New story in Bourbon Penn

I’ve got a new story out in the lovely Bourbon Penn. It’s called “Caretaker,” and, oddly enough, it’s about a woman who works as a caretaker for a cemetery. I mean, I guess it happens to be the only cemetery in the world and it’s so big she can’t see the walls…

Head over to Bourbon Penn and read “Caretaker,” then check out the rest of the wonderful stories in this issue. You can also pick up a copy of the issue for Kindle, or buy it as a printed object.

New Story: Supranow

Some days you build a world, some days a world builds you. Wait, what?

Nevermind. Check out “SupraNow,” a sci-fi bit in which I shamelessly plug a Sony product that doesn’t exist yet.

Thanks to the folks at Dr. Hurley’s Snake-Oil Cure for giving this piece a home.

Surprise of the Week: Pandorum

With free Starz for the month and the GF out of town last weekend, I went on a bit of a movie binge.  I was majorly disappointed by The Book of Eli, got exactly what I expected from Ninja Assassin and Predators, and was pleasantly surprised by Pandorum.

I avoided Pandorum when it came out because the advertising made it look like just another schlocky survival horror film dressed up with science fiction bits.  In actuality, Pandorum is a potentially great science fiction movie dragged down by some tacked-on survival horror bits.

M-Brane Quarterly now on Amazon!

M-Brane SF has their first print quarterly available for purchase on Amazon right now for the bargain price of $11.95.  You should buy it because I’m in it it’s important to support small publications.  But I am in it, or my story “Cooper and the Satellite” is.  I don’t think I’d fit.

If you’re too cheap need to save money for your nose job hamster’s mastectomy, you can buy the pdf version of issue 20 (the one with my story) from the website for $2.

Under Consideration for BAF, BAF Cancelled

Apparently my short story “Eris Sinks Pluto” was under consideration to be included in the next Best American Fantasy collection.  And then BAF was cancelled.  Bummer — for all those involved.

New Story Out!

A new story by the devilishly handsome Will Kaufman, “Cooper and the Satellite,” is out in issue #20 of M-Brane Science Fiction.  Right now they’re offering a big discount on subscriptions to the PDF edition of their zine…$4.00 for a year.  That’s only double the $2.00 asking price for a single issue.

If you want a print edition, you’ll have to wait until October when M-Brane‘s quarterly comes out.

District 9 and the Documentary Style

I finally got around to watching District 9, and for the most part I enjoyed it.  So often movies with premises that center around social issues have problems maintaining profluence (see A Day Without A Mexican), but District 9 managed to shoehorn in an extensive criticism of humanity while keeping the story moving.

My biggest problem with D-9 was the point of view.  The movie starts off as a faux documentary and then transitions into a more traditional omniscient camera POV, an unusual choice.  Most faux-docs maintain the documentary POV for the sake of realism, and leaving it behind felt jarring.

I Done Been Reviewed Again!

Last time, well, whatever.  But this time!  Oh, Lordy!

“Eris Sinks Pluto” by Will Kaufman is a story of youth, friendship, frivolity, and choices, set on a moon awaiting its own destruction. Kaufman’s framing of an interpersonal conflict set amidst an interplanetary one is endlessly clever, and he follows through on the idea with compelling characters, realistic dialogue, and a fluid writing style that has all the ease of stream of consciousness prose without any of the confusion. Doubtlessly, this is the issue’s strongest story, and Kaufman its most promising new voice in speculative fiction.

I’m having this printed on a t-shirt!

Best Rejection Yet

I just received a rejection e-mail that contained the following snippet:

Back to the Meat Cube

Jason Pargin wrote a great article from E3 this year, in which he laments that the gaming industry has traded real innovation for a flood of gimmicks and sequels.  This year, for example, sees the introduction of Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s Move, both of which are being launched with a lot of knockoff Wii-shovelware titles.

Wii Sports, meet Kinect Sports.  Wii Fit, meet Your Shape.  Etcetera, etc.

From my point of view, the biggest woe is that every time a new gaming “advance” is introduced, storytelling tends to take a back seat.  The move to HD and “next gen” gaming made graphics the most important part of the game.  As Mr. Pargin pointed out, gamers posted more than 2,000 complaints on Remedy’s forum about Alan Wake not running in full 720p.