Stephan Martiniere
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio

Semiprozine
Ansible
Interzone
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet
Locus
The New York Review of Science Fiction

Fanzine
Banana Wings
Challenger
The Drink Tank
Plokta
Science-Fiction Five-Yearly

Fan Writer
Chris Garcia
John Hertz
Dave Langford
John Scalzi
Steven H. Silver

Fan Artist
Brad W. Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Frank Wu

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (not a Hugo)
Scott Lynch
Sarah Monette
Naomi Novik
Brandon Sanderson
Lawrence M. Schoen

So the final Nebula ballots have been released: http://www.sfwa.org/news/2007/06nebballot.htm

Good luck to Christopher Barzak, ROF's lone representative with his novelette, "The Language of Moths."

Good luck also to some of the fine folks I know who've made it to the last round of elimination: William Shunn, Rick Bowes, and Jeff Ford. May the best stories win!

The 2006 Prelimanary Ballot Nominees have been announced for the Nebulas: http://www.sfwa.org/news/2007/06nebprelim.htm

Congrats and good luck to Chris Barzak in the novelette department, Realms of Fantasy's sole representative, with his story, "The Language of Moths."  Also, congrats and good luck to the other folks I know who have found their way this far: Jeffrey Ford, Tobias Buckell, William Shunn, Rick Bowes, and Bob Howe.  Good luck all!