Wasn’t sure how public this was, but apparently people have already been announcing their own acceptances over the Internet. So…

Gardner Dozois has picked up my Xuya story “The Shipmaker” (which is in the current issue of Interzone) for his Year’s Best.

Er, wow? Particularly pleased, as this was the first story where I attempted to put Vietnamese on the map of my alternate universe–there aren’t that many Vietnamese main characters in spec-fic[1], and it’s high time I did my bit to remedy this.

If you need me, I’ll be in the corner, jumping and squeeing…

ETA: and it looks I get to share a TOC with Yoon Ha Lee’s “Flower, Mercy, Needle Chain”, which is one of the absolute best SF stories I read this year. W00t.

[1]There’s plenty of Vietnam War stories, which tend to be told from the American point of view–so not really fitting the billl. Plus, while the war was definitely traumatic for the country, it’s not the only thing that defines Vietnamese culture…

So, I thought I’d trying out something new when a story comes out: author’s notes, the equivalent of DVD extras. Might contain mild spoilers, though this time they don’t. Every story has those extra little bits that I couldn’t fit into the main narrative, and I figured I’d share some of them with you.

We’ll start with “The Shipmaker”, which is in issue 231 of Interzone, now out in the wild. It’s the Jason Sanford special issue, with three stories by him (you can see previews here, here and here), and an interview. The remaining stories are by Matthew Cook, and by me.

Continue reading →

Andy Cox just let me know (he actually let me know much earlier, but I was away from internet and didn’t twig to it) that he’s buying my short story “The Shipmaker” for a future issue of Interzone.

It’s the story I was talking about here. There’s a snippet, too (the beginning has changed a bt, but not drastically).

Many thanks to everyone who critted it on OWW: Ruth Nestvold, Pete Aldin, Christine Lucas, Cécile Cristofari, Georgina Bruce, L. K. Pinaire, and Mark Hunken. (and yup, I do still owe some crits to some of you guys. Apologies. The wedding threw things off schedule pretty drastically, and I’m still struggling to catch up with various stuff).

This is the first published Xuya story that has Vietnamese main characters (and an alternative Vietnamese history, though I was forced to remove a lot of it to make the story comprehensible). It’s also a companion piece to “Shipbirth” (forthcoming in Asimov’s in Feb. 2011).

A small reminder that you can now order The Immersion Book of SF, which contains my short story “Father’s Last Ride” as well as awesome fiction from the likes of Tanith Lee and Lavie Tidhar. Should be shipping everywhere now. I have a shiny copy somewhere, which I still need to read.

And you can also get Dark Futures, Jason Sizemore’s anthology of dark dystopias, which includes my Chinese SF horror “Father’s Flesh, Mother’s Blood” as well as contributions by Jennifer Pelland and Ekaterina Sedia.

Meanwhile, I’m told Interzone 230 (which contains “Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders”, aka the Aztec multi-POV steampunk) has shipped. There’s a comment thread over there, if you’re interested (and have got a copy. I’m still at the “waiting impatiently” stage).

And in the wake of my title-spread for my Aztec steampunk “Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders”, here’s the complete TOC for Interzone 230, out in early September, with excerpts and art.
I get to share space with Patrick Samphire and fellow AR author Lavie Tidhar. W00t.

Via Andy Cox, the title spread for my upcoming “Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders” (forthcoming in Interzone 230, the very next issue).

Er, wow? I am *so* glad Interzone is back to full colour. It looks awesome! (plus, mechanical men. And fallen gods. And Aztecs. You can’t really go wrong with any of those).

Very literally, in this case….
My Aztec steampunk weird alt-hist “Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders” has sold to Interzone (with mechanical creepy man, imprisoned god, blood magic, and a mining town in the Old West). Many thanks to the VD6 crew, Nancy Fulda, Stephen Gaskell, Sara Genge and Ralan Conley, for the crits that helped me fix the ending of this.

