Joshua Palmatier

Table of Contents Reveal: MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK!

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:18:48 GMT

Zombies Need Brains is thrilled to announce the Table of Contents and reveal the cover art and cover for our anthology MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK! For those that missed the Kickstarter, you can preorder the Kindle Ebook at  https://amzn.to/2UwkqUK .  The limited-edition Kickstarter edition and ebooks can also be preordered at the ZNB online store at https://zombies-need-brains-llc.square.site/. The anthology will be available in trade paperback and in other ebook formats (Nook, Baen, Scribd, etc.) on its release date of July 1st, 2020. Those who preorder the Kickstarter edition or the ebooks through the ZNB online store will get the anthology early! Here's the front cover:

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"My Battery Is Low and It Is Getting Dark" Front Cover

Here's the Table of Contents:

MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK

Edited by Crystal Sarakas & Joshua Palmatier

Introduction

“Ganbold and the Best Drone in Mongolia” by Dana Berube

“This Cold Red Dust” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor

“Traveling Hopefully” by Jacey Bedford

“Ain’t Done Haunting” by Anthony Lowe

“The Circle” by Chris Kocher

“Foster-Child of Silence and Slow Time” by Brian Hugenbruch

“We Choose to Do These Things” by William Leisner

“Brewing Insurrection” by Jose Pablo Iriarte

“Sassi’s Last Ride” by Alethea Kontis

“The Ghosts of Versailles” by Kari Sperring

“Beneath the Pall” by Edward Willett

“Sanctuary” by John G. Hartness

“Terra 3:56” by Alexander Gideon

“One Had a Lovely Face” by Stephen Leigh

Here's the back cover copy:

A military attack drone turned shepherd. A train on the London Underground evolving into something new and wondrous. A troupe of robotic actors struggling to find meaning when the audience has disappeared. Explore the myriad ideas of what happens when out-of-date and abandoned technologies are given a second life—one that takes them in a new direction, far outside their intended programming and beyond their original purpose.

MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK features fourteen stories of quiet hope, heartbreak, creation, and death from fantasy and science fiction authors Dana Berube, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, Jacey Bedford, Anthony Lowe, Chris Kocher, Brian Hugenbruch, William Leisner, José Pablo Iriarte, Alethea Kontis, Kari Sperring, Edward Willett, John G. Hartness, Alexander Gideon, and Stephen Leigh. You may never look at your smart speaker the same way again.

And last but not least, the full cover art, which is a wrap-around (meaning the back cover, spine, and front cover all in one). This art was done by Justin Adams of Varia Studios and is available as a print at the ZNB online store.

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"My Battery Is Low" by Justin Adams of Varia Studios

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Table of Contents Reveal: APOCALYPTIC!

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:59:50 GMT

Zombies Need Brains is thrilled to announce the Table of Contents for our anthology APOCALYPTIC! For those that missed the Kickstarter, you can preorder the Kindle Ebook at https://amzn.to/39iX4Gc .  The limited-edition Kickstarter edition and ebooks can also be preordered at the ZNB online store at https://zombies-need-brains-llc.square.site/. The anthology will be available in trade paperback and in other ebook formats (Nook, Baen, Scribd, etc.) on its release date of July 1st, 2020. Those who preorder the Kickstarter edition or the ebooks through the ZNB online store will get the anthology early!

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"Apocalyptic" Front Cover

Here's the Table of Contents:

APOCALYPTIC

Edited by S.C. Butler & Joshua Palmatier

“Coafield’s Catalog of Available Apocalypse Events” by Seanan McGuire

“Solo Cooking for the Recently Revived” by Aimee Picchi

“To Dust We Shall Return” by Tanya Huff

“End of Eternity” by Nancy Holzner

“Little Armageddons” by Stephen Blackmoore

“Almost Like Snow” by Zakariah Johnson

“Shadows Behind” by Violette Malan

“A Tale of Two Apocalypses” by Eleftherios Keramidas

“Zodiac Chorus” by James Enge

“Last Letters” by Leah Ning

"Gut Truck" by Thomas Vaughn

“Sass and Sacrifice” by Marjorie King

“The Ballad of Rory McDaniels” by Jason Palmatier

“Trust Fall” by Blake Jessop

Here's the back cover copy:

Who doesn’t love a good apocalyptic story? They come in all kinds, from the nightmare terrors of superflus and zombie invasions to quieter, more reflective tales of loss and survival. Stories that feature people struggling through the end of the world or fighting to survive in what little bits of civilization still remain are always compelling. What better way for readers to safely explore the extremes of the human condition without actually having to fight off the ravening hordes themselves?

APOCALYPTIC features stories from fourteen old and new favorite ZNB authors: Seanan McGuire, Aimee Picchi, Tanya Huff, Nancy Holzner, Stephen Blackmoore, Zakariah Johnson, Violette Malan, Eleftherios Keramidas, James Enge, Leah Ning, Thomas Vaughn, Marjorie King, Jason Palmatier, and Blake Jessop. Flee the Baboon King, die of thirst in the White Mountains, brew up a bubbling blob of nanotech road kill in the back of a garbage truck, or, worst of all, try to reintegrate yourself back into society as a former zombie. Then ask yourself, would you survive the Apocalypse? Would you even want to?

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Table of Contents Reveal: GALACTIC STEW!

Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:36:06 GMT

Zombies Need Brains is thrilled to announce the Table of Contents for our anthology GALACTIC STEW! For those that missed the Kickstarter, you can preorder the Kindle Ebook at https://amzn.to/2QDYepk. The limited-edition Kickstarter edition and ebooks can also be preordered at the ZNB online store at https://zombies-need-brains-llc.square.site/. The anthology will be available in trade paperback and in other ebook formats (Nook, Baen, Scribd, etc.) on its release date of July 1st, 2020. Those who preorder the Kickstarter edition or the ebooks through the ZNB online store will get the anthology early!

Here's the Table of Contents:

GALACTIC STEW

Edited by David B. Coe & Joshua Palmatier

Introduction by David B. Coe

“Blue” by Paige L. Christie

“My Brother’s Leaves” by Diana A. Hart

“Snow and Apples” by A.L. Tompkins

“Sense and Sensibility” by Esther Friesner

“The Silence That Consumes Us” by Derrick Boden

“The All Go Hungry Hash House” by Andy Duncan

“Pickled Roots and Peeled Shoots and a Bowl of Farflower Tea” by Chaz Brenchley

“Course of Blood” by Howard Andrew Jones

“A Real Llywelyn Scone” by Mike Jack Stoumbos

“Tender” by Rod Belcher

“That Final Touch of Salt” by Mia Moss

“Alien Capers” by Gini Koch

“Magick on the Half Shell” by D.B. Jackson

“Apocalypse Chow” by Jason Palmatier

“Six Sandwiches to Place Inside a Pentagram to Summon Me to Your Presence” by Gabriela Santiago

We do not yet have back cover copy, but here's a quick summary for those not already familiar with the anthology:

Food is an essential part of life—not just for energy and exotic flavors, but as a unifier during social events, a focal point for establishing culture, and shared experience to put people at ease. In GALACTIC STEW, readers will sit down at the communal table and sup upon stories centered on food. Whether it’s a tense treaty negotiation over a full course meal or a trap devised by the fae to chain you to their realm, these stories are certain to be delectable. Come and savor these delicacies…and hope the taste doesn’t mask a deadly poison!

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HUGO Nomination Time!

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 16:49:34 GMT

It's time to nominate for the HUGO Awards! For those that can nominate (those who attended the Worldcon in Dublin), here are the editors and stories from Zombies Need Brains that are eligible for nomination from 2019, in no particular order. We'd appreciate your consideration when filling out your nomination ballot!

Best Editor (Short Form):
   Joshua Palmatier
   Patricia Bray
   S.C. Butler
   Steven H Silver

Best Short Story:
   "Election Day" by Harry Turtledove (Alternate Peace)
   "A Fine Line, Indeed" by C.W. Briar (Alternate Peace)
   "The Sisters of the Hallowed Marsh" by Elizabeth Kite (Alternate Peace)
   "New Moon, Dark Skies" by Mike Barretta (Alternate Peace)
   "His Master's Voice" by Kari Sperring (Alternate Peace)
   "O-Rings" by Elektra Hammond (Alternate Peace)
   "Selkie" by Ian R. MacLeod (Alternate Peace)
   "The Echoes of a Shot" by Juliet E. McKenna (Alternate Peace)
   "A Dad Ought to Have Nightmares" by Dale Cozort (Alternate Peace)
   "What Makes a Better World" by Michael Robertson (Alternate Peace)
   "Or, the Modern Psyche" by Brian Hugenbruch (Alternate Peace)
   "Donny Boy" by Rick Wilber (Alternate Peace)
   "Field of Cloth of Gold and Blood, Sweat, and Tears" by Kat Otis (Alternate Peace)
   "Keeper of the Light" by Ken Altabef (Temporally Deactivated)
   "The Eyes of Odin" by Alex Gideon (Temporally Deactivated)
   "All the Time in the World" by Stephen Leigh (Temporally Deactivated)
   "The Other Walker" by D.B. Jackson (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Eye of the Needle" by C.S. Friedman (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Tempus Erratum" by Emily Randall (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Missy the Were-Pomeranian vs. the Lord of Time" by Gini Koch (Temporally Deactivated)
   "The Mirror Trap" by Misty Massey (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Love and the Improper Unicorn" by Rhondi Ann (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Schroedinger's Fractal" by Edmund R. Schubert (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Clockwork Corsair" by R.K. Nickel (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Compassionate Retry" by Marie DesJardin (Temporally Deactivated)
   "Neurons Lost and Found" by Christine Lucas (Temporally Deactivated)
   "A Bend in the Air" by F. Brett Cox (Portals)
   "All the Lost Places" by Jaime Lee Moyer (Portals)
   "Cracks in the Road" by Patrick Hurley (Portals)
   "Doorways in the Sand" by Violette Malan (Portals)
   "Deus Ex Machina" by Ian Tregillis (Portals)
   "Hard Times in the Vancouver Continuum" by Andrija Popovic (Portals)
   "Onward to Glory!" by Jason Palmatier (Portals)
   "A Land Fit for Heroes" by Jacey Bedford (Portals)
   "Iron and Anthracite" by John Linwood Grant (Portals)
   "The Namesake" by Kate Hall (Portals)
   "Portal Pirates" by Gini Koch (Portals)
   "What Time Is It?" by Nancy Holzner (Portals)

Best Novelette:
   "Easter Rising" by Stephen Leigh (Alternate Peace)
   "My Dark Knight" by Faith Hunter (Temporally Deactivated)
   "A Stranger Comes to Town" by James Enge (Portals)
   "Brick and Mirror" by Steven Harper (Portals)
   "This Way Out" by Esther Friesner (Portals)
   "Cocoon" by Joshua Palmatier

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Open Call For Submissions Is CLOSED!!!

