My pal Jeremiah Tolbert has a story up at Fantasy Magazine called "The Yeti Behind You," which originally appeared in the magazine’s sampler anthology, Fantasy. I’m a big fan of JT’s writing, and this one is one of his best, I think.
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
Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 edition
He notes that "each volume is waiting on author approval for one story."
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:
Charlie Finlay points out that the first issue of Noctem Aeternus is now available as a free PDF download. It features his story "The Rapeworm":
You can download the issue here, but you have to join the subscription list. (I think this is so they can pitch solid subscriber numbers to advertisers, who will underwrite the cost of the fiction, which would be a new model for internet fiction magazines similar to the free weekly newspapers you pick up in most cities. Their goal is 30,000 subscribers by the first of next year.) It’s worth signing up just to take a look at this issue. There are other stories in the issue by Cherie Priest, Michael Laimo, Tim Waggoner, and Ramsey Campbell, plus a Paula Guran column, interviews, and art by Kuang Hong.
So, with the writer’s guild being on strike and there soon to be a distinct lack of new television and films to watch, I don’t suppose the American public will turn to, you know, books to satisfy their entertainment needs?
A writer friend of mine recently had someone email him to tell him a story of his was "brilliant," which rather made his day. The fan said that Spider Robinson instructed her to be sure to tell artists when you like their works. Because, you know, they’re all people, no matter how famous they are, and a note like that might just make their day. And, hey, if they’re totally not famous yet, then it’s even more likely to have a real impact. So don’t hold back. It’s easy enough to find contact info for most authors these days. Find out how to get in touch and tell them how much you liked that story.
On another note, I have to say, I still kind of resent this one author who I emailed back in 1999 or so when I was just a nobody in college. I found him on AOL while I was searching for people to chat with. (I was searching by subject, and stumbled across him.) His profile indicated he was the author I thought it was (not just someone with the same name, which would have been unlikely). So I emailed him, told him how much I liked his book. His first novel, btw, and this is someone you’ve never heard of. But I never heard back from him.
So I guess there’s a lesson in that too. When someone writes you a nice note like that, thank them.