Author: David Steffen

David Steffen is an editor, publisher, and writer. If you like what he does you can visit the Support page or buy him a coffee! He is probably best known for being co-founder and administrator of The Submission Grinder, a donation-supported tool to help writers track their submissions and find publishers for their work . David is also the editor-in-chief here at Diabolical Plots. He is also the editor and publisher of The Long List Anthology: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List series. David also (sometimes) writes fiction, and you can follow on BlueSky for updates on cross-stitch projects and occasionally other things.

Another Perspective on How to Write a Rejection Slip

written by David Steffen

Two weeks ago we posted the article How to Write a Rejection Slip by Christopher Miller, which sparked quite a bit of interesting discussions here, on Facebook, and on blog sites that linked to us. Some agreed, some didn’t, and a good time was had by all talking about what we really like or don’t like to see in a rejection slip.

As a counterpoint to Christopher’s list, I thought I’d post a list of my own. My list is quite different from Christopher’s, though there is some overlap. If anyone reading this has a different list, feel free to post it in the comments, or if you have a list on your blog to post a link to the list.

1. Write personal rejections, if possible.

Of the 289 rejections I’ve received to date, less than a third have been personalized. I always appreciate a personal response. It’s just nice to know sometimes that somebody actually bothered to read my story, and didn’t reject it out of hand because of my lack of Name Fame. Some markets seem to publish only the relatively famous, even when those stories are quite low quality (in my opinion) so it’s hard not to surmise that some of them just disregard newcomers completely.

Even if you don’t have time to write a personal rejection for every submission, there are ways to make your form letters more informative. For example:

-Use a tiered form letter system, which has different wording for different levels of success. Fantasy & Science Fiction uses this to great success. “Didn’t grab my interest” means that the slush reader didn’t finish reading it–you may want to work on the beginning to make it more compelling. “Didn’t quite work for me” means that they finished reading, but in the end it just wasn’t good enough for them. “Not right for F&SF” means that they acknowledge that it’s a good story, but it just doesn’t fit their magazine’s style.

-Create a form letter with checkboxes listing reasons why the story was rejected. Dreams of Decadence has a really nice rejection slip of this type. My last rejection from them had two boxes checked: “Plot is weak or nonexistent” and “Please try us again with something else.” In addition, there was a handwritten addition which said “Loved the concept, but moves too slowly.” Since it had a personal note, it’s not really a form rejection anymore, but even without the note, the content of this form letter would have been one of the nicer ones I’ve received. It gave me a specific reason why they didn’t buy it. Not only does this help me consider whether to revise the story, but it helps me focus my future submissions to their magazine. Apparently they prefer a story that develops more quickly than that, and I will now keep that in mind.

2. If possible, give constructive feedback or sincere compliments.

Constructive feedback is always useful. I may not revise a story based on such feedback, but it’s important for me to know why people didn’t like it. Feedback is the most useful if it points to something specific. Examples are:
-The beginning was too slow.
-The protagonist made an important decision that seemed out of character.
-The ending didn’t make sense.

With or without constructive feedback, if you have a sincere compliment about the story do not hesitate to share it with the writer. I’ve had about a 2% acceptance rate for my submissions in the last year, and it tells me that this is higher than average for users who submitted to the same markets as me. It’s not unusual to have hundreds of rejections per acceptance, particularly for those who have yet to establish Name Fame. My first acceptance occurred after 125 uninterrupted rejections. This can take a real toll on the self esteem, making one wonder if you’ll ever make that sale. If even a few of these rejections are complimentary in some specific way, it can really help balance out unending flow of bad news. As an example, that Dreams of Decadence rejection I mentioned in #1 was really quite easy to take. “Loved the concept” says I’m doing something right, and that really means something

3. Don’t be an ass (but don’t lie either)

This should go without saying, but abusive wording gains you nothing. I’ve rarely had this complaint about any editor, but it’s still worth listing. Keep in mind that, even if you didn’t like this story, this writer might send you another story that you do like in the future. This could be a future collaborator. But if you act like an asshole, then they may stop submitting to you. They may encourage other writers not to submit to you, because you’re a jerk. And all because you didn’t take a moment to construct a civil email.

I’m not saying you have to lie. Don’t say “We enjoyed your story” or anything of that variety, unless you mean it.

The closest I’ve come to this complaint is a rejection which said, in its entirety, “Sorry, no.” To me, this was too curt, and in this case I would’ve preferred a stock form letter which used complete sentences and the usual meaningless phrasing.

4. Even if it’s a form letter, at least personalize a couple things.

The first rejection I ever received was a grainy photocopy of an undated standard form letter, “Dear Author”, “Signed, the Editors”. Okay, I know that editorial staff are busy, but that seems a little extreme. I’ve even received some email rejections which don’t even refer to the story name, but just say “Regarding your recent submission.” This email form letter could be populated automatically with a minimum of effort, so this annoys me every time I see it.

First, it should absolutely always have the name of the editor/slushreader who rejected it. Your typical magazine is not going to change editors that often, so it’s a minimal effort to just put their name in the form letter. Omission of this goes beyond mere laziness–it makes me think that the editor is afraid that he will be associated with his own rejections. What are you afraid of? As an editor, you have to make editorial choices, and if you want to be successful you have to stand by those choices. If you’re too scared to put your own name on the rejection, it gives the impression that you’d rather stay anonymous, and makes me wonder if this person has the intestinal fortitude required to be a competent editor. If it was rejected by a slush reader, I really think that the slush readers name should be on it, not the editor. Some magazines put the editors name on it even if it was a slushreader doing the reading, but I prefer to be able to tell if I made it to the real editor or not, and this misleading signature obscures this information from me.

In addition to the rejecter’s name, it’s really nice if it can have the following:
-Date
-Name of Author
-Name of Story

This really doesn’t take much effort, and in the case of email rejections, most of it can be completely automated, so there’s really no excuse. If the editorial staff can’t be bothered to refer to me or my story by name, it gives the impression that they’re just apathetic about the writers sending in their life’s work.

5. The longer the wait, the more annoying a form letter is.

I recently received a form rejection for a short story after nine months of waiting–that is the pinnacle of lameness. It’s bad enough that the amount of time was equivalent to the gestation period of a human fetus, they couldn’t even bother taking five minutes to write something about the story. On the other hand, I usually get form rejections from Clarkesworld, but they’ve also never taken longer than three days to send me a rejection, so I have no complaints about receiving a form rejection from them.

As a rule of thumb, I’d say that any market that takes more than 3 months to respond should be sending 100% personal responses.

6. Don’t say “Keep writing!”

Never. Just don’t do it. It will always come off as condescending. We appreciate the attempted encouragement, but it comes off as condescending every time. Whenever I read this, I picture a parent picking up their kid after his peewee team loses the big game. “Chin up, sport. You did your best and that’s all that counts. I know what will cheer you up! Consolation cake!” For those who would stop writing because of a single rejection, well, two words isn’t going to change their course. For those who wouldn’t stop writing because of that, it gets really annoying to read this over and over.

7. Don’t write an all-purpose form letter that says “we enjoyed it”

I love to see this sentiment expressed in a personal rejection. In a form letter it is CLEARLY insincere because it’s a friggin’ form letter!

8. Needlessly obtuse sentence structure

These people are supposed to be editors, right? So I’d like to think that they can put words in some kind of coherent and parsable order. Adding more words doesn’t help unless the words add meaning. Things like: “We regret to have to inform you that we are declining acceptance at this time.”
-The regret is clearly insincere, because it’s a form letter that they send to everyone.
-According to their wording, they don’t regret rejecting you. They don’t regret informing you of your rejection. But they DO regret the fact that they feel obligated to inform you of your rejection.
-“Declining acceptance”? Who the hell wrote that? That rings of Captain Barbossa’s “I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request” except this is apparently NOT trying to be funny.

9. Do NOT spam those who submit to you

Pedestal Magazine, this means you. Whenever I submit a story through Pedestal’s submissions form, about a minute later I get an email welcoming me to their mailing list, and thanking me for signing up for it. There’s no way to uncheck a box that will opt out of this form letter when you submit. And thereafter I get periodic emails from John Amen (who I don’t really care about) telling me of his upcoming book signings (in states I’ve never visited) and telling me about upcoming books (that I will not be buying). Luckily, I can just add this to my “spam” list–the story rejection comes from a different address than the spam. But even so, not spamming your submitters should be common sense.

Storygasm: A Deluge of Drabble

written by Nathaniel Lee

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 31ST! GET YOUR TRIGGER IN!

