Tag Archives: Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Rose Petals in the Grand Canyon

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WRITING 02I don’t know who said it first, since the saying has been attributed to many people over the years, but it goes something like this: “Publishing a short story is rather like dropping rose petals into the Grand Canyon and listening for the thud.”  As you’ve probably deduced by now, as a general rule there is no thud. If you’re lucky, a few people will care enough to comment on the story–pro or con–when it’s posted, and if you’re really lucky two or more readers will get in an argument about it which will make other people want to read it just so they know what these folks are on about. But mostly you publish a story, whatever the venue, and in a month or so it’s as if you didn’t do anything at all. This is not a complaint, mind you, but for most writers slogging in the short fiction trenches, it’s just the way things are. So when you get some recognition beyond that, say an award nomination or Best of the Year nod, it tends to perk up your day.

All by way of saying that “In the Palace of the Jade Lion” from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #100 was listed in Lois Tilton’s Locus Online year-end review as one of her favorite stories of the year. I’m glad. It was one of my favorites, too.

Happy New Year. May we all have something to celebrate this time around. Heaven Knows we could use it.

Friday PSA

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Okay, so it’s more of a self-serving announcement. Maybe we need a new desgination for that. Maybe SSA? Anyway, here’s the deal–Scott Andrews at Beneath Ceaseless Skies has just released The Best of BCS, Year 3. Here’s the ToC:

  1. The Ghost of Shinoda Forest · Richard Parks
  2. Dying on the Elephant Road · Steve Rasnic Tem
  3. Bread and Circuses · Genevieve Valentine
  4. Walls of Paper, Soft as Skin · Adam Callaway
  5. Mr Morrow Becomes Acquainted with the Delicate Art of Squid Keeping · Geoffrey Maloney
  6. Butterfly · Garth Upshaw
  7. Red Dirt · Ian McHugh
  8. The Nine-Tailed Cat · Michael J. DeLuca
  9. Letters of Fire · Margaret Ronald
  10. Fleurs du Mal · J. Kathleen Cheney
  11. Gone Sleeping · Heather Clitheroe
  12. Dirt Witch · Eljay Daly
  13. Silent, Cold, and Still · Kris Dikeman
  14. The Angel Azrael Rode into the Town of Burnt Church on a Dead Horse · Peter Darbyshire
  15. Playing for Amarante · A.B. Treadwell
  16. The Suffering Gallery · Matthew Kressel
  17. In the Gardens of the Night · Siobhan Carroll
  18. Beloved of the Sun · Ann Leckie

 From the BCS web site: “The Best of BCS, Year Three  features such authors as Richard Parks, Garth Upshaw, Margaret Ronald, Matthew Kressel, Geoffrey Maloney, and World Fantasy Award-winner Steve Rasnic Tem.

It includes “Walls of Paper, Soft as Skin” by Adam Callaway, named to Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2012, edited by Paula Guran, as well as three stories named to the Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2011 and four given Honorable Mention in Year’s Best Science Fiction 29, edited by Gardner Dozois.”

 

Special offer going on– buy The Best of BCS, Year Three from Weightless Books between now and Oct. 19 and get a free copy of Best of BCS, Year One or Best of BCS, Year Two.

You can also pick it up at all the usual places, Amazon, B&N, Smashwords…..here’s the thing–proceeds from the sale of The Best of BCS, Year Three go to pay BCS authors and artists for their work and keep the magazine going. Two subjects near and dear to my heart, it has to be understood.

Okay, commercial over. Thanks for your patience.

 

Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter

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Now that everything’s more or less settled, I’m officially announcing—very loudly, in fact—that my fourth print collection will be a compilation of the Lord Yamada series, Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter, and is scheduled to be published by Prime Books in February. That’s not too far away. I’ll try to put up a cover image once that’s been sorted, but in the meantime here’s a list of the planned contents along with a reference to the story’s original appearance, if any:

 “Fox Tails”                                Realms of Fantasy, June © 2005

“Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” Realms of Fantasy, April © 2006

“A Touch of Hell”                     Realms of Fantasy, April © 2007

“Hot Water”                              Realms of Fantasy, December © 2007

“The River of Three Crossings”          Realms of Fantasy, February © 2009

“The Bride Doll”                       © 2013 Richard Parks. First Publication

“The Mansion of Bones”          Beneath Ceaseless Skies #19, © 2009

“Sanji’s Demon”                       Beneath Ceaseless Skies #38-39, © 2010

“Lady of the Ghost Willow”      Beneath Ceaseless Skies #53, © 2010

“The Ghost of Shinoda Forest” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #63, © 2011

This material covers the first story arc of Yamada’s career. I’m not done with him yet, but there is a progression and resolution to these stories. What isn’t here will be in the Yamada novel, To Break the Demon Gate, from PS Publishing, also scheduled for February. Next winter promises to be a fairly busy time.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Turns 100

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Well, okay, not really. But it has just reached its 100th issue, which is remarkable enough for any sf/f magazine these days, online or otherwise. Times are hard, and now it’s about as accurate to say of anything short-lived as having “The life expectancy of a Redshirt, a Spinal Tap drummer, or a new sf/f magazine.” Scott Andrews and Beneath Ceaseless Skies have beaten very long odds just to be where they are. I don’t think it’s because they publish my stuff now and then, but I’m relieved to know that at least this egregious oversight doesn’t appear to have hurt them.

The 100th issue is a double issue and should be live even as we speak (yeah, I know, but bear with me), and the ToC is listed below: Continue reading →