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 15:36:35 GMT

And the official open call for submissions to Zombies Need Brains' three new anthologies is CLOSED! I've managed to check in all of the stories after the big rush at the end and here are the final totals:

APOCALYPTIC: 784 submissions (a new record)
GALACTIC STEW: 409 submissions
MY BATTERY IS LOW...: 218 submissions

Right now, the editors are reading through the stories and ranking them. After that, we'll get together and narrow it down to the few (usually 7-10 or so) that will make it into the anthology along with our anchor authors. Good luck to everyone who submitted! Final decisions probably won't be made/announced until February. (I personally have at least 300 stories to read, even though I tried to keep up.)

Please send vodka and chocolate.

While you wait, you can follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/zombiesneedbrainsllc/ and Twitter @ZNBLLC. Sign up for our newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/9649f300aed1/znbnewsletter. Or support our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/zombiesneedbrains!

And support the small press by buying our previous anthologies:

AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR
THE MODERN FAE’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY
TEMPORALLY OUT OF ORDER
ALIEN ARTIFACTS
WERE-
SUBMERGED
ALL HAIL OUR ROBOT CONQUERORS!
THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS
THE RAZOR’S EDGE
GUILDS & GLAIVES
SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE UR-BAR
PORTALS
TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED
ALTERNATE PEACE

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Submission Guidelines: APOCALYPTIC, GALACTIC STEW, and MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 00:32:13 GMT

The APOCALYPTIC, GALACTIC STEW, and MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK anthology Kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've posted the guidelines below.

The APOCALYPTIC, GALACTIC STEW, and MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK Submission Guidelines

Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies APOCALYPTIC, GALACTIC STEW, and MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails; you may submit to any or all of the anthologies as many times as you wish. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use Times New Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

A writing tip on coming up with an idea for a themed anthology can be found here: jaceybedford.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/generating-ideas-a-guest-post-by-joshua-palmatier/.

Some thoughts on common problems with stories that we see in the slush pile can be found here: jaceybedford.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/open-submissions-for-anthologies-a-guest-post-by-joshua-palmatier/.

Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.

APOCALYPTIC is to feature science fiction or fantasy stories set during or after an apocalypse. Stories featuring more interesting apocalypses, settings, and twists on the typical apocalypse will receive more attention than those that use standard tropes. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a zombie apocalypse. If we do, it’s likely that only one, at most, would be selected for the anthology. We are interested in all kinds of apocalypses: zombies, meteors, flus, robots, climate changes, space critters, alien invasions, etc. Be creative, choose something different, and use the apocalypse in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. Additional comments can be found at: www.lauraannegilman.net/guest-post-zombies-need-writer-brains/.

GALACTIC STEW is to feature stories involving food, whether it be poisoning, a cultural or societal ritual, a trade meeting over dinner, etc. We are attempting to fill half of the anthology with science fiction stories and half with fantasy stories. Stories featuring more interesting takes on the use of food regarding the story will receive more attention than those that are more mundane. Make certain the story is centered on the food! If the food element is removed, the story should fall apart. We do NOT want to see stories about cannibalism. So be creative and use food in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. Additional comments can be found at: www.stephanieburgis.com/2019/08/guest-post-galactic-stew/.

MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK is to feature stories where some type of tech has outlived its time and yet, during the course of the story, it discovers a new purpose or is used in a new, purposeful way. This theme is inspired by the Opportunity rover, which functioned long past its prime. As an example, we want stories that would take the rather sad fate of Opportunity and give it new life—a new, useful purpose—when we reach Mars, whether it be as a repaired resource for a colony or a critical piece of equipment used by spacecraft crash survivors or whatever. Submissions do NOT need to feature the Opportunity rover; in fact, we will likely only include one or two stories involving Opportunity. Submissions also do NOT need to be set in the future or include any kind of sentient tech. Stories featuring more interesting outdated technologies and twists on the resurgent use of those technologies will receive more attention than those with more standard tech. So be creative and come up with an unusual and unexpected use of an outdated technology. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark. Additional comments can be found at: www.almaalexander.org/my-battery-is-low-and-its-getting-dark/.

DEADLINE and TIMELINE:

The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2019. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of February 2020. Please send submissions to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission and having it filed for consideration. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of March 2020.

If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of April 2020. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of May 2020. These dates may change due to the editors’ work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology, non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages after that. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that first year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 8 cents per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in and editors of the anthology.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.

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New Kickstarter: IT'S ALIVE!

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 16:01:00 GMT

And the newest Zombies Need Brains Kickstarter is now LIVE! Swing on by tinyurl.com/ZNBApocalypse and check our three new SF&F themed anthologies:  APOCALYPTIC, GALACTIC STEW, and MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK. Help kick us off to a great start by pledging to the project NOW and get some Early Backer Bonuses, such as free ebooks from Joshua Palmatier, John G. Hartness, and Edward Willett! Some of these early bonuses go FAST! Look for the Electronic Zombie Times 3 reward level to get all three in ebook, the Paper Zombie Times 3 reward level to get all three in limited-edition Kickstarter mass markets, or get both with the Electronic Paper Zombie Times 3 reward level.

Never heard of Zombies Need Brains? You can catch up with the ZNB Ebook Zombie reward level (get all of the currently-available ebooks of our anthologies), the ZNB Kickstarter Zombie reward level (get all of our currently-available limited-edition Kickstarter paperbacks of our anthologies), or get both with the ZNB Ebook Kickstarter Zombie reward level (plus a bonus copy of our out-of-print anthology CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK VS. ALIENS)!

Want one of our special reward levels, such as signed copies of books, tuckerizations, or swag bags? Check out our reward level table in the description to see who has what and what you get with that reward level. Want more than one reward level? Contact me on Kickstarter and I'll explain how to snag more than one.

And don't forget the possible add-ons!  ZNB merchandise such as art prints of our stunning cover art by Justin Adams of Varia Studios, our previous anthologies in ebook (at a discount), ZNB t-shirts, ZNB totes, ZNB baseball caps, ZNB editors as stuffed animal avatars, mass market paperbacks of Joshua Palmatier's novels and anthologies, and more!

We've got tons of great rewards, plus the three brand new themes. Let's bring this monster to life! Back now and help us reach our goal...and then stretch beyond to our stretch goals, including a FOURTH anthology possibility!  Here's a description of our three newest anthologies and the anchor authors in each (we've got some stunning names on our anchor author list, as always):

APOCALYPTIC:

Who doesn’t love a good apocalyptic story? They come in all kinds, from the straight up SF/horror of Stephen King’s superflu in “The Stand” and the zombie apocalypse in “The Walking Dead,” to the quieter, more reflective tales of loss and survival in “On the Beach” and “Childhood’s End.” Tales that feature people struggling through the end of the world--or fighting to survive in what remains--are always compelling. What better way for readers to safely explore the extremes of the human condition without actually having to fight off the ravening hordes themselves? For this anthology, we’ll be looking for unique takes on how the world ends, both during and after the apocalypse. So bring on your asteroids, your plagues, your solar flares! And ask yourself, would you survive the apocalypse? Would you even want to?  

Edited by S.C. Butler & Joshua Palmatier, APOCALYPTIC will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each.  Anchor authors include: 

Stephen Blackmoore,
James Enge,
Nancy Holzner,
Tanya Huff,
Violette Malan,
Seanan McGuire, and
S.M. Stirling

GALACTIC STEW:

Food is an essential part of life—not just for energy and exotic flavors, but as a unifier during social events, a focal point for establishing culture, and shared experience to put people at ease. In GALACTIC STEW, readers will sit down at the communal table and sup upon stories centered on food.  Whether it’s a tense treaty negotiation over a full course meal or a trap devised by the fae to chain you to their realm, these stories are certain to be delectable.  Come and savor these delicacies…and hope the taste doesn’t mask a deadly poison!

Edited by David B. Coe & Joshua Palmatier, GALACTIC STEW will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each. Anchor authors include:

Rod Belcher,
Andy Duncan,
Esther Friesner,
D.B. Jackson,
Howard Andrew Jones,
Gini Koch, and
Laura Resnick

MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK:

When NASA's Opportunity rover sent its last message from Mars--loosely translated by scientists as “my battery is low and it is getting dark”--many of us paused in a shared moment of sadness and gratitude, aimed at a robot left alone on a faraway planet. That moment inspired this anthology. We want stories about technology that has operated long past its time, but we want to give these lost spirits new life, whether it be rescue, a new purpose, a new beginning, or a simple homecoming. What happens to the robots and rovers and AIs and more after their original purpose has faded? What is the next chapter of their story?

