Today is Release Day for Ken Scholes' Lamentation.  While I'm happy for Ken, today is also very cool for yours truly.  The first time Ken wrote a story in the world of the Named Lands, it happened in a short story called "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise," a story that I pulled from the RoF slush back in 2005.  We published that story, and since then Ken and this world have been steadily rising through the ranks of the fantasy world.

I've been watching this happen since the beginning, and all I can say is wow.  I mean, "Of Metal Men" was a great story, but I was very new to editing at this time and still getting used to my work at RoF.  I never could've guessed what would ensue, i.e. a five-book deal with Tor Books, with glowing reviews from top authors and reviewers for his premiere novel, many of them predicting he'll be the next big thing.           

Given everything that has happened with RoF recently, with so much uncertainty regarding the magazine's future, I take a lot of heart from this.  As I've said before, when it's all said and done, discovering "Of Metal Men" may well prove my most lasting contribution to the field as the assistant editor at RoF.

I've already had a chance to read the novel, and if you're curious about my thoughts, you can check them out here.  If you haven't read "Of Metal Men" and you'd like to get a better idea of whether you want to buy Lamentation, Tor.com has just posted a new story in the world of the Named Lands called "A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon."  Why not give it a read?

Congrats, Ken! 

This is the first book I've read in 2009.  I've decided to keep a count this year, something I've actually never done before.  I was going to keep count last year, but decided it was a bad year to keep track of books read because I was so engrossed in reading all the stories ever published in Realms of Fantasy (btw, I haven't forgotten about those retrospective posts, I swear!)

Anyway, I've been looking forward to reading this one for a while.  And not just because of the buzz, of which there has been much.  The abridged version for those unfamiliar with the reason for my anticipation: back in 2005, I pulled a story from the ROF slush called "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise."  We published it in 2006.  It was the first story Ken wrote in this world.  Now he has a book called LAMENTATION coming out from Tor Books this February, part of a five-book series.  LAMENTATATION is set in the same world as "Of Metal Men" and actually incorporates portions of this story.

So yeah, I was pretty excited to read this.  I've seen a lot of people calling this book epic fantasy, but I'm going to continue thinking of it as science-fantasy, which is how I also think of the short story.  Once I see robots (and some other technological tidbits mixed in) alongside the swords and the magic, I can't help but think of it as anything else.  But that's me.  Regardless, it incorporates many elements of epic fantasy and is told on an epic scale.

Considering the source, anything nice I say about this book will probably seem biased.  But being as objective as I can, I do think this novel is something most fans of secondary world fantasies will appreciate.  The prose is clear, the pace is brisk, the stakes are high.  The characters are clearly drawn, the world isn't quite like anything I've read before, and there are a number of unexpected plot twists.  In the end, I was most reminded of Frank Herbert's Dune and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, but Ken's work is not derivtative.  The world and story are entirely his own.  And I'll add that the last fifty pages or so strike me as the strongest part of the book.  I do love it when authors finish strong.

I'm sure most of you have pretty big reading lists and only get around to trying so many new authors each year.  You might want to put Scholes on this year's list, because I think there's a decent chance you'll enjoy LAMENTATION.

My two cents.              

So I knew the date was coming up soon, though not precisely when.  I meant to crunch the numbers to figure out exactly when it would be, but it kept slipping my mind.  But I finally remembered to do it today.  So, as of 12 days ago I've now been at Realms of Fantasy longer than my predecessor.  Where does the time go?  So of the three people to fill my position since ROF's inception, I've been here the second longest at a little over 3 1/2 years.  But I've got a long way to go before I catch the leader, being as Rebecca McCabe was with the magazine about 7 years.  Still, I'm moving up the ladder.  File this one under editorial crow.   

So last night I went to the Tor.com party in NYC.  There were some free ARCs there, including Ken Scholes' Lamentation.  Of course I snagged a copy, and having heard (and confirmed) I was given props in the acknowledgments page, I immediately proceeded to flip to the kind scribbles of one Mr. Scholes.

So here is what Ken kindly wrote to me and Shawna and our role in helping bring about this novel:  "I'd also like to thank Shawna McCarthy and Doug Cohen at Realms of Fantasy--I'm glad you two loved Rudolfo and the gang enough to publish 'Of Metal and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise' and introduce the short story that stretched into the Psalms of Isaak. (Shawna, that note to go write a novel with these characters was a great boost!)"
 
He also thanked the illustrator for "Of Metal Men," so this is a writer who certainly remembers his roots. 

Ken, I thanked you already when I learned you'd mentioned me in the acknowledgments, but now that I've read the particulars, let me also say you da man.

