There’s a review and discussion of my story “Colonized,” from last year’s Homeless Moon chapbook, posted on the blog of my writer colleague Shara Saunsaucie. It’s a weird story, for certain, so if you’re curious about what I was trying to do, please take a look.  Thanks to Shara for reviewing the chapbook and all her LJ readers for taking the time to comment.

At ReaderCon this weekend, my writer cohorts from the Homeless Moon and I will be premiering our second chapbook of all-original short fiction. This one is called Homeless Moon: Imaginary Places.

My story, “Adrift in Ishtakar,” is about a young doctor in a medieval Arabian world who is facing a terrible plague for the first time without her mentor, who disappeared the previous summer. But she receives an indication where he might be:

“I’ve seen that pendant,” Rifiq said, “decades ago. Didn’t it belong to–”

“Yes. That bombastic traveler says Al-Atibba sent him.”

“And you believe it?”

“His account does seem outlandish. But this pendant is the only sign in the last three months. The only sign at all.”

“His Radiance will be delighted to hear of this,” Rifiq said. “He’ll have soldiers in the saddle within the hour.”

But it was her duty to do every possible thing to cure these patients. She wasn’t needed here in Samarah, yet. And Al-Atibba had sent this messenger for her. She lifted the pendant close. It even smelled of him, of that crumbly, dry-parchment scent that had always lingered behind him as he paced.

She must go herself. And without asking the caliph for soldiers, or telling him at all–he would never let his Chief Healer journey so far from his own ill daughter. She would go alone.

If you’d like to read more, including the other four stories, look for a copy of the chapbook at ReaderCon or visit Homeless Moon: Imaginary Places to learn how you can order a paper copy or download a free electronic one.

(Click for a bigger image.)

Download the free electronic version here (print-quality PDF, 4.1 Mb), or visit the Chapbook tab above, or, if you are so inclined, you can send us the price of shipping via the PayPal link below, and we’ll mail you a hard copy.

We are releasing it under Creative Commons, so please spread it around–just don’t change it or sell it. Thank you!

So much stuff going on lately that I haven’t had any time to come up with a neat blog topic.

I’m wrapping up the podcast for Beneath Ceaseless Skies #20 that comes out this Thursday, which is a story by Richard Parks, and I need to start work on the next one. Issue #20 has two exciting young writers, Caroline M. Yoachim and James Lecky, and Issue #21 in mid-July will have a great novelette by award-winning author Holly Phillips.

Next week I’m headed to ReaderCon, where I will plug BCS and hopefully host a reading of authors from the magazine, including C.C. Finlay, S.C. Butler, Margaret Ronald, Saladin Ahmed, and Kris Dikeman. Also at the con, my writer cohorts from the Homeless Moon and I will also be premiering our second chapbook of all-original short fiction, this time based around lands from Alberto Manguel’s Dictionary of Imaginary Places.

Then I’ve got to critique thirty manuscripts and finish writing a lecture, both for the annual Odyssey alumni workshop. All while reading a month’s worth of slush!

Onward!

The recent closures of Lone Star Stories and Talebones have promtped more blogs posts about the current state of short fiction. Mine yesterday was more of a personal musing; these are more about the field, from writers and editors with far more experience and blogging eloquence than me.

—Tor novelist and fellow Viable Paradise grad Sandra McDonald. I agree with her general pessimism about the lack of quality markets, but my view on that is affected in large part by the even more acute lack of markets for 7000-word secondary-world fantasy stories, like I write.

—writer Michele Lee, who I don’t know, but whose frustrations I understand and in some part, share.

—Lone Star Stories Editor Eric Marin, who seems surprised to hear that there are fewer quality markets out there than he thought. With some interesting comments, including by BCS author J. Kathleen Cheney, and one that points out the specialization or niche appeal of many of the remaining markets (BCS certainly qualifies there).

—Clarkesworld Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Neil Clarke, with his comprehensive annual analysis of the field. I agree with his description of Tor.com as more an online community than a magazine, especially since their fiction is infrequent and by commission only. He also gives a nice shout-out to BCS–thanks very much.

So is short fiction thriving, like Neil Clarke asserts, in large part because of new online magazines? Or is it in peril?

I’m conflicted, perhaps because I’m both a writer and an indie publisher. BCS is doing well, and I’m grateful for the support of our writers, our readers, and especially our donors. But as a mid-level writer trying to sell 7000-word fantasy stories, the market has and continues to look bleak.

This past weekend, the well-respected print ‘zine Talebones announced that they were ceasing publication, with plans to return next year as an anthology. Last week, the equally well-regarded e-zine Lone Star Stories also ceased publication. And last month, the alt-history print ‘zine Paradox too ceased publication, with tentative plans to return as an anthology.

All three of these magazines were on my list of places to send my stories. I’m very sad to see any magazine close, but especially the “mid-level” ones. As a “mid-level” writer who hasn’t yet gotten the higher-profile markets interested in my work, I think the mid-level markets serve a very important role. All three of these magazines had published great fiction from all sorts of writers over their roughly five-year runs, which in these bleak days for short fiction is quite impressive.

I found it interesting that two of these magazines cited as their reasons not the current turbulence in publishing or the economy but rather the time commitment or needing to take a break. All three of these magazines as far as I’m aware were “sole proprietorships”– magazines run exclusively by one person. As is my magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

All of which got me thinking. I’ve certainly learned about the time commitment in running a magazine– the first five months of this year I was working seven days a week every week just to keep up with the magazine, especially the podcasts, and my own writing. Things have eased a bit lately, but only because I’ve set my writing aside for a while. And I still have plenty of other things demanding my attention, including thirty manuscripts to critique this month in addition to BCS slush.

