My humorous fantasy story “Burying Treasure” is in this latest installment of the Chicks in Chainmail anthology series, edited by Esther Friesner. “Burying Treasure” attempts to explain why there are piles of treasure and gold always lying around, in the unlikeliest of places, for the heroes of traditional fantasy stories and Dungeons and Dragons campaigns to find. The short answer, or course, is Keynesian economics. The long answer … you’ll just have to read the story to find out!
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on Burying Treasure – Chicks and Balances anthology | 
Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: Baen, Chicks and Balances, Chicks in Chainmail, fantasy, humor | 
Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
If you’ve been waiting to pick up a copy of H. G. Wells, Secret Agent novella, it is now available in e-book format! I’m not sure how long it will take for the paperback to show up on Amazon, but it should be soon, and available through the same link. Meanwhile, here it is:
H. G. Wells is a Victorian-era James Bond who must defend England and the world against time travelers, alien incursions and interdimensional threats (if he can learn quickly on the job, and survive the human foes he encounters, that is!)
During his missions, Wells will team up with Anton Chekhov to foil an assassination plot against Prince Nicholas Romanov of Russia, oversee the construction of the giant antenna designed to detect alien invasion fleets (or, as we know it, the Eiffel Tower), rub shoulders with the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Curie, Jules Verne and Annie Oakley, and risk everything to encourage cooperation among the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies.
This humorous steampunk novella is filled with Easter eggs and British pop-culture references, from The Beatles and Ian Fleming to Douglas Adams and Dr. Who.
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on H. G. Wells, Secret Agent e-book now available! | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: alternate history, H. G. Wells, humor, steampunk | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
I have the proofs of the physical book in hand and they sure look good! The e-book and paperback versions will be up on Amazon next week. I will post the link as soon as it’s up. If you really don’t want to wait, you can order your copy of the paperback from the CreateSpace store already:
https://www.createspace.com/5567651
If I’m very lucky, I might receive print copies in time for Readercon next week, but more likely they will show up the week after that. Also, those who backed the Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma kickstarter last year will get their e-copies today!
#SFWAPro
1 Comment | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: alternative history, H. G. Wells, humor, steampunk | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
The July issue of Galaxy’s Edge is now live, and you can read my novelette, “Islands in the Sargasso”, for free — but only for the next couple of months, until the September issue is released and then you’ll have to buy the issue. So, read now! It has alien invasion fleets, a galaxy-spanning conspiracy, and drug addiction.
I always love being published in Galaxy’s Edge — not only because it’s edited by Mike Resnick, whom I greatly admire, but also because I get to share the table of contents with all kinds of cool people. Just look at the above!
At 8000 words, “Islands in the Sargasso” will briefly become the longest piece of my fiction available — but only briefly. The H. G. Wells, Secret Agent novella is coming out very soon! In fact, July 2015 will have more new words written by me released into the world than any month prior. I’m super excited!
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on Islands in the Sargasso – Galaxy’s Edge magazine issue 15 | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: galaxy's edge, novelette, space opera | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
This week’s issue of Nature includes “Grains of Wheat,” my story of big pharma, chess mythology, and revenge. You can read it here for free. There’s also a link from the story that leads to a brief essay about the inspiration and writing challenges behind it, which I hope readers of this blog will find interesting.
#SFWAPro
4 Comments | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: flash fiction, nature | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
It’s been a while since I had the time to write an update, so here’s a brief rundown on some recent writing and publishing news.
The May issue of the Fantastic Stories of the Imagination has reprinted by story Icarus Falls (cover art above), which was originally published in Daily Science Fiction last year. It’s definitely one of my strongest stories, so if you haven’t read it yet, please do! FSoI is also running a crowdfunding campaign right now. They’re a worthy magazine, so please take a look and consider backing. There are lots of great fiction rewards available!
I also recently sold an original flash fiction story, “He Who Watches” to Fireside Magazine. This will be my first time appearing at Fireside, which is a very nice market as well, so I’m excited to have broken in.
