News
December 29, 2002
I just came across an interesting bit of news while browsing through this year's Secret Santa present given to me by one of my coworkers at the SCI FI Channel. The present was The Oxford Dictionary of New Words, a volume containing the history of 2,000 new words from the '80s and '90s. One of the words, "steampunk," listed three usage attributions, and I was pleased to see that the earliest of these was credited to a magazine I edited:
His newest works are taking a turn from cyberpunk to steampunk, following in the footsteps of many other s.f writers—Science Fiction Age Jan. 1993 p. 74My pleasure at seeing this attribution was not lessened by the fact that I know quite well that even though mine was the earliest notation listed in the dictionary, it was not the earliest in fact. A quick search on the Web easily turned up an attribution from the San Francisco Chronicle six years earlier. Lucky for me, the editors of the book didn't make the same use of Google I did!
December 25, 2002
I'm spending Christmas Day in Florida, where in just a few hours, Adam-Troy Castro and Judi Gooodman will tie the knot. Last night, family and friends gathered at a local steakhouse for a rehearsal dinner. Afterwards, we kidnapped Adam back to the Marriott hotel bar. We tried to hold onto him until the ceremony, but he managed to slip away just after midnight. We assume we'll see him later this morning—but you never know.
Based on what Adam and Judi have let slip, the event will almost be a mini-SF convention. Meanwhile, take your final look into the eyes of two singles who are about to take a great leap forward into the unknown.
December 18, 2002
I just added an additional page of photos from my trip to Havana, this one focussed on the city streets I wandered with members of the Cuban SF community. For those keeping track, there are now three different pages: The faces of Cuban SF, Cuban SF book covers, and the city streets.
December 14, 2002
Thanks to the ice storm that ravaged northern Montgomery County, I am not currently at Philcon ponitificating on "What a Beginning Writer Needs to Know," "Gender Biases Among the Editors of SF Magazines" or "The Old-Fashioned New Wave: When the Revolution Beomes the Establishment," the three panels on which I was scheduled to appear. My hot air seems more needed at home here in Maryland right now than up in Philadelphia.
At about 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, one of the trees next to my house split due to the weight of the ice, and half fell against the side and roof of my house. It took about two-and-a-half hours with neighbors and chainsaws and ropes and braces and ladders and handsaws to take it down before it could cause further damage. We were lucky enough to get away with only some minor gutter damage.
We thought that would be the extent of our suffering due to the storm, but later than night, the power went out in most of the area, and it didn't come back until Friday morning—which is why I'm sticking close to home this weekend instead of attending a con. There's a lot of kindling to pick up in the yard. So those of you hunting for me at Philcon and wondering why you can't find me will have to catch me at the next convention down the road.
December 13, 2002
It's been hectic here—we've had an ice storm, a tree falling into my house and power outages—but I've managed to find the time to post the first set of photos from my trip to Havana. This first page focusses on the people I met in Cuba. I'll try to add more on other topics soon.
December 11, 2002I just received a copy of the German edition of Mike Ashley's anthology The Mammoth Book of Awesome Comic Fantasy, which was published last month by Bastei Lübbe as Hokus, Pokus, Hexenschuss. (I know what "Hocus, Pocus" means, since it's a term we use here in the U.S., but I wonder at the meaning of "Hexenschuss.") My story "You'll Never Walk Alone" is now titled "Einer Geht Noch ... "—and I am now described like this in the story's introduction:
Scott Edelman schreibt seit zwanzig Jahren Science-Fiction, Fantasy und Horror, und war bis vor kurzem Herausgeber von Science Fiction Age.Since this is my first translation into German—as far as I know I've only been translated into Czech and Italian up until now—this was my first opportunity to notice how much long it takes to say things in that language. My story, the last in the book, which runs from page 490 though 528 in the British edition, occupies pages 699 through 746 in the German edition!