I am pleased to be featured here on Diabolical Plots, and equally pleased to offer a bit of entertainment for you nice people. Here’s how it works: you give me a prompt, and I’ll turn it into a drabble, a 100-word story for you. The best approach, speaking from personal experience, is to keep the prompt between two and five words long, and to avoid getting too specific. For example, something like “werewolf shampoo” can lead all sorts of directions and gives me something to work with. “A depressed angel commits suicide” nails it down a bit too much; it’s not a horrid prompt, but I don’t have a lot of room to embroider. “Dave the fat clown gets chased and eaten by an alligator” is no fun at all to write, because it’s already got everything in it. To participate, just post your prompt within the next 48 hours (ending 6am central on Wednesday). The resulting drabbles will be posted here on Diabolical Plots for your entertainment.

For a few examples of my drabbles, check out Mirrorshards, where I post a daily drabble. A couple examples: Bag Full of Name, and The Kraken Awakens.

I started Mirrorshards in November of 2008 as a writing exercise. There were several factors; a lack of energy to work on long-term projects, a desire for daily writing practice, and a niggling concern about my consistent failure to maintain any sort of personal journal or blog for any length of time. I remembered reading about a poet who wrote a limerick every day because the strict limits of the form gave him the literary equivalent of a quick morning exercise routine. I thought I’d try for a similar structure in prose. I did some quick research on short-shorts and nanofiction, and I eventually settled on 100 words as a nice round number that wasn’t too short and wasn’t too long. Since then, I have written over 54,000 words, one day and one story at a time. It’s far from the only writing I do, but it’s important to me to maintain that continuity. I pretty quickly migrated to Blogger, and a few months ago I registered a custom domain name. Everything at the site is under a Creative Commons license (Derivative works welcome for non-commercial purposes and with attribution.)

Nathaniel Lee is an amateur wordsmith with delusions of grandeur. He’s been writing stories since the second grade, but as yet has not found anyone willing to pay for them. ÂHe maintains a daily writing blog at Mirrorshards.org, and several of those stories have winkled their way onto the Drabblecast (Episodes 154, 156, and 158). Nathan and his wife keep two cats, Ozymandius and Belshazzar, and they spend most of their free time staring into glowing screens of one sort or another. ÂNathan is also an avid board gamer and roleplayer who suffers from a chronic lack of willing participants.

How to Write a Rejection Slip

written by Christopher Miller

With publishing’s gatekeepers now comprising the bulk of short fictions’ readership, I think it reasonable to say that for every story read at least one rejection slip is also read. The rare instances in which writers’ stories are not rejected and to some degree published and possibly read by others are offset by writers’ publishing their rejection slips on public blogs and forums and disseminating them in emails. Similarly, publishers’ returning the same rejection slip to many writers is offset by writers submitting the same story to many publishers. So even ignoring that rejection slips, unlike the stories that inspired them, are almost always read in their entirety, taken to heart and remembered, it all more than cancels out. Ergo rejection slips are the most widely and attentively read short literary genre.

And while there’s a humongous amount of material available on how to write good short stories and also a lot of information on reading (i.e. coping with) rejection slips,which may be summarized as 1) consider that you might be a shitty writer who will improve, 2) consider that the rejecter is an imbecile and/or pandering to an imbecilic demographic, and 3) don’t include return postage on your SASE, or, in the case of email submissions, flag the “sent to” address as spam,nowhere (in my full minute of research) did I find anything on writing good rejection slips. So, as always and without further ado, here are my rules:

1. Never write “keep writing” in a rejection slip. This is particularly irksome as the slip’s closing sentiment and even more so when followed by an exclamation mark. Your reader is already disappointed and doesn’t need the implication that your passing on the piece might constitute a reason to stop writing. In other words, this generic and ingenuous “chin up” just makes readers want to punch you in the face. It is beyond your rejection slip’s scope to provide personal or career counseling.

2. Never critique work you are rejecting. It just makes you look stupid, even when you’re right, which usually you are not. It is beyond your rejection slip’s scope to teach creative writing.

3. Never say a piece is “not right” for you. This rule may be excepted if you actually really did like the submission but have had all your creative joie de vivre and artistic license crushed out of you by having to cater to the dreary formula upon which your publication is based and you can convey this in some credible way. Similarly, unless you can say who, do not point out that someone else might like it. The reader would not have sent you the piece if they didn’t like it. The same rules of concision that apply to all writing apply to rejection slips. Be specific. Avoid stating the obvious.

4. Never chirp how you “enjoyed the read.” You have just injured your reader. “I dozed off while reading your submission and chipped a tooth on my coffee mug” might be more uplifting.

5. Never metaphorically equate a piece’s acceptance with its finding “a home.” The story you are rejecting is not some derelict bumming spare change, eating out of dumpsters and sleeping on benches and grates. Particularly offensive and almost as bad as “Keep writing!” is “Good luck finding a home for it!” Really you should avoid bestowing any sort of hope, wish or prayer for success on your reader. What you need to keep in mind is that, no matter how you sugarcoat them, rejection slips hurt. And so, if only briefly, your reader is your enemy, and doesn’t want your gloating condescension.

6. Avoid saying you hope the author will submit more of their work in the future, even if you really do. This is a toughie, I know. But if you really like the piece that much, then ask if you can hold onto it in the hopes a slot opens up. Or send a follow-up invitation. Most times, if you solicit work from an author, he will comply. But consider that your reader is reading in a temporarily bummed out state. His best efforts have just been found wanting. Even ephemeral depression twists all emotions into negative forms. So, instead of interested, you just sound greedy. And instead of uplifted, your reader just feels used, like you’ve walked up to his promotional free-sample display in the supermarket where he works weekends on commission, and, after gobbling down all his carefully prepared little sausages, crackers, cheeses, dips or whatever, exclaimed how delicious they were, burped and asked when more will be available.

7. Conversely, do not be afraid to write things like, “We would appreciate if you didn’t submit any more of your work to us,” or “We only barely read the first paragraph,” or “We receive thousands of submissions each month and yours was second worst!” Honesty is always the best policy. Writers can smell bullshit like weed at a concert. A miss is as good as a mile.

Born in Switzerland, raised in Chicago, mostly Canadian now. ÂRestaurateur, software developer. Loves writing all genres,sci-fi to literary, horror to erotica. E.g.:ÂÂGanymede Dreams (a.k.a. Ganymede’s Song) ;ÂTake Our kids to Work Day;ÂA Hawk Circling the Wind ;ÂAdam and Eve Reading (almost) Quietly in the Bathroom

Stumptown Comics Fest 2010

Stumptown Comics Fest 2010

Each convention has it’s own personality, just like how every city has it’s own personality. Stumptown Comics Fest has one of the best personalities of all the conventions I have attended. It has a very do-it-yourself feel to the entire convention, with a strong feeling of optimism. Most of the artists and storytellers are self employed, or a part of a small artist collective. In fact, most of the tables are webcomics.

The indie attitude of the convention tends to attract many upcoming artists, and is an excellent place to find new things to read. It is also good for artists and writers as much of the focus of the convention is networking, and educating. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has a large table to help creative minds navigate the labyrinth of copyright and legal rules. Many panels are dedicated to helping them understand how to get their works published, or how to self-publish. The largest mainstream comic presence would be from Dark Horse and Oni Press; both of which love and encourage indie comics.

One of the things I like best about Stumptown Comics Fest is the art. At every convention there is plenty of loot to buy. But at Stumptown most of the loot is in the form of beautiful art. There are of course tons of comic books to be had, and in most cases they are being sold by the actual artists and writers who will gladly sign them for you.

Overall I would say that Stumptown has a much more personal feel to it than most other comic conventions. As a fan you get to actually meet the artists, and talk with them. I had the opportunity to talk to Kel McDonald about her plans for her stories (http://www.sorcery101.net/). Aaron Diaz told me about how he prefers to stand while he draws on his computer, much like how classical artists would with their paintings (http://dresdencodak.com/). Jason Janicki and Leigh Kellogg let me in on bits of their plans for their new update schedule (http://www.wayfarersmoon.com/). Dylan Meconis told us how much she likes the Heifer International and that her favorite picture is the llama wearing socks (http://www.dylanmeconis.com/). Angela Melick recounted the woes of apartment renovations (http://www.wastedtalent.ca/). These personal interactions are the ones that make a fan love the work even more, because then not only do they like the art and story, but they also like the creators.

Blue was born with a keyboard and an Atari 2600 joystick in his hands. He enjoys telling longwinded stories, art, video games, programming, and especially loves when they overlap. He is a geek-of-all-trades with a dabbling in everything geek related without any particular focus.
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Bull Spec #1 Review

written by Frank Dutkiewicz

Bull Spec is the newest pro-paying magazine to hit the speculative fiction bookstore shelves. It is the brainchild of Durham, North Carolina’s favorite son, Samuel Montgomery-Blinn. Sam has an ambitious plan for his magazine; display the best North Carolina has to offer, showcase all that is new and relevant in the world of speculative fiction, and become the next SFWA qualifying magazine.

