Tag Archive for m. david blake

Fiction Bragging Reminder: Last Week to get “Bother” for Free!

In February, I let you all know about the opportunity to get your hands on one of my short stories for free for a limited time. And now that time is almost at an end! “Bother,” along with many other fantastic stories collected by M. David Blake for the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology, will only be available until 4/30. So what are you waiting for? Click your browsers on over to Stupefying Stories and get your copy! And be sure to give Durham author Mur Lafferty your congratulations on being nominated for the Campbell Award for the second straight year. Some of her work is also available in the anthology. You can find her at the Murverse.

Campbellian Anthology 2013 cover

Here’s what I posted to explain the anthology in February:

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free — that’s right, free! — for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What’s that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the “Golden Age” of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of “Bother” to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven’t had other speculative fiction published since then — I’ve been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But “Bother” has been reprinted in the anthology, and now’s your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read “Bother,” please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Fiction Bragging: The 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology

Campbellian Anthology 2013 cover

Published by Stupefying Stories, the 2013 Campbellian Pre-Reading Anthology is now available for free — that’s right, free! — for anyone interested in perusing the works of authors eligible for Campbell award nominations this year. What’s that? As M. David Blake, editor of Stupefying Stories explained,

Named for John W. Campbell, Jr., whose 34 years at the helm of Astounding Science Fiction (later renamed Analog) defined the “Golden Age” of the genre and launched the careers of dozens of famous writers, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer is presented annually at WorldCon to an outstanding author whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the previous two years.

What does this have to do with me? Well, with my sale of “Bother” to Bull Spec nearing on two years ago now, I became eligible for the Campbell Award. I have absolutely no expectations of being nominated, especially because I haven’t had other speculative fiction published since then — I’ve been working on my first fantasy novel instead of sending out my short stories. But “Bother” has been reprinted in the anthology, and now’s your chance to read it for free along with other worthy works by a large list of fantastic speculative fiction authors. All for free until the Hugo nominees, including for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, are announced at the end of April.

To take advantage of this amazing access to these stories, just click here and chose the e-format you prefer at the end of the publication announcement post. And if you do read “Bother,” please let me know what you thought! Us writers do thrive on feedback.

Bull Spec #5 Launch and NC Speculative Fiction Night

My short story, Bother, is now available online! Bull Spec’s PDF version is up, a couple of days before the official publication of issue #5 on Friday, 4/15. You can find the full contents list and order a print or PDF version here. I may be biased, but I think you’ll want the print version because of this gorgeous cover.

The artwork is by Richard Case, a Hillsborough resident and comic book artist who’s done a lot of work for the DC label. He picked Bother to illustrate for the cover, and I love how it came out! I think it captures the feel of it quite well, and—it must be said—there be dragons! Okay, just one dragon, but it’s a beauty!

If you can’t wait to get a copy in your hands to read any of the fabulous fiction within its pages (including Absinthe Fish by M. David Blake, which just received a Recommended from Lois Tilton, the Locus Magazine short fiction reviewer!) then join us at Quail Ridge Books , 3522 Wade Avenue, Raleigh, on Friday night (4/15)! At 7:30, a bunch of North Carolinian speculative fiction authors and industry folks, including me, will be convening for readings, probable panel discussions, and more. Bull Spec #5 will be hot off the presses and available for purchase then. They will likely be an after party at Crowley’s also. . .

Let me know if you’re planning to go so I can say hello!

And Bull Spec’s publisher just referred me to his list of where you can find the magazine locally, and in a few other states, too, though they likely won’t be on the shelves until sometime next week.

The Regulator Bookshop (Durham, 9th Street)

Sci-Fi Genre Comics & Games (Durham, 3215 Old Chapel Hill Rd between University Dr and MLK Blvd)

Quail Ridge Books & Music (Raleigh, 3522 Wade Ave at Ridge Rd)

Internationalist Books & Community Center (Chapel Hill, 405 W Franklin St)

Chapel Hill Comics (Chapel Hill, 316 W Franklin St)

Foundation’s Edge (Raleigh, 2526 Hillsborough St)

Storyteller’s Books (Wake Forest, 100 E. Roosevelt Ave)

Capitol Comics (Raleigh, 3027 Hillsborough St)

Flyleaf Books (Chapel Hill, 752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd)

All Fun & Games (Apex, 958 US Highway 64)

Ultimate Comics (Durham: 9th St; Chapel Hill: Farrington Rd)

Barnes & Noble of Cary (760 SE Maynard, Cary Commons)

Barnes & Noble of Durham – The Streets at Southpoint (8030 Renaissance Parkway)

Barnes & Noble of Durham – New Hope Commons (5400 New Hope Commons)

All Booked Up (Apex, 104-B North Salem St)

Northgate Books (Durham: Northgate Mall)

North Carolina:

Barnes & Noble of Greenville, NC (3040 Evans Street)

New York:

Forbidden Planet NYC (NYC, NY)

Pennsylvania:

Golden Eagle Comics (Reading, PA)