Daikaijuzine 4.5

The latest issue of Daikaijuzine is out today. It's a web-zine so no hard copies :(. The magazine's unusual name is derived from the Japanese "dai" ("large" or "giant") and "kaiju" ("strange creature" or "monster"). A daikaiju is a giant monster. More specifically, it is one of the gigantic monsters Like Godzilla, King Ghidorah, or Mothra that appear in Japanese movies. With a name like that it seemed like the perfect market for a tale of a 400' foot pangolin terrorizing the city of Chicago.

The story is Panzersloth, and, if you notice an extra amount of wonderfulness in the telling that's due to my co-author, the extremely talented Leah Clarke.

I hope you'll find the story as much fun to read as it was to write.

Meeting the World's Giant Scaled Anteater Needs

I heard last night from Richard Crawford that Daikaijuzine would like to publish "Panzersloth" in their June 21, 2009 issue!

In his words:

There are not nearly enough stories that feature giant scaled anteaters, and I'm glad to see you have addressed this critical shortage.

This was a fun one to write, largely because it was a silly send-up of the giant monster movies of the 1950's. Mostly though, it was fun because it was a chance to work with my friend Leah Clarke. It's her second sale, the first having come just a couple of days earlier, and well-deserved. She is a writer to watch and a delight to work with.

And, just in case you were wondering what the giant creature that menaces Chicago in the story looks like. I present Pansy (normal-sized version).

Post-Apocalyptic Rats

I finished off a short chapter and sent it to Leah for her review. It's part of THE GIRL WHO WALKS THROUGH WALLS and tells the touching story of a young girl trapped in a storm drain with an intelligent rat from beyond.

Will Rene DeTritus be able to save Amelia? What part will the Vicarmat-1280 play in his efforts? And just what was the Chorch of England thinking when they shifted all of their clerical positions over to robots, anyway.

For those, and many other answers, you'll just have to wait for chapter 3.