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About ogresan

Richard Parks' stories have have appeared in Asimov's SF, Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales, and numerous anthologies, including several Year's Bests. His first story collection, THE OGRE'S WIFE, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. He is the author of the Yamada Monogatari series from Prime Books.

Locus New and Notable – February 2015

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Yamada_BTG_cover-V06b-PrimeYamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate made the Locus New and Notable list for February. My books have made the list a few times and it’s always cool. Especially when they say things like this:

“Parks is a versatile fantasy writer, but he excels at fiction inspired by Japanese culture and mythology, and this is no exception.”

Granted, in reviewer-speak “versatile” is often a euphemism for, “Would you find one kind of thing to write and stick to it, please?” Regardless, I consider it a compliment of the highest order.

 

Things I Like–Haxan

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FoxSince I’m not putting up a section of Power’s Shadow today, I thought I’d add a little to the very occasional “Things I Like” motif. Which in this case, to be fair, is oversimplifying things just a tad. I’m going to talk a little bit about a novel titled Quaternity, by Kenneth Mark Hoover. It’s due out from CZP/HarperCollins on March 31st.

Full disclosure—Mark’s an old friend. We were in a writing group together for several years and I got to watch him grow as a writer first hand. He’s a versatile guy and I knew him first for his science fiction, but he really started to hit his stride when he turned his attention to the Weird Western, specifically a character named John Marwood, a U.S. Marshall based in the town of Haxan, New Mexico Territory. Marwood isn’t your ordinary lawman. He may not even be completely human, as we understand the term. He’s also a lot older than he looks and—to be blunt about it—he’s a stone cold killer. He has to be. Continue reading →

Annual Locus List Arrives Annually

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WRITING 02For those who don’t know, Locus Magazine does an annual Recommended Reading list of stories and books from the previous year. The list is chosen by reviewers and industry professionals and generally requires more than one vote to make the list. So permit me the minor brag of mentioning that two of my short stories made the list from 2014, The Manor of Lost Time and The Sorrow of Rain, both from Beneath Ceaseless Skies. A famous sf writer once famously noted that “The Blank of Blank” titles were the titles away from which to stay, but I dunno. They’re not terribly exciting as titles, I agree, but evocative and they did seem to fit.

You can see the full list at the link below. Lots of great reading to be found there, from Mary Rickert, Jay Lake, K.J. Parker, Robert Reed, Aliette de Bodard, and well, far too many to list here. That’s why there’s such a thing as the Locus Recommended Reading List.

Reprint for WCSFA

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WRITING 02Starting off the new year, I’ve just sold a reprint to the World Chinese SF Association (WCSFA). Reprints in general are a good thing. They get your stories out in venues/areas that might not normally come across them, and the WCSFA certainly applies. I’ve had stories translated into Japanese, French, and Russian, but this will be the first time for Chinese, so I’m looking forward to it.

Strictly from the business side of things, reprints are money for work already done. That is, stories you would have—and did—write anyway continue to pay off for you. Sort of an investment in the future. Even those of us who don’t earn most of our income from writing can appreciate that.

The story is “A Hint of Jasmine,” one of my Eli Mothersbaugh series. This was originally published in Asimov’s SF back in August 2004. WCSFA has also bought reprints from Ken Liu, Aliette de Bodard, and Caroline M. Yoachim, among others. I know the story will be in good company. I’ll likely mention it here when it’s published. I’ll go look at it myself. Won’t be able to read it, but that’s all right. I know where to find a really good English translation.

And the Shiny Thing Goes to….

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Yamada_BTG_cover-V06b-PrimeIt’s awards campaign season again. I dunno. I’ve done work that I’m very proud of, but that’s pretty much true every year. Award worthy? I don’t get to decide that, so I feel pretty justified in just staying out of it. That’s not a “morally superior” position, by the way. I don’t ding anyone for campaigning. I have friends who are good and natural at doing that sort of thing, and all I can do is watch in amazement and, yes, a little envy. If I were someone else I’d probably be doing it too, but I’ve never had the knack for being someone else. Which is a shame in a way–it’s hard enough to get noticed in the crowd as it is and if you don’t stand up for your own work, who will? I do what I can but  I recognize that, compared to many, what I can ain’t much. A failure in me, probably, but that’s how I roll.

Darling du Jour:

“War chopped Pestilence’s head off and kicked it like a soccer ball. It was a good kick. Three hundred yards across the blighted landscape, easily. By the time Pestilence’s headless body managed, scrabbling across the dust and debris, to feel its way to where the head had rolled, we were pretty sure he wouldn’t try that again. A pity, really. I hadn’t laughed so hard since the Apocalypse.”