Just one purchase actually.  One poor story slipped through the cracks and remained stuck in transition hell all this time, but Shawna just accepted it for Realms of Fantasy today:

"The Sacrifice" by Michelle M. Welch

Congrats to the author, and our thanks for her extreme patience.  And with this acceptance, I will declare that we are absolutely positively 100% certain that we are caught up and that our next purchases will come from stories submitted to us during the Tir Na Nog Press era.  And if I'm wrong ...well, I do believe I've eaten my words before. :)   

Hey Folks,

Shawna has made her latest round of purchases for the magazine:

--"Queen of the Kanguellas" by Scott Dalrymple
--"Seagull Girl's Butterfly Tongue" by Sara Genge
--"Saint's-Paw" by Alan Smale
--"Cutter in the Underverse" by Daniel Hood
--"[Dragon]" by Terry Edge

Scott, Sara, and Terry will all be appearing in the magazine for the first time.  Alan & Daniel are both previous contributors.  And with this buying round done, there is nothing left in limbo in the fiction department.  All stories sent to RoF before Sovereign Media canceled the magazine have now been bought or rejected.  If you sent a story to Realms of Fantasy before Sovereign Media canceled it and haven't received a response, please feel free to contact me: slushmaster@gmail.com.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone who patiently waited for a response during these transition months. 

You'll notice there is an asterik next to "Buying Time!"  That's because while Shawna has indeed selected some new stories for the magazine, this in no way signals that we are open to new submissions.  Repeat: we are not open to new submissions.  I passed these stories along to Shawna before Sovereign Media pulled the plug, but she didn't read them until after Warren bought the magazine.  We'd like to thank these authors for being extraordinarily patient with us during these transition months.  Also, while we don't know just when we're reopening to submissions yet, the fact that we've gotten to the point where we can send out contracts for anything is another positive sign.

As to the lucky winners this time around:

--"In Time of Great Despair and Darkness" by Ken Scholes

--"The Hag Queen's Curse" by M.K. Hobson

--"Hanuman's Bridge" by Euan Harvey

--"Halloween: Comprising a Cautionary Acrostic of Nine Bedtime Stories for Reading to the Tiresome or Disobedient Child" by Euan Harvey

--"Sultana Lena's Gift" by Shweta Narayan

Ken, M.K., and Euan have all contributed numerous stories to the magazine in the past, and Ken & Euan are both former slush survivors of yours truly.  It probably comes as no surprise that Euan's Halloween story was sent for the Halloween issue.  Well, the Halloween issue may be defunct, but we're using the story!  Shweta is new to the magazine and is another slush survivor.  This marks my first slush survivor accepted during the new regime.  Congrats to all!

ETA: If you've been waiting to hear back and haven't received a response yet, please be advised that there are additional stories stuck in limbo from later batches that Shawna still needs to get through.

Shawna has made her first picks for 2009:

--"Melanie" by Aliette de Bodard

--"Our Lady of Scarlet" by Tanith Lee

--"Stories of the Sand" by Dirk Strasser

--"Flower Fairies" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

--"Images of Anna" by Nancy Kress

--"Just Another Word" by Carrie Vaughn

--"The Well of Forgetting" by Merideth Simmons

--"A Road Once Travelled" by Richard Parks

--"Felicity's Engine" by Sharon Mock

--"Mister Oak" by Leah Bobet

--"Narrative of a Beast's Life" by Cat Rambo

Dirk Strasser, Nancy Kress, Merideth Simmons, and Cat Rambo will all be appearing in the magazine for the first time.  Welcome to the ROF family!  I have no slush survivors to report after last time's explosion, but Aliette & Sharon are both previous slush survivors, and Sharon's story is set in the same world as her slush tale, "All Beautiful Things."

Congrats to all! 

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!
         

 Shawna has made another round of purchases for the magazine:

--"Pumpkin Jumper" by William H. Wandless (slush survivor)

--"Fossil Fuels" by Alan P. Smale

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

--"The Restroom Murders" by Peni R. Griffin

--"The Olverung" by Stephen Woodworth

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

--"The Horned Toad in the Hubcap" by Joe Murphy (another Sprokly tale)

Smale, Hobson, Griffin, Jeng, and Murphy are all previous contributors to the magazine.  Wandless and Woodworth are both newcomers.  Wandless being a slush survivor also marks a mini-milestone for yours truly.  You see, this is the 18th slush survivor I've fished out of the slush.  I've never crunched the numbers, but I'm fairly certain the average issue of Realms of Fantasy  contains six stories.  Since we're bi-monthly, that means we average about 36 stories a year.  So me digging up # 18 means I've now discovered half a year's worth of fiction content for the magazine.  Not too shabby. :)  

Hey Folks,

The latest batch of slush has been received and organized.  In total, there are 228 manuscripts, ranging from 8/27/07-10/16/07.  Good luck to everyone, and to those from the last batch moving on to the next round ...

