AntipodeanSF was the first place I published a story, way back in 2012. Writers out there will know what that feels like, the first time someone believes in your work and likes it enough that they are willing to put their name to it as editor, and send it out into the world. AntipodeanSF will always have a special place in my heart as a result. But over the years, what has really struck me is how many authors I admire and respect have a similar story to tell about AntipodeanSF. So many excellent people producing work to this day in part because Ion “Nuke” Newcombe believed in them, and gave them an early credit. You only have to look down the table of contents of this excellent anthology to see what I mean.
Congratulations Nuke on 21 excellent years, with hopefully at least another 21 in front of you.
I received some very exciting news this weekend. A short story of mine, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, has been accepted for publication in the upcoming 250th issue of AntipodeanSF.
Long time readers will know that I’ve published quite a few flash fiction pieces in AntipodeanSF over the years, so when Ion “Nuke” Newcombe put out the call to the community of writers that have previously published with him to do a special, longer short story for the 250th issue I knew I had to try to be a part of it.
I snuck my story submission in with a whole hour to spare before the 31 March deadline, and I got the great news back today that my story made the cut.
AntipodeanSF has been going since 1998 – that’s 21 years ago – and Nuke was a pioneer of the internet age, back when most of us couldn’t even spell internet. He has given so many authors their first writing credit over the years, and is an absolute stalwart of the Australian speculative fiction community.
Issue 250 is exciting stuff. There will be over 45 stories (see the end of this post for a list of just some of the titles), and Nuke will be producing the issue as an anthology as well as an online read, so you can actually read your favourite AntipodeanSF authors in print, if you so desire!
There are so many stories that Nuke will be leaving them up for 3 months on the website, with issue 251 not appearing until August 2019.
I’m very excited, and proud, to be a part of such a fantastic milestone for AntipodeanSF. If you get a chance to read it, I hope you enjoy my story.
As well as my story, the issue will include excellent work such as:
10 To The Six And The Natural Order Of Things by Shaun A. Saunders
A Place Of My Own by Zebuline Carter
A Rift Of No Return by Laurie Bell
A Witch’s Place by Zena Shapter
Between The Ticks by Lynda Young
Beware! The Blab by Tony Owens
Cassini Falling by Cat Sparks
Cloned + Apocalypse by Eugen M. Bacon
Colour by Jason Butterfield
Dissonance by Jason Nahrung
End of Days by Ray O’Brien
Evidence Of A Dark Transformation by Phllip Berrie
Frank’s Best Friend by Col Hellmuth
Halloween Party by Kim Rose
Hatch by Trent Jamieson
In A Phobos Garden by Rick Kennett
In Salt And Starlight by Pamela Jeffs
Neanderthal by Edwina Harvey
Off Planet by Tony Steven Williams
Once Upon A Moonlit Clearing by Rebecca Fraser
Pictures Of You by Ishmael A Soledad
Possession by Lee Battersby
Sandbox by Kevin J. Phyland
Science Fiction by Jackie Hosking
Serratoria by Chris Gladstone
Sit Up And Beg by Michael T. Schaper
Slower Than The Speed Of Light by Kris Ashton
Soylent 7 by Shane Griffin
Sparks by Martin Livings
Special Delivery by Garry Dean
The First Law Of Havoc by David Kernot
The Forgotten Sea by Louise Zedda-Sampson
The Optimist by Simon Brown
The Past Begins by Jan Napier
The Slow by Antoinette Rydyr
Trespassing by Sue Clennell
when Willie came home from the war hoorah hoorah by Bart Meehan
Issue 249 has a great range of stories, including:
A King May Look At A Cat by Lynne Lumsden Green
Applicants Must Be Able To Cackle by Nikky Lee
Crash Dummy by Roger Ley
Giants And The Little Tykes by AE Reiff
Infinite Monkeys by Aiki Flinthart
Kitting Up by David Scholes
She’s Dead by Mark Towse
Surfing On Neptune by Eugen M. Bacon
The Forgetful Visitor by Barry Germansky
The Sin Of Envy by George Nikolopoulos
As well as reading on line, you can also check out the eBooks, which include both .epub and .mobi versions.
While we’re on the AntipodeanSF train, I should say that Issue 250 will be absolutely huge. Forty-five plus speculative stories from the community of authors who have contributed to AntipodeanSF over the years.