Edited by Crystal Sarakas & Joshua Palmatier, MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each.  Anchor authors include:

Jacey Bedford,
Troy Carrol Bucher,
John Hartness,
José Pablo Iriarte,
Alethea Kontis,
Stephen Leigh,
Merc Fenn Wolfmoor,
Kari Sperring, and
Edward Willett

Find it all at tinyurl.com/ZNBApocalypse! Check it out! Squee! Pick a reward level and support small presses!

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StoryBundle: Sorcery & Steam! Featuring GUILDS & GLAIVES

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:50:05 GMT

Zombies Need Brains is part of a "sorcery & steam" StoryBundle! Check out the following set of anthologies, collections, short novels, and novels--some of them never before published--featured in the limited-time StoryBundle curated by Dean Wesley Smith. He invited ZNB to participate with the sword & sorcery anthology GUILDS & GLAIVES, and since this project is also supporting the AbleGamers charity, we of course agreed! So check out what's included, then swing on by the StoryBundle site and offer up whatever you think the bundle is worth (minimum $5 for four of the titles; $15 for all of them). Don't forget that this supports the charity AbleGamers, so consider more than just the minimum! Here's Dean Wesley Smith talking about the project:

THE 2019 SORCERY & STEAM BUNDLE

The 2019 Sorcery and Steam Bundle - Curated by Dean Wesley Smith

I looked at putting this fantastic bundle together as one of the best challenges I would face all year. After all, the title covers massive ground.

Sorcery can mean anything from mid-evil fantasy to modern horror. From Harry Potter to George R.R. Martin novels. The simple definition of the word sorcery is the use of power obtained from evil.

But then you add in the word "Steam" and that brings in massive areas of even more genres. "Steam" in fiction is a form of science fiction or alternate world or fantasy world where inventions are ahead of their times. Lots of gears and moving parts and great sounds of machinery.

So how to put all that into one bundle of books? What a great challenge. And I loved the challenge.

So here is how I did it.

I decided to cover everything as much as possible, give the readers wonderful stories, not just in sorcery or steam, but in all of it, often mixed. In essence, a rainbow of books.

And to cover that ground, I would need more than just one book per color. So first off I asked Joshua Palmatier and S.C. Butler, the editors of the fantastic anthology Guilds and Glaives if that book was available and it was. This single anthology has some of the best writers working in fantasy in it. Lawrence Harding, Howard Andrew Jones, Esther Friesner, Jenna Rhodes, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Leah Webber, David Farland, R.K. Nickel, Ashley McConnell, D.B. Jackson, James Enge, Jason Palmatier, and Amelia Sirina.

Wow, that added some real colors, so I next turned to my wife, New York Times bestselling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch and she just so happened had just finished a brand new fantasy short novel Killing the Angel of Death that had never been published before and she offered it to this bundle.

I might need to repeat that. An original Kristine Kathryn Rusch novella available only in this bundle.

Then I talked with one of my favorite urban fantasy writers, Annie Reed, and she had a collection of stories she had just put together that fit perfectly called Spells Gone Bad. It is also original to this bundle only.

Next, bestselling fantasy writer Laura Anne Gilman offered up a short novel, From Whence You Came, with winemakers as magicians. The novella had limited distribution before this bundle, so this is a treat.

But at this point I wasn't getting any Steam, just a lot of Sorcery, so I turned to Nicole Givens Kurtz for her amazing collection Sisters of the Wild Sage, which to say the least, has a lot of Steam in it. And to add even more Steam, Leah M Cutter offered up her first book in her Clockwork Fairy Trilogy.

I managed to get Louisa Swann to add in an extended version of her popular Night of the Clockwork Dragon. And to make sure I had enough dragons, I turned to Stefon Mears for his book Twice Against the Dragon.

I also had the title anthology for this bundle: Fiction River: Sorcery and Steam put together just for this bundle by Gwyneth Gibby at WMG Publishing. She got some fantastic fantasy writers for it.

But I was still missing one major area. Modern, here-and-now fantasy. And some comedy as well.

So also brand new to this Storybundle is a Poker Boy collection I put together to just fill the missing area. The collection includes a novella and four crazy, funny, modern fantasy stories.

So there are four brand new (original to this collection) books here. And a wide spectrum of fantasy that I am proud to say can live happily for three weeks together in Sorcery and Steam. – Dean Wesley Smith

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

• Sisters of the Wild Sage by Nicole Givens Kurtz

• Night of the Clockwork Dragon by Louisa Swann

• The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom by Leah Cutter

• Guilds & Glaives by S.C. Butler and Joshua Palmatier

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus SIX more!

• Twice Against the Dragon by Stefon Mears

• From Whence You Came by Laura Anne Gilman

• Killing the Angel of Death by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

• Fiction River Presents: Sorcery & Steam by Gwyneth Gibby

• Luck Be Ladies by Dean Wesley Smith

• Spells Gone Bad by Annie Reed

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

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Shore Leave Convention Schedule

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 02:12:47 GMT

SHORE LEAVE!

Looks like I'll have about 6 panels at Shore Leave this year. Who's planning on going to the convention? It's held in Hunt Valley, MD, and is from July 12-14th. Here's my schedule at the moment (subject to change):

Friday:

Panel: Effective Cover Design, 5pm

Panel: Writing for Themed Anthologies, 6pm

Signing: Meet the Pros! 10pm-???

Saturday:

Panel: Beta Readers--How to Choose Them and What to Expect, 11am

Panel: Elevator Pitches, 2pm

Sunday:

Panel: How to Cut that Story or Novel Down, 10am

Panel: Building an Anthology, 1pm

Zombies Need Brains will have a table in the dealers room again this year, with a whole new setup! We should also have our three new anthologies from last year's Kickstarter available. Come on by and see us!

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New Kickstarter Theme Reveal!

Mon, 01 Jul 2019 21:55:46 GMT

It's time for the new Zombies Need Brains Kickstarter theme reveal! Below are the three new anthology themes that ZNB will be Kickstarting starting August 7th in our brand new Kickstarter. As soon as the Kickstarter has reached its funding, ZNB will start an open call for submissions to fill the slots in the anthology not already covered by our anchor authors, so mark your calendar, pledge to the Kickstarter, help spread the word to bring it up to its goal, and then write a stunning story for the open call! But you should start thinking of a solid idea and story concept right now. The open call will only be from the funding date to the end of the year (December 31st, 2019), so there's not much time to come up with a good story, write it, revise it, polish it, and send it in. So put on those thinking caps!

In the meantime, though, check out the themes and our solid batch of anchor authors for each! And check out that stunning art done by Justin Adams of Varia Studios, which will be used for the cover art for APOCALYPTIC if the Kickstarter is successful. AND MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR AUGUST 7th, when the Kickstarter will go live!

APOCALYPTIC:
Who doesn’t love a good apocalyptic story? They come in all kinds, from the straight up SF/horror of Stephen King’s superflu in “The Stand” and the zombie apocalypse in “The Walking Dead,” to the quieter, more reflective tales of loss and survival in “On the Beach” and “Childhood’s End.” Tales that feature people struggling through the end of the world--or fighting to survive in what remains--are always compelling. What better way for readers to safely explore the extremes of the human condition without actually having to fight off the ravening hordes themselves? For this anthology, we’ll be looking for unique takes on how the world ends, both during and after the apocalypse. So bring on your asteroids, your plagues, your solar flares! And ask yourself, would you survive the apocalypse? Would you even want to?

Edited by S.C. Butler & Joshua Palmatier, APOCALYPTIC will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each. Anchor authors include:

Stephen Blackmoore,
James Enge,
Nancy Holzner,
Tanya Huff,
Violette Malan,
Seanan McGuire, and
S.M. Stirling

GALACTIC STEW:
Food is an essential part of life—not just for energy and exotic flavors, but as a unifier during social events, a focal point for establishing culture, and shared experience to put people at ease. In GALACTIC STEW, readers will sit down at the communal table and sup upon stories centered on food. Whether it’s a tense treaty negotiation over a full course meal or a trap devised by the fae to chain you to their realm, these stories are certain to be delectable. Come and savor these delicacies…and hope the taste doesn’t mask a deadly poison!

Edited by David B. Coe & Joshua Palmatier, GALACTIC STEW will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each. Anchor authors include:

Rod Belcher,
Andy Duncan,
Esther Friesner,
D.B. Jackson,
Howard Andrew Jones,
Gini Koch, and
Laura Resnick

MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK:
When NASA's Opportunity rover sent its last message from Mars--loosely translated by scientists as “my battery is low and it’s getting dark”--many of us paused in a shared moment of sadness and gratitude, aimed at a robot left alone on a faraway planet. That moment inspired this anthology. We want stories about technology that has operated long past its time, but we want to give these lost spirits new life, whether it be rescue, a new purpose, a new beginning, or a simple homecoming. What happens to the robots and rovers and AIs and more after their original purpose has faded? What is the next chapter of their story?

Edited by Crystal Sarakas & Joshua Palmatier, MY BATTERY IS LOW AND IT IS GETTING DARK will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of 6,000 words each. Anchor authors include:

Jacey Bedford,
Troy Carrol Bucher,
John Hartness,
Alethea Kontis,
Stephen Leigh,
Merc Fenn Wolfmoor,
Kari Sperring, and
Edward Willett

And there they are! Also, don't forget to order your copies of our previous three SF&F anthologies--PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE. All three are now available in ebooks formats and trade paperbacks.

