I’m very happy to report that a writing buddy of mine, Nicholas Ozment, has had a collection picked up by Cyberwizard Productions.

Says Nick:

The stories of Smoke the Dragon, which I have been working on (off and on) for the past nine years, have found a publisher and a home. This summer the collected stories will be published by Cyberwizard Productions in book form, under the title Knight Terrors: The (Mis)adventures of Smoke the Dragon.

In the meantime, starting February 1 each chapter will appear online at Abandoned Towers Magazine.

I have a brief introduction up now, sharing a bit about where the idea for Smoke came from. If you have a chance, please pop over there, check out the intro, and leave a comment, would you? The publisher really wants to generate some buzz for the book online before it comes out in print, so more comments shows more interest!

Here is the link: http://knighterrors.blogspot.com

Nick is the author of “The Only Difference Between Men and Boys“, which if you remember, got an astonishing 32,000 reads. He’s also one of the editors over at EDF’s sister publication Every Day Poets, a rising magazine in poetry circles.

I, for one cannot wait for this collection. Nick has a unique and humourous voice. You can read the fiction he’s published at EDF here. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

Tags: Collections, Cyberwizard Productions, Friends, Knight Terrors, Nicholas Ozment, Smoke

I just read Stephen Baxter‘s “Last Contact” in Jonathan Strahan’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. Last Contact is an apocalyptic story about what would happen if Dark Energy pulled the universe apart down to the atomic scale (and beyond). The scenario is called “The Big Rip” and was thought might happen in 10 trillion years or so, but Baxter’s premise is that it happens in the next 10 years, which causes the death of every human on Earth.

The story itself is very well written with compelling characters, but didn’t really do that much for me because the plot is linear (by design), and the protagonists passive. It’s merely an execution story on a grand scale, which we get TONS of in the slush at EDF.

The Big Rip, the driving force of Baxter’s tale, has now been proven false, in the same year Baxter wrote his story. How’s that for bad luck?

Universe Today reports:

Previously, it wasn’t known for sure if dark energy was a constant across space, with a strength that never changes with distance or time, or if it is a function of space itself and as space expands dark energy would expand and get stronger. In other words, it wasn’t known if Einstein’s theory of general relativity and his cosmological constant was correct or if the theory would have to be modified for large scales.

But the Chandra study strengthens the evidence that dark energy is the cosmological constant, and is not growing in strength with time, which would cause the Universe to eventually rip itself apart.

That’s why I’m leery about writing near-term science fiction. Sometimes the science just works against you.

Tags: Last Contact, Stephen Baxter, The Big Rip, Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction

So I’ve been perusing the bookstores for books by Clarion West instructors. I’m applying for the class of 2009, and I figure it would be good to at least have a passing familiarity with the writing of the people who are going to teach.

First store I went to didn’t have work by any of them. So I went to a Chapters (the Canadian Borders) and found work by Elizabeth Bear, and of course, Karen Joy Fowler, but that’s it. So I guess I’m going to have to resort to Amazon. This makes me unhappy.

The slate of instructors can be found here. I’d like to read at least a book by each of them. Does anyone have a recommendations?

Tags: Clarion West, Elizabeth Bear, Karen Joy Fowler

Yes, gentle readers, I’m reading that book.

 Just a note to say that the Return of the Sword anthology from CyberWizard Productions has been released. In my capacity as Managing Editor at Every Day Fiction, I’ve run across the fiction of many of these authors before, and even shared a ToC with Angeline Hawkes in Sails & Sorcery.If you’re a fan of Sword & Sorcery, this antho includes some of the top writers in the field. If you’re interested in a sample of the quality of their writing, you can read their stories at EDF (whenever possible, I’ve tried to link each to a S&S piece that they’ve published at EDF). This is their blurb:

Return of the Sword is a brand new anthology of blood-pounding, spine-tingling stories by some of fantasy’s most critically acclaimed Sword and Sorcery authors.

 

Stacey Berg, Bill Ward, Phil Emery, Jeff Draper, Nicholas Ian Hawkins, David Pitchford, Ty Johnston, Jeff Stewart, Angeline Hawkes, Robert Rhodes, E.E. Knight, James Enge, Michael Ehart, Thomas M. MacKay, Christopher Heath, Nathan Meyer, S.C. Bryce, Allen B. Lloyd, William Clunie, Steve Goble, Bruce Durham, and Harold Lamb present you with enough fast paced adventure to keep you reading for hours.

 

A hand painted, wrap around cover by fantasy artist Johnney Perkins ensures that Return of the Sword will not only be enjoyable to read, but also look good on your coffee table or bookshelf.

Too long have the halls of fantasy been dominated by packs of weak-kneed elves hunting goblins and doughty dwarves mining for gold. Return now to the days of true adventure. Unsheath your sword and enter if you dare!

For purchase info click here: