Keep reading for big book news, but first…
I daresay Robin Ince would never forgive me, but yesterday I actually turned down the opportunity for a brain scan.
One of the little voices in my head was screaming at me, “Go on, you know you would be utterly fascinated! It doesn’t matter if the old grey matter has any surprises. Do it! DOOO IT!”
Another voice said, more gently. “Listen to this lovely beardy neurologist who totally and utterly agrees with you that whatever is going on in your brain, it’s probably just stress-triggered and something you need to live with. He believes a scan would be an elimination exercise, but it may just reveal you have the start of cognitive decline appearing in the ridges and folds of that noggin, or another horrible thing, or as he puts it ‘something congenital’. And we know you’re built wrong, with your massive tumour, your lazy eye, and extra skin flaps, and your braidable back hair, your webbed toes, and your horseshoe kidneys. Sorry, kidney. Your brain is misfiring in an effort to cope with your crazy life, but at least you have one…crazy life, or brain, I’m not sure which. Anyway, look at what his eyes are saying when he says, ‘You probably wouldn’t want to know.’ He’s seen some things, maaan.”
The irony is, in the last couple of weeks, my ticks have not been plaguing me so badly and have been quite manageable. I’m afraid of examining why this might be too closely, but there has been a definite change of focus in my life, and getting back into the habit of both reading for pleasure and editing for work has been joyful. Plus, Neil and I are getting stuck into a big decluttering and house improvement project with a view to making some big life changes, and those changes are looking more and more within reach as the summer brightens, and the house is distinctly purdier!
And there is so much going on in my bookish world.
Firstly, although I spoke about it elsewhere, I have not yet mentioned here that To the Stars and Back: Stories in Honour of Eric Brown, which includes my story “A Sea Change”, was released on Eric’s birthday, May 24th by Newcon Press. There are some really lovely stories in this. Do go and check it out.
And then the very next thing is The Slab Press’s new anthology Laughs in Space! Official Release date August 12th.
Set to be released at Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures, Laughs in Space is a brand-new anthology of humorous science fiction from The Slab Press, featuring many well-known names from the global genre publishing scene, and a few up-and-coming performers and creators from the UK stand-up circuit. In this book, I have sought out stories that combine my two great loves: clever and surprising science-fiction, and brilliant, off-the-beaten-track comedy. I am a woman of eclectic tastes, and so there is a real variety of different kinds of stories in here, and different kinds of funny too, so you are sure to find something to make you smile, whether your funny science-fiction go-to is Red Dwarf, Black Mirror, Pigs in Space, or even Hyperdrive.
Pre-order info will be available next week, when hopefully I will also be able to give you information about what panels I’m on, and when the book launch is (Shhh, I’m not going all GRR on you, that news is definitely coming…). In the meantime, go to the pages of these guys on social media and give them all a hearty congrats!
- Introduction – Donna Scott
- The Schadchen of Venus – Lavie Tidhar
- Intergalactic Cultural Exchange – Akis Linardos
- Copywrongs – Emma Levin
- Bev the Hacker Does Time – Cait Gordon
- Querulous Times – Rick Danforth
- Professor and Frankie’s Last Big Heist – Lindsay Comer
- Rise of the Spiderbots – Alex McNall
- The Trouble With Vacations – Robert Bagnall
- De’Swine’s Second Question – David Gullen
- Sundog 4 – Alice Dryden
- Bootleg Baba’s Beautiful Claws – Marisca Pichette
- So You Want to Kill Hitler: A Student’s Primer – Lindz McLeod
- Shelf Life – Richard Dadd
- The Chicken Plucker (Have You Seen the Price of Eggs Lately) – Iris Taylor
- Dai’s Ex-Machina – Dafydd Rhys Hopcyn-Kitchener
- Random Selection – Paul Eccentric
- The Complicated World of the Spider – L.N. Hunter
- The Umami Invasion – Gary Couzens
- The Lots of Us – Phillip Irving
- The Rampage of Rampant Redwood at the Ginger Girls Gala – Ian Watson
- Statement From the Prime Minister Regarding the Time Travellers – Andrew Wallace
- Failed Experiments in Eugenics – Fiona Moore
- Everything is Relative – Simon Hall
- Killing Time – Ida Keogh
- About the Authors
The results of the Locus Magazine poll were published in issue #762 this month, and I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted for The Best of British Science Fiction 2022 in that poll. We came 11th overall, which isn’t too shabby!
Speaking of magazines, Arley Sorg interviewed me for Clarkesworld, and that interview is out now in issue #214. There’s also an interview with China Mieville, and some great stories, too. Always love reading fiction by Natalie Theodoridou! You can read it online, or buy a full version of the magazine from your preferred ebook retailer.
Coming up next week, I have a book release day for the very next iteration of Best of British Science Fiction. Best of British Science Fiction 2023 is released on July 16th, and to celebrate, I’m having an online launch! You can watch it on YouTube here at 7pm on Tuesday July 17th (click on the link and set your notifications!). You will have the opportunity to chat with me and my guests, which so far include Jaine Fenn, David Cleden, Rhiannon Grist, Robert Bagnall, and Teika Marija Smits – perhaps other guests too!
I have been to visit Northampton’s finest cheese shop, St Giles Cheese, and picked up a marvellous selection for Tuesday. It’ll probably be Sainsbobs for the wine though as I know they do Snoop Dogg’s and I haven’t tried that one yet.
And for those of you like a bargain, the BSFA-Award-winning Best of British Science Fiction 2022 has been selected by editor Lavie Tidhar (that guy again!) to be part of this month’s Storybundle offer!
It’s a pay what you want scheme, so you get to support awesome authors while stocking up your e-reader with a carefully curated selection, but if you pay at least $20USD, you get all 10! There are only 20 days left on this offer, so if you haven’t bought my award-winning anthology yet, now’s the best time, and bag yourself some more great reads into the bargain!
