Ion “Nuke” Newcombe has combined the stories from the 25th anniversary edition with those from his 300th publication to create a book – Antipodean SF 300-25.
In the words of Nuke himself:
“AntipodeanSF 300–25 is a special dead-trees-and-ink anthology of stories from the online monthly magazine AntipodeanSF. This book celebrates two remarkable waystations: 300 issues and 25 years of publishing fabulous and original science-fiction, fantasy, and horror mini-stories from around the world, many of them by authors making their publishing debuts.”
It’s wonderful to have another short story in actual print. Most of my published stories have been online early, so to get something into a physical book is a rare treat.
If you’re an Antipodean SF fan and you’d like to buy a copy, you can order it here. All proceeds go to supporting Antipodean SF and keeping it free, and ad free.
If any of my longer term readers are still looking at this website (I know, it has been literally years since my last post!), you might recall that I have published some flash fiction pieces with Antipodean SF.
Recently, the editor Ion “Nuke” Newcombe put out the call for stories for the 25 year anniversary edition of Antipodean SF (you read that right – 25 years!) and I submitted a story. And low and behold, it was accepted.
The story is called “Indistinguishable from Science”. A very short piece, which came from the thought that most science fiction postulates science that might as well be magic (artificial gravity, faster than light travel etc). So why not make it magic?
I’ve also always been interested in thinking about what role magic would have in a technologically advanced civilisation.
Issue 293 came out in February 2023, but you can still read it in the archive or by going to the page with the eBook version.
After a few years where writing had to take a back seat to life, I’m just starting to dip my toe back in the water. Hopefully this won’t be the last post you see on this poor, deserted website!
Antipodean SF issue 262 is available now. I support Antipodean SF by producing the eBook edition of each month’s publication.
Issue 262 includes 13, count them 13, flash fiction pieces. Another crackerjack group of stories, but my favourite this month was Seaweed Sister by Louise Lannink. A beautiful story, with lovely use of language to convey a strong emotional resonance.
A Tale of Tyl Feánn: In which a step toward destiny is taken by steve duffy
Five Years by Roger Ley
In Matters of Movement by Zebuline Carter
Of Course Not by Colin L. Howe
Off With Her Weave by Andrew Dunn
Seaweed Sister by Louise Lannink
Sieze the Day by R.J. Sadler
Tea Brewing at the End of Humanity by François Verret
Long suffering readers of this sparsely populated blog will recall that I’m a big fan of Tansy Rayner Roberts’ work. I’m one of her many Patreon subscribers, and it is a monthly investment that more than pays for itself in good reading and listening time.
Tansy posted an update today talking about some upcoming special offers for Patreon subscribers, including audio books and paperbacks. I’m excited about the upcoming work (especially looking forward to the next in the Teacup Islands series – The Frost Fair Affair). If you enjoy Tansy’s work then this seems like an excellent time to get involved with supporting her Patreon.
Of course, in these difficult times not everyone has cash to spend, but if so why not support your favourite author or content creator through other means? Signal boosting, watching content to increase viewing numbers and word of mouth all can play a great role in giving your favourite author the visibility they need to get their work out there.
Antipodean SF issue 261 is available now. I support Antipodean SF by producing the eBook edition of each month’s publication.
Issue 261 includes 11 flash fiction pieces. I like all the stories each month of course, but this month’s favourite was In the Beginning by Emma Riley. Universes as a result of pimple popping took the cake!
A Tale of Tyl Feánn: In which a child is conceived by steve duffy
Imagining Dragons by Bart Meehan
In the Beginning by Emma Riley
Speck by Simon B. Pointer
The Night Depression Came to Life by Zebuline Carter
Dear Friends by Ben F. Blitzer
Relief Efforts by Dmitri Christopher
The Third Law of HAVOC by David Kernot
Conversation in a Utopian Future by Denice Penrose
The Ghostship by Maree Collie
The Door Into Last Night by Hassac Naminov – Translated by Toshiya Kamei
I’ve long been a fan of Australian author Jason Franks. His previous books, Bloody Waters and Faerie Apocalypse were both weird, but in the best possible way.
Shadowmancy by Jason Franks
Shadowmancy continues the weirdness. It is a dark, dark tale about a boy who goes to wizard school – but this ain’t the wizard school your mama told you about! Learning happens without teaching. Dangerous deals are done. And power is bought in the most cutthroat of marketplaces.
Franks grounds his writing with a sense of place, a visual sensibility enhanced by the illustrations. The pacing is great, the characters vivid, the choices bold.
I’d love to describe the book more, but in some ways to describe it is to ruin the experience of engaging in it. The book does not represent a long read, and I highly recommend going into it as cold as you can, without preconceived notions of what a book about magic schools should be.
As always, Franks delivers! At this point, I’ll pretty much read whatever he produces on spec – no matter what the subject matter.
Last post I mentioned that my story “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” had been published in AntipodeanSF issue 250. Well, the fantastic news is that Nuke, the editor, also released the edition using the dried out bodies of dead trees.
My very own copy of AntipodeanSF Issue 250.
It’s the first time one of my stories has appeared in an actual, real life book and I’m ever so chuffed. I may have even bought a copy for my parents. And my daughter. And one of my brothers. And an aunt who once said that she liked one of my stories. I was a little enthusiastic.
AntipodeanSF Issue 250 is available here if you’d like your own copy. With over 50 stories, it is definitely worth checking out. Otherwise, just go along to the AntipodeanSF website to read the stories online for free!
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.