Sam was kind enough to send me his first copy to find out what I thought. At 72 pages, there wasn’t a shortage of things for me to comment on.

Rise Up by C S Fuqua

Life took a turn for the better the day Bobby walked into Sharps & Flats. Not only did he find a jewel of a music store but he also found Wynne, the love of his life and missing piece to his band. True, the old lady who owned the store was a bit odd, speaking nonsense on how music had power and was a conduit to the spirit world, but she did know her music. With Wynne’s help, Bobby’s band found new heights. A drive to meet a record executive brought it all to halt.

When he pulled Wynne’s lifeless body from the twisted car, Bobby thought his world just ended. The old lady said he had the power in him, a power over life and death. Bobby had no idea that the line between life and death wouldn’t be so clear.

C S Fuqua employed a tactic that I am finding more common these days. Open your story with the most dramatic part of your story then flashback to show the events that led up to it, risky and difficult to pull off. It almost didn’t work, almost.

Rise Up opened with a car crash (which was done well). After the dynamic opening, half of the story became a build up to the crash. The flashback, I thought, was slow developing and my interest waned. The story had a familiar tone to it and I believed I could see where it was heading from a mile away. Mr. Fuqua proved that I wasn’t a bright as I thought I was.

Good horror (which is what I believe this is) isn’t about gore but about the unexpected, and I admit I didn’t expect where Rise Up ended up. C S Fuqua is a master of prose. I found his writing crisp, filled with details that make a story come to life. But for my tastes, Rise Up wasn’t all that grand. The characters weren’t all that interesting and their story wasn’t that deep. For a large section I found the story dull and wondered if the payoff for sticking with it would be worth it. I am happy to say it was.

Rise Up is a solid but thin story. The writing is worthy of a professional publication. Not too bad for an opening to the magazines first publication.

Almost A Good Day To Go Outside by Peter Wood

Ricardo has brought home the latest fad for his family to enjoy, a TV. Just in time to catch the 1950’s programming that is just now reaching the terraforming colonist. The TV is a distraction for Ricardo’s cabin-fevered family. The entire population of the colony is confined into a single mammoth structure called the hive. The terraforming is taking longer than anticipated and depression is setting in. Daily routine with no place to go is having an adverse effect, one that is tearing Ricardo’s family apart.

Imagine working in a large factory, raising your family inside its walls, and never being able to leave. Peter Wood effectively showed a small slice of such a problem. In Almost A Good Day To Go Outside we also see the flipside of the problem. On a planet light-years from Earth, workers can’t be replaced, no matter how badly they do their jobs.

Almost A Good Day To Go Outside is a good Sci-Fi story. I liked the dilemma presented and the solution at the end. It was an idea I’d imagine the great writers of the 70’s would think of, yet would be still relevant today. Although I thought the story lacked a depth of detail and settings that C S Fuqua so eloquently provided, it had a quick pace with characters I could relate to.

I enjoyed reading this one.

Doctor Adderson’s Lens by Natania Barron
(reprinted from Gatehouse Gazette)

It was not unusual for Dellacarta to be summoned by her employer, Dr Adderson, even if it was by her reanimated zombie brother, Anton. She is used to the unusual and strange as an aide to the brilliant doctor, or she thought she was. One look through his latest invention, a monocle that grants sight of an unseen realm, and she realized that there is more to fear than an undead brother.

I classify this one as something that came out of left field. Steampunk stories can be strange but Doctor Adderson’s Lens has to be one of the oddest stories that I have ever read. Ms Barron effectively made reanimated corpses as servants seem normal. The unseen bird/parasites were an abrupt turn in an odd piece. The style of writing a story as a past tense recollection I found distracting.

Doctor Adderson’s Lens is not my type of story but I can see how many would love it. I found the plot a bit compressed but it did amuse me.

A Gathering of Doorways by Michael Jasper
(novel excerpt)

We get a glimpse of Mr. Jasper’s prologue and first chapter in his latest novel. The prologue is a recollection of dream Gil has of a place called the ‘Undercity’. We learn of his wife plus one family, and a real life problem with polluted water on their farm. Much of the prologue is devoted to his dream of the Undercity, which looks like any old, normal city, but for reasons unknown, the dream keeps him awake most nights.

In the first chapter, Gil is looking for his recently missing son, Noah. He is joined in the search by his neighbor Ray and his dog. Both men are disabled and there is an underlying fear of the forest that young Noah has wandered into.

I found the prologue to be unclear. It didn’t build a curiosity about Gil, his problem, or about the mysterious ‘Undercity’. The first chapter was more relevant but the flashback, which couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before the opening dilemma, and the unexplained mysteries of the forest, polluted water, and Undercity, left me more lost than intrigued. Gil’s bad hip, judgmental wife, and dark reference to a shovel and a squatter, wasn’t enough for me to want to know more.

When shopping for a novel, I like to read a sample of the book, especially when the author is new to me. The sample Bull Spec provided should be a perfect length to draw a conclusion. May I suggested to future authors, that take advantage of the mutually beneficial service, that you need not present the beginning of the novel, just an early portion. I suspect a better scene to hook potential readers could be found in a later chapter for A Gathering of Doorways.

The excerpt should be enough for readers to get a feel for Mr. Jaspers writing. Not for me, but judging by the reviews that he had for the entire novel, I’m sure more than a few readers will want a closer look.

Closed System Part One: The Author of Time by Mike Gallagher
(comic strip)

The hero of Mr. Gallagher’s work is Cambridge University’s chosen time traveler. He is traveling back in his flying ape-headed time machine to ‘document false historical facts’ as one of his tasks, which he finds many of, as well as few faux pas the got by the author (potatoes in the middle ages, George Washington at the signing of the Declaration of Independence).

The art of the strip is done well, and the story he created is fitting for a comic strip. I am sure a few readers would be interested in the ongoing adventures of the traveler.

D Harlan Wilson an interview and review of his works.

Huh?

It was the first word a writer used in his review of Wilson’s novel Peckinpah, and a word that summed up my thoughts of the first half of Bull Spec’s interview with Mr. Wilson.

In Sam Montgomery-Blinn’s in depth interview, we learn that his latest novel has been long-listed for a Bram Stroker award, that he has sold many other works of fiction, is regarded as a respected literary critic and analyst, has a masters in SF studies (who knew that existed), and has a PH.D devoted to a genre that he admits ‘â€academia still consider(s) (SF literature and scholarships) as trash, detritus of the literary ghetto‒

Quite an impressive resume, which proves the point that just because I never heard of him, doesn’t mean he isn’t important.

In Mr. Blinn’s lengthy review of D Harlan’s Technologized Desire: Selfhood and the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction we get a glimpse of his critiquing talents as well as his opinions on the direction of Science Fiction as well as how it relates to the attitudes of today’s society. Mr. Blinn’s sums up D Harlan’s theme with his quote “the universe of consumer-capitalism is an illusory prison from which there is no escape,despite the fact that it is illusory” and delves deeper into his description of Sci-Fi’s tendencies toward “technocapitalist” futures, a dark and dreary existence for man, one where “free will is fiction”.

In J. David Osbourne’s review of Mr. Wilson’s Peckinpah: An Ultraviolent Romance, we get a view of D Harlan’s fictional prowess. By Mr. Osbourne’s brief analysis, the novel sounds every bit as bloody as the title suggests. J. David summarizes it to be a “â€satirical meta mash up of microfiction and microcriticism into something that maybe resembles a novel,

Both reviewers thought highly of the novels, as did the editors of D Harlan Wilson in the interview. They know him better than I, but unfortunately (like most first time readers to Bull Spec) I base all my impressions on what I have read in these few pages.

Mr. Wilson comes off as a bright but bitter man. He sounds as ostentatious as his lengthy book titles, and as sure of his opinions as the blunt messages in them (the titles). Of course, good critics aren’t afraid to share their opinions, and D Harlan is all too happy to share what he thinks.

He used his boyhood town of Celina, OH as a template for his fictional novel, a place he admitted he “hated’. He sums up his time at Michigan State University as a “sh*t experience” while earning his PH.D, describing the program as “â€full of glitches ranging from structural disorderliness to crummy and/or meatheaded faculty.” The critic Mr. Wilson also commented on his contemporary, Stephen King. Admitting that he respected him — not for his writing, but for the fact he got rich writing it.

