Posts Tagged with Science fiction

“In Open Air” to be published in Leadership Gone Right

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Some publishing news: my short story “In Open Air” will be published in the upcoming anthology Leadership Gone Right.

Leadership Gone Right, edited by D. A. D’Amico and published by Farthest Star Publishing, aims to tell stories that “envision a world where leadership takes a different path, where heroes and anti-heroes emerge in unexpected ways,” according to the initial announcement.

I was happy to find a home for “In Open Air,” which originally appeared in Accessing the Future, in this anthology. Part of the story hinges on the rotating leadership structure of a generation ship that has finally made it to its destination planet — but an unexpected arrival forces a crisis and the right course of action is anything but clear.

The full lineup of authors and stories for the anthology can be found here. The book is set for release in April 2024. I’ll be sure to announce it here when it’s available!

Things I Wish I Could Say to Douglas Adams

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Douglas Adams
Am I a fan of Douglas Adams? Why yes, I am… why do you ask?

I’ve been a fan of Douglas Adams since I was in junior high. A friend of mine thrust a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy at me and said, “If you like Monty Python, you’ll probably like this.”

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas AdamsHe was right. I devoured the whole four-part trilogy (as it was then) and found that Douglas Adams was one of those rare authors who could make me laugh my head off — and make me think.

I came back to his writing over the years, somehow managing to read his two Dirk Gently novels out of order, but understand them just fine nevertheless, and later howling over nearly every entry in The Meaning of Liff. I’ve recently been re-reading his work, and finding that Douglas Adams still makes me laugh, and think, and look at things in a new way.

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No shit, there I was… in a cool anthology

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As you may have heard, there is a new anthology of speculative fiction coming up, in which every story must begin with the phrase “No shit, there I was…” The book is edited by Rachael Acks and will be published by Alliteration Ink.

The rationale for the anthology is explained in the video accompanying the Kickstarter campaign announcement. In response, Rachael received a huge range of stories, and chose tales for the book that range, “from hard science fiction, to high fantasy, from laugh-out-loud funny to tragic.”

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Canadian cli-fi: Harold Johnson’s Corvus

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Not too long ago I got the chance to interview Canadian author Harold Johnson about his new sci-fi novel Corvus. I loved the way it handled how different things might be by the end of the century, the way he portrayed different aspects of Canadian society — the haves, the have-nots, the differences between how Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities might be in the future, and, of course, people’s use of and relationship with technology. 

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Corvus coverHarold Johnson’s fifth novel Corvus is set in an imagined late twenty-first century, in which climate change and war have dramatically changed Canada.

The idea for Corvus came when Johnson heard David Suzuki, Al Gore, and James Lovelock discuss climate change. Gore asserted climate change could be fixed. Lovelock said it was too late; climate change is the new reality. He advised Suzuki to move north and build nuclear reactors for electricity.

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Accessing the Future: exploring in many senses

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Accessin the Future image 2

When it comes to future tech, variations on a phrase in a roleplaying game sourcebook always stuck with me: “POOF: YOU’RE HEALED.”

That was the description for the top-level, beyond super-science medical technology of the far future. (For weaponry of that advanced era, it was “POOF: YOU’RE DEAD”; for transportation it was “POOF: YOU’RE THERE.” You get the idea. Also, possibly, I played far too much G.U.R.P.S. if its metaphors remain fixed in my head.)

One thing unquestioned, of course, and not within the scope of RPG rules, is the question: “for whom?”

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Story on board: Accessing the Future

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Accessing the FutureIn case you haven’t heard about this book, Accessing the Future is a new SFF anthology that explores “issues of disability (invisible and visible, physical and mental), and the intersectionality of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, and class—in both physical and virtual spaces.” The table of contents has just been announced, and I’m thrilled my short story “In Open Air” will be included.

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