Local author, friend, and collaborator David Oppegaard has some cool things to say about writing short stories and writing in general. Not unrelatedly, the Guardian UK has an interesting article on the relation between short stories, short story collections and novels. I've always loved reading and writing short fiction, and have only recently come to appreciate the joy of writing novels. This list gives me a headache, but Tangent has gone through the trouble of collecting and rating the most notable short SF stories of 2010. Elsewhere, Tobias Buckell has created an annotated anthology of his abandoned and unpublished short fiction.
Local horror author/screenwriter R. Scott McCoy has a story in the Fell Beasts anthology.
There's an interview with local author Lyda Morehouse about her latest book and some of the ideas behind her world building.
On the other side of the world, Vladimir Sorokin is getting a good amount of press. I've not read his work but I am very excited by his blend of dystopia and satire. I read much of the available Soviet dystopic work to prep for Arcadian Park, so I am curious to see where our worlds may overlap. However, I only visited the Soviet Union, and never lived there!
Writer Beware! has a couple of interesting examples of head scratching foolishness from the world of publishing. I like this bit about How Not To Market Your Book. In a related story, most people in Twin Cities have heard about a local self-publishing phenom who has gotten a major deal with St. Martin's Press. Here's an example of someone happy to head in the other direction. My own feelings about this are on the fence at the moment.
The Economist offers an interesting angle on the decline of Borders Books.
Rick Norwood at SFSite has a list of forward looking film reviews based on the suspected quality of the screenplay. This is a fun idea, and charming for its focus on the writer, but the fundamental assumption that the writer has any power in the filmmaking process is famously flawed.
Necon E-books is republishing some classic horror novels in downloadable formats. The 1980's were a golden age of horror fiction, so this is an interesting development. Unfortunately, they haven't managed to recreate the cool covers of the originals. Seriously, go to DeviantArt, find some cool art and get yourself an awesome cover.
Old time radio: A Gun For Dinosaur.
A connection between Lovecraft and Houdini?