D Harlan’s dour outlook on society and mankind’s fate really comes through on his criticisms of Science Fiction over the past few decades, especially in the art of film. He focuses on the darkest of works, choosing to stick with the Blade Runner blueprint of a dire future, one’s that examine the depressing eventualities where technology and human physiology merge in a parasitic relationship (and it’s unsure which is the parasite). He concludes the evolution of SF and mankind’s fate is likely to head toward a future of “no choice but to live as a technopathological extension of the machine.” Mr. Wilson comes to these conclusions by saying capitalistic technologies shape SF ‘for “unrelenting socioeconomic ends” in an increasingly violent, self-perpetuating cycle of production and consumption.’

While reading Sam’s interview and the two reviews of D Harlan’s fictional work and analytical critique, I couldn’t help to think ‘this guy is overeducated and probably hasn’t held a real job in his life’. Noticing how he used the word ‘capitalism’ as if it were a curse word only solidified my first impression. Mr. Wilson’s bases his conclusions on an assumption of capitalistic societies are evil and counter productive to mankind, as an accepted universal truth.

Mr. Wilson furthers his conclusions of Science Fiction reflecting the cynical nature of man eventual demise through a symbiotic relationship with technology, fueled by a capitalistic engine, by examining the darkest of SF works such as A Clockwork Orange, Fire on the Mountain, and Army of Darkness. While looking on how a world would come about in the Matrix trilogy.

His works of fiction also reflect his cynical attitudes. He is proud of his works but finds them difficult to classify, describing his style as “creative freedom in narrative catastrophe,albeit catastrophe with order and purpose.” His latest accomplishments are of trilogy he calls “Scikungfi” (good grief), a story of a time jumping man that knows kung fu. His Peckinpah novel is filled with what the reviewer described as “hyperviolence”. His novels follow the same path as the ones he gravitates to in his critical analysis, reflecting the worst of human nature. All of which makes for some very depressing reading, which brings me to my own theory on how a bright mind could have such a bleak outlook and reflect it in his writings and criticisms.

D Harlan Wilson admitted he didn’t discover Science Fiction until his early twenties, when he was already hip deep in academic studies at a high-pressured Masters program. That time of life is usually the most cynical in a person’s life. The world seems to be against you and people in power appear to be interested in their own ends instead of working toward the good of the people. Most Sci-Fi and fantasy genre fans first discover the genre at an earlier age, mid to early teens. It is a time when the world looks bright; full of hope and opportunity. Most readers look for the type of entertainment that fits their ideal outlook. What you first fall in love with is what tends to stick with you.

It is the reason why the Star Trek phenomenon has such legs (a fictional work Mr. Wilson ignored). It is an idealistic future, one that shows a promising future without limits. Most works of SF I read followed this theme. Granted, I don’t read as much SF novels as I used to, but most of the mountain of short stories I’ve sample over the past couple of years has stayed true to this future of hope.

D Harlan Wilson may be correct of the future of SF and mankind but I tend to doubt it. Humans are not inheritably evil beings that are after their own narrow interests, nor are they sheep that will accept techno-attachments so willingly, as a decree from the powers that be. Capitalism is not an engine that is out to control and subvert man. Corporations need customers. Zombies make lousy consumers.

Any person that becomes a parent realizes that a future is important. As long as children grace our lives, I choose to see man’s future as a promising one, and most SF will continue to reflect that promise.

I wonder if D Harlan Wilson would buy my notion of a bright future? He better. Resistance is futile.

The Other Stuffâ€

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (as reviewed by Blue Tyson) is a novel set in a future where most of Earth’s oil reserves have been exhausted. Set around Bangkok, much of the power generated is done so by the kinetic energy from human labor and genetically engineered animals. The novel is done from more than one perspective and brings to life a world that must deal with mutated animals and diseases brought upon by meddling with genetics. New political lines, old technologies, and fresh technological solutions for a power-starved world appear to be the draw of this novel.

Tyson’s review describes Bacigalupi’s novel as a dystopia, one that “leaves you uneasy the whole way through, but fascinated”. Mr. Tyson is so enamored with it that he gave it 5 stars, and believes that it will be important to the future of Sci-Fi. I can’t imagine a higher praise than that.

Panverse One edited by Dario Cireillo (as reviewed by Charles Tan) is an anthology with five original novellas. The theme is unclear but Mr. Tan does provide a small review for each story. I found the cover of the book fascinating and Charles leads me to believe the work within is fitting for it. He writes favorably of each story but reserves his highest praise for “Delusion’s Song” written by Alan Smale, proclaiming that it is deserving of an award.

Although short, Charles Tan’s review was the most convincing as a sales pitch. I just may buy myself a copy.

There are two poems in Bull Spec. Inspired by Windmills by Kaolin Imago Fire and Ratang by Ralan Conley.

As one not drawn to poetry I have little to offer. If I were to pick from the two I would choose Ratang for its humor.

In Sam Montgomery-Blinn’s interview of game developer, Lee Hammock, we learn of the creation and premise of one of the most anticipated RPG games of the year, Fallen Earth.

The premise of the game is set in the year 2156 in the Grand Canyon. It is a hundred years after a plague has wiped out 99.9% of life on Earth. The Shiva virus has mutant life. Players in the game are immune carriers that battle deadly monsters while escaping from a revolt of dictatorship that controls the Hoover Dam.

Mr. Hammock provides insight to what potential players may face in the game as well as the direction the designers are planning for future adaptations to the game as well as the collaborative process involved in creating the game.

The conversation between Sam and Lee changes to Lee’s earlier RPG games and to his contributions to the graphic novels of the Halo RPG. Mr. Hammock speaks highly of his writing team as well as rubbing elbows with his colleagues, even showing a little envy for a successful competitorâ€

“â€you’re going for a burrito, why are you driving the Lamborghini? That’s just rubbing our noses in it!”

If only I could face such problems.

I am not one to play computer RPG games. However, it would be naà ¯ve to ignore their effect on today’s SF market. The shelves of the bookstores are filling with these fan-fic popular books. Lee Hammock, I imagine, is a person that fascinates many people. This interview should provide a glimpse many are after.

Sam also interviews the owner (Jennifer Bedell) and manager (Zachary Boyd) of SCI-FI GENRE COMICS AND GAMES. The store, located at 3125 Old Chapel Hill RD, Durham, NC, is set in an old warehouse. It is a haven for those that love the games, D&D games, and collectable game cards, like the Magic Gathering that have become popular.

The store boasts a sizeable staff that can provide you help that no ordinary department store can. The duo have a business plan that I hope keeps it alive for years to come. It sounds like a fun place to visit.

There is also one micro-flash story titled There Are No Orcs by Josh Whiton, short but sweet. It is translated into French and Spanish. Wouldn’t it be something if it were to become the Rosetta Stone for future generations?

If you are looking for variety in your Speculative Fiction, Bull Spec is the magazine for you. The stories cover a wide spectrum for fans of all types. The reviews and interviews follow the same pattern. I believe that is wise if the editors are looking for a wide audience. I did see one thing that linked them all together. All the stories, as well as the subject in the chief interview, were a shade on the darker side. Could be it was just a coincidence but I worry it could become common because of the prevailing tastes. Knowing that all the works of fiction carry that same theme would make them predictable over time.

Other than the slightly shaded theme, all the storytellers varied in quality and style. The differences were good and added to my enjoyment. However, the most thought provoking item in the magazine was D Harlan Wilson’s interview.

Of the three short stories I thought Rise Up was written the best but A Good Day To Go Outside I enjoyed the most. All the reviews I found helpful and I encourage Bull Spec to continue this service. I also appreciated the novel excerpt. Keep that up as well.

Sam Montgomery-Blinn’s interviews were well done. He asked relevant questions and steered the conversations on an engaging path, getting his subjects to relax, which made for a lot of information given freely. Quite a skill he has for this. Perhaps that microphone Sam is talking into on page 63 explains how he fine-tuned that skill.

I thought the artwork was well done, the announcements at the end informative, and the GUD ad fitting. The quality and set up of Bull Spec is worthy of any pro-magazine. However, for Bull Spec to become a SFWA it needs to stand out.

The cover art by Mike Gallagher is drawn well, a little too well. If Bull Spec is sitting on a long rack in a bookstore among a hundred of other magazines, I may assume it to be an American Art Review knock off. Although the old woman presenting a mandolin did fit the lead story it wouldn’t have been enough to capture my eye.

Bull Spec is full of variety but it isn’t set up that way. The first third is all stories, then all reviews and interviews from that point on. It is wise to place your lead story in the opening pages but the interviews, I thought, should have been mixed in with the fictional works. The readers that aren’t so inclined to read interviews may toss the magazine aside and remember Bull Spec to be thin in content because only the first 20 to 30 pages interested them.

Bull Spec did make for a nice read. Enjoyed all the stories, liked that they were spread across a variety of genres, appreciated the reviews, and was impressed by the interviews. What I would like to see from future issues would be more of a mixed format. Also there were four stories to enjoy but only two were original shorts and one of the four a novel excerpt. The interviews were nice but three was one too many. Lee Hammock and D Harlan Wilson were both worthy of headlining promotion, splitting them up onto separate issues might have been a better idea. One more original work of fiction and one less interview I think is the way to go, and it is that additional work of fiction I believe would put Bull Spec on the map.

The only thing the magazine needs to make it stand out is star power, a recognizable name on its cover. Without knowing the inner workings of running or editing a magazine (which may make me naà ¯ve), the editors should reach out and offer a spot in its pages, even if it is sight unseen, to a big name in SF. It would be the magnet Bull Spec needs. True, C S Fuqua and Michael Jasper are not first time writers, but there are several well known attention grabbers that may be all to happy to showcase there work for a new audience. All it might take is contacting them or their agents. In fact, D Harlan Wilson may have been able to provide one of his short works for the magazine. I learned of who he was in the interview, what the reviewers thought of his two books, but aside from a brief excerpt in one of the reviews, I have no idea of what his writing was like.

All in all, I thought Sam and his staff did a fine job with their debut issue.

Look for Bull Spec to be gracing the shelves of your favorite bookstore, or you can order a print copy or PDF copy online. The PDF copy is available for “donate what you want”, and yes that includes $0 (but if you like it I hope you consider chipping in a few bucks). I recommend that you get yourself a copy.

Frank is a truck driver that pretends that he can write. He’s managed to fool a few publishers, with the latest being Strange, Weird, and Wonderful, where his story Playgel Riser will debut this summer. Frank has been driving for over twenty years without an accident or traffic ticket on his record. HeÂis able to boast this claim because ofÂhis professional attitude, skilled driving, and a really good lawyer.

The Best of Escape Pod

Escape Pod is the mother ship of speculative fiction podcasts. Five years ago, Steve Eley posted the very first Escape Pod episode, and set out with the goal of providing a weekly audio speculative fiction story. He did not want to charge for it, and he didn’t want listeners to be annoyed by constant advertisements. And he’s kept to these goals remarkably well for nearly half a decade. He’s created a company to run it, Escape Artists Inc., which has spawned two sister podcasts, Pseudopod for horror and Podcastle for fantasy, while refocusing Escape Pod’s tastes to focus on science fiction. All three are supported by user donations. You can make a one-time payment or set up a monthly payment, whichever makes the most sense to you. They prefer reprints, though they do run original stories from time to time (like mine), so they’re sort of like a “Best of” podcast themselves, taking high quality stories that have (usually) appeared elsewhere, and breathing new life into them by having them read aloud.

I’m eternally grateful to Steve Eley for starting this venture because Pseudopod was the very first market to ever buy my fiction. If it weren’t for the success of Escape Pod, that sale would never have happened. After I received the Pseudopod acceptance letter, I set out to listen to Pseudopod’s backlog to find out whose footsteps I was following in, and I loved it!  If you’re like me and you rarely take the time to just sit down and read, podcasts are the perfect medium. I listen to stories while driving to and from work and while doing low-cognitive tasks around the house like washing dishes or raking leaves. So I listened to all of the Pseudopod stories, and then wrote a Best of Pseudopod list. I did the same for Best of Podcastle. And now, to complete the Best of Escape Artists trifecta, this is the Best of Escape Pod list.

I’ve listened to every single Escape Pod story that’s been published to date, 239 full length episodes and many flash fiction extras. iTunes estimates 6.5 days of audio for all of this. And from all of those stories, I’ve picked my top 10 ranked favorites, along with 6 more that almost made the list. In truth, there were a lot more that I would’ve liked to put on the list, but I really wanted to keep it at a top 10, not a top 100 or 200. Trimming it down to just these 16 was extremely difficult, but these are what I consider the cream of the crop and I hope you agree. And the good news is that there are plenty more quality episodes to listen to after this.

By the way, Escape Pod is on hiatus for the moment because Steve Eley’s second child was born a couple months ago. He’s resigning from his position as editor of Escape Pod, but EP will be returning with new episodes and a new editor on May 12th.

Okay, I’ve rambled on long enough, on to the list!

1. Sinner, Baker, Fablist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast by Eugie Foster
Read by Lawrence Santoro

Another world very different from our own, where masks define who you are. The worldbuilding in this is among the best I’ve ever seen, easing you into this strange world at just the right pace so that it’s neither boring or too confusing. The first section or two are a little hard to grasp, but just keep listening, it should start to come together. This one is nominated for this year’s Hugo award, and I really think it deserves it. And, as if that weren’t enough, this is one of those cases where a narrator transforms a great story into something even more outstanding. Lawrence has a very versatile and emotional voice and it fits perfectly with this story.

2. Friction by Will McIntosh
Read by Stephen Eley

There’s some great philosophy on this one and some great characters as well. Told from an alien point of view, I really felt for the characters and this story left me pondering long after it was done, about finding a purpose in life.

3. Exhalation by Ted Chiang
Read by Ray Sizemore

Another great philosophical one. Another alien point of view, this story leans more toward the hard science fiction side of things than I usually care to go, but manages to tie in the science in such a way that it’s interesting to hear about, it’s relevant to the plot, and makes me sink into a delightful philosophical stupor.

4. Connie, Maybe by Paul E. Martens
Read by Wichita Rutherford

The funniest Escape Pod episode, this one had me rolling. This is another case where the perfect choice of narrator made the story transcend above the words it contained. Wichita Rutherford’s exaggerated backwoods accent fits perfectly with this story about identity and alien abduction.

5. Lachrymose and the Golden Egg by Tim Pratt
Read by Stephen Eley

Don’t look so surprised. You knew that Tim Pratt had to be on the list after he got 3 spots in the Best of Podcastle top 10. I don’t know how he does it, but with every story he manages to create an interesting and unique setting and populate it with compelling characters and keep me on the edge of my seat up until the end. A great story about parallel worlds and the ties between them, and the price you’re willing to pay to help others.

6.ÂÂ I Look Forward to Remembering You by Mur Lafferty
Read by Daisy Ottman, Anna Eley, and Stephen Eley

A great example of a time travel story done right. A woman hires a time-traveling consort to travel back in time to help herself lose her virginity in the hopes of improving her current life. Heartfelt and wonderfully done. Also includes a mention of Ranma 1/2, which was a great show.

7. His Master’s Voice by Hannu Rajaniemi
Read by Peter Piazza

A tale of cyberhumans and clones as told by cyborg dog. Can it get any better than this? Yes it can–the cyborg dog also has a cyborg cat friend! The first few minutes can be a little confusing as you try to sort out the setting, and I’m not entirely sure that I understood everything that happened. But whether or not I did, I enjoyed the ride!

8. Barnaby in Exile by Mike Resnick
Read by Paul Fischer

Resnick has a reputation on the Escape Pod forums for writing tearjerkers, and this is definitely one of those. Barnaby the ape talks to his handler about various and sundry things, all filtered through his very limited point of view. If this doesn’t make you feel any emotion, then you may very well be a robot.

9. Reparations by Merrie Haskell
Read by Mary Robinette Kowal

A worthwhile use for time travel! I dug this story mostly for its premise. The story’s compelling as well, but just the idea itself had me so in awe of Merrie Haskell’s creative powers that I was too awestruck to nitpick the story much. I’d like to think that I would volunteer for this program if such a program existed.

10. How I Mounted Goldie, Saved my Partner Lori, and Sniffed out the People’s Justice by Jonathon Sullivan
Read by Stephen Eley and Jennifer Bowie

Another canine point of view. What can I say, I like dogs! Told as a debriefing of a K-9 cop. Steve Eley outdoes himself with the voice on this one, sounding like a perfect dog. Keep in mind while you listen to this one that Pixar had not yet release UP when this story was published, so he is not just copying Dug. I like to think that someone at Pixar heard the story and that Dug is a copy of Steve Eley’s voice. Also, for anyone who’d like to get a peek behind the scenes of podcasting, EP also released an unedited version which includes multiple takes, and just BSing between Stephen and Jennifer. I wouldn’t listen to it before the final cut, but I got some laughs out of it listening to it after.


Honorable Mentions:

Impossible Dreams by Tim Pratt
Read by Matthew Wayne Selznick

A hugo winner, and perfect for media lovers.

