Rivers are the theme of the October issue of Calliope and inside I have a couple of articles explaining the mechanics of waterwheels, dams, and locks. Very fortuitous, as this month my oldest is doing a school project on river basins. Synergy! Synchronicity! Or something.
Black Static does something I’ve never seen a magazine do before: they post their latest story acceptances.
My gaslamp fantasy “Barbary” is scheduled to appear in the November issue. Very excited, too — it’s one of the best damn things I’ve ever written. I’m grateful to editor Andy Cox for allowing me the room to stretch my legs and go for a run.
More later when the issue’s out.
I’ve been sweating the alternate-history beat over at Black Gate, with recent reviews of Cherie Priest’s Ganymede and Frank Chadwick’s A Prince of Mars.
Hey nerds! Two of my weird Westerns are now available in new anthologies.
Befitting the theme, editor Eric Guignard assembled an international table of contents for Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations (Amazon | B&N). My favorites include Gitte Christensen’s future vision in which humanity has divided into voluntary yet contract-based subcultures (in this case, a group of ocean-exploring steampunks); and a very smooth ghost story by Joe Lansdale. Besides my own contribution (which Eric touted, “Out of the submissions I received, few struck me as unique and colorful”), there are a couple other weird Westerns in the book too. The publisher is staggering the release of e-pub editions but not by long, so if you prefer to read it on Kindle or Nook, you should only have to wait a few months.
Also out is Low Noon (Amazon | Kindle) from Science Fiction Trails editor David Riley. David mentioned being a fan of ghost stories and so I sent him an idea that had been simmering awhile. I like suspense, not horror; I refuse to watch contemporary horror films because of the sadism and gore, yet I love me some H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James, and decades later I’m still traumatized by The Changeling and The Fog and The Shining. One of the items on my weird-West checklist was to write a story about property rights in an abandoned mining town — and so it all came together in “Realgar.”
As always, thanks for reading my stuff, whether it’s here or somewhere on the trail.
Samuel Smedley, Connecticut Privateer is now available for Kindle. Other electronic formats, including Nook, should follow shortly.
Here’s the book description:
At age 23, Samuel Smedley became captain of the Connecticut state ship Defence during the American Revolution. He captured more than a dozen prizes, survived smallpox and shipwreck, saw his home burned to the ground by the British, and was twice caught and imprisoned by the enemy. And while he commanded two crews of “gentleman volunteers” — privateers — Smedley learned his profession onboard the ship Defence. But was there really a difference between the state navy and the privateers? With Smedley at the helm, what began “for the Defence of the sea-coasts” of Connecticut soon transformed into something else.
Why not celebrate Presidents Day with a little Rev War history delivered to your Kindle super-duper quick? Only $10!
Update: Now available for Nook.