Bull Spec's holiday shopping guide...

If you've got somebody on your list who loves genre fiction, there's been a locally written book published either this year or late last year which is perfect for them. While gift certificates are great (Check IndieBound for bookstores near you good  Quail Ridge, The Regulator, Flyleaf, and more!) sometimes a great gift comes from putting the right book in the right hands.

I've thought of a few ways to try to organize this list: chronologically? by author? by city? Finally, though some books are harder to classify than others, I went with genre for novels, and then broke out anthologies, collections, and a few other categories at the end. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you find a great local gift in your favorite local store for everybody on your list. (And don't forget yourself!)

December/January events!

Whew. December is nearly upon us. After you recover from the weekend's turkey-coma, wake up! December is getting off to a good start:

• Now: The November/December issue of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) includes the short story "The Closet" by John Kessel
• Wednesday, December 1, 7:30 PM, Quail Ridge Books: Greensboro author Orson Scott Card to read from his new book PATHFINDER (Simon Pulse)
• Thursday, December 2, 7 PM, Barnes & Noble of Brier Creek: Raleigh authors Clay and Susan Griffith to read from their new book THE GREYFRIAR (Book 1 of their Vampire Empire series, Pyr).
• Monday, December 6, 6-9 PM, Sci-Fi Genre Comics & Games: A hands-on demo of new Indie board game The Resistance
• Sunday, December 19, 3-8 PM, Research Triangle Science Fiction Society (and Bull Spec, too!) Holiday Party
• Soon: The January issue of Asimov's Science Fiction includes the short story "Ashes on the Water" by Bull Spec #2 contributor ("The Other Lila") Gwendolyn Clare (reviewed by Locus Online's Lois Tilton)
• Wednesday January 12, 7 PM, The Regulator Bookshop: A double feature of the launch of Bull Spec #4 (with contributors Andrew Magowan and James Maxey) and the second NC Speculative Fiction Night, with guests Jaym Gates (writer, editor, anthologist, extraordinaire, etc.), Gray Rinehart (Baen), and Rebecca Rowe (author, Forbidden Cargo) and more

And as you prepare to face either the hordes of Black Friday or a more casual approach (say, 2 PM on a weekday?), if you have a someone for whom a book or comic or game might be an ideal gift, coming soon will be a quick cheat sheet of (mostly!) local speculative fiction. Stay tuned!

Quick acceptances round-up.

It's been way too long since I last talked acceptances, so:

• Raleigh's Dale Mettam, "We Don't Do Quests". Humorous fantasy. 3000 words.
• Amber Sistla, "Fadeout". Near future science fiction. 2500 words.
• Charlottesville, VA's Don Norum. "A Mathematician's Apology". Science fiction. 1700 words. (Issue #4 content.)
• Tiny Connolly, "Selling Home". Post-apoc science fiction. 5000 words.
• Winston-Salem's Stuart Jaffe, "Perchance". Modern fantasy. 3000 words.
• Elizabeth Creith. "Here Be Dragons". Post-apoc science fiction. 3300 words.
• Kenneth Schneyer. "Less Than Absent". Science fiction. 1000 words.
• Durham's Rebecca Gomez Farrell. "Bother". Near-future science fantasy? 4000 words. (Issue #5 content?)
• Tim Pratt. "Hell's Lottery". Modern dark fantasy. 3100 words. (Issue #5 content.)
• Durham's Andrew Magowan. Near future science fiction. 5000 words. (Issue #4 content.)
• D.K. Thompson. "The Gearaffe That Didn't Tick". Science fiction. 3000 words.
• Hillsborough's M. David Blake. "Absinthe Fish". Surreal/bizarre/something. 1500 words. (Issue #5 content?)
• Jason Erik Lundberg. "Complications of the Flesh". Hard to classify. 4000 words.
• James Maxey. "Tornado of Sparks". Science fantasy? A "Dragon Age" story originally published in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy. 5600 words. (Issue #4 content.)

Previously accepted issue #4 content:

• David Tallerman. "The Burning Room". Fantasy. 4000 words.
• Nick Mamatas. "O, Harvard Square!". Hard to classify. 3100 words.
• Erin Hoffman. "City of Shadow and Glass". Science fiction. 675 words.

Hope you enjoy! Now back to other things. Like figuring out what I'm going to say tomorrow...

Hey, thanks Durham Magazine!

Durham Magazine's Matt Dees blogs about Bull Spec, the issue #3 launch party at Flyleaf Books this Saturday afternoon, and next Thursday's NC Speculative Fiction Night and says: "Pick up a copy if you want to be on the cutting edge of the literary scene." Thanks, Matt!

Matt was very encouraging when I asked him for magazine advice way, way back in January. I've tried to "Dare not to suck!" as best I can, and I'm grateful for the shout-out.

Less than a week to the issue #3 launch party! A video walkthrough! And some reviews of #3 are coming in.

Hey there! It's less than a week to the issue #3 launch party at Chapel Hill's Flyleaf Books. It's a great lineup, with:

1. Pittsboro science fiction and fantasy author David Drake, who is planning to read from next year's Out of the Waters, sequel to The Legions of Fire, the first book in his new epic fantasy series, which was featured in the issue.
2. Durham author Melinda Thielbar, who will read from her story "You're Almost Here", a first-person rip through a possible near future.
3. Carrboro writer and illustrator team Jeremy Whitley and Jason Strutz, the story and art behind Firetower Studios and in particular The Order of Dagonet. They're going to (seriously!) do a live comic book reading and illustration.

Secondly, a video walkthrough of issue #3 is now available for folks interested in having somebody else flip through and describe the issue's contents:



Lastly, some reviews of issue #3 are trickling in:

1. The Portal's Alexandre Donald: http://sffportal.net/2010/10/bull-spec-issue-3-autumn-2010/
2. SFRevu's Sam Tomaino: http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=11424

That's it for now...