Cinderella Suicide by Samantha Henderson
Read by MarBelle

Full of weird slang, a little hard to follow at times, but fun.

Pennywhistle by Greg van Eekhout
Read by Anna Eley

Flash fiction. Dark, very dark, but oh so great.

When We Went to See the End of the World by Robert Silverberg
Read by J.C. Hutchins

A bit dated, written decades ago. A vision of the future that had me laughing for odd reasons.

Save Me Plz by David Barr Kirtley
Read by Mur Lafferty

A world where monsters are commonplace, people carry swords, but knights and pirates never existed. Fun!

Off White Lies by Jeffrey R. DeRego
Read by Scott Sigler

Just one of the many Union Dues superhero stories by Mr. DeRego that ran on EP. I like most of them to some extent, but this one has some actual action.

Prepare to Launch: M.E. Ray

M.E. (Michael) Ray is the editor of upcoming pro-paying publication Redstone Science Fiction. Keep your eye on this one: it has all the makings of a SFWA-approved market as long as they meet the longevity requirements, and if that happens, all the sales from the beginning of the magazine will be retroactively counted as SFWA-approved. (For those of you don’t know, SFWA is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a professional organization which requires a certain number of professional sales to become a member). Redstone opened for submissions in mid-March, and quickly got their first 200 submissions, closing the floodgate again in early April. Now they’re busy reading through the submissions and making their decisions in anticipation of the anticipated publication date of their premier issue: June 1st. They expect to open for submissions about the same time.

When he’s not sifting through the slush looking for valuable story gems, he teaches AP history and economics in Alabama. And he’s also a writer with his first few publications under his belt at publications such as Everyday Weirdness and Beyond Centauri. Check out his website, Gate Tree, for links to all the sundry nodes of his web presence.

Michael, thanks for taking the time for an interview.

David Steffen: Why the name Redstone?

Michael Ray: Redstone Arsenal is in Huntsville, Alabama just across the river from where I live, and NASA’s Marshal Space Flight Center is on the Arsenal. So Redstone was a perfect name to represent my region, my support for ongoing space exploration, and my desire to see science fiction that look outwards, towards a future in space. And it does sound cool.

David: Why are you starting Redstone? Why now?

Michael: In the last year couple of years I have been writing and submitting to science fiction markets, listening to science fiction story podcasts, and collecting and reading science fiction anthologies. I learned a lot about the about the submission process and a little about publication. What I was most surprised to learn was that there were not as many professional-paying markets as I had expected and that many well-respected markets only paid token amounts. Then there was the controversy this past fall that sprang from John Scalzi’s comments about low-paying markets not respecting the authors, and ‘new authors’ complaining that there were a limited number of professional markets and that they had limited access to them. It certainly appeared that there was room for another professional-paying market. Science Fiction is one of my central interests. I’ve played around with making websites since the mid-90’s. My wife, a life-long SF fan, encouraged me to get on with it. I have a good friend, Paul Clemmons, who got very excited when I discussed all this with him and he immediately joined in. All those influences have gone into the mix and Redstone is coming out of it.

David: At what point will you call your Redstone launch a success?

Michael: Paul and I are very goal oriented, so success will be an ongoing process We established a list of goals we want to reach and have achieved several: 1) a quality website 2) on the major market lists 3) a legitimate business entity 4) a web presence beyond the site 4) a process for handling submissions 5) actually receiving quality submissions 6) accepting our first stories. Currently we are adding interviews, features, & columns and establishing contacts with publishers, editors, and authors. We want to get our issues online on-time and with quality content. We want our stories to be nominated for awards and in a year we want to be recognized by the SFWA as a professional market. We have a big list beyond that, but check back with me next year.

David: Are there any particular types of story that seem to tickle your fancy? Any you’re just plain sick of?

Michael: I think of science fiction in simple terms. How will individuals and humankind adapt to technological and other changes in the future? I like near-future stories of pervasive computing and far-future stories of galactic empire, as long as there seems to be a rational basis for the extrapolation. And I like things to happen. The story starts because something has changed. Show me what changed and how the protagonist is dealing with it. Halfway through our first slushpile, I’ve unexpectedly learned that I don’t like certain things, at least for Redstone SF. I don’t like cute. I don’t like to see the ending a mile away, but I don’t like a twist that turns out to be the point of the story. I don’t like lost love or romance to be the heart of the story (pun intended), but instead it should be a part of a whole story that is centrally science fiction. And no one wants to be lectured to about politics or religion.

David: How has the quality/quantity of stories compared with your expectations?

Michael: Truthfully, we had no idea what we would get. We have gotten several good stories, more than we can reasonably print in the beginning. Part of the plan was to offer a pro rate so that we’d get first class stories, and that has worked.

David: Like me, and many of my readers, you’re an aspiring writer yourself, trying to improve your skill and get some great publications under your belt. How has this affected the way you read your slush pile?

Michael: It has definitely affected how I respond to stories we reject. We try hard to provide feedback on almost every story we read. We know how it is to be rejected on 1/8 of a piece of poorly-scissored paper. Over time we will probably become calloused, evil distributors of heartless form rejection letters, but for now our empathy is still intact.

David: Conversely, how has reading the slush pile affected your writing?

Michael: As you might expect, I haven’t much time to write the last month. I believe that it will have a strongly positive impact. I know how high a standard we have set and I know the things that I don’t want to see anymore. If I can make my writing good enough for what we want in RSF, I should be able to get a few more complete pieces of paper with ‘accept’ and ‘publish’ printed on them somewhere.

David: Have you accepted any stories yet? Can you give us any hints?

Michael: The first story we accepted was a fait accompli. We all said, “Yeah. That’s the first one.” Ironically, it is a quieter story than what I usually like. I’m about to send out our second one. It’s a relentless story that makes your head swim with math, computing, and big ideas. We’re debating now over what else we want in the first few issues.

David: How is your own writing coming along? Any works in progress you’d like to tell us about? Any upcoming publications?

Michael: I’ll have an epic fantasy story, oddly enough, in Beyond Centauri this October and a ‘first contact’ story in Daily Flash 2011, out in December. I’ve tried to write each story in a different part of the SF & Fantasy spectrum. In a few of those stories I take a sub-genre idea and look at it from a ‘southern science fiction’ point of view, like my flash story ‘Service’, published in Everyday Fiction. Barbecue, cotton fields, trucks, southern geeks, and aliens. Those stories are out. We’ll see.

David: If you had the ability to raise one person from the dead for one minute (sort of like Pushing Daisies), who would you raise, and what would you say or do in that time?

Michael: Wow. I was ready for tree (hackberry) and color (forest green). At the risk of sounding maudlin, I’d like to meet my grandfather who, relatives say, I am a lot like. As a historian, I’d love to meet Ben Franklin. I’d just let him talk.

David: What was your favorite vacation of your life?

Michael: Not quite a vacation, but when I got out of the Army (knees) I was at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. We drove across the country to Alabama on I-40, passing through the southern tier of states. It was great fun.

David: What was the last book you read?

Michael: I recently read ‘Storyteller’ by Kate Wilhelm and I’m reading ‘New Space Opera 2’ now. I listen to speculative fiction short stories almost every day while I exercise.

David: What are your favorite fiction podcasts?

Michael: I listen to Starship Sofa, which was just nominated for a Hugo and to Escape Pod, (who are on hiatus). I also listen to stories from Tor.com and to Cory Doctorow’s work at craphound.com. We intend to post our stories as audio files as well.

David: Your favorite book?

Michael: I love ‘The Book of the New Sun’ by Gene Wolfe, it’s so dense and it challenges you brain, and is fun, but it doesn’t get enough recognition. ‘The Baroque Cycle’ by Neal Stephenson was right in my wheelhouse. I studied British History and the Enlightenment, and I love his digressions and understanding of the politics of the period. Also, Gibson’s Neuromancer and Stephenson’s Snow Crash brought me back to Science Fiction.

David: Who is your favorite author?

Michael: The three author’s I mentioned above, plus Gaiman, Stross, and Doctorow.

David: What was the last movie you saw?

Michael: In the theater, The Crazies, which is an excellent zombie/plague story. On DVD we rewatched ‘Zodiac’, very 70’s feel. On-Demand, don’t tell anyone, but we’ve been watching Sparatcus: Blood and Sand. The story arc is actually well-written.

David: What is your favorite movie?

Michael: Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Bladerunner, Gladiator, and Pulp Fiction.

David: Thanks for taking the time for the interview. I’m looking forward to reading and submitting to Redstone for a long time to come.