So I suppose I can file this one under "another feather in the editorial cap."  It's a nice feeling.  And yes, I started reading this one on the train ride home, but I'm saying nothing about this book until I've read the whole story.  It seems like fast reading though, so I imagine I'll have something to say soon enough.

I'm always pleased when Shawna takes one of my slush survivors.  So yesterday I was pleased eight times over when Shawna took eight such stories.  I noted all sorts of milestones and such in yesteday's post, but now that I have a little distance yesterday's excitement, I noticed a few other things:

1) The numbers: Every so often the topic of editorial sexism among the speculative magazines pops up in the blogosphere.  Before yesterday's batch, my ratio of accepted tales was 8 guys to 11 gals.  After yesterday's purchases, I'm now at 11 guys to 16 gals.  I know this doesn't reflect my exact tastes, because Shawna makes the final calls on what we publish.  But I still think these numbers demonstrate I'm quite open to submissions from the gals.  If anything, it's to the point where the guys will start complaining. :)

2) I've had a previous slush survivor accepted with the protagonist being gay, but only with a female protagonist.  Now I'm on both sides of the fence.  (Was that a pun?  It was unintentional, honest!)

3) I know one of my slush survivors features a Hispanic protagonist, but I'm a little chagrined to admit that I can't remember if this is the first one.  It's gotten to the point where I've read so much stuff for ROF that I lose details about stories with alarming regularity, even for ones I like ...even for some of my slush survivors!  So I'm uncertain if the protagonist for one of my previous slush survivors is Hispanic.  D'oh!

4) I now have my first slush survivor with a black protagonist (although he's one of two protagonists in the tale).

5) I now have my first slush survivor with a Native American protagonist.

Good stuff!             

Hey Folks,

Shawna has made her latest picks.  Take a look and see why I'm sooooooooooo thrilled:

--"Super.Family" by Ian Donald Keeling (previous contributor)
 
--"The Unknown God" by Ann Leckie (slush survivor!)

--"Father Pena's Last Dance" by Hannah Strom-Martin (slush survivor!  first pro sale! And we now have our first story for our Halloween issue!)

--"The Demon of Hochgarten" by Euan Harvey (former slush survivor!)

--"Tio Gilberto and the Twenty-Seven Ghosts" by Ben Francisco (slush survivor! first pro sale?)

--"Sand Castles" by Desirina Boskovich (slush survivor!  first sale!)

--"Sales Above Greensea" by Adam Corbin Fusco

--"Nell and the Devil" by S.E. Ward (slush survivor!)

--"Impractical Cats" by K.D. Wentworth (previous contributor)

--"Bob and the Mermaid" by William R. Eakin (previous contributor--this one is another one of William's Redgunk tales, the first to appear in ROF since 2004)

--"The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard Van Oost and Oludara" by Christopher Kastensmidt (slush survivor! first pro sale? first pro sale!)

--"Name Day" by Garth Upshaw (slush survivor!)

--"The Hearts of Men" by T.L. Morganfield (slush survivor! first pro sale? first pro sale!)

Ho. Ly. Shit.  We have thirteen stories here.  Eight of them are slush survivors.  Another one is a former slush survivor.  I'm fucking speechless, so thank goodness I'm writing instead!  I've hit all sorts of editorial milestones with this batch.  My twentieth slush survivor ...and my twenty-fifth slush survivor.  I've skyrocketed from 19 slush survivors to 3 shy of 30!  This is also the most slush tales Shawna has ever bought in a single buying round (shattering the previous record of 5).  It's also my first vampire tale (thanks, Hannah!)  My first horror tale (thanks again, Hannah!) My first new weird tale (thanks, Garth!)  My first fairy tale (thanks, S.E.!)  My first sword & sixguns tale (thanks, T.L.!)  I'm also happy to help silence some of the chatter that ROF doesn't publish sword & sorcery.  Christopher K.'s story is s&s.  Euan's story is also s&s.  When you combine this with the fact a while back I pulled "In the Lair of the Moonmen" by Jon Hansen (which I guess is sword & planet, which is rather similar to s&s), I hope sword & sorcery authors will see that ROF is open to this sort of fantasy.  It just has to tickle us right.

I'm also particularly proud of myself regarding "The Hearts of Men" by T.L. Morganfield.  Why?  Well, a while back I had a blog post about how T.L.'s story reminded me of my own story in Interzone, "Feelings of the Flesh."  As I noted then, it was therefore difficult for me as an editor to remain objective about this piece.  Still, I decided I liked this piece, but then I made things even harder on myself by requesting a rewrite from T.L.  I mean, really.  Requesting a rewrite of a story that reminds me of my own?  Talk about walking the line!  But the fact that Shawna bought this one proves I made the right choices.  I'll also add that in the interest of keeping things perfectly objective, I refrained from offering any opinions about this piece to Shawna.  So other than the initial suggestion that Shawna give this story a look, the decision to buy this piece was solely hers.

