A.C. Wise

Listing a bunch of unrelated things is kind of like writing a proper post, right?

Thing One: Cern Zoo: Nemonymous Nine, which contains my short story, Mellie’s Zoo, is a finalist for the 2010 British Fantasy Awards. Woohoo!

Thing Two: Aliette de Bodard’s Memories in Bronze, Feathers, and Blood is a lovely story - you should go read it.

Thing the Third: Moon is a beautifully shot and well-acted movie - you should go watch it.

Thing the Last: Futurama is back from the dead, and the first episode of its newly zombified life premiers this Thursday at 10pm. Contrary to the alarming rumors that were floating around at some point, the original cast is back for the second go around. Drop what you’re doing and go set your DVR right now, or if you don’t have a DVR, cancel whatever plans you have, and watch the show real-time. If you don’t, it’ll make robot Jesus cry.

The vow of secrecy surrounding Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo has officially been lifted. The full TOC will be revealed in March, but in the meantime you can check out the authors who have revealed their stories here on the official Cern Zoo page. And in the spirit of telling all, let it henceforth be known that my contribution to the anthology was Mellie’s Zoo. There. Don’t say I never tell you anything.

Speaking of Cern Zoo, congratulations to Steve Duffy, whose story from the anthology The Lion’s Den, was selected for The Year’s Best Horror #2.

So far, 2010 is starting out right. I just learned that my short story The Poet’s Child will be included in the fifth Jabberwocky anthology, due out from Prime Books in July 2010. Suh-weet!

And, yes, I realize that the mome raths actually outgrabe, but they probably also practice feng shui, too. You can’t prove that they don’t!

Kyle Cassidy has posted his photo gallery of fans from Worldcon/Anticipation. The pictures, as with all his work, are fabulous. Go check them out!

Speaking of fans, the fans of Strange Horizons are an incredibly awesome lot of people who have collectively donated over $13,000 towards the magazine. The fund drive will remain open until the end of the month, so there’s still time to donate if you want to support this wonderful source of free speculative fiction online.

And in reasonably unrelated news, DF Lewis, editor of the Nemonymous series, contributes to the 5th Estate website, discussing the series and the concept of anonymous anthologies in general.

My short story, The Children of Ramah, is now up at the newly-resurrected Dark Recesses Magazine.

The faces of the dead watched him from every window; blurred photographs, black and white smudges that showed too-pale skin and haunted shadows where eyes should be. A curtain stirred and a frightened hand pulled away as a fresh frame was set to gaze sightlessly out at the street. So many lost and so many dead, and in the end there was very little difference – the missing and the dead were too often the same.

Read the rest over at Dark Recesses. And while you’re over there, check out Chester by Benjamin Kane Ethridge - suitably creepy.

In unrelated news, Bibliophile Stalker has a brief review of Cern Zoo - rhymey rhymey!

Today’s oxymoron is brought to you by Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo, and the letter ‘Q’, why not? D.F. Lewis, editor of the Nemonymous, series is holding a contest in conjunction with the latest anonymous anthology. What’s in an name?  Immortality, of course! The individual who correctly matches the greatest number of authors to stories will have their name made famous, or infamous, in not one, not two, but all the stories in the next Nemonymous anthology. I really hope someone named Hortense Q. Whistlebottom wins. The contest runs until October 31, 2009.

Speaking of Cern Zoo, Matthew Fryer has a nice review of the anthology, designed to give readers a little taste of what the stories have in store. Does he mention my story? Did he like it? Wouldn’t you like to know.

Horror World has a review of Horror Library Vol.3. They liked it, and called Teeth one of the standouts!

Dark Roasted Blend has an updated gallery of beautiful Surreal Art for your viewing pleasure.

Josh Rountree has a wonderful story in the latest issue of Lone Star Stories - Gone Daddy Gone - go read it!

My short story [title removed and placed temporarily in the witness protection program] will appear in the upcoming Nemonymous anthology, tentatively titled Cern Zoo. For those not familiar with the Nemonymous series, each book is a collection of “anonymous” stories with the authors’ names being revealed in the following book. The past few volumes have listed the authors on a separate page, but not matched up to their story. You can read more about the series here and here. I’m excited to be stepping into the Nemonymous world!

First, I would like to point you towards two recent pieces over at Strange Horizons: Nira and I by Shweta Narayan and The Spider in You by Sean E. Markey. (If you’re at all arachnophobic, and possibly even if you’re not, the second story is exceedingly creepy and itchy-making, but it’s still wonderful and definitely worth a read).

Second, a recommendation from Fantasy Magazine’s archives: The Small Door by Holly Phillips. I missed this when it was first published, but I’m glad caught it eventually. And hey, if you like it, and you subscribe to Locus, it’s nominated for a Locus Award, so go vote.

Third, speaking of awards, I continue to be awards-adjacent - Horror Library Vol. 3 made the final Stoker Ballot. Go, Horror Library!

Last, but not least, Bibliophile Stalker has a nice review of Cabinet des Fees #2, which can be found here.

I was very pleased to find out today that +The Horror Library Volume 3+ made the preliminary ballot for the 2008 Stoker Awards - a big congratulations to everyone involved! Two of the individual stories, “Consumed” by Michael Louis Calvillo and “The Haven” by John Palisano also made it, so extra-congrats to them.  “The Lagerstatte” by Laird Barron made the list too, which makes me happy since it was one of my favorites from The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Good luck to everyone in making the final ballot.