My story “Across the Digital Curtain” is live in the current issue of The Continental Literary Magazine.
This is a glossy high-end literary print magazine which has published the likes of Noam Chomsky, Roxane Gay, and Marianne Williamson but also does not shy away from science fiction. Recent issues include stories by Kelly Link and Ken Liu. Honored to join their company.
My story is in the themed Borders issue and imagines a new Cold War between Russia and the West where the two sides have severed virtually all connections and have their local versions of the internet, etc. (we are already seeing some of that happening now across the globe). This is mixed with a spy story and nods to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where I visited last year.
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There are so many Christmas stories, and so many “nerdy gifts” out there that make for wonderful stocking stuffers. But your options are far more limited when searching for a Hanukkah gift that will appeal to someone who loves science fiction/fantasy/horror books and movies. This board book will make for a perfect gift and a fun read all year long!
Also, Cthulhu and ̶C̶h̶a̶n̶u̶k̶a̶h̶ ̶H̶a̶n̶u̶k̶a̶ Hanukkah are a perfect mash-up since no one is exactly sure how to spell either one of those things!
Written by Alex Shvartsman and illustrated by Tomeu Riera, this hardcover board book will feature 11 spreads (22 pages including cover and backcover) and will be released on November 26, 2024.
A Kickstarter campaign will launch in mid- to late July. To preview a lot more wonderful artwork, snag exclusive extras, and get your copy early please click the link below and sign up to be notified of the launch.
I’m very pleased to announce that the audio rights for The Digital Aesthete have been acquired by Dreamscape Media and the audiobook will be out this summer. Stay tuned!
It’s been a while since I posted a general update. Here goes:
Writing
Since about September of 2023 I’ve been working on a comedy novel The Best of All Possible Planets. I describe it as a space opera retelling of Candide written as a series of Futurama episodes.
My ambitious plan was to quickly write this book before moving on to the third Conradverse novel. However, I discovered that writing straight-up humor is much more difficult and slower than writing action-adventure with some humor in it. So it’s been a much longer slog for what promises to be a relatively short book. The good news is that I have only two chapters left to write and hope to complete the first draft in another week or so. I will then need to do revisions, a round of feedback from beta readers, and another round of revisions. But ultimately I expect to deliver the manuscript to my agent sometime in June!
Translation
I’ve been very short on translation projects lately. Working on one short story translation which I expect to also finish by the end of this month. The novel I translated last year still hasn’t been published yet and I have no large projects on my plate at the moment, which is probably a good thing given how busy I’ve been. But I hope to do more of this soon.
Publications
The May/June issue of Asimov’s includes my translation of Leo Kaganov’s “The Rattler.”
I’ve also had two reprints published recently: “The Golem of Deneb Seven” in the Red Stars and Shattered Shields benefit anthology for Magen David Adom and “Price of Allegiance” in the Leadership Gone Right anthology.
I have two original stories coming out in June. “The In-Between Places” in The Horror at Poo Corner (the first true horror story I’ve written!) and “Doc’s Lucky Day at the City Dump” a sci-fi story in the YA anthology Wink. One more story, “Rumspringa in Sunzheika” is slated for the Shapers of Worlds V anthology currently on Kickstarter.
Anthologies
I still plan to work on UFO10 at some point but the timing is a bit suspect. I have several other cool projects going on that I can’t announce yet and it really depends on my workload. Meantime, The Digital Aesthete is getting good press, award nominations, and other good news one of which I expect to announce later this week. Watch this space.
“The Unknown Painter” by Henry Lion Oldie (and translated by me) is a BSFA Award finalist in the newly-added category of Best Translated Short Fiction. The award ceremony will take place in Telford, UK over the Easter weekend.
Huge congratulations to Dmytro Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky who collectively write under the nom de plume of Henry Lion Oldie. I am pretty sure theirs is the first Ukrainian short story to be nominated for a major English language award, and possibly the first such story translated from the Russian language overall.
Also, major kudos to BSFA for introducing the translated fiction category. It is long overdue. I hope Hugo, Nebula, and Locus administrators will take notice.
You can read “The Uknown Painter” free at the link above, but also consider buying The Digital Aesthete anthology which includes this and many other fabulous stories.
It’s always pretty cool to write posts about my stories and books appearing in new and exciting places, but this one is special because I can now report that my fiction has made it to the frickin’ Moon. Literally.
I was privileged to be included in The Lunar Codex, a project by author and editor Samuel Peralta who collected a variety of fiction and art on flash drives and paid to send them up as part of the payload in various lunar missions.
Odysseus, the Nova-C lunar lander that successfully reached the surface of the Moon on February 22, 2024 contained, among other works, a copy of the Oceans anthology edited by Daniel Arthur Smith. It includes my Coffee Corps cycle story “The Hunt for the Vigilant” alongside works by Ken Liu, Caroline Yoachim, and others.
So, another weird and supremely cool achievement unlocked. It’s these sorts of things that make my writerly journey delightful.
I’ll be doing a rare live event in Brooklyn tomorrow! Rare because most of the local-ish sci-fi conventions aren’t in Brooklyn, or even NYC but a few hours’ drive away in either direction: MD, MA, sometimes PA or NJ. But Randee Dawn has been doing a heroic job bringing some excellent live speculative events to our borough, first at the Ample Hills ice cream shop and now at the Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room in Industry City (Sunset Park). Which is mere blocks away from where The Middling Affliction opens, incidentally.
Join me and several fabulous authors on Tuesday, Dec 19 for an evening of readings and booze (also, shenanigans.) And it’s even free! Details can be found here:
Book 2 in the Conradverse Chronicles is out today! Many of the digital retailers are still onboarding the audiobook but you should be able to buy the paperback and ebook in all the usual places, and the audiobook in several outlets already.
Here are a few of the vendors where you can find it:
Book series live and die by word of mouth. Please read/listen, share the book with others, and post a review or even just a rating. It will help ensure there’s a book 3!
Two new anthologies are live on Kickstarter as of today! Murderbugs and Vampire Survival Guide are both edited by Mike Jack Stoumbos and will be published in 2024.
If the campaign reaches a $6000 mark I will write a story for the Vampire Survival Guide tentatively titled “Hemotherapy” (not a typo.) Intrigued to see what advice I might have for vampires to survive in the cold and uncaring human world? Pledge some cash to the campaign!
Those who pledge in the first 24 hours will also get a stack of additional e-books, including David Hankins’ hilarious new novel Death and the Taxman as well as my own Funny Horror anthology!
I was interviewed on Chapman’s Secrets (yes, that Anna Chapman), a documentary show with strong tabloid vibes which airs on the Russian TV network Ren TV. They were working on an episode about the urban myths and legends of New York City, which I’m well-suited to talk about due to the nature of my current urban fantasy series. The episode aired on May 29, 2023 and I got to discuss the origins of many different urban legends. My replies were dubbed into Russian, but those who are able to understand it can watch me talk about crocodiles in the sewers, how a penny dropped from a skyscraper won’t actually kill you, and pizza rat.
Posted by Alex Shvartsman 
Alex Shvartsman's Speculative Fiction 