Tag Archives: Jeff Ford

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 →

Occasional Status Update

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I started to call this “Periodic Status Update,” but that would apply that there was some sort of regular schedule to things happening that make a status update appropriate, and I’m here to tell you that ain’t the case. Feast or famine is the only schedule I’m aware of, and it’s more of a binary condition than a discreet event…

Ahem. Where was I? Right. Status update. Yesterday I got not one, but two contracts in the mail. Famine is the general condition, but yesterday was more of a feast day. First, I sold the latest Lord Yamada story, “Three Little Foxes,” to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I think it’ll be online sometime later this year, but I don’t know for sure. I’ll post when I know more. If anyone’s curious, that’s the story that came to me when I was looking at a Gmail background image, so you just never know which direction one of these things is going to arrive from. Continue reading →

Review — The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant by Jeffrey Ford

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The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford.  Golden Gryphon Press, 2002

“Creation” is about what it says it’s about: A young boy undergoing religious training gives in to an impulse to create as God did, and succeeds…after a fashion. The rest of the story concerns the aftermath and the young boy coming to terms with the implications and responsibilities of his action. It’s one of Ford’s better known stories, and I’ve even heard claims that it “transcends genre fantasy.”  Sorry, no. This is what fantasy does. It’s the fun-house mirror that we hold up so we can see ourselves more clearly, and “Creation” does it very well. As for the “genre” part, well, genre is a marketing category, and to say something “transcends” a marketing category is pretty much a meaningless phrase. “Creation” is a damn fine fantasy story, and that’s more than enough. Continue reading →

Public Service Announcement

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Well, ok. I consider it a PSA. You might not, but it’s my blog, so there. To cut to the chase, PS Publishing is having a sale. They’re clearing out the almost-but-not-quite-gone items in stock, and that includes a few (a very few) of the regular signed hardcover of Hereafter, and After, including the lovely introduction by Andy Duncan. Once these are gone, that’s it. They’re selling them for 6.99L, which is around $11.18 USD. They originally sold for $40, so if someone would prefer the hc to the ebook edition, now is pretty much your last and best chance, because I can guarantee that the dealers won’t let it go for that.

Ok, besides me, they also have books by Jeff Ford, Chris Roberson, Tim Lebbon, and Joe Hill, among others on the sale page. And I’ll tell you something else–I looked at the sale page yesterday, and I looked at the sale page today. Guess what? It was a LOT shorter. They’re going fast.

Just sayin’.