December 5, 2002
I have a much more satisfying explanation for my most recent silence than for other recent lapses which have occurred in these pages—I just returned from Havana, where I researched the Cuban science-fiction field and attended the convention Cubaficción 2002. Preparing for the trip, making the trip and recovering from the trip meant that I had no time to actually report on the trip. Now that I am back, however, I'll try to share some of the experience once I catch up with the work that pays the bills.
I learned a great deal about the differences in publishing between our two countries from writers of all kinds, all the way from raw beginners to seasoned vets such as Angel Arango, who is the Dean of Cuban science fiction. (I guess the simplest way to put it is that he is their Jack Williamson.) That's Angel Arango to my right in the courtyard of the Palacio del Segundo Cabo, a 1772 building which currently houses the Cuban Book Institute.
I hope to post more images and anecdotes by the beginning of next week.
November 17, 2002
Editing SCI FI magazine has occupied most of my waking life for the past few weeks. The final result, which goes on sale December 17, was certainly well worth the hard work, but it kept me from posting here, as so much often does. Since my last entry , a new short story of mine has been published. Check out the section on my recent short stories to find out more about "Goobers."
I'm currently planning to attend Philcon from December 13-15, which I'm particularly looking forward to since circumstances caused me to miss both this year's World Fantasy Con and Capclave.
October 28, 2002
I just came across a flattering review of my recent Absolute Magnitude story "The Only Thing That Mattered"—and though I'm not sure how the publisher felt to read the words, "With the exception of the Edelman novella, this issue ... doesn't have much to recommend it," but it didn't bother me in the least!
Also, I just received contributor copies of the Angel Body anthology I first mentioned back on September 19, so I've updated my page of recent short stories to reflect that.
October 19, 2002
For those who expected to see me at Capclave today—I never made it. As I was preparing to leave for the con, I threw my back out just minutes before I was going to climb into my car. I could barely walk, even with a cane, and spent most of the day applying heat and taking painkillers. This seems to happen to me once every two to three years, usually the day after I spend too much uninterrupted time behind the wheel or in front of the computer. I should have seen this coming, as I drove almost 400 miles yesterday, without much of a break. So I missed my chance to pontificate on "25 Years of Stan Schmidt" and why "Short Stories Are Good For You," but I'm sure both panels went off fine without me.
As for me, don't worry—the back problem always passes in a day or two, leaving as mysteriously as it came.
October 15, 2002
James Lowder's anthology The Book of More Flesh can now be pre-ordered from the publisher, Eden Studios. My short story, "Goobers," was chosen to start off the book, which is supposed to be available later this month. (My story "Live People Don't Understand" was the final story in the previous anthology in the series, The Book of All Flesh.) I haven't received my own copies yet, but you can see the cover at right.
I must admit that it does feel a bit odd to be contemplating an anthology in which zombies are hunting humans (which is, after all, what zombies do) when in real life a serial sniper is hunting us here in the Maryland-Virginia-D.C. area.
October 12, 2002
In response to those who have been e-mailing me (and those who have not yet done so), yes, I live in Montgomery County, Maryland, a site which has unfortunately been in the news this past week. In fact, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law live in the Aspen Hill area of the county, mere blocks from where two of the sniper shootings took place. Luckily, I live at the opposite end of the county, so I am not as worried as some.
Maybe I'm just fooling myself.
In more mundane news, I'll be attending Capclave next weekend, and I hope to see some of you there. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to this year's World Fantasy Convention at the end of this month, so you'll all have to party on without me.
September 19, 2002
I've just learned that my story, "Choosing Time," will appear in print next month in a commemorative anthology published by Chris Reed and David Memmott. Reed, editor of the UK magazine Back Brain Recluse, and Memmott, editor and publisher of the American magazine Ice River, collaborated on a trade paperback containing experimental stories of the sort they've been publishing over the years in their magazines.
Contributors had to have been previously published by one of the other editor. My invitation came about because my short story, "Buffalo," first appeared in the Summer 1988 issue of Ice River.
Assuming that the printer meets its deadline, this would mark my fifth short story published in 2002.
September 3, 2002
I arrived back home from the San Jose Worldcon yesterday—actually, at 1:45 this morning—and immediately had to dive into