Release Day for PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE!

Today is the day! All three of the new Zombies Need Brains SF&F anthologies have been released into the wild in both ebook and trade paperback formats. If you've been waiting, get out there and order! If you preordered, get out there and read! It's time to enjoy the fruits of the ZNB Team's labors for the past year: NEW SF&F short stories! Here's a reminder of each anthology and who's in it, along with links to get you reading.

PORTALS: What mysteries…or horrors…await you on the other side?

The lure of an open doorway is hard to resist. What lies beyond? Where will it take you—and how will you be transformed? Will it lead to paradise…or a living hell? You’ll never know, unless you have the courage to take that first step.

In this anthology you will find sixteen stories of portals to exotic destinations, whether it’s a doorway in the desert that appears out of thin air, a fairy ring of mushrooms in the backyard, a crack in the road, or a train headed straight to Hell. Science fiction and fantasy authors Nancy Holzner, Esther Friesner, Ian Tregillis, Jacey Bedford, John Linwood Grant, Kate Hall, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Juliet Kemp, James Enge, Steven Harper, F. Brett Cox, Jaime Lee Moyer, Jason Palmatier, Andrija Popovic, and Patrick Hurley invite you to step through a host of doorways to other realities with infinite possibilities, some horrible, some comic, and some just plain weird.

So take my hand—not too tight!—and let’s journey into another world. The door is open. The portal awaits.

Kindle Ebook: https://smile.amazon.com/Portals-Esther-Friesner-ebook/dp/B07RDQ9N16
Trade Paperback: https://smile.amazon.com/Portals-Esther-Friesner/dp/1940709288

ALTERNATE PEACE: Alternate histories. Alternate realities.

It’s said that every choice creates multiple timelines, each one exploring what could have happened if a different decision had been made. Most of these alternate histories stem from different outcomes to a pivotal battle, or to an assassination attempt, or to the ending or escalation of a war. All violent, all bloody, all brutal. But what about those choices made during peacetime, when there was no monumental, ongoing conflict? After all, everyone knows how significant the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can be, how far-reaching its effects can be felt.

In these pages you will find fifteen new branches of history written by some of today’s greatest science fiction and fantasy writers, including Elektra Hammond, Dale Cozort, Harry Turtledove, C.W. Briar, Rick Wilber, Juliet E. McKenna, Michael Robertson, Kat Otis, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brian Hugenbruch, Stephen Leigh, Elizabeth Kite, Ian R. MacLeod, Mike Barretta, and Kari Sperring, all stemming from a peaceful divergence in our past. Join them as they wander down familiar paths…

…and then swerve down roads not taken.

Kindle Ebook: https://smile.amazon.com/Alternate-Peace-Harry-Turtledove-ebook/dp/B07RL3KDY8/
Trade Paperback: https://smile.amazon.com/Alternate-Peace-Harry-Turtledove/dp/1940709261/

TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED: What does it mean to be “temporally deactivated?”

Experience a historical moment through the intervention of a time travel agency. Be trapped inside a time bubble—willingly—so that you can save the universe from Darkness over and over again. Step outside of time at the order of your queen in order to stop a traitor…or to keep an assassin from destroying the future. Or travel forward into the future in order to kill off timelines to save your son…or backwards to halt an accident to save your relationship.

Join fantasy and science fiction authors Ken Altabef, Alex Gideon, Stephen Leigh, D.B. Jackson, Faith Hunter, C.S. Friedman, Emily Randall, Gini Koch, Misty Massey, Rhondi Salsitz, Edmund R. Schubert, R.K. Nickel, Marie DesJardin, and Christine Lucas as they defy time and warp space in order to define what it means to be “temporally deactivated.” So get ready and hold on tight.

It’s time to step outside of time.

Kindle Ebook: https://smile.amazon.com/Temporally-Deactivated-Faith-Hunter-ebook/dp/B07R6DJXXS
Trade Paperback: https://smile.amazon.com/Temporally-Deactivated-Faith-Hunter/dp/1940709245

And of course you can always get the Kickstarter Editions at the ZNB online store: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc

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Author Guest: D.B. Jackson on "Imposter Syndrome"!

Thu, 30 May 2019 14:15:00 GMT

Today, we have an author guest, David B. Coe (aka D.B. Jackson), who's here to talk about Imposter Syndrome, which all writers suffer from. So here's David's take on it. And if you haven't read any of David's (or D.B.'s) novels, check them out. The newest is out now, called TIME'S DEMON. I'm nearing the end of the first book in the series, TIME'S CHILDREN, and loving it! Definitely check it out.

The Arrogant Imposter

By D.B. Jackson/David B. Coe

Last night, for reasons surpassing understanding, I started reading through one of my old books. I know. What was I thinking, right?

I’m not going to tell you which book. Suffice it to say that I love all my babies, and they’re all perfect and beautiful.

Except obviously they’re not.

Weak phrasing, passive constructions, lack of concision and power when the passages in question called desperately for both.

This is a published book, one that garnered strong reviews when it was released, and I did all these things wrong without realizing it. On many occasions I have taken students to task for the very sins I committed myself years before.

So what am I to make of this?

Because I’m a writer, and because, like so many of my writerly brothers and sisters, I suffer from recurring Imposter Syndrome, the first place my mind went was also the most obvious: “I suck. I’ve always sucked. My newest work sucks. And this book that I was foolish enough to pull off the shelf and crack open sucks.”

We writers, though, are complex creatures. We grapple with Imposter Syndrome, but we also harbor a unique brand of arrogance. “I’ve written this story,” we say. “And it is so important, so good, so compelling, that you ought to read it. In fact, you should pay for it and read it.” I’m not saying necessarily that the arrogance is misplaced. After all, it is, and has always been, the foundation of commercial literature. But that doesn’t make it any less arrogant.

And so that part of me, the arrogant-writer-me, read this old, flawed work of my own creation, and landed in a different place than did imposter-syndrome-me. Arrogant me said, “Sure, it has its warts. But at the time I wrote it, it was the best book I was capable of writing. And given that it was published, and well-reviewed, and well-received by my fans, I think it must be pretty good.”

Arrogance. Confidence. It isn’t always easy to discern the line between the two.

Ultimately, of course, I need to find some middle ground between these two extremes. If I am going to wake up each morning and write -- which I intend to do for another, oh, thirty years or so -- I can’t allow myself to believe that I suck. For one thing, I don’t. More important, internalizing that sort of self-denigration can’t help but undermine my craft and story telling.

At the same time, though, the self-satisfaction of arrogant-writer-me can be equally destructive. I might not suck, but I’m also not yet as good as I want to be, nor will I ever be. I hope never to grow complacent with my art. I want to strive for improvement with each new book or story.

Which brings us back to my ill-considered decision to open up that old novel. It is flawed. It’s also a good read. It was the best book I could write at the time. I worked hard to make it so. But it’s also not nearly as good as my more recent work. As I continue to create new worlds, new characters, new narratives, I further hone my skill as a writer. I cling to my arrogance: You really should buy and read my next book. And I grapple with my imposter syndrome: The only way I am going to survive in this business is if I make myself a better writer than I am today.

Put another way, imposter-syndrome-me and arrogant-writer-me don’t have to be extremes that I avoid and deny. They can be sources of motivation, tools (perhaps cudgels) I use to make myself a better artist.

And I offer this because, as I have already pointed out, nearly all of us who write harbor within us both of these archetypes. We are, in the end, arrogant imposters, deeply conscious of the flaws in our work, but justifiably proud of our literary accomplishments, striving always to improve and at the same time convinced that we have something important to say.

*****

D.B. Jackson is the pen name of fantasy author David B. Coe. He is the award-winning author of more than twenty novels and as many short stories. His newest novel, Time’s Demon, is the second volume in a time travel/epic fantasy series called The Islevale Cycle. Time’s Children is volume one; David is working on the third book, Time’s Assassin.

As D.B. Jackson, he also writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy set in pre-Revolutionary Boston. As David B. Coe, he is the author of the Crawford Award-winning LonTobyn Chronicle, as well as the critically acclaimed Winds of the Forelands quintet and Blood of the Southlands trilogy; the novelization of Ridley Scott’s movie, Robin Hood; a contemporary urban fantasy trilogy, The Case Files of Justis Fearsson; and most recently, Knightfall: The Infinite Deep, a tie-in with the History Channel’s Knightfall series.

David has a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Stanford University. His books have been translated into a dozen languages. He and his family live on the Cumberland Plateau. When he’s not writing he likes to hike, play guitar, and stalk the perfect image with his camera.

http://www.dbjackson-author.com

http://www.DavidBCoe.com

http://www.dbjackson-author.com/blog/

https://twitter.com/DBJacksonAuthor

https://www.facebook.com/DBJacksonAuthor/

http://www.facebook.com/david.b.coe

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Table of Contents Reveal: ALTERNATE PEACE

Sun, 31 Mar 2019 17:35:19 GMT

"Portals" cover image by Justin Adams of Varia Studios

We can finally announce the Table of Contents for the Zombies Need Brains anthology ALTERNATE PEACE, edited by Steven H Silver & Joshua Palmatier and set for release no later than August 2019 (but we're hoping for June 2019, depending on printer schedules). Get ready to delve into branching historical timelines as we look at fifteen alternate histories where the divergence from our timeline comes from some kind of peaceful change in our history! These come from some familiar names in the alternate history universe and from some newbies discovered in our open call. You can preorder your copy at the ZNB online store here: squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc. The cover art image for ALTERNATE PEACE is still in progress, but we'll reveal that as soon as it's finalized.