So where might I be after five years of BCS? Or even three? I’m less concerned with where publishing in general and short fiction might be– I’m publishing a different sort of fantasy than anyone else, and I’m happy doing my own thing on the periphery. But maybe that means the state of my sole proprietor is even more important.

So we’ll see. Nothing ever lasts forever, so someday there will inevitably be a post saying that BCS is ceasing publication. But I will do every last thing I can to make it five years at least, if not ten. Hell, I’m booked through the end of this year already!

This past weekend, my First Reader and I went back into D.C. to see Tom Stoppard’s new play “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” at The Studio Theater.

It’s about a Czech dissident in Cambridge, who returns home during the 1968 unrest, and his mentor, a British communist university professor. Stoppard himself was born in Czechoslovakia before fleeing the Nazis, and the play mixed twenty years of Czech opposition with the Western rock music that was an important symbol for the dissidents.

It was an interesting play and an engaging production in the round, and there were lots of wry truths about totalitarianism of all stripes, but for me this play was nowhere near as brilliant as Stoppard’s “Arcadia.” “Rock ‘n’ Roll” seemed mostly about ideas–the Czech opposition movement, communism in Britain, 60s and 70s rock in general and the music and life of Syd Barrett (the Pink Floyd founder and Cambridge native who became mentally unstable) in particular. The parallels, to me as a musician and a student of history and literature, were fascinating.

But other than some tender moments with the British communist Max and his extended family, the play didn’t seem to be as much also about the characters. Perhaps it was the long lapses of narrative time between scenes, often three or more years. Perhaps it’s that the essence of rock or of winning societal freedom is hard to dramatize. Perhaps it was that the dissident protagonist didn’t seem to have a clear goal–he went home to Czechoslovakia but didn’t know exactly why; he vacillated about signing a political petition then got talked into it; he spent time between scenes in prison but didn’t seem much changed for it; and his running off with another character at the end of the play seemed sudden to me and not fully motivated.

“Arcadia” is likewise about ideas, but at the same time it’s also about the characters. Thomasina is aching to learn, Septimus is driven to teach her, Bernard aches to prove that Byron stayed at Sidley Park, and Hannah is driven to endure Bernard’s blather. That may be that play’s higher genius, that it’s about both ideas and people at the same time.

Which is definitely the combination I prefer. I don’t care for SF that’s purely about ideas or fantasy that’s purely about a milieu. I’ve got to have dynamic people (or aliens) amongst those ideas or that milieu, rife with their own core hopes and fears, driven to pursue something, so I can empathize with their core humanness while they’re wrestling with ideas or moving through a milieu.

For me, it all comes down to that line from Faulkner’s Nobel acceptance speech–the only thing worth writing (or reading) about is the human heart in conflict with itself.

Last weekend my First Reader and I went into D.C. to see “Arcadia,” Tom Stoppard’s early-90s masterpiece, at the Folger. The play itself is utterly brilliant, seamlessly weaving literature and science and their history over nuanced characters and vivid settings both past and modern.

The Folger’s production of it we thought was pretty good but not equally brilliant. I saw a lady on local PBS saying it was the best “Arcadia” she’d ever seen, but we saw a fantastic one at UVa about ten years ago, which included several very good theater department grad students in the adult roles and undergrad future actress Sarah Drew as Thomasina. It’s hard to remember exactly, and at the time I may partly have been blown away by the play itself, but I still think that production was better.

Either way, it’s a shame that there isn’t a film version of this play, or of more of Stoppard’s work (the Tim Roth/Gary Oldman Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is the only one I know of, and I agree with Roger Ebert that the movie falls flat). Especially with the Hollywood screenplays he’s written, you’d think some indie director would be interested in filming one of his plays. Maybe they’re just far too cereberal for a film audience–which might be one reason I love them.

I was delighted last week to read a glowing review of my short story “Ebb,” which is in the current issue of Space and Time. It’s by Rob Santa, a writer and indie publisher of swords and sorcery, in the Firebrand Fiction column at SFReader.com. Of all the stories in that issue, he said “‘Ebb’ is my favorite piece, a true standout.” Among other strong praise, he noted “Andrews gives each piece of this world a rich description, with enough emotion and character to chew on for days.” Pretty cool!

“Ebb” had a long and arduous path to publication, including several editors who did not understand the ending, so I was quite pleased to finally find one who did.  But it’s even more rewarding to know that my vision connected with at least one reader, and just as powerfully as I intended it. Thanks very much, Mr. Santa, for the kind words!

A couple years ago I was in the checkout line at a Borders bookstore. Behind me was a girl, eleven or twelve years old. In her hands she had a couple CDs, maybe one PS2 game, and three YA novels.

More novels than either CDs or video games! I wanted to give her a great big hug right there in the checkout line. (Which, as an unshaven middle-aged man, probably would’ve gotten me arrested…. :) ) But with reading rates plunging and modern kids distracted by more other entertainment options than ever before, any kid who’s reading any fiction is fine by me. If they learn to love reading and/or the stuff they’re reading, hopefully they’ll keep reading fiction as an adult. And with paranormal and SF/F/H the hottest thing right now in YA, it’s even better for us writers of adult spec-fic.

Author and blogger John Scalzi has a great post today on this very subject. He notes that YA novels have been finalists and winners for several of the major SF/F awards this year. And he thinks it’s great too.

This is of course all market-driven–YA readers are buying paranormal stuff, so authors are writing it and publishers are publishing it. But behind that market trend are millions of young readers who hopefully will carry an interest in fiction into their adult lives.