In July 2013, I served as the “editor-in-residence” for the Codex Writing Group, which meant basically I was asking a month-long AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) interview. With Codex’s permission, I’m re-posting the Q&As here on my blog. The questions were all provided by members of Codex.

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What do you consider to be the most unusual story (or stories) you’ve published –either in terms of character, plot, execution, or structure, and why do you feel it was successful?

“Arvies” by Adam-Troy Castro probably meets all of your criteria, and I think a large part of the reason it was so successful was that it was so unconventional and unlike anything I had ever read, and yet despite all that was a gripping story.

Another unconventional story that comes to mind are Jake Kerr’s “Biographical Fragments of the Life of Julian Prince,” which I think is successful largely because of how the world he built feels SO LARGE, even though the story is under 5000 words long. Another story of Jake’s–“Requiem in the Key of Prose”–is also very unconventional structure-wise, in a very different way.

Otherwise, Kat Howard’s “Choose Your Own Adventure” (Fantasy Magazine) and Vylar Kaftan’s “Civilization” (Brave New Worlds) both use the tropes of the choose-your-own-adventure narrative to great effect. (And Vylar’s story has one of the best last lines I can think of. Out of context it won’t sound like anything special, but in the context of the story it’s perfect.)

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From October 1 – October 31, I’ll be running a Kickstarter campaign for a new project called HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!, an anthology of improbable, futuristic, magical, & alternate-world crowdfunding projects. Please check it out, consider backing it, and, if you’re so inclined, spread the word!