So without further ado, feast your eyes on what you'll find within the pages of ALTERNATE PEACE!

Table of Contents:

“O-Rings” by Elektra Hammond

“A Dad Ought to Have Nightmares” by Dale Cozort

“Election Day” by Harry Turtledove

“A Fine Line, Indeed” by C.W. Briar

“Donny Boy” by Rick Wilber

“The Echoes of a Shot” by Juliet E. McKenna

“What Makes a Better World” by Michael Robertson

“Field of Cloth of Gold and Blood, Sweat and Tears” by Kat Otis

“Politicians, Lost Causers, and Abigail Lockwood” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

“Or, the Modern Psyche” by Brian Hugenbruch

“Easter Rising” by Stephen Leigh

“The Sisters of the Hallowed Marsh” by Elizabeth Kite

“Selkie” by Ian R. MacLeod

“New Moon, Dark Skies” by Mike Barretta

“His Master’s Voice” by Kari Sperring

"Temporally Deactivated" cover image by Justin Adams of Varia Studios

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Table of Contents Reveal: PORTALS!

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 20:56:08 GMT

It's time to reveal the Table of Contents for one of Zombies Need Brains' upcoming anthologies called PORTALS, edited by Patricia Bray and S.C. Butler! These are SF&F stories that center around portals that connect one world to another, whether it be Earth, a fantasy realm, or a science fiction future. A few even skirt the edges of those three! Check out the stories and authors below, and then preorder the anthology at the Zombies Need Brains online store if you missed our Kickstarter last year! And don't miss any of the previous anthologies from ZNB, as well as the other two new releases this year--TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED and ALTERNATE PEACE. And look at the stunning art we'll use for the cover from Justin Adams of Varia Studios!

PORTALS

Table of Contents

“What Time Is It?” by Nancy Holzner

“This Way Out” by Esther Friesner

“Deus Ex Machina” by Ian Tregillis

“A Land Fit for Heroes” by Jacey Bedford

“Iron and Anthracite” by John Linwood Grant

“The Namesake” by Kate Hall

“Portal Pirates” by Gini Koch (writing as Anita Ensal)

“Doorways in the Sand” by Violette Malan

“Somewhere Else, Nowhere Else” by Juliet Kemp

“A Stranger Comes to Town” by James Enge

“Brick and Mirror” by Steven Harper

“A Bend in the Air” by F. Brett Cox

“All the Lost Places” by Jaime Lee Moyer

“Onward to Glory!” by Jason Palmatier

“Hard Times in the Vancouver Continuum” by Andrija Popovic

“The Cracks in the Road” by Patrick Hurley

Preorder your copy here: squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc

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Eligible ZNB Stories for the HUGO Award!

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 01:28:35 GMT

The nomination window for the HUGOs is closing on March 16th, right around the corner! Here are the stories that were published by Zombies Need Brains in 2018 that are eligible for the award and which category each fits into. These are in no particular order (just the order in which I ran across them while creating the list). I also threw in our editors from last year. Please nominate your favorite stories and/or editors! We thank you for your consideration. And remember, you can add and adjust your nomination ballots up to March 16th, so even if you've already nominated, you can change your ballot!

Even if you can't nominate for the HUGO, please take a moment to post a review of one of the three anthologies Zombies Need Brains released in 2018: GUILDS & GLAIVES, THE RAZOR'S EDGE, or SECOND ROUND: A RETURN FROM THE UR-BAR. Every review helps these anthologies reach a larger audience! Use this as a reminder of the stories in each one and tell us which are your favorites in your review!

Best Novelette:
"The Charter" by Ashley McConnell (Guilds & Glaives)
"Oathbreaker" by David Farland (Guilds & Glaives)
"The Sword and the Djinn" by Howard Andrew Jones (Guilds & Glaives)
"The Cage at the End of the World" by James Enge (Guilds & Glaives)
"A Favor for Lord Bai" by Jean Marie Ward (Second Round)
"Bound By Mortal Chains No More" by William Leisner (Second Round)
"Eleven Days" by Walter H. Hunt (The Razor's Edge)

Best Short Story:
"Guild of the Ancients" by D.B. Jackson (Guilds & Glaives)
"Honors Among Thieves" by Esther Friesner (Guilds & Glaives)
"The Three Assassins of Lord Slaughter" by Gini Koch (Guilds & Glaives)
"Assassinsssss" by Jason Palmatier (Guilds & Glaives)
"Rainbow Dark" by Jenna Rhodes (Guilds & Glaives)
"In the Asp's Nest" by Lawrence Harding (Guilds & Glaives)
"The Witch That Wasn't" by Leah Webber (Guilds & Glaives)
"Blood and Onyx" by R.K. Nickel (Guilds & Glaives)
"Footprints of the Hound" by Violette Malan (Guilds & Glaives)
"Thievery Bar None" by Aaron M. Roth (Second Round)
"Whispering Voice" by David Keener (Second Round)
"But If You Try Sometime" by Diana Pharaoh Francis (Second Round)
"Welcome to the Jungle Bar" by Garth Nix (Second Round)
"A Lawman, an Outlaw, and a Gambler Walk Into a Bar …" by Gini Koch (Second Round)
"Forest Law, Wild and True" by Irene Radford (Second Round)
"Make Me Immortal With a Kiss" by Jacey Bedford (Second Round)
"Wanderlust" by Juliet E. McKenna (Second Round)
"The Wizard King" by Kari Sperring (Second Round)
"West Side Ghost Story" by Kristine Smith (Second Round)
"Ale for Humanity" by Mike Marcus (Second Round)
"Honorbound" by R.K. Nickel (Second Round)
"The Weapon They Fear" by Alex Gideon (The Razor's Edge)
"Halo of Storms" by Blake Jessop (The Razor's Edge)
"An Acceptable Risk to the Portfolio" by Brian Hugenbruch (The Razor's Edge)
"Freedom!" by Chris Kennedy (The Razor's Edge)
"The Parallactic Soldier" by Christopher Allenby (The Razor's Edge)
"The Woman in Green" by D.B. Jackson (The Razor's Edge)
"Miller's Choice" by Gerald Brandt (The Razor's Edge)
"The Gunslinger" by Kay Kenyon (The Razor's Edge)
"The Liberator" by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (The Razor's Edge)
"Rise Up, Rise Up, You Children of the Moon" by Seanan McGuire (The Razor's Edge)
"The Neural Net" by Sharon Goza (The Razor's Edge)
"Revolutionists" by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (The Razor's Edge)
"Contender" by Steve Perry (The Razor's Edge)
"The Battle for Rainbow's Edge" by William C. Dietz (The Razor's Edge)
"Final Flight of the PhoenixWing" by Y.M. Pang (The Razor's Edge)

Best Editor (Short Form):
Joshua Palmatier
Patricia Bray

(Unfortunately, neither SC Butler nor Troy Carrol Bucher are eligible … yet.)

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Table of Contents Announced for TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED Anthology!

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 02:18:00 GMT

TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED
Table of Contents Announced!

Editors David B. Coe and Joshua B. Palmatier are proud to announce the Table of Contents for the upcoming Zombies Need Brains anthology TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED! Here are 14 stories dealing with various interpretations of the phrase "temporally deactivated," crossing the boundaries between fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary fantasy. Watch for the release in both ebook and paperback later this year! Or preorder a Kickstarter edition at the Zombies Need Brains online store and get it early! In the meantime, congratulations to the authors! And check out the stunning art we'll use as a cover by Justin Adams of Varia Studios.

“Keeper of the Light” by Ken Altabef
“The Eyes of Odin” by Alex Gideon
“All the Time in the World” by Stephen Leigh
“The Other Walker” by D.B. Jackson
“My Dark Knight” by Faith Hunter
“Eye of the Needle” by C.S. Friedman
“Tempus Erratum” by Emily Randall
“Missy the Were-Pomeranian vs. the Lord of Time” by Gini Koch
“The Mirror Trap” by Misty Massey
“Love and the Improper Unicorn” by Rhondi Ann
“Schrödinger’s Fractal” by Edmund R. Schubert
“Clockwork Corsair” by R.K. Nickel
“Compassionate Retry” by Marie DesJardin
“Neurons Lost and Found” Christine Lucas

Preorder your copy here: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc

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Guest Post: D.B. Jackson

Thu, 04 Oct 2018 12:21:20 GMT

I want to welcome D.B. Jackson to the blog today! He's here to talk about his newest novel Time's Children, the first book in a new series. I'll let him give you more specifics below, but you should definitely rush out and buy it. Right now. I'll wait. … And now that that's done, here's D.B. Jackson (aka David B. Coe), who' really here to talk about how writing short fiction helps write novels:

My newest novel, Time’s Children, the first book in the Islevale Cycle, has just been released by Angry Robot Books. This is a time travel, epic fantasy series, and I’m incredibly excited to see the book in print. But while Time’s Children is the first book in the new trilogy, it is not the first Islevale story I’ve had published. “The Guild of the Ancients,” a short piece set in my world and featuring one of my key characters, appeared earlier this summer in Guilds and Glaives, an anthology put out by Joshua’s publishing company, Zombies Need Brains.

I love writing short fiction, just as I love writing novels. I believe that while the two forms obviously share elements, they also present the writer with different challenges and a host of opportunities. I often suggest that writers who are just starting out take time out from their novels to write some shorter pieces. Why?

