News – markwebb.name

Ditmar awards

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!

Antipodean SF Issue 248

As you may know, I help out on the Antipodean SF website, creating the eBook version of the online magazine each month.

Issue 248 has a great range of stories, including:

A Taste For Salt by Noel Osualdini

Better Ballers by Salvatore Difalco

First Choice by Vanessa Kittle

Forever In Time by Shane O’Halloran

Frozen Moments, Stolen Out Of Time by George Nikolopoulos

That Monster Show by Bart Meehan

The Last Word by Roger Ley

The Tower by Mathew Nelson

Vocation by Ishmael A Soledad

Wet Paint by Simon R. Gardner

As well as reading on line, you can also check out the eBooks.

Antipodean SF Issue 247

As you may know, I help out on the Antipodean SF website, creating the eBook version of the online magazine each month.

Issue 247 has a great range of stories, including:

As Time Ticks On by Elizabeth Kovacs

Beneficence by David Scholes

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread by Andy McGee

Cleanse by Mark Tremble

Left Overs by Monica Carroll

Statement To The Ship Walkabout’s Coroner by Wes Parish

Stop Copying Me by Jason Retallack

The Alien Nutcracker by Brenda Anderson

What’s So Funny? by Ed Errington

My Dream Girl by Tim Train

As well as reading on line, you can also check out the eBooks.

Dimension6 2018 Annual Collection

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 Dimension6 Annual 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.

Dimension6 Issue 15 out now

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.

_________________________________

‘Easy Like Arsenic’ by Ephiny Gale
This ‘once upon a time’ is nothing like the others.

_________________________________

‘The Shaming’ by David Coleman
Never question a Scrutineer. Ever. But Rosie would.

Dimension6 Issue 14 out now

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.

_________________________________

‘All in Green’ by Adele Gardner

Rappo and Finn were joined in life like no-one else. But what if one should face death?

_________________________________

‘In The Nexsphere’ by Doug Bost

It’s the next big thing in tech. Maybe you should read the user manual first.

_________________________________

‘The Giant’s Servant’ by Trent Jamieson

Did you know giants come in all shapes and sizes?

The Reclaimers – out now in Dimension6 #13

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.

Go to the Dimension6 page at Coeur de Lion Publishing, or you can even get the issue here (this site is an affiliate for D6). I hope you enjoy reading “The Reclaimers” and would love to hear from you with feedback (good or bad!).

Welcome to 2018 and Ditmar reminder

Hi all,

Welcome to 2018 – I hope your speculative fiction year is both happy and productive.

I suspect I am not alone in using the new year to try and develop a sense of renewed purpose in my writing (including this website). Best of luck to everyone!

Don’t forget that the Ditmar award nomination process is currently open. The Ditmars are the Australian speculative fiction voted awards. If you loved a piece of Australian speculative fiction during 2017, why not get in and nominate it?

If you want to remind yourself of what happened in 2017, there is a very excellent Ditmar eligibility wiki kept here.

I loved books like Nexus by Deborah Biancotti, Margo Lanagan and Scott Westerfeld, Lotus Blue by Cat Sparks, Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dyer and Corpselight by Angela Slatter in the novel section.

In the novella section, all the novellas by Tansy Rayner Roberts were excellent. If I had to pick one, I’d probably go with The Bromancers but it would be a line ball call.

There were some very excellent publications during 2017 – feel free to give a shout out to some of your favourites in the comments.

Great publishing news!

I had some exciting news a couple of weeks back. Dimension6, an excellent Australian speculative fiction magazine, accepted my novella, The Reclaimers, for publication.

The Reclaimers is a secondary world fantasy, where a magical weapon of mass destruction has left a world impacted by magical waste. The only use of magic now allowed is reclaiming, absorbing the magical waste to allow crops to grow, and people to not get sick. The story revolves around two reclaimers as they make their way around the edges of society where they are still tolerated.

I’ve had this novella kicking around for some time, but could never get it quite right. There also aren’t that many venues that take novellas, especially from little known authors. So, the story languished – sitting on my hard drive, enduring a little tinkering now and then but not really going anywhere.

And then, earlier this year, I decided I might self-publish it. I liked the story but I had got it into my head that no one would publish it. But only I had looked at it – and if I was going to self publish, I needed an external perspective. So, I put a call out for beta-readers and three people answered that call.

Ion “Nuke” Newcombe is the editor of Antipodean SF, who have published some of my flash fiction. Nuke gave some high level comments, and encouraged me to shop the story around before considering self-publishing. I’m very grateful for that friendly push – without it, I probably wouldn’t have made the effort to submit The Reclaimers to Dimension6!

Rhonda Selg also answered the call. Rhonda went through and provided some excellent, thought provoking comments that really helped sharpen the story. Rhonda has recently released her own book, Filigree Rings and other Fae things, which I’d encourage everyone to check out!

And finally, Kathryn Flaherty. Kathryn went above and beyond, and provided some of the most detailed comments anyone ever has for one of my stories. This feedback was invaluable, and really improved the quality of the story. If The Reclaimers is of publishable quality, it is in a large part because of Kathryn’s feedback. Kathryn recently had a flash fiction piece published at Antipodean SF, and also occasionally blogs.

If you eventually read and like The Reclaimers, it will be because of the excellent work of these three beta readers. If you don’t like it, you can definitely still blame me!

The Reclaimers is slated for release in Dimension6 in April 2018. I have nothing but appreciation for the most excellent Keith Stevenson, editor and publisher at Coeur de Lion (the creators of Dimension6) for the faith he has shown in my story.

Dimension6 Issue 12 out now

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.

Issue 12 features:

‘The Curious Child’ by Paul Speller

Cats are not the only things that shouldn’t be too curious.

_________________________________

‘Correlation’ by Paul Stephanus

Perspective is everything, even when it comes to garbage disposal.

_________________________________

‘The Gods of Mwaia’ by Bryce Stephens

Renai just wanted some land for his family; he nearly lost everything.