I’m also excited that StarShipSofa, possibly the world’s top SF short fiction podcast, has selected a whopping six stories from my collection to produce for their show. The following stories will appear at StarShipSofa: Doubt, The Dragon Ships of Tycho, Ravages of Time, Price of Allegiance, The Far Side of the Wilderness and Dominoes Falling.
And speaking of the collection — it is very kindly reviewed in the May issue of Locus Magazine. They talked about a dozen or so individual stories, drawing the following conclusion: “At any length, Shvartsman is an entertaining writer who can take on many voices and make them his.”
Finally, I’ve been hard at work on UFO4 and hope to announce the final TOC by next week!
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on New Sales and Publications | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Fireside, Locus, StarShipSofa | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
My humorous flash story “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Monsters” has been podcasted, rather brilliantly, at Far-Fetched Fables. You can listen to it there, or read the original at DSF.
And speaking of funny stories, there’s no more appropriate listening on April 15 than “Carla at the Off-Planet Tax Return Helpline” by Caroline M. Yoachim. It was originally published in UFO3, and is now live at Toasted Cake. Listen to it here.
Comments Off on Funny Podcasts | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: Caroline M. Yoachim, daily science fiction, Far-Fetched Fables, toasted cake, UFO3 | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
I will be speaking in front of the Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers association tonight, but non-members are able to attend as well (there is, however, a $5 entry fee and a two drink minimum).
The subject of the talk is humor in SF/F. How to write it, tricks for injecting some humor into one’s fiction, as well as a run-down of the short fiction markets that are most amenable to humorous and lighthearted stories.
The event will take place at Threes Brewing, 333 Douglass Street. Doors open at 6pm and the talk begins at 6:30pm. Come on by!
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on Live talk in Brooklyn tonight | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
I’ve been sitting on this news for about a week, and now that the latest issue of InterGalactic Medicine Show is out, I can finally brag. The following are the results of the IGMS Reader Poll this year:
1st place – “The Sound of Distant Thunder” by Mike Barretta
2nd place – “The Golem of Deneb Seven” by Alex Shvartsman
3rd place (tie) – “Until We Find Better Magic” by H.G. Parry
3rd place (tie) – “High-Tech Fairies and the Pandora Perplexity” by Alex Shvartsman
Last year, “Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma” came in 2nd in the poll, and I’m very excited to see an even better result this time around. I was told that I am the first author in the history of the poll to place two stories in the top 3!
The illustration for “High-Tech Fairies” by Andres Mossa won first place in the Interior Art category of the contest.
I’d say this is a good week 🙂
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on 2015 IGMS Reader Poll | Acceptances & Publications | Tagged: IGMS, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Reader Poll | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
Twelfth Planet Press announced the Honorable Mention list for the 2013 Year’s Best Young Adult Speculative Fiction. I’m very honored to have my story “Things We Leave Behind” included on this list! Ken Liu’s story from UFO2, “The MSG Golem” has made the list as well.
You can read Things We Leave Behind at Daily Science Fiction, where it was originally published. You can also listen to the story podcasted at Cast of Wonders, and narrated by me!
The May 16 issue of Crain’s New York Business Journal ran a profile on me in my capacity as owner and operator of Kings Games. All I have is this thumbnail for now, but I’m expecting some copies in the mail and am looking forward to reading the article.
These are the contributor copies of Informator Gdanskiego Klubu Fantastyki, which has been publishing my Tales of the Elopus mini-stories translated into Polish, one per issue. You can also see the PDF issues online, here. (Click on the magazine cover at top right.)
Editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt shared the cover art of Mission: Tomorrow, his anthology forthcoming from Baen this November which includes my story “The Race for Arcadia.” This will be my second appearance in a Baen anthology, after this summer’s release of the latest Chicks in Chainmail volume.
#SFWAPro
Comments Off on Lots of cool news (with pictures) | Acceptances & Publications, Craft of Writing | Tagged: Baen, Chicks in Chainmail, Mission Tomorrow, translation, Twelfth Planet Press, Year's Best | Permalink
Posted by Alex Shvartsman
You are currently browsing the archives for the Acceptances & Publications category.