I’m glad you asked.

1) Writing short fiction helps us hone our craft. Short stories demand an economy of prose and directness of narrative that are less essential in a novel. It’s not that novels can or should be wordy or meandering, but rather that with a short story we have 6,000 words or so to tell a satisfying tale, rather than 100,000. Every detail should have purpose. Plot points should follow one upon the other. Characters should be drawn with precision and care. Prose should be clean and concise. I love the challenge of writing a good short story, just as I enjoy constructing an effective novel. But while I’m not sure writing my novels makes me better at short fiction, I know that writing short fiction has helped me grow as a storyteller and writer of novels.

2) Short stories help with our character development and world building. I sold my first short story after I had published four novels. The story I sold was about an episode from the history of the world I created for my Winds of the Forelands series. I knew the outlines of the event – a key moment in that history – but until I wrote the story, I didn’t fully understand it. That understanding informed passages in the remaining Forelands books. Similarly, my story in Guilds and Glaives features a key character in the Islevale books: the time demon, Droë. Writing from her point of view, exploring an important moment from earlier in her life, taught me a good deal about her, and also helped me refine her voice. And in between that first published story and this most recent one, I’ve used short fiction again and again to inform my novels. Think of them as research, as a way to learn more about the ingredients to be used in your larger projects.

3) Selling a short story earns us money and advances our careers. Sure, the money we earn for novels will outpace the money for short stories. No question. Novels gain more attention as well. But start with the points I’ve made above. Writing the short story serves artistic purposes – honing our craft, sharpening our sense of character and world and voice. If we can then also earn a bit for the story, well that’s gravy. More, any sort of professional sale can help a beginning writer gain the notice and consideration of editors and agents. Put another way, the money we earn for a short story is secondary to the mere fact of the sale itself. For writers who are already established, the short fiction sale may carry less significance. But speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that I still value every sale, every new credit, and every opportunity to work with a new editor.

Not every short story has to be set in a pre-existing world. They don’t all have to be practice for our larger works. And not every short story needs to be sold. (Though I would urge you to submit those stories that you feel represent your best work. What do you have to lose?) Even if writing a short piece does nothing more than polish your writing, it’s worth the effort. Because ultimately, while all the reasons I’ve given above ought to convince you to write short fiction, those are not the most compelling reasons I can offer.

The fact is, writing short pieces, crafting workable stories with so few words, is tremendously fun and deeply satisfying. I love the novels I’ve written, and I’m proud of all of them. But some of my most memorable experiences as a professional writer have come with my shorter work. So check out “Guild of the Ancients” and the other stories in Guilds and Glaives. And then check out Time’s Children. You might enjoy that, too.

*****

D.B. Jackson is the pen name of fantasy author David B. Coe. He is the award-winning author of twenty novels and as many short stories. His newest novel, Time’s Children, is the first volume in a time travel/epic fantasy series called The Islevale Cycle. The book has just been released by Angry Robot Books. The second volume, Time’s Demon, will be released in May 2019.

As D.B. Jackson, he also writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy set in pre-Revolutionary Boston. As David B. Coe, he is the author of the Crawford Award-winning LonTobyn Chronicle, which he has recently reissued, as well as the critically acclaimed Winds of the Forelands quintet and Blood of the Southlands trilogy. He wrote the novelization of Ridley Scott’s movie, Robin Hood, and, most recently, The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, a contemporary urban fantasy.

He is also currently working on a tie-in project with the History Channel. David has a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Stanford University. His books have been translated into a dozen languages.

He and his family live on the Cumberland Plateau. When he’s not writing he likes to hike, play guitar, and stalk the perfect image with his camera.

www.dbjackson-author.com

www.DavidBCoe.com

www.dbjackson-author.com/blog/

twitter.com/DBJacksonAuthor

www.facebook.com/DBJacksonAuthor/

www.facebook.com/david.b.coe

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Submission Guidelines: Portals, Temporally Deactivated, and Alternate Peace

Sun, 30 Sep 2018 12:47:49 GMT

The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE anthology kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've posted the guidelines below.

The PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE Submission Guidelines

Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies PORTALS, TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED, and ALTERNATE PEACE. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails; you may submit to any or all of the anthologies as many times as you wish. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use Times New Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.

PORTALS is to feature science fiction or fantasy stories that contain a portal opening up between two different worlds and the consequences that come from that portal. We are attempting to fill half of the anthology with science fiction stories and half with fantasy stories. Stories featuring more interesting settings and twists on the typical portals will receive more attention than those that use standard tropes. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with a door in the back of the wardrobe leading to a fantasy world of gnomes, dwarves, and elves. If we do, it’s likely that only one, at most, would be selected for the anthology. We do NOT want to see time portals, connecting one time to another; however, it can be a portal from our reality to an alternate reality. We are interested in all kinds of portals: doors at the back of wardrobes, stone archways in the middle of the forest, wormholes, cracks in reality, etc. Be creative, choose something different, and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED is to feature stories where the author explores what the phrase “temporally deactivated” could mean with regards to a person, place, or thing. Stories featuring more interesting takes on the twisting of time and how it is integrated into the story will receive more attention than those with more typical twisted time stories. We do NOT want to see stories where “temporal deactivation” means simply death. So be creative and use time in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

ALTERNATE PEACE is to feature alternate history stories where the divergence from our timeline comes from some kind of peaceful change to our past. It must explore the consequences of this divergence, not simply introduce the divergence. Stories featuring more interesting historical settings and twists on the consequences of the peaceful divergence from our timeline will receive more attention than those with more standard changes to the course of history. So be creative and come up with an unusual and unexpected break from the timeline. Please note that while the divergence in the timeline must be from some peaceful change, that change CAN lead to violence; in other words, you are allowed to have violence in the story, it just can’t be what’s initiating the alternate history. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

Here are some example stories for ALTERNATE PEACE--stories where the divergence from the timeline comes from a peaceful change:

Stephen Baxter: The Twelfth Album (Interzone 13, Hartwell’s Best Science Fiction of the Year 4)

Michael F. Flynn: Quaetiones Super Caelo et Mundo (Analog, 7/07)

Janet Kagan: Love Our Lockwood (Alternate Presidents)

John Kessel: The Franchise (Pure Product, Fields of Fantasies)

Mary Robinette Kowal: The Lady Astronaut series (Tor Books)

Ian R. MacLeod: Snodgrass (Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction 10, Past Magic)

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Recovering Apollo 8 (Asimov’s, 2/7, Recovering Apollo 8)

Howard Waldrop: Heart of Whitenesse (Dozois’s Year’s Best Science Fiction 15, Heart of Whitenesse)

DEADLINE and TIMELINE:

The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2018. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of February 2019. Please send submissions to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission and having it filed for consideration. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of March 2019.

If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of April 2019. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of May 2019. These dates may change due to the editors’ work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology, non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages after that. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that first year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in and editors of the anthology.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.

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How to Create an Anthology!

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 13:23:20 GMT

This is the ten part series of blog posts that I wrote last year in order to show how I create the anthologies for Zombies Need Brains, the small press that I founded in order to produce SF&F themed anthologies. It's basically a behind-the-scenes look at the process. Obviously, this is only how I produce an anthology and there may be other roads to follow in order to produce one. Keep that in mind.

So that’s how ZNB produces their anthologies. I didn’t cover absolutely everything. There are a few things I could have talked about—such as advertising, marketing, etc.—but this gives everyone who might be interested in producing an anthology at least a rough framework for how it’s done. Again, you may need to alter and personalize this so that it works best for you. I hope you’ve learned something from this blog series! Thanks for reading!

And now a word from our sponsor:

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Zombies Need Brains is currently running a Kickstarter (tinyurl.com/ZNBPortals) to fund THREE new SF&F anthologies and we need your help! We can't produce anthologies unless we can get the funding to pay the authors, the cover artists, the print and ebook designers, and the printers. That's where the Kickstarter comes in, and you, THE FANS! We've got a ton of stunning anchor authors on board, including NY Times bestselling authors and award winners. And we've got a ton of great reward levels, such as tuckerizations, signed copies of books by your favorite authors, and more! Our themes for this current Kickstarter are:

PORTALS: In the blink of an eye, the familiar disappears as you step into the unknown. What new creatures will you meet? What strange planets will you explore? Will you find happiness, or doom? Open the pages of PORTALS, the newest anthology from the small press Zombies Need Brains, and you just might find out. From wardrobes to monoliths, wormholes to fairy rings, there is a rich tradition of stories in both science fiction and fantasy that explore what happens when--by accident or design--characters are transported from one world to another. Join fourteen of today’s leading science fiction and fantasy authors as they offer fresh takes on this classic theme. Whether a routine trip or unexpected journey, each tale will explore new worlds of adventure, mystery, humor, and horror, with stories for every taste and fancy. Edited by S.C. Butler and Patricia Bray, PORTALS will contain approximately fourteen stories with an average length of up to 6,000 words each. It will include short stories by: Jacey Bedford, F. Brett Cox, James Enge, Esther Friesner, Nancy Holzner, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Jaime Lee Moyer, and Ian Tregillis.

TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED: In our spam boxes today, we both received notices that our bank accounts required resolution, and the content of the spam contained the following sentence: "We have noticed that you need to resolve important security issues on your account to prevent temporal deactivation." Of course, our immediate thought was of a new anthology called TEMPORALLY DEACTIVATED! For this follow-up to 2015’s TEMPORALLY OUT OF ORDER, we are looking for stories that take a person, object, event, or phenomenon and somehow, during the course of the plot, “temporally deactivate” it, whatever that may mean in the context of the story. “Temporal deactivation” should refer to something more than a simple death, malfunction, or termination, and instead should touch in some way on issues of time — its flow, distortion, dislocation, etc. Edited by David B. Coe & Joshua Palmatier, it will contain approximately 14 stories with an average length of up to 6000 words each. It will include short stories by: C.S. Friedman, Faith Hunter, D.B. Jackson, Gini Koch, Stephen Leigh, Misty Massey, Jenna Rhodes, and Edmund R. Schubert.

ALTERNATE PEACE: All too often, alternate histories are based on a battle or assassination. We’re looking for stories where change grew out of more peaceful activities…science, business, and culture. Imagine a world in which the branch point from our own was caused by scientific endeavor, social change, natural forces, or other points of divergence which don’t rely on military activity or violence. Edited by Steven H Silver & Joshua Palmatier, it will contain approximately 14 stories with an average length of up to 6000 words each. It will include short stories by: D.B. Jackson, Stephen Leigh, Ian R. MacLeod, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kari Sperring, Harry Turtledove, Rick Wilber.

If you'd like to help fund these anthologies, swing on by the Kickstarter at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ZNBPortals">http://tinyurl.com/ZNBPortals</a>! And share the Kickstarter with your friends, family, and total strangers! We need more SF&F anthologies!

"Portals" by Justin Adams of Varia Studios

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ZNB Anthologies Released 3 MONTHS Early!

Tue, 29 May 2018 14:59:17 GMT

BIG NEWS! The three new anthologies--GUILDS & GLAIVES, THE RAZOR'S EDGE, and SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE UR-BAR--are finished and ready to go! This means that I'll be shipping Kickstarter editions to backers starting June 11th (the delivery date for the printed copies) and that the general release for the trade editions and ebooks will be JUNE 15th! This is THREE MONTHS earlier than expected!

If you'd like to PREORDER the trade paperback edition, Kickstarter edition, Kindle, Nook, or an art print of the cover art for any of the anthologies, check out the links below.

Guilds & Glaives:

Back Cover Copy:

Stop right there!

If you like your fantasy filled with fellowships and noble quests, this anthology is not for you. And if you love lengthy tales of politics and power, then it won’t be to your taste either. But if you like a little intimacy with your evil, and your vengeance short and sweet, with perhaps a pinch of silliness in the witchcraft, then these fourteen delicious sweetmeats of sword and sorcery will prove right up your alley. And it will be a dank, twisting, fetid alley, too.

In this book you will find no high elves (only low), no politics (unless assassination is involved), and certainly no nobility. Join Lawrence Harding, Howard Andrew Jones, Esther Friesner, Jenna Rhodes, Gini Koch, Violette Malan, Leah Webber, David Farland, R.K. Nickel, Ashley McConnell, D.B. Jackson, James Enge, Jason Palmatier, and Amelia Sirina as they explore the perilous streets and clashing blades found in GUILDS & GLAIVES.

Preorder GUILDS & GLAIVES here:

Trade Paperback: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/guilds-glaives
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CT61B28/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=authjoshpalms-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07CT61B28&linkId=cfbe8993e59a82366e1a5665c19123a5
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/guilds-glaives-david-farland/1128586498?ean=2940162065623
Kickstarter Edition (limited): https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/guilds-glaives-kickstarter-paperback
Cover Art Print: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/guilds-glaives-art-print

Second Round: A Return to the Ur-Bar:

Back Cover Copy:

For thousands of years the immortal Gilgamesh has presided over the legendary Ur-Bar, witnessing history unfold from within its walls. Some days it is a rural tavern, others a fashionable wine shop. It may appear as a hidden speakeasy or take on the form of your neighborhood local. For most patrons it is simply a place to quench their thirst, but for a rare few the Ur-Bar is where they will meet their destiny.

Join R.K. Nickel, Rachel Atwood, Kari Sperring, Jean Marie Ward, Gini Koch, Jacey Bedford, William Leisner, Garth Nix, Diana Pharaoh Francis, David Keener, Mike Marcus, Kristine Smith, Aaron M. Roth, and Juliet E. McKenna as they recount all new tales from the Ur-Bar. From humor to horror, from the Roman Empire to Martian Colonies, there’s something to please everyone. Just remember to beware when the mysterious bartender offers you the house special …

Preorder SECOND ROUND here:

Trade Paperback: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/second-round-trade-paperback
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CW62HH5/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=authjoshpalms-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07CW62HH5&linkId=3b1e3846482eecbc807fca5794bdf309
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/second-round-jacey-bedford/1128610268?ean=2940162093503
Kickstarter Edition (limited): https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/second-round-kickstarter-paperback
Cover Art Print: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/second-round-art-print

The Razor's Edge:

Back Cover Copy:

One man’s insurgent is another man’s freedom fighter…

From The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to The Hunger Games, everyone enjoys a good rebellion. There is something compelling about a group (or individual) who throws caution to the wind and rises up in armed defiance against oppression, tyranny, religion, the government—you name it. No matter the cause, or how small the chance, it’s the courage to fight against overwhelming odds that grabs our hearts and has us pumping our fists in the air.

Win or lose, it’s the righteous struggle we cherish, and those who take up arms for a cause must walk The Razor’s Edge between liberator and extremist. With stories by Blake Jessop, William C. Dietz, D.B. Jackson, Gerald Brandt, Sharon P. Goza, Walter H. Hunt, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Kay Kenyon, Steve Perry, Seanan McGuire, Christopher Allenby, Chris Kennedy, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Alex Gideon, Brian Hugenbruch, and Y.M. Pang.

Preorder THE RAZOR'S EDGE here:

Trade Paperback: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/the-razor-s-edge-trade-paperback
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CT9ZBWN/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=authjoshpalms-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07CT9ZBWN&linkId=7925cfe48cce30525244237d2265224d
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-razors-edge-frederic-p-miller/1030147402?ean=2940162065722
Kickstarter Edition (limited): https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/razor-s-edge-kickstarter-paperback
Cover Art Print: https://squareup.com/market/zombies-need-brains-llc/item/the-razor-s-edge-art-print

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Zombies Need Brains is Starting Up a Newsletter!

Sun, 27 May 2018 13:28:55 GMT

Zombies Need Brains is putting together a newsletter!

Subscribers to the newsletter will get advance news about upcoming ZNB products, Kickstarters, announcements, and more. For example, we'll announce the new themes for the upcoming Kickstarter to newsletter subscribers first! So all of you writers can get a head start on writing those short stories for submission once the Kickstarter funds (because we all just assume the Kickstarter will fund). We'll also announce anchor authors, cover reveals, Table of Contents, news on special Kickstarter rewards, new products, and other news items from ZNB--all to newsletter subscribers first! We're just starting this up now, so SIGN UP NOW before we send the first newsletter in a few days! In this first newsletter, we'll reveal the covers of the three new anthologies, along with some exciting news for both Kickstarter backers and the general public! Don't be left out of the loop! Just click through the link below for the sign-up sheet:

eepurl.com/dv3TLv

GDPR Compliance: By signing up for the newsletter through this link, you recognize that we are collecting your email address and that you will receive a newsletter occasionally that will contain news about Zombies Need Brains' products, Kickstarters, and other items related to Zombies Need Brains and its founder, Joshua Palmatier. ZNB will NOT sell or provide your email to any other entities; emails will only be used by ZNB for ZNB-related news items. Your email information is being collected by Mailchimp, so is subject to their privacy policy and terms as well.

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Book Review: OF SAND AND MALICE MADE by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Sun, 10 Dec 2017 23:49:41 GMT

This is a novella featuring the characters from Bradley P. Beaulieu's "Shattered Sands" series.

Premise: Ceda is a pit fighter who catches the eye of an ehrekh, an evil creature created ages ago by the god of chaos. She attempts to escape, but this only makes her more interesting in the ehrekh's eyes. The more Ceda resists, the more the ehrekh wants her. How can Ceda escape the clutches of a creature that's part god?

This is really a story in three parts, each part a short story in an of itself, all connected. Overall, the story is good, the best part probably the last. Ceda is a great character and the world where people sail the sands like we sail the ocean is spectacular. The weakest part in this story is the middle part. Not because it isn't a complete short on its own, but it didn't have the depth that the other two parts had; it read a little more perfunctory than the other parts. I felt the characterizations were best in the first and last parts, especially of the ehrekh. But still, an enjoyable addition to the novels in the this series.

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Book Review: MISTBORN by Brandon Sanderson

Sun, 10 Dec 2017 23:14:52 GMT

I've read ELANTRIS and loved it, so I was interested in what Brandon Sanderson had done with the "Mistborn" series, since everyone was raving about it. It's a good read!

Premise: Vin is a thief with the ability to affect people's emotions, helpful with her gang, but when she uses her ability on the wrong person, she catches the interest of the Lord Ruler's minions ... and Kelsier. Kelsier has survived the Lord Ruler's hellish mining prison and intends to bring the Lord Ruler down. He's gathered a group of the city's greatest thieves and con artists and decides to add Vin to the mix. All they have to do now is bring the ruling Houses of the city to war, train an army of peasants that can take over the city, and somehow kill the Lord Ruler himself. Easy, right?

This is definitely a good read. The world is interesting--a dark city with ash falls covering the streets on a regular basis and the commoners ground under the heel of the Lord Ruler and his government. The characters are interesting and fun to follow. And the magic system is unique, magic performed by swallowing and burning metals. My only real complaint is that the pacing was a little slow in some parts.

Definitely something those who love fantasy should check out.