Also, another sale to report for the magazine: "The Luckiest Street in Georgia"  by Vylar Kaftan.  Congrats to Vylar ...and congrats to me on snagging another slush survivor. :)

So Shawna has found a few more works that have tickled her fancy:

"Daughter of Botu" by Eugie Foster
"The Claw Unseen" by Euan Harvey
"The Light of a Thousand Suns" by Jim Van Pelt

No slush survivors this time, although Euan is a former slush survivor, and I'm always happy to see them make subsequent sales.  Also, Shawna is still considering a couple of pieces, so we'll see what happens ...

So Shawna will soon be making another round of purchases.  Here's what we've got:

*"The Self-Fulfilling Prophet" by Way  Jeng
"Girl in Pieces" by Graham Edwards (another one of his fantasy detective tales)
"Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten" by Bradley Beaulieu
"On the Banks of the River of Heaven" by Richard Parks (his billionth story with us)
"Ours to Fight For" by Jim Hines
"All Beautiful Things" by Sharon Mock
 "Here's What I Know" by Dennis Danvers
And a story from Delia Sherman for the ongoing Charles Vess Project  in  Realms of Fantasy (authors creating stories to his illustrations).  I'm uncertain about the title to this one.

*Due to a strange turn of events, Shawna ended up reading Way's story very much after the fact.  So assuming the story is still available, she's taking it.  Otherwise it's our loss since it's a solid tale.

Anyway, congrats to e-friends Jim Hines, Richard Parks, and Bradly Beaulieu.  As far as I know Dennis & Delia are both making their first appearance in ROF, so welcome to the family.  It's Bradley's first sale with us too, so welcome to you as well. 

And I know for sure that Sharon is making her first appearance with us, because she's the reason you can mark another one down for the Slushmaster.  That makes 16 and counting ...and this story has to be good because it's about the fey, and I'm really really sick of fey stories in my slush.  Nice going, Sharon!

A couple more sales to announce to Realms of Fantasy:

Regular contributor Carrie Vaughn strikes again with "A Letter to Nancy."

And the Slushmaster strikes again, this time fishing out slush survivor Greg O. Weatherford, and his story "Under the Skin."

So Shawna has made the latest batch of purchases for the magazine:


--THE SINGERS IN THE TOWER by Peni R. Griffin


--STILL POINT by Graham Edwards


--HOBNOBLIN BLUES by Elizabeth Bear


--THE WHITE ISLE by Von Carr


--THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF THE EDELWEISS VILLAGE PUTT-PUTT GOLF COURSE by M.K. Hobson


--ON TUESDAY IT RAINED HORNED TOADS by Joe Murphy


--THE DOOM OF LOVE IN SMALL SPACES by Ken Scholes


--BLOOD AND OIL by Josh Rountree


--HOT WATER by Richard Parks


--AND SPARE NOT THE FLOCK by Margaret Ronald


--THE SUMMER OF LUCY by Kate Riedel


--TRANSFORMATIONS by David Barr Kirtley


--THE FIREMAN'S FAIRY by Sandra McDonald


As you can all see, this is a very large batch of stories we're taking this time around. I remember commenting to her as I was going through this batch that the good stories were coming out of the woodwork. Seems she agreed.

As to the batch itself, the regular contributors came out in force this time, including some stories that return to familiar universes, such as Richard Parks' samurai detective in "Hot Water," Graham Edwards' gumshoe detective in "Still Point," and another Sprokly story in Joe Murphy's "On Tuesday it Rained Horned Toads." A couple of shout-outs from the Slushmaster must also take place, one for my boy David Barr Kirtley, for selling his latest piece, "Transformations," and another goes out to my old slush survivor, Ken Scholes, for making his second sale to Realms of Fantasy.

Also, welcome to Elizabeth Bear. Improbable as it seems, I believe this marks her first sale to Realms of Fantasy (Elizabeth, please correct me if I'm wrong). Finally, to our other first-timer to the magazine, welcome to Von Carr, my slush survivor discovery this time around, bringing my total up to 14 slush survivors. I worked with Von on some light revisions before we passed this one up the editorial ladder, and "The White Isle" is a great read, so I'm glad everything worked out.

As to the rest of you characters ...welcome back to our pages. You've got some fine stories waiting for you, folks.

Shawna's latest purchases for Realms of Fantasy:

"Honest Man" by Naomi Kritzer--Welcome back to our pages!

"Little Miss Apocalypse" by Christopher Barzak--Chris is a regular contributor ... so welcome back again!

"Waiting at the Door" by Cherith Baldry--Cherith has also published with before.  Another welcome back!

"The Dinosaur Diaries" by Scott William Carter--Scott was originally one of my slush survivors, and it's damn cool to see him back in our pages.  Nice going, Scott!


So.  No slush survivors for the Slushmaster this time around, but this batch is still very cool for me.  As I mentioned, Scott was originally one of my slush survivors.  When he sold his slush tale, "The Grand Mal Reaper," to us, he became an automatic pass.  But with his latest sale, Scott marks my first slush survivor to achieve multiple sales with Realms of Fantasy.   Having a slush survivor with multiple sales to the magazine  is another feather in my editorial cap,  and this was one on "the list" of things I'd like to achieve while I'm working at this magazine.  The accomplishment is much more Scott's than mine, of course, but it still makes me proud to see one of my slush survivors snag another sale with us.  Thanks for helping shorten "the list" Scott!  And congrats again!  

 

Buying time! Shawna has bought a few more gems for the magazine:

"Time Tells All" by Way Jeng--This marks Way's second story with our magazine. Welcome back!

"Restless in My Hand" by Tim Pratt--Regular contributor Tim Pratt stikes again!

"King of the Djinn" by Benjamin Rosenbaum--A contributor to many other magazines, this marks Benjamin's first sale with us (as far as I know). Congrats!

"MetaPhysics" by Elizabeth Glover--Elizabeth's first fiction sale . . .and mark another one down for the Slushmaster! Yee haw!

So the Power That Is (AKA Shawna) has made a few more purchases for our illustrious magazine:

"Save Me PLZ" by David Barr Kirtley--a regular contributor to our pages (and a fun guy to hang out with), David brings us a tale that is quite outside the box. All I will say is that is has an elf in it . . .but somehow it still manages to be good! Congrats, Dave!

"Princess Lucinda and the Hound of the Moon" by Theodora Goss--another regular contributor to our pages (and my classmate at Odyssey 2000) Dora brings us a fairy tale as only she can. Congrats!

"When the Train Calls Lonely" by Devon Monk--This marks Devon's eighth appearance with the magazine, her last one being "Ducks in a Row," which was a damn fine yarn. Welcome back!

"Everyone Bleeds Through" by Jack Skillingstead--a regular contributor to Asimov's, this marks Jack's first sale to RoF. Congrats and welcome to the RoF family!

So I've just learned of another sale to RoF from our last batch (this was one hell of a batch!) Big congrats to Samantha Henderson for selling "Bottles," which marks her first sale to RoF.

Now allow me to take a moment to grumble. I couldn't be happier for Samantha. I've exchanged some emails with her and know her to be a wonderful person. But she was part of my secret cache of authors, and other under circumstances she would have been my thirteenth slush survivor.

Ah, but what is this cache I speak of? It's no big secret, except I've never really discussed it before. But there are certain authors I tend to keep my eye on. Either I reject them with a YFOP and remember their names (this doesn't apply to all YFOP authors!) or I pass something of theirs along to Shawna and even though she rejects them I know there's a good chance if such authors keeps submitting to us they have a solid shot at being accepted (and this doesn't apply to all authors passed along to Shawna, so there!) This scenario has occurred more than once: Scott William Carter, Sarah Totton, and Jon Hansen were three such authors I was watching out for, and Euan Harvey makes a fourth. So there was some precedent.

I've never told her this but Samantha was one of my ringers. I once passed a story of hers along to Shawna that I really liked. Shawna didn't buy it, but after that every time I came across something from Sam in my slush I sat up a little straighter, because I knew it was just a matter of time before she sent a story that clicked with Shawna.

Only another editor beat me to the punch with this story. One of the big wigs liked this tale enough to suggest she send it to Shawna, so the credit goes to [SECRET] instead of to me. Blast! This is twice the rug has been pulled out from under me in regards to one of my ringers. The other time was with Alethea Kontis for her story, "Sunday." I had a feeling about her work, but before I could discover "Sunday," between submissions she went and accumulated enough credits to become an automatic pass. That evil girl.

But so it goes. At least after this most recent batch I have a new ringer to replace the losses of Sam and Euan. And before anyone asks, no, I won't say who my ringers are. It might make the authors get swelled heads. I'd rather they focus on their writing than on my opinion.

Later all. And welcome to the RoF family, Sam!

I've just learned of another accepted slush survivor from the batch Shawna just polished off. So let's welcome Trent Hergenrader to the RoF family, after he successfully undertook some revisions to his short story, "Black Jack Davy." Congrats, Trent!

This also brings my total slush survivor count to 12, enough to fill two issues of RoF. Not bad for 14 months of work. :) Stay tuned for more RoF news soon . . .

Hey Gang,

So Shawna has made another round of purchases for the illustrious magazine. Here are the lucky contestants:

( Read more... )

Hey Folks,

A couple of stories from our regular contributors have tickled Shawna's fancy:

"Number of the Bus" by Jay Lake

"The Devil and Mrs. Comstock's Snickerdoodles" by Eugie Foster

Congrats to our winners! Meanwhile the Slushmaster continues waiting anxiously, curious if any of his slush survivors shall be chosen, bringing his total to a landmark 10 . . .

Hey Kids,

Here are the latest stories Shawna plans to buy for the magazine:

--"Circus, Circus" by Eric Witchey

--"Syren" by Graham Edwards

--"Three Wishes" by Bruce Holland Rogers

So congrats to our latest contestants . . .and now my bummer news. The winners from the batch in question lack a slush survivor. Sigh. My streak is over. It was a good run, and Shawna actually liked 2 of the slush survivors I passed along (my two favorites from the slush), just not quite enough. So it goes. Guess I'll have to start a new streak. Of course, I take comfort in the fact that the latest issue has 3 slush survivors. I guess that's a mini-streak in itself: 3 issues in a row with a slush survivor. Anyway, stay tuned. More RoF news should be coming soon . . .