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Jack Skillingstead, who informs me that his ROF story, "Everyone Bleeds Through," is slated to be reprinted in Rich Horton's Year's Best Science Fiction 2008. Normally, I learn about these sorts of cool tidbits much faster, but being as this reprint will be appearing in an sf anthology as opposed to a fantasy one it snuck up on me. In fact, this is the first story ROF story I know of that is going to be reprinted in a Year's Best for SF. JJA reprinted ROF's "Artie's Angels" in his post-apocalyptic reprint anthology, which is really a science fiction anthology. It's very cool that he did that (and based on the stories I've read in there so far you totally need to buy this!), but it's not quite the same thing.
--Holly Black for "Paper Cuts Scissors"
--Noreen Doyle for "The Rope"
--Theodora Goss for "Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon"
--M.K. Hobson for "Hotel Astarte"
--Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold for "Roger Lambelin"
--Richard Parks for "Hot Water"
--Tim Pratt for "Restless in My Hand"
--Alan Smale for "A Trade in Serpents"
--Chris Barzack and Jack Skillingstead both received nods in the yearly summation at the beginning of the book, for what I determined to be "Little Miss Apocalypse" & "Everyone Bleeds Through" respectively.
Congrats to all!
I was a little bit rushed when I scribbled down this info, but I'm fairly certain I marked down everyone. Still, if I've missed any authors from ROF, please accept my sincerest apologies (and don't hesitate to inform me of the good news!)
I was also pleased to note that according to the summation for ROF in 2006 (our numbers lag a year behind the other mags), while our overall circulation numbers were down slightly, our subscription base grew by almost 1100 subscribers. We were the only magazine among the majors to increase our subscriber base. It cannot be a coincidence that in 2006 Realms of Fantasy also launched its updated website. Yes, that website needs updating again (and the recent notice on the main page promises great changes are coming, possibly soon), but in 2006 that site was new and looking mighty fine. We drew a lot more traffic than our old site, we generated some advertising, and our forum membership has steadily grown. And look what happened. And if these forthcoming updates to the ROF site are as great as promised (and I believe they will be), there's no reason to believe we won't continue growing our subscriber base, perhaps in greater numbers than before. I would never presume to tell the publishers of the other print magazines how to run their businesses, but if these results are any indication, they should take a long hard look at possibly spending some $$$ to update their websites.
And lastly, I didn't buy the antho, I just scribbled down the info pertaining to ROF. So please authors, don't email me or post coments here to learn whether your story also received an HM. I honestly don't know. Sorry!
So in my most recent edition of my ROF Retrospective series, one of the stories I discussed was "The Dead Boy at Your Window," a reprint we ran by Bruce Holland Rogers. Under the comments thread, Ckastens was nice enough to provide a link he found to a movie of the story on YouTube. Check it out if you're curious. It contains the whole story word for word (I think), and it runs a little over seven minutes.
Just posting a reminder to interested parties that tomorrow the monthly New York Review of Science Fiction (NYRSF) Reading will be taking place in NYC. One of my slush survivors, Elizabeth Glover, will be reading the story we published in Realms of Fantasy, "MetaPhysics." NYRSF is one of the two major speculative readings that takes place each month in NYC, and this marks the first time a story a I've slushed will be a part of its itinerary. Another feather in the editorial cap. :) (By no means have I accrued enough feathers to be an editorial peacock, but I must say that after almost three years I think I can safely term myself as feathery).
Oh, they'll also be this guy named Andy Duncan reading there as well. :)
If you're interersted in a funny fantasy tale (plus whatever Andy's cooking up), you should swing by the Melville Gallery at the South Street Seaport Museum at 213 Water Street. Doors open at 6:30 and the readings start at 7:00. A donation of $5 is suggested.
And lastly, no this isn't some April Fools Day joke. You won't come here only to discover there is no reading and this was all some fiendish prank. There really is a reading tomorrow.
Hope to see some of you there.
--Noreen Doyle for "The Rope: A New Tale of the Antique Lands"
--Richard Parks for "A Touch of Hell"
--Devon Monk for "When the Train Calls Lonely"
--Sandra McDonald for "The Firemen's Fairy"
Congrats to the authors!