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Book Review: REVIVAL by Stephen King

Sun, 10 Dec 2017 22:35:07 GMT

I enjoy Stephen King, have loved many of his books, but this one isn't high up on my list.

Premise: Jamie Morton recalls his run-ins with Charles Jacobs, originally a minister is his small town. Charles has a profound affect on Jamie at that first meeting, but as he runs into Charles again and again at various times later in life, he discovers his life changed in many ways, not necessarily good. The minister's fascination with electricity brings the supernatural aspect of this novel into play, with an electrifying end.

As I said, I love Stephen King, but I found I couldn't get into this one as much as some of his others. The main characters--both Jamie and Charles--just didn't grab me and pull me along as King's characters usually do. And the supernatural aspects with the lightning and electricity didn't feel as developed as they could have been, even though I ended up reading almost exclusively for those aspects as the book progressed. The best parts of the book are those that deal with Jamie and his girlfriend.

So while I enjoyed this overall, it doesn't rate high on my list of Stephen King books.

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Barnes & Noble Fundraiser for Literacy Volunteers!

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 20:57:42 GMT

Hey, if you plan on buying holiday gifts at Barnes & Noble in store or online, AND YOU CAN WAIT, help raise funds for Literacy Volunteers of Broome/Tioga Counties by buying everything DECEMBER 1st-6th! They're running a bookfair and 10% of everything you buy will be donated to the charity, if you give them the code (Bookfair ID 12077566) at the counter or at checkout online. It really builds up fast! Here are the details about the event the Vestal, NY, Barnes & Noble (where I'll be signing copies of my books, including the new omnibus edition of "The Throne of Amenkor," just released) is running, but remember that you can still use the code (Bookfair ID 12077566) online and at your own store to help out! It will work from December 1-6th! Thanks in advance for helping out this charity!

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Literacy Volunteers of Broome-Tioga Counties invites you to our BARNES & NOBLE BOOKFAIR – VESTAL

Shop at Barnes & Noble on December 1st and a percentage of your purchases will be donated to Literacy Volunteers of Broome-Tioga Counties! We will offer free gift wrapping for all of your Barnes & Noble gifts. Join us for children’s activities throughout the day and local author signings, schedule below:

11:00 am-2:00 pm, Join Author Jan Lewis Zelesnikar at 11:00 am for a very special Silly Nomads From Palmerston Close story reading and crafts. Book signings and crafts will continue until 2:00 pm. Silly Nomads is the story of two silly and crazy brothers and their action-packed adventures. There are three books in the series. All ages will love these stories! For more information visit our website at www.mohallandlewisllc.com.

3:00 pm-7:00 pm, Join Author Joshua Palmatier for the release of his first trilogy, The Throne of Amenkor, in omnibus format! Joshua Palmatier is an epic fantasy writer with a PhD in mathematics. He has written nine novels and is currently hard at work on the start of a new series. Find out more at www.joshuapalmatier.com or on Facebook or Twitter (bentateauthor).

To make an online purchase, visit BN.COM/bookfairs December 1 – 6, 2017 and enter Bookfair ID 12077566 at checkout

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Submission Guidelines: THE RAZOR'S EDGE, GUILDS & GLAIVES, and SECOND ROUND

Mon, 25 Sep 2017 18:34:06 GMT

THE RAZOR’S EDGE, GUILDS & GLAIVES, and SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE URBAR anthology kickstarter has hit its goal! If you have a story idea that fits one of the anthology themes, write it up, revise it, polish it, and send it in for consideration. I've posted the guidelines below.

THE RAZOR’S EDGE, GUILDS & GLAIVES, and SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE URBAR Submission Guidelines

Zombies Need Brains LLC is accepting submissions to its three science fiction and fantasy anthologies THE RAZOR’S EDGE, GUILDS & GLAIVES, and SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE URBAR. Stories must be submitted in electronic form as an attachment with the title of the story as the file name in .doc or .docx format. The header of the email should include the name of the anthology the submission is for along with the title of the submission (for example: WERE-: WereJellyfish Gone Wild!). The content of the email should also include which anthology the manuscript is intended for. Please send multiple manuscripts in separate emails. Manuscripts should be in manuscript format, meaning double-spaced, 12pt font, standard margins on top, bottom and sides, and pages numbered. Please use New Times Roman font. The first page should include the Title of the story, Author’s name, address, and email, and Pseudonym if different from the author’s real name. Italics and bold should be in italics and bold.

Stories for this anthology must be original (no reprints or previously published material), no more than 7,500 words in length, and must satisfy the theme of the anthology.

THE RAZOR’S EDGE is to feature science fiction or fantasy stories that explore the fine line between a rebel and an insurgent. It is a military science fiction and fantasy anthology. We are attempting to fill half of the anthology with science fiction stories, and half with fantasy stories. Stories featuring more interesting settings and twists on the typical themes will receive more attention than those that use standard tropes. In other words, we don’t want to see 100 stories dealing with the general fighting insurgents who joins their cause at the end. If we do, it’s likely that only one, at most, would be selected for the anthology. So be creative, choose something different, and use it in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

GUILDS & GLAIVES is to feature sword & sorcery stories where a guild is featured somewhere in the story. So thieves, assassins, and dark magic, but with a guild or guilds incorporated into the story somehow. Obviously most such stories will be fantasy, but we are interested in science fiction takes on this theme. Stories featuring more interesting takes on the guilds, and twists on how they are integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with the standard thieves guild or assassins guild. So be creative and use your guild in an unusual and unexpected way. We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE URBAR is to feature stories where the time-traveling Urbar, first used in the anthology AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE URBAR, is a central part of the plot. The story may start in the bar, end in the bar, or be in the bar somewhere in the middle, but at some point a significant plot point must involve the Urbar. Stories featuring more interesting historical settings for the bar, and twists on how the bar is integrated into the story, will receive more attention than those with more standard uses of the bar, or where the bar is only incidental to the rest of the story. So be creative and use bar in an unusual and unexpected way, preferably in an unusual or unexpected era of history. In particular, you cannot use the same time period used in the anthology AFTER HOURS or that will be used by an anchor author of the current anthology (see the end of the post for time periods that are off limits). We are looking for a range of tones, from humorous all the way up to dark.

The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2017. Decisions on stories should be completed by the end of February 2018. Please send submissions to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. You will receive a receipt email within a few days of receiving the submission and having it filed for consideration. Notices about decisions on the stories will be sent out no later than the end of March 2018.

If your story is selected for use in the anthology, you should expect a revision letter by the end of April 2018. Revisions and the final draft of the story will be expected no later than the end of May 2018. These dates may change due to the editors’ work schedules. Zombies Need Brains LLC is seeking non-exclusive world anthology rights (including electronic rights) in all languages for the duration of one year after publication/release of the anthology. Your story cannot appear elsewhere during that year. Pay rate will be an advance of a minimum of 6 cents per word for the short stories. For each additional $10,000 raised above the Kickstarter minimum of $20,000, we will increase this advance pay rate by 1 cent per word. The anthology will be published as an ebook and an exclusive mass market paperback edition, distributed to the Kickstarter backers. The book would be available after that to the general public in ebook and trade paperback formats. Advances would be immediately earned out by the success of the Kickstarter. Royalties on additional sales beyond the Kickstarter will be 25% of ebook cover price and 10% of trade paperback cover price, both split evenly (not by word count) between the authors in the anthology and the editors of the anthology.

Questions regarding these submission guidelines should be sent to contact@zombiesneedbrains.com. Thank you.

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The following time periods were used in the AFTER HOURS anthology and are off limits for SECOND ROUND's open call:

“An Alewife In Kish” by Benjamin Tate - Ancient Sumeria, circa 2000 BC

“Why the Vikings Had No Bars” by SC Butler - Viking Daneland, circa 9th century AD (reign of King Harald Fairhair)

“The Emperor’s New God” by Jennifer Dunne - Bar is in Venice, Italy, 1001 AD, story covers 1001-1002 AD

“The Tale That Wagged the Dog” by Barbara Ashford - Scotland, 14th century

“Sake and Other Spirits” by Maria V. Snyder - Feudal Japan, a fishing village near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. 15th-16th century.

“The Fortune-Teller Makes Her Will” by Kari Sperring - Paris, 1675-1680 (affaire des poisons time period)

“The Tavern Fire” by DB Jackson - Boston, Mass 1760

“Last Call” by Patricia Bray - Time period spans Georgian/Regency England and Europe, the Ur-Bar is in Switzerland, in 1816

“The Alchemy of Alcohol” by Seanan McGuire -- San Francisco, CA, 1899
“The Grand Tour” by Juliet E McKenna - Austria, 1910

“Paris 24” by Laura Anne Gilman - Paris, France 1924 (Olympics)

“Steady Hands and a Heart of Oak” by Ian Tregillis - London, England, 1940 (Blitz)

“Forbidden” by Avery Shade - New York City, late 1980s

“Where We Are Is Hell” by Jackie Kessler - Present day(ish), location not specified but somewhere U.S., possibly near NYC

“Izdu-Bar” by Anton Strout- Near future, post-zombie apocalypse, somewhere near Albany, NY

The following time periods have been claimed by the anchor authors of SECOND ROUND and are off limits for the open call:

Jacey Bedford (June 30th, 1916, France, Battle of Somme, WWI)
Gini Koch (Old West)
Juliet E. McKenna (Mars, near future)
C.E. Murphy (undetermined)
Kristine Smith (Present day-ish, New York City)
Kari Sperring (Wales, 1400-1415)
Jean Marie Ward (1420s Nanjing, China)

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