You know, I've been doing this job long enough that the editorial milestones don't come around as often as they used to.  So to achieve so many milestones at once is just overwhelming.  I was a little down about something regarding my editorial work the other day.  Shawna told me not to worry about it, suggesting it was actually a sign I was improving as an editor.  Talk about validation!  I also imagine that the editorial milestones will be slowing down even more now. :)

And now I must do something I've only done once before as assistant editor of Realms of Fantasy: I need to call your attention to a story that we'll be publishing, so that you make a point to read it.  No, it's not a slush survivor (and neither was the last one I singled out).  I speak of "Sails Above Greensea" by Adam Corbin Fusco.  Remember this one and watch for it.  I'll post more about it when we publish it, but I'm planting the seed now.        

Anyway, congrats to all of the authors.  And thanks to my wonderful slush survivors!  You guys have made me so happy and so proud!
         

Once upon a time I held no interest in blogging.  Now I'd say I provide new blog content several times a week.  I originally started blogging to raise my profile in the industry.  That is still the main reason I do it (but yes, I've come to like blogging too).  So far I'd say this objective has proven successful.

What I didn't anticipate was that my blog could make a difference.  Worldwide changes?  Hardly.  Some changes/impact within our little speculative community?

You betcha.  The first time almost happened a couple of years ago, when Shawna read a rant of mine about fantasy stories that fail when their fantasy elements fail.  She liked the rant enough that she forwarded it along to the publisher, with a recommendation that we run it in the magazine.  Nothing ever came of that, but it was cool nonetheless.

The next time wasn't an almost.  It didn't actually happen through my blog, but rather somone else's.  Of course, this person had friended me and I in turn friended him back, which led to me reading his blog, so there's a definite connection.  Anyway, this blogger posted some wonderful sketches on his blog, and I was quite complimentary of them in the comments thread.  He in turn made a suggestion regarding his artwork and Realms of Fantasy.  I liked the suggestion enough that I forwarded it along to the publisher.  Months later I leaned that through my involvement said artist will be featured in the Artist's Gallery of a forthcoming issue of the magazine.   I'm being coy with the name because I'm not sure if it's cool to announce it.  If it is, perhaps he'll let us know under the comments thread! ;)

Then there is that Halloween issue that Realms will be running, along with the call for submissions.  Shawna asked me post it on my blog (and I got to work up the announcement) because she thought it would be the easiest way to the get the word out.  Excuse me?  Commence double-take.  I mean, we have a website.  So that was ...um.  Yeah.

Now we have the latest example, this being our new experiment regarding international submissions.  I didn't have to blog about the incident that started this.  I didn't have to continue exploring the matter by running polls and such.  I didn't have to leave the comments thread open to what I understood was a hot-button topic.  I didn't have to reply to those comments, of which there were plenty.  I'll freely admit that other factors outside the blogosphere influenced this decision, but if I hadn't done all this, while such changes may still have occurred, they probably would've happened at a later date.  And when I suggested I make the announcement on my blog (there was a precedent, so why not?), Shawna didn't bat an eye.

My point isn't to brag.  It's just that I'm gratified to see that every so often this blog makes a difference for the better.    

But the true hero is the blogosphere.  Oh mighty blogosphere.  I bow before your cyber-power. :)

      

 Officially speaking, there are 18 authors I've fished out of the slush and helped publish in Realms of Fantasy.  18 slush survivors=18 success stories, right?

Not really.  The number is actually higher than this.  Sometimes I'll work with an author on a rewrite, pass the story along to Shawna, and she'll reject it.  This doesn't automatically mean the story fails to find a home.  Case in point, I present to you "Sea Child" by Aliette de Bodard, which just received some nice recognition after being published a while back in Coyote Wild.  There have also been some stories I've personally rejected, and the appreciative authors have later told me that the feedback I provided helped them publish the story elsewhere.  There are also stories I've passed along to Shawna without working with the authors on rewrites, and some of them also found nice homes after being rejected.

Just because these stories publish somewhere else doesn't mean I'm not proud of them and their authors.  And when the authors express appreciation to me, as they often do, it means that much more to me.  Such stories may not appear in ROF, but they're still a part of me.

So to Aliette and my other secret slush survivors, I salute you!    

 Back in the summer of 2005, I'd only been assistant editor at Realms of Fantasy for a few months.  At the time, we were terribly behind in answering our submissions (at least to my liking).  I spent much of that summer buried in manuscripts, whittling down the piles, trying to improve our reply times (which I have, thank you very much).  With so many manuscripts to deal with in these early months, I actually pulled five stories from one slush pile that went on to see publication.  To this day, that remains a record.

One of these stories was by author Ken Scholes, a science-fantasy tale called "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise."  Catchy title, no?  Anyway, I knew Shawna only wanted me to pass so much stuff along to her, and drowning as I was in manuscripts, I knew the stuff I did pass along really had to sing to me.

Of all the stories I set aside for Shawna in this batch, this one sang to me most of all.  Not because it was better than the other ones that saw publication, they were all great.  But this was fantasy the way I grew up reading it.  It sucked me into an interesting world, with intriguing characters, an interesting plot, powerful imagery,a tremendous pace, and the stakes were huge.  So once I was done, I knew I was putting this one aside.  No-brainer.

Well, Shawna took it, we ran it, and it received lots of notice/acclaim, from positive reviews in Locus, to reprints and honorable mentions in Year's Best anthologies.  Later on, Ken sent us a second story set in this world: "Of Missing Kings and Backward Dreams and the Honoring of Lies."  Shawna passed on this one, but encouraged Ken to write a novel in this world.  Ken told me about this, and I encouraged him to do the same.  The world was so rich and vivid, and I had every belief he had the chops to attack this undertaking.  Others did too, particularly Ken's wife and writer, Jay Lake.

So Ken wrote the novel, and landed himself a premiere agent, one Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.  And as agents will do, Ms. Jackson went out and shopped this thing once she and Ken were happy with it.  She started with Tor ...and they finished with Tor.  It's already spreading through LJ land, and today Ken took the time to drop me an email, informing me that Tor Books has made an offer and he's accepted!  Congrats, Ken!

I must say that I'm bursting with editorial pride.  If Ken didn't place his original story with Realms, it would've ended up with some other excellent venue, I'm sure.  But it did end up with Realms, because I found it and Shawna liked it.  So pardon me while I do a little dance and place another editorial feather in my cap.

*Does dance*

*Puts feather in cap*

But the real credit goes to Ken.  He put in the work and now it's paying off.  Folks, you're in for a treat when Ken's book comes out (that's Psalms of Isaak: Lamentation).  Go out and read it if you have the slightest interest in secondary world fantasies.  Ken, I know I can relay this much of what you told me.  Please feel free to drop other details in the comments thread if they're allowed for public knowledge.         

Congrats, again!

one of my old slush survivors, Ken Scholes, who has just announced on his blog (kenscholes.livejournal.com) that his work is going to be represented by esteemed literary agent, Jennifer Jackson.

And why am I particularly excited about this?  Well, Ms. Jackson is going to be representing a novel called  THE PSALMS OF ISAAK: LAMENTATION.  This novel is set in the same world as Ken's short tale, "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise," which I originally fished out of the Realms of Fantasy slush piles.

Ken, dude, I said as much on your blog, and now I'm going to say it here.  I'm so proud of you, man.  I'm bursting with editorial pride.  I haven't had a chance to read your novel yet (alas), but I was one of the first people to recognize the brilliance of the world you've created.   I'm not surprised in the least that Jennifer has chosen to represent you.  And I won't be surprised when she sells your novel to one of the major publishing houses, nor will I be surprised when you continue to sell novels for years to come.  And I won't be surprised as you keep being surprised by all these wonderful developments.  That's just the kind of guy you are.

As to everyone else, if you call yourselves fans of speculative literature, I expect you to buy Ken's novel when  it comes out, not if.  Keep an eye on this guy, folks.  He's going to be around for years to come.  I'll bet my editorial career on it. 

Congrats again, Ken.  Keep up the good work.   

Two bits of editorial crow:

1) A recent e-conversation with slush survivor David Pinault, author of "Afghan Buddha Payback," has confirmed my belief that this story will be his first published work of fiction. So now there will be no niggling doubts in my mind the next time someone asks me if I've ever discovered an unpublished writer, and I say "Why yes I have . . ."

2) The response time for Realms of Fantasy over at the Black Hole (http://critters.critique.org/blackholes/) has finally been whittled down to 90 days. I've had my eye on this # for a long time. When I joined RoF our average response time was 120 days, so I've chopped off an entire month since coming aboard. Not bad.

So I've just learned that one of my slush survivors, Ken Scholes, has had his story, "Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise," reviewed in the latest issue of Locus. Here's what Rich Horton has to say:


From the August Realms of Fantasy best is "Of Metal Men" by Ken Scholes, who has had fine stories in several places recently. This one concerns a general discovering a translator robot that was apparently tricked to reciting a destructive spell. An interesting idea, played out in a fantastical rather than SFnal atmosphere.


Go, Ken!