Author Archive
Adventures in Reading on Wastelands
Joe Sherry, over at Adventures in Reading, has posted his review of Wastelands. Here’s a snippet:
The bottom line is that collectively the stories John Joseph Adams has put together here in Wastelands shows off the range of the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of fiction. Wastelands is an excellent anthology of short fiction and one that would easily fit on any collector’s shelves. [whole review]
Rich Horton’s Best of the Year
Over at the Asimov’s forum, Rich Horton just posted the table of contents to his two year’s best volumes for 2008. I’ve bolded stories from F&SF:
Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2008 edition
- Greg Egan, "Dark Integers" (Asimov’s, 10-11/07)
- Bruce Sterling, "A Plain Tale From Our Hills" (Subterranean, Spring)
- Charles Coleman Finlay, "An Eye for an Eye" (F&SF,June)
- Karen Joy Fowler, "Always" (Asimov’s, April-May)
- John Barnes, "An Ocean is a Snowflake, Four Billion Miles Away" (Baen’s Universe, 8/07)
- Ekaterina Sedia, "Virus Changes Skin" (Analog, October)
- Paul Di Filippo, "Wikiworld" (Fast Forward 1)
- Tim Pratt, "Artifice and Intelligence" (Strange Horizons, 8/6/07)
- Ken MacLeod, "Jesus Christ, Reanimator" (Fast Forward 1)
- Robert Reed, "Night Calls" (Asimov’s, 10-11/07)
- Jack Skillingstead, "Everyone Bleeds Through"(Realms of Fantasy, October)
- Nancy Kress, "Art of War" (The New Space Opera)
- Holly Phillips, "Three Days of Rain" (Asimov’s,June)
- Alexander Jablokov, "Brain Raid" (F&SF, February)
- Mary Robinette Kowal, "For Solo Cello, Op. 12" (Cosmos, Feb/Mar)
- Will McIntosh, "Perfect Violet" (On Spec, Summer)
- Geoffrey Landis, "Vectoring" (Analog, 6/07)
- Michael Swanwick, "The Skysailor’s Tale" (The Dog Said Bow-Wow)
Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 edition
- Daryl Gregory, "Unpossible" (F&SF, October/November)
- Kelly Link, "Light" (Tin House, Fall)
- Zoran Zivkovic, "The Teashop", (12 Collections and the Teashop)
- Noreen Doyle, "The Rope" (Realms of Fantasy, April)
- William Alexander, "Buttons", (Zahir, Summer/07)
- Holly Phillips, "Brother of the Moon", (Fantasy)
- Andy Duncan, "A Diorama of the Infernal Regions", (Wizards)
- Rachel Swirsky, "Heartstrung", (Interzone, 6/07)
- Carrie Laben, "Something in the Mermaid Way" (Clarkesworld, March)
- Matthew Johnson, "Public Safety" (Asimov’s, 3/07)
- Benjamin Rosenbaum and David Ackert, "Stray" (F&SF, December)
- Marly Youmans, "The Comb" (Fantasy, December)
- Garth Nix, "Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again" (Baen’s Universe, 4/07)
- Karen Joy Fowler, "The Last Worders", (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, 6/07)
- Theodora Goss, "Singing of Mount Abora" (Logorrhea)
- David Barr Kirtley, "Save Me Plz" (Realms of Fantasy, October)
- Erik Amundsen, "Bufo Rex" (Weird Tales)
- Ian R. MacLeod, "The Master Miller’s Tale" (F&SF, May)
He notes that "each volume is waiting on author approval for one story."
Free Fiction: Save Me Plz & Blood of Virgins
My pal David Barr Kirtley just posted two of his stories online, "Save me Plz" and "Blood of Virgins." Both originally appeared in Realms of Fantasy. Go read:
Alumni Magazine
In the mail today, I received the latest issue of Pegasus, the alumni magazine of the University of Central Florida, and in the "Alumni Authors" section, there’s a little blurb about Wastelands:
It’s featured alongside A Guide to Historic Orlando by Steve Rajtar (’73), Anoles: Those Florida Yard Lizards by Steve Isham (’76), and What Lies Beneath the Bed: Tommy’s Tales by Gerald Sharpe (’91).
Interview at The Fix
Sarah Jackson of The Fix did an interview with me recently which is now available for your reading pleasure. Here’s a snippet:
How do you imagine you would deal with being a survivor in a post-apocalyptic wasteland?
I took one of those online tests once that gauged how well you’d do in such a situation, and I fared rather poorly, which I think was a pretty accurate assessment of my chances. I object to its analysis that I had zero nature skills, however. I mean, I’m a total city boy, and much prefer to stay inside most of the time, but I’m not a moron. That said, there is an entirely good chance I’d get mauled by a wild animal if I were stuck on my own after an apocalypse.
The good news is that I know some people who probably would do rather well, and might be inclined to help me out. And I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, after all, so surely I’ll think of something when the mutants come looking for me.
links for 2008-01-15
Praise for Pirates
F&SF author Chris Willrich emailed me the other day to let me know that he enjoyed The Pirate Issue:
I read the Shimmer Pirate Issue over the holidays and really enjoyed it. My favorite story was Cambias’ "Barbary Shore," but I liked them all. It was especially fun to read all the "classic" pirate stories as a set. Though it left me wanting to stay away from the water!
Also, he pointed out that the Santa Clara County library system has six copies of Wastelands in inventory, which he knows, because he works as a librarian there.
Technician 5th Class
In a comment on my LJ feed, someone was asking what my grandfather’s specialty was. He was a Technician 5th Class, with a specialty listed as "Truck Driver (Heavy) (245)." He did that for 55 months of his service; prior to that, he’s listed as having 2 months as a Private doing "Basic Tng Ord. (521)." I’m not clear if that’s just standard basic training or what; I assume the "Ord." refers to Ordnance.
Here’s the description of his "Truck Driver, Heavy" work listed on his discharge paper:
Was a truck driver for the 359th Ordnance Company overseas. Hauled ammunition, supplies, equipment, and military personnel. Drove in all kinds of weather over all kinds of terrain. Drove at night and in blackout areas. Made minor repairs on the truck to keep it in good condition at all times.
He was discharged on Dec. 14, 1945
On the back of the form, he has a civilian occupation listed: "Plumbers Helper (7-32.812)":
Worked on steam and water pipes. Reamed, cut, bent, and threaded pipe. Cut and drilled holes in walls and floors for pipes to be fitted in. Heater lead to make the connections in the plumbing tight. Used hand and machine tools. Worked for Robert Burwick, Trenton, New Jersey for 18 months.
I wonder if there’s any way to research what sort of specific activities my grandfather was involved in during the war–places he was deployed to, actions he was engaged in, etc. He told me once he was at Guadalcanal, but I don’t know any more than that, other than he said the Army sent him "all over."
From Joe to Eleanor (Revised)
John DeNardo from SF Signal very kindly took the photo of my grandfather I posted last night and photoshopped it to clean up the image. The results:
This is astonishing to me. Photoshop truly is a wizard’s tool. Wait, actually, he used Paint Shop Pro ("a poor man’s Photoshop," he says)–so even more astonishing!