I just stumbled onto this one today. On her blog, Kathryn Cramer has posted the TOC for Year's Best Fantasy 8, edited by herself & David Hartwell. Three stories from Realms of Fantasy are being included:
--"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" by Theodora Goss
--"Paper Cuts Scissors" by Holly Black
--"The King of the Djinn" by Benjamin Rosenbaum & David Ackert
Congrats to the authors!
Christopher Barzak, winner of the 2007 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Short Fiction, for his story, "The Language of Moths," which originally appeared in Realms of Fantasy. Chris' story was part of a three-way tie. You can view all the winners here.
Everyone at Realms is proud of you, Chris!
--Theodora Goss for "Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon"
--David Barr Kirtley for "Save Me Plz"
--Alan Smale for "A Trade in Serpents"
--Holly Black for "Paper Cuts Scissors"
The Prelimanary Nebula Ballot has been released. Congrats to all the fine folks I know who have made it this far. In the novelette category, I'll take a moment to single out Jim C. Hines for his Realms of Fantasy story, "Sister of the Hedge," & my friend, Andrea Kail, for "The Sun God at Dawn, Rising From a Lotus Blossom." Andrea actually had this critiqued in our now defunct critique group, the 8th of February. I could go on with other names, and it's really cool how many of you guys I've come to know, but I'll draw the line here. Just know that if we know each other and you've made it I'm thrilled for you.
Good luck, guys!
Congrats to all the authors!
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!
Aul, Billie, "Dead Man's Tale," October 2006
Barzak, Christopher, "Dead Letters," February 2006
Bennett, Renee, "Cold Drake," August 2006
Bobet, Leah, "Lost Wax," December 2006
Carter, Scott William "The Grand Mal Reaper," August 2006
Downum, Amanda, "Snake Charmer," October 2006
Hines, Jim, "Sister of the Hedge," June 2006
Hood, Daniel, "Pavel Petrovich," June 2006
Krahe, Catherine, "Undine," June 2006
Lake, Jay, and Nestvold, Ruth, "Schwarze Madonna and the Sandalwood Knight" June 2006
Monk, Devon, "Ducks in a Row," April 2006
Parks, Richard, "Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge," April 2006
Prineas, Sarah, "Jane: A Story of Manners, Magic, and Romance," April 2006
Snyder, Jena, "Heart of Ice," April 2006
Roggie, Deborah, "Swansdown," February 2006
Wentworth, KD, "True North," August 2006
16 nominations. Six issues. 39 stories. 41% (Sean's math, which I'm sure is correct).
Congratulations to the authors. I'll also take a quick moment to point out that "Cold Drake," "The Grand Mal Reaper," and "Snake Charmer" were all stories I fished out of the ROF slush. This is the first edition of Year's Best Fantasy & Horror wherein stories I've found in the ROF slush were eligible for consideration. So this is very satisfying for me as an editor, and definitely another feather in the editorial cap. So 3 of my 9 slush survivors from 2006 received an HM ...33% Not bad for my first year as assistant editor. :)
Anyway, a while back I happened to mention a few people that received an HM in this anthology in that post where I started that subscription drive, but these were just the people mentioned in the introduction. Now that I flipped through the back the list is complete*, so without further ado, here are all the stories that received an Honorable Mention out of those published in Realms of Fantasy during 2006:
"Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge" by Richard Parks
"The Road's End" by Jim Van Pelt
"Anywhere There's a Game" by Greg Van Eekhout
"Schwarze Madonna and the Sandalwood Knight" by Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold
"Uncle Vernon's Lie" by Patrick Samphire
"Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing With the Sunrise" by Ken Scholes
"A Fish Story" by Sarah Totton
These last two are both slush survivors of mine, and mark the first slush survivors to receive an HM from the current grandaddy of the Best Of collections, so it's pretty cool for me as well. And being as my first slush survivors didn't see publication until 2006, I must confess to being a little proud that I've hit the ground running as an editor.
BTW, I loved all these stories, so let me commend Gardner on his excellent taste (as if he needs a nod of approval from me).
Congrats, guys!
*The store was closing when I turned to the HM pages, so I had to read through them faster than I would have liked. Apologies if I've missed anyone.
"Lost Wax" by Leah Bobet
and another slush survivor of mine, "Snake Charmer" by Amanda Downum
Congrats, ladies!
Nice job, Ken!
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:
( Read more... )
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/ratbasta
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!
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.