There are so many stories that website copy will remain online throughout May, June and July, with normal monthly publication resuming on August 1, 2019 with Issue 251.
Nuke (AntipodeanSF’s editor) is even creating an “on demand” printing option, so you can even get this mammoth edition using dead trees and special, one of a kind ink (*). How can you resist!
(*) Actually normal ink, made special mostly by the magic of the stories it will trace out on the page.
The Ditmar Awards, Australia’s premier popular vote SF awards, are open for nominations. Anyone who has bought a membership of the national convention (Continuum 15 is Melbourne this year) or is “active in fandom” is eligible to vote. There’s an extensive list of eligible work here, an explanation of voting rules here, and you can nominate work with this online form.
This year I actually have a work that qualifies for your consideration, namely:
In the Best Novella or Novelette category:
“The Reclaimers”, Mark Webb, in Dimension6 Issue #13, Coeur de Lion, April 2018.
You can go and read Issue 13 for free, or invest the grand sum of $1 to purchase the annual collection from Amazon and support Coeur de Lion and their excellent work on the Dimension6 publication.
Regardless of whether you are interesting in my novella, there are so many excellent Australian authors and works out there, I’m sure you would be able to find many fantastic works to nominate. Get nominating!
You might remember that my novella, The Reclaimers, that was published earlier in the year in issue 13 of Dimension6. Each year, Keith Stevenson, the editor, creates a collection of all the stories from that year.
I’m pleased to say that this years collection, the Dimension6Annual Collection 2018, is out now for the low, low price of $0.99. You can buy it directly from the Coeur de Lion website, or from Amazon etc depending on your preference (links available to various ebook retailers at the website).
I am very proud to be part of this collection. The Reclaimers is my first novella length work, and it is a source of great pride to have it published with such a fantastic collection of wonderful stories.
You won’t find much better value than the Dimension6 Annual Collection 2018.
The latest issue of Dimension6 is out now, a free Australian magazine of speculative fiction. You can get your copy at the Couer de Lion website, or download a copy here.
My novella, ‘The Reclaimers’, appeared in Issue 13 of Dimension6, so you know the editor has excellent taste. Well worth checking out.
Issue 15 features:
‘Zodiac’ by Mark Barnes She was the only living woman in the Never Never. They didn’t stand a chance.
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‘Easy Like Arsenic’ by Ephiny Gale This ‘once upon a time’ is nothing like the others.
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‘The Shaming’ by David Coleman Never question a Scrutineer. Ever. But Rosie would.
The latest issue of Dimension6 is out now, a free Australian magazine of speculative fiction. You can get your copy at the Couer de Lion website, or download a copy here.
My novella length story, ‘The Reclaimers’, appeared in Issue 13 of Dimension6, so you know the editor has excellent taste. Well worth checking out.
Issue 14 features:
‘#WhiteWitch’ by Shauna O’Meara
Facing danger at the top of the world? You need #WhiteWitch.
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‘All in Green’ by Adele Gardner
Rappo and Finn were joined in life like no-one else. But what if one should face death?
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‘In The Nexsphere’ by Doug Bost
It’s the next big thing in tech. Maybe you should read the user manual first.
Well, it has finally happened. My novella, “The Reclaimers”, is available in issue 13 of Dimension6.
I’m very excited to have this novella see the light of day. Regular readers might recall my post when the story was first accepted by Keith Stevenson. In that post I talked about some of the history of the story, and thanked a few people who helped along the way. Go back and have a read of that post if you’re interested. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
A little blurb to whet your appetite:
Ulanda wanders along the edge of civilisation, cleansing border towns of a deadly residue that lingers from the magical weapons of mass destruction that ended the war. It’s the only job still allowed for the paranormally-inclined and life is adequate, until an old girlfriend appears with a questing opportunity that Ulanda knows she absolutely should refuse…
Or the much more succinct:
Wizard garbage disposers – the pay stinks but the hours… yeah, they’re pretty bad too.
Not only will you get to read “The Reclaimers”, but you’ll also get to read two other excellent stories by Emilie Collyer and Robert Stephenson:
‘Reckoning’ by Emilie Collyer
The Earth was broken. Gia was broken. Could they save each other?
‘Water for Antiques’ by Robert Stephenson
Dravid couldn’t believe his luck. Maybe he was right not to.
And how much will these three stories cost you? Well, inexplicably Keith gives away Dimension6 absolutely free! Now you can’t ask better than that.
