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.

Robots Beyond

I just found out that Robots Beyond from Permuted Press is now available at Amazon. This was a fun one ot work with, largely because editor Lane Adamson and a lot of the contributors are friends of mine. I had the chance to see some of the stories in the workshop stage and there is some seriously great stuff in here.

The table of contents is:

- Electric Crown by Thom Brannan
- The Last Protector by Billy Wong
- Franchise Hell by Ren Holton
- Burning Down the House by Paula Stiles
- Tinman by Jesse A. Lynn
- Crocus by William Carl
- Narrative Device by Alistair Bishop
- Other Dreams by Dave Dunwoody
- The Strange Affair of the Artisan's Heart by Joshua Reynolds
- Surveillance by R. Thomas Riley
- Primero by Richard Mosses
- The Cure by Christopher Donahue
- Hothead by Mark Patrick Lynch
- How Coyote Made Robot by John W. Oliver
- Again, Iabrochium by Joel Sutherland
- Be Swift, My Soul by Lane Adamson
- A Robot Named J35U5 by Matt R. Jones
- Nano-Domini by Matthew Baugh
- Are You Lonesome Tonight? by Doug Wojtowicz

Have You Ever...

Ever written something and thought... "Well, at least I'm done" and then gotten back an amazing response?

I finished my most spiritually ambitious piece of writing this week. "Nano-Domini" is the story of a medical nanobot and his developing relationship with the scientist whose body he shares. It's meant to parallel the relationship of God and humanity from an unusual perspective.

I was worried about it being too preachy (it might stll be just a bit) and it felt clunky as I was writing it. I ran it past my writer's group thinking I would probably get some kind words about how not every story can be your best.

The responses I've gotten back have been better than to anything else I've ever submitted there(!) I'm floored and surprised (very pleasantly so) to get the comments I'm getting, and from people whose opinions I really respect and value!

Something went right and I'm really tickled about it! Now I get to be nervous about my story making the ROBOTS BEYOND cut.

Leah says that things look hopeful for her story (a wonderfully creepy/funny Lovecraftean tale with robots) and I got an advance look at the rewrite of Bobbie's Civil War robots story (which was very good before and is amazing now). It would be so cool if we all made it!

Panzersloth

I'm doing my first intentional colaboration on a short story. "Panzersloth" will be a submission for the Giant Creatures anthology that Permuted Press is putting together. I'm working with Leah Clarke who is a delight to work with. (Note to self: Choosing a writing partner who is very talented, has a compatable sense of humor, and is fun to work with is a good strategy!)

The story involves a giant pangolin (that's a rare mammel that looks like a cross between an anteater and an armadillo) that attacks Chicago. It's (mostly thanks to Leah) the funniest story I've ever worked on.

Crushed by the Machine of Death

I just heard today from the editors of MACHINE OF DEATH. They wrote a nice rejection letter for my submission to their anthology. (I really do appreciate it when people take the trouble to write a polite letter. So many don't.)

They didn't criticize my story except to say that it didn't fit what they had in mind for the volume as well as many other submissions did. They had about 700 submissions so they got to choose what was going to fit together best.

I can understand that. I read an essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley awhile back that said that most rejections are for that reason. The story can be conceptually brilliant, stylistically flawless, and deeply compelling and still not be a good fit for a collection. That's a comforting thought...

The editors said that I was free to submit the story elsewhere and wished me luck. I appreciate that, though I doubt it will be practical. Their anthology is about a world where there is a machine that can predict the manner of a person's death. You just head down to the local convenience story and drop some money in the slot and it will crank out a technically accurate (but cryptic) sentance like "auto accident."

The machine doesn't tell you how long you've got, or any of the sepcifics of the death. A person who got the "auto accident" might give up driving only to slip on a child's toy car and break his neck.

My submission was titled "Act of God." It was meant to be an ambiguous story highlighting people's attitudes about the existence of God. If this guy's going to die because of an act of God, does that mean that God exists? What does that say about the character of God? In the end the poor guy's death doesn't resolve anything. Atheists and fundamentalists alike stick to their own interpretation of events and belief in God remains a matter of faith rather than hard evidence.

It wasn't my best story, but I liked it. Maybe I will submit it elsehweresomeday, but if it doesn't fit in the MACHINE OF DEATH I don't have a clue where it will fit.

It's no big deal though. I've learned to bear rejection with grace and equanamity. Now please excuse me while I go curl up in the foetal position and feel sorry for myself :(

Yasuke

Micah Harris just looked over this story and gave me some good suggestions. This is my take on the Golden Age SF stories and (I hope) will read like Northwest Smith's adventures on Barsoom. (If you don't know Northwest Smith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Smith or Barsoom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom you have a treat ahead if you check them out!)

This is my first story with a female protaganist. I hope it's a reasonably successful attempt. The heroine, Cat Morgan is an homage to C.L. Moore, one of the greats of Depression era Science Fiction and one of the first women in the field. The story had been accepted for an anthology called "The Big Black" but that went away when G.W. Thomas was forced to fold Rage Machine books. (I hated to see that happen to a struggling small press, and especially to G.W. who is a good guy.)

Anyway, it's a quick polish with Micah's suggestions and off to a new home (I hope) with "Intergalactic Medicine Show" which is a neat looking magazing I've only just become aware of. Wish me luck!