As you might expect, I haven’t much time to write the last month. ÂI believe that it will have a strongly positive impact. ÂI know how high a standard we have set and I know the things that I don’t want to see anymore. ÂIf I can make my writing good enough for what we want in RSF, I should be able to get a few more complete pieces of paper with ‘accept’ and ‘publish’ printed on them somewhere.

And the Bull Jumped Over the Moon: Samuel Montgomery-Blinn

With the economy as rough as it has been in recent years, too many beloved magazines have gone under for economic reasons. It’s nice to have some good news to balance out the bad. A brand new speculative fiction magazine has published its first issue, and for those writer types they’re also open for submissions. They are known as Bull Spec, they’re edited by Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, and they have nice broad guidelines (just the way I like them), so if you’ve got some high quality speculative fiction you’d like to send your way, you should give them a try. Check out their submissions page order a copy of issue #1. While you’re at it, leave some comments on the blog–they’re very approachable, so feel free to give them feedback.

Not only do they pay professional rates (5 cents per word), but authors get a share of the profits from donations for the story.

Stories will be published in a variety of formats including e-books and audio books (including English, Spanish, and Chinese), as well as the print magazine. (Also, watch out for my story Turning Back the Clock scheduled for Issue 3).

David Steffen: Why the name “Bull Spec”?

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn: First, thanks very much for the interview, and for your story,”Turning Back the Clock.” As to the name, each part of the name has more than one meaning. I’ll start with “Spec” for both “speculative fiction” — a catch-all umbrella for fantasy, science fiction,slipstream, etc. — and “speculation” to note that I’m looking for stories that ask “What if?” about humanity. “Bull” both for Durham (the “Bull” city) where I live and publish, and “bullish” to note that I’m looking for stories that are hopeful about the answers to humanity’s questions.

David: How long ago did you decide to create Bull Spec?

Sam: With my two children finally having a regular bedtime again last summer, a few hours in the evening suddenly became mine to dispose of. I wrote some children’s stories (they demand new stories every day) and started writing speculative fiction again for the first time in quite a while. By the fall I had an inkling that I’d like to try my hand on the publishing side, and in early November I put out the “open for submissions” sign, expecting to publish one story every 3 months. So many good stories came my way that I realized I could fill a magazine with them — so in early December I decided that this was exactly what I would try to do.

David: What are your goals for the magazine? At what point will you call your efforts to start Bull Spec a success?

Sam: Having the first issue actually in my hands is a good feeling, but my commitment is to establish Bull Spec as an SFWA market by following up with quarterly issues for at least a few years. I think the “pie in the sky” hope for me is that a first-time author I publish has one of their stories picked up by one of the big anthologies, or nominated for an award. That would be a great feeling, to have been a part of getting them started as an author.

David: Why now?

Sam: I had been looking at other publications closing or being temporarily closed for submissions for over a year from the perspective of a writer, when it started to dawn upon me that there had to be great stories out there which needed a home. Then I read an inspiring interview of Kim Stanley Robinson in which he said: “Anyone can do a dystopia these days just by making a collage of newspaper headlines, but utopias are hard, and important, because we need to imagine what it might be like if we did things well enough to say to our kids, we did our best, this is about as good as it was when it was handed to us, take care of it and do better. Some kind of narrative vision of what we’re trying for as a civilization.” Now, not to think that starting a magazine will change the world, but I thought that if I could find a hopeful human story to bring to as wide an audience as I could, we could all talk about it and engage and see how much we have in common. With that I asked Joe Meno if I could translate his wonderful short story “The Architecture of the Moon” and produce audiobooks in a few languages. He said yes, and so did a few more authors.

As far as a full magazine instead of a one or two stories a quarter, I started to get submissions of books for review, and authors contacted me to be interviewed. I kept telling them, “Sorry, I’m not really a magazine or anything, just an e-publisher.” Then D. Harlan Wilson sent me “Technologized Desire: Selfhood & the Body in Postcapitalist Science Fiction” and I knew right away I had to change my mind about interviews and reviews, and pretty soon enough content to fill a magazine started to come together.

The final stroke of luck and timing was finding my printer. I called a few printers of local magazines whose quality I liked and heard time after time, “Sorry, we don’t really work with print runs that small.” Then I called Publishers Press, who prints Durham Magazine, and read their pretty strong environmental policy. They were amazing from the first conversation, treating me like I was going to actually do this, and have been a great partner ever since.

More on the “why now” thing. I finally jumped into the world of Twitter, and found that authors actually would talk to me. I started finding new authors to read, like William Shunn, and new publishers to follow, like Featherproof. From Featherproof I found an amazing story and experience: a download, print, and fold version of Joe Meno’s “The Architecture of the Moon.” The tactile experience of holding it connected with me very deeply. Then while looking for novella markets for a story of mine, I found Panverse Publishing’s Panverse One novella anthology. I was blown away. It really drove home that a new publisher could put forth something absolutely amazing and gave me the crazy idea that I could give it a try as well.

David: How has the quality and quantity of submissions lived up to your expectations?

Sam: It’s been amazing to see the number and quality of submissions. I didn’t know what to expect and hoped for a handful. I got hundreds, scores of which I would have been quite happy to have published. Enough for an anthology! Someday…

David: What will set Bull Spec apart from other magazines?

Sam: From a reader’s perspective, the “pay what you want” price and the Creative Commons licensing for the magazine as a whole, as well as a variety of stories from different genres and formats: Fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, whether in text or in graphic story form. The other thing might be the length and depth of the interviews so far is a bit more than I see in other magazines. From an author’s perspective, having their story in a glossy full-size magazine, and the work I am putting into promoting their stories.

David: How did the production of Issue #1 compare with your expectations?

Sam: I had hoped to somehow pick up editing help and particularly help with the magazine layout and design, but one danger of being of the age to be a parent is that most of my friends are as well, so I ended up designing the magazine. I’d never done work like this before, and it was painstaking and frustrating to spend hours moving a line a little to the left, making it a little thicker, making it a little thinner, then moving it a little to the right… and ending up where I’d started, looking up to realize it was the wee hours of the morning.

Looking back, it was much easier than I had expected other than the learning curve on the design side. It helped to have authors sending me great stories and to have found a cover artist and graphic story artist in Mike Gallagher who was professional, on time, and really carried the day.

David: What elements really set a story apart to make you decide to buy it?

Sam: I think the stories in issue #1 are all character-driven, but I’m not opposed to plot-driven stories. I do want to see a bit of what makes the character tick, whether they are human or clockwork and have a literal “tick” or not, and be along for the ride as they discover their role in the fantastic or speculative world where their story is taking place.

David: It may be too early to ask this, but are there any types of stories you hope not to see many of?

Sam: I know I won’t be publishing many (if any) stories with gruesome horror or violence, or explicit sex. I don’t mind reading those stories on occasion and have written a few myself, but something “R” rated would have to really blow me away for me to include it in the magazine.

David: Do you write fiction as well as edit?

Sam: I’ve not written many words since launching Bull Spec in November, but every once in a while I will steal some time to work on a story or two. An experimental bit of Twitter fiction called “Bad Elf” was serially published by Thaumatrope over the month of December and I have a piece of flash fiction coming up in 52 Stitches on May 30th called “The Man in the Mirror.” I have a few stories floating around out there, and a few more which need some revision before they’re ready to face the world. I wrote and designed for years for the online roleplaying game The Forest’s Edge as “Phule” (named after the Robert Asprin character). Those years of putting my best stories into an interactive game setting is probably why I so strongly consider the stories and settings behind games very much within the realm of speculative fiction.

It’s hard to quantify that in terms of stories or words, but suffice it to say that a decade’s worth of the stories I might have written went into the game, where people could join the story. Game design and world building have always been a love of mine. I’ve also written some World of Warcraft and Fallen Earth fan-fiction, but I should probably know better than to mention that.

My review of D. Harlan Wilson’s “Technologized Desire” was published in the NYRSF’s February Issue (#258). I won’t be reviewing many books at length, and if I do they’ll likely be more non-fiction. I tend to madly gush over novels I like far too much to write a proper review of them.

David: If you could give only one piece of advice to aspiring writers, what would it be?

Sam: I’m certainly not someone to offer writing advice, but I’ll pass along a few bits which have resonated with me: (1) Neil Gaiman’s advice that when someone tells you a scene isn’t working, they are probably right, but that when they tell you specifically what it is or how to fix it, they’re probably wrong; (2) David Mamet, writing in particular about screenwriting, but I think it is applicable to much short fiction, who said that each scene must be dramatic, it must be essential, and that it must advance the plot.

David: What’s your plan for the Zombie Apocalypse?

