We paid out cash money for the following this month: a literary, somewhat anti-literature fantasy from William Browning Spencer (returning to the pages of F&SF after too long an absence!); another new story from the prolific Robert Reed (perhaps his best since “The Sleeping Woman”); a new Gaunt & Bone adventure from Chris Willrich; a sequel of sorts to “The Tribes of Bela” by Albert Cowdrey; a cyberpunk crime story from Alexander Jablokov; and an unorthodox tale of the Red Planet from Ruth Nestvold.

All this, plus: a new slush survivor, by the name of S.L. Gilbow, who debuts with a “Lottery”-esque tale of social SF; and…the F&SF debut of Susanna Clarke, author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, who will grace our pages (in the December issue) with a tale of John Uskglass.

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An announcement: I’ll be guest-editing the Summer 2007 issue of Shimmer!  Here’s some verbiage from Shimmer‘s website:

Pirates! The word evokes the high seas, deep space and bootleg software. Be honest, who hasn’t wanted to be a pirate? Think of plunder, booty — Avast!

The MS Shimmer has been captured by the Dred Pirate John Joseph Adams, first-mate of the Fantasy & Science Fiction. For the Summer 2007 issue, our pages will be filled with pirate stories. What better way to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day?

What kind of pirates? All kinds — fantasy, science fiction, contemporary, historical, futuristic, high seas, deep space — if it’s got pirates and it’s speculative fiction, Captain Adams wants it. The usual Shimmer guidelines apply, but with pirates.

Bring us your pirate stories for Summer 2007, the Pirate Issue.

Submission porthole: December 1, 2006-January 31, 2007.

Send submissions to submissions@shimmerzine.com with “Pirate Submission: Title” in the subject line.

Links

Ye scurvy sea-dogs need some inspirin’? Here are some links to get ye started.

Watch the History Channel’s series on pirates, beginning July 9.

Can’t think of a name for your pirate vessel? Check out this pirate ship name generator.

Read some sobering information on the connection between pirates and global warming in this Open Letter to Kansas School Board.

Brush up on your pirate words and phrases.

And don’t forget Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales.

If we be missin’ some links, or if ye have more questions, fire a cannon over our fo’c’s’le at midnight, or send e-mail to info@shimmerzine.com.

Arr!

ETA May 23, 2019: The internet is forever, and thus 13 years after posting this, this page was made useful by a teacher doing a lesson on pirates. One of the students discovered an interesting page on pirate dentistry, and thought it would be a good addition to this list of pirate facts, and I thought that was super cute that she thought to ask the teacher to alert me to the link, so I’m dutifully adding it to this repository of pirate facts.

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