Futures

I have just learned that my story "Adam's Hot Dogs at the End of the World," which was published in Nature last December, will be appearing in Futures from Nature, an anthology of 100 past Futures stories, to be published by Tor Books this November.

Update: And you can already pre-order it from Amazon.com. Imagine my surprise to learn that my story will be published alongside stories by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke; Bruce Sterling; Charles Stross; Cory Doctorow; Greg Bear; Gregory Benford; Oliver Morton; Ian Macleod; Rudy Rucker; Greg Egan; Stephan Baxter; Barrington J. Bayley; Brian Stableford; Frederik Pohl; Vernor Vinge; Nancy Kress, Michael Moorcock, Vonda N. McIntyr; Kim Stanley Robinson; John M. Ford; and eighty more.

I am humbled and honored to have my story in the same book as these giants.

Also, my story "Man for a Moment" is scheduled for the June 22 edition of Hub magazine. Subscriptions to this weekly fantasy and sci-fi ezine are free - each issue arrives in your email in pdf format - so be sure to sign up and tell them how much you loved my evil little tale.

I Beg Your Pardon

My very short story, "The Prettiest Woman in the Room" has been accepted for publication at The Rose and Thorn Literary E-Zine.

One editor (at another magazine, who foolishly rejected this story) said of it, "I just can't get past the disturbing thought that some poor single mom out there is gonna shoot herself after reading this one!"

High praise indeed.

Notable Stories

Two of my stories have been recognized as Notable Stories by the Million Writers Award - Harvest My Heart (published at Pindeldyboz) and Even Angels Fall (published at Eclectica).

I served as a preliminary judge for the award. Each judge was asked to select the ten best stories published online in 2006, with each judge's selections recognized as Notable Stories. We were not allowed to select our own stories, or any stories from any magazines or webzines that we edited. Not that I would have.

One story from Southern Gothic was chosen - Mark MacNamara's Vertically Divided, Blue-Red-White. Although I wasn't allowed to pick this story, I believe it is one of the best, if not the best story published online last year. I've submitted it to every award I can think of, including the Pushcart and O'Henry.

I would also like to point you to three stories that completely blew me away: The Virgin Butcher by Brenna Yovanoff Graham, Gladiator by Sigfredo R. Inigo, and Debtor by J. Michael Matuszewicz.

Neither of my Notable Stories are as good as the above four, which all deserve to make the Top Ten - the next round in the selection process. In a couple of weeks, the Top Ten will be chosen by storySouth editor Jason Sanford and readers will have two weeks to vote for the winner.