Sam: First, I hope they are “slow” zombies. If they are “fast” zombies, my best bet is probably to try to ingratiate myself with a local neo-feudal lord and gain my family safe harbor in his or her impenetrable compound. And then, when all else fails, hope that life as a zombie is interesting.

David: What mythical creature do you think would taste the best?

Sam: The minotaur. Two words: Flank steak! It might be a little tough, but not as hard as getting through the labyrinth in the first place.

David: What was the last book you read?

Sam: If audiobooks count, Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Windup Girl.” As far as printed books go, cover-to-cover, I last read the Panverse One novella anthology. I’m currently reading (a few pages a month is all I’ve managed — story submissions keep coming!) “Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman” by Walter M. Miller and Terry Bisson. It’s the decades-later sequel to “A Canticle for Leibowitz” and the story of its completion compelled me to finally pick it up after years of delay.

David: Your favorite book?

Sam: It is hard to pick one, but Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” has stuck with me for many years now. As a sentimental, I doubt very much that it could be displaced, though Neal Stephenson’s “Anathem” really deserves it.

David: Who is your favorite author?

Sam: As far as short stories go, Terry Bisson takes the prize for me. For novels it is Neal Stephenson. Yes, even “The Big U.”

David: What was the last movie you saw?

Sam: The kids picked “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” It was much, much stranger than the children’s book.

David: What is your favorite movie?

Sam: Again, so many, but for many reasons, not the least of which is more sentimentality, it is “The Princess Bride” and will likely always remain so.

David: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I got my copy of issue #1 in the mail not too long ago and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Sam: Thanks for all your encouragement and for following Bull Spec along the way so far!

David Steffen: ÂWhy the name “Bull Spec”?

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn:

David: ÂHow long ago did you decide to create Bull Spec?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat are your goals for the magazine? ÂAt what point will you
call your efforts to start Bull Spec a success?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhy now?

Samuel:

David: Â How has
the quality/quantity of submissions lived up to your expectations?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat will set Bull Spec apart from other magazines?

Samuel:

David:Â How did the production of Issue #1 compare with your expectations?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat elements really set a story apart to make you decide to buy it?

Samuel:

David: ÂIt may be too early to ask this, but are there any types of
stories you hope not to see many of?

Samuel:

David: ÂDo you write fiction as well as edit?

Samuel:

David: ÂIf you could give only one piece of advice to aspiring
writers, what would it be?

Samuel:

David:Â What’s your plan for the Zombie Apocalypse?

Samuel:

David:Â What mythical creature do you think would taste the best?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat was the last book you read?

Samuel:

David: ÂYour favorite book?

Samuel:

David: ÂWho is your favorite author?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat was the last movie you saw?

Samuel:

David: ÂWhat is your favorite movie?

Samuel:

David: ÂThanks for taking the time to answer these questions. I’m looking forward to getting my copy of Issue #1 in the mail.

Review–Cell by Stephen King

My verdict: Don’t bother. Flat characters, ridiculous plot points, terrible resolution.

Cell is one of King’s weakest books to date. The flaws of this book are different than his usual, so I’ll give him a credit for trying something different. Usually he spends the first three-fourths of a book giving character background before getting to the main plot of the book. This one was very short for him, at only 350 pages, and the action starts right away on page 2, but the characters in Cell are surprisingly lacking in defining features. Each of them is one-dimensional and none of them felt like real people to me.

In the first section, the crap really hits the fan. One moment, the world is going on as it always does, and the protagonist is complaining about inconsiderate people with cell phones, ignoring cashiers as they buy things and talk and their phones, and whatnot. The next moment everyone who’s talking on a cell phone… changes, basically going all zombie, attacking anything in sight with their teeth. And, of course, those people who didn’t happen to be on their cell phones tend to reach for cell phone and they’re changed as well. It’s an interesting idea to create a new source of zombies besides the usual curse or virus, but his message is just too transparent. In the author bio, he even points out that he doesn’t have a cell phone. As I was reading I was often distracted imagining the origin of the story–King in a department store waiting in the checkout line behind someone chatting away on their cell phone, and King thinks “You know what? I wish that person would turn into a flesh-eating zombie! Hey, that’s an idea for a book!”

I believe that a writer should be transparent while I’m reading his story. If I think about him, then he has failed. One thing that breaks this is overwrought prose like “Malden was just one more fucked-up town in the Unicel States of America, and now that country was out of service, off the hook, so sorry, please try your call again later.” That in the middle of an otherwise ordinary paragraph. That’s not the protagonist speaking, that’s the author trying to be clever.

And, seriously, I’ve really got to wonder what King has against dogs. I’ve read most of his books, and I do not believe I’ve read a single one that had a dog in it which was not killed or seriously injured. I mean, I realize that dogs, being man’s best friend, are an easy way to pull the emotional strings, but seriously! In this book, a dog dies right on page 2, and another one’s ear gets torn off by a zombie person another page later. A bit much for me already.

I stuck with it, though, hoping it would get better. About halfway through it finally strayed from just standard zombie-ism. I’ll save more details for after the spoiler warning below. But, even after that point, there were still no multi-dimensional characters. The only explanations given for the sudden change in people (now nicknamed the Pulse) is speculation by the characters which is presented as though it’s the truth even though it doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. The “resolution” of the main thread is terribly done, tacked on as though he just got bored and just ran a random plot-resolution-generator to decide how to end it. Not only that, but the plot conflict, as presented in the story, would not have been resolved by this AT ALL! More on that later.

That’s about all I can say without giving major details away, so:

SPOILER WARNING!

Okay, so back to my complaints about the implausibility of what caused the Pulse. Along the way they meet a 12-year old prep school student named Jordan, who makes some guesses about what created the “phone-crazies” based on what he knows about computers. Theories are all well and good, but later in the book they keep expanding on these theories as though they’re the truth. He theorizes that the phones wiped the minds like an EMP wipes could wipe a hard drive. Someone even points out that brains don’t work like hard drives, which gets the response that hard drive work like brains because they’re designed after brains. Brains are not like hard drives. Yes, they store things, but that is where the similarity ends. Yet they keep on going on about how the Pulse has wiped their brains and their brains are trying to rebooting, even receiving “new programming” from the Pulse every night. Which I found really odd because no one actually seemed to be intentionally creating the Pulse. If there IS such a thing as an audible signal that can scramble your brain within the range of what a phone speaker can broadcast (and I don’t think there is) then it’s not going to happen by accident, and even if it did, there would be no “new programming” for it to impart. As the story goes on, the “phone-crazies” develop telepathy, telekinesis, and create a hive-mind all based on this “programming”. Then they start speculating that there is a “computer worm” that has infected the signal and is making the “phone-crazies” degrade, which makes no sense on so many levels, since they have no idea what the signal’s intent is, who sent it, and that it’s even vulnerable to a computer virus. The whole plot hinges on it, and it just doesn’t make any sense, nor does he really make any attempt to try to explain it.

Back to the flat characters, there are four main characters for about the first half of the book. Then one of them dies, which seemed like it was really supposed to tug on my heartstrings, but I just didn’t give a crap. Near the end, 3 new characters are introduced, then leave a page later. They come back a couple chapters later, and one of them sets in motion the plot resolution just before committing suicide to keep the “phone-crazies” from reading it in his mind. The other two have no effect on the plot, and a handful of lines between them.

What is this resolution, you ask? A bus full of explosives. I’m not kidding. Yes, they take out this worldwide newborn race of telepathic psychopathic altered humans with a single bus packed with explosives. They take out a single group of them, which may number about 8000, which is certainly a large number, but when you consider how widespread cell phone usage is across the world right now, it doesn’t accomplish a thing. But good for New England and it’s momentary respite from the zombie hordes.

But that’s not quite the end. Through the whole book Clay, the main protagonist, is looking for his son. And he finds him, but his mind has been partially wiped by a phone so that he is little more than an animal. He’s not violent, but he can’t talk, and about all he does is crap and eat. Back to the “programming” theory with the “worm”, they have theorized that the phone signal has changed, somehow, and therefore guess that it has a different “worm”. He guesses that maybe if he makes his son make a phone call again then he can infect him with the other signal and the other “worm” and then the two “worms” might balance each other out and allow the boy’s mind to “reboot” and become normal again. Even if he does become normal again, even if the hard drive theory is sound, he’s not going to have any of his memories! He’s going to be like an infant! And that’s assuming that another phone call doesn’t just make the damage worse! To me that’s like finding out that your friend has memory loss from brain damage caused by a heavy blow to the head, and to solve it you give him ANOTHER heavy blow to the head. It won’t help but it most likely will hurt. And hurt alot. And in the end we don’t even get to find out if his ridiculous plan works, because the book ends as he hands the phone to his boy.