And I would also seem to have sold my Aztecs-in-space SF story “Shipbirth”, part of the Xuya continuity, to Asimov’s (do you detect a trend in story themes? :=) ). Many thanks to everyone who took a look at it on OWW: Allison Starkweather, Cécile Cristofari, Terra LeMay, L.K. Pinaire, Christine Lucas, and Ilan Lerman. And an extra dose of thanks to Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, who read it in record time and helped me fix a very important plot point.

I will be going for a liedown and more novel brainstorming.

Have had a couple questions about my alt-history universe Xuya (where the Chinese, the US and the Aztecs share North America), I decided to take the plunge, and transcribe my notes into a more legible form. I figured that with three stories out (two in Interzone and one in this month’s Asimov’s, the universe had cemented well enough that people might want extra explanations.

So behold the brand new spiffy Xuya page: all you’ve ever wanted to know about Xuya (well, not quite yet, but it does have a few pointers about the chronology, where the stories fit in there, and a few items of general interest).
Enjoy!

BTW, since I’ve locked the comments on the page, this post here is as close as it’s getting to the official question thread–in the (unlikely[1]) event that you have any interrogations about Xuya-related stuff, ask in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer.

[1] I’m a natural pessimist, and those are only short stories after all, with a small audience…

So while I was at Eastercon (brief con report to come), the David Gemmell Legend Awards shortlist came up–and Pierre Pevel’s The Cardinal’s Blades (with cover by John Sullivan and Sue Michniewicz) did a clean sweep, being nominated in Best Novel, Best Newcomer and Best Artwork. W00t, let’s hear it for translated fiction!
(the website possibly has a textual version of the nominees, but I couldn’t find it. I direct you to this post instead)

And, of course, the Hugos were also announced Sunday evening–mega congrats to everyone, but special mentions for Eugie Foster for being on the novelette ballot with her fabulous “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” (first published in Interzone 220); to Rachel Swirsky with her equally fab “Eros, Philia, Agape” (Tor.com. I personally preferred “A Memory of Wind”, which is on the Nebula Ballot, but both are tremendous stories); and, finally, to Tony C.Smith and the StarShipSofa team for making the “Best Fanzine” category.

*happy writer*

SFWA has posted the final ballot for the Nebula Awards. Lots of familiar names on the ballot, but a huge shoutout to Eugie Foster and Jason Sanford for upholding the Interzone flag–and to sometimes contribs Will McIntosh and Rachel Swisky for making the cut, too. I’m so glad that not only are Interzone stories eligible this year, but also that we have two of them on the ballot (strictly speaking, Eugie’s story would have been eligible by virtue of publication in Apex, but still).

The only one of those four I haven’t had a chance to read is Bridesicle, but the other three stories are definitely well worth a read (“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” in particular is fabulous).

Short Story

• “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela,” Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, Jul09)
• “I Remember the Future,” Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Publications, Nov08)
• “Non-Zero Probabilities,” N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)
• “Spar,” Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)
• “Going Deep,” James Patrick Kelly (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jun09)
• “Bridesicle,” Will McIntosh (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette

• “The Gambler,” Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)
• “Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage,” Michael Bishop (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jul08)
• “I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said,” Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)
• “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb09)
• “Divining Light,” Ted Kosmatka (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Aug08)
• “A Memory of Wind,” Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella

• The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)
• “Arkfall,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)
• “Act One,” Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Mar09)
• Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)
• “Sublimation Angels,” Jason Sanford (Interzone, Oct09)
• The God Engines, John Scalzi ( Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel

• The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sep09)
• The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)
• Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)
• The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)
• Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)
• Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

Bradbury Award

• Star Trek, JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Paramount, May09)
• District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)
• Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)
• Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)
• Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)
• Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)
• Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)
• Ash, Malinda Lo (Little, Brown and Company, Sep09)
• Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)
• Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)
• When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)
• Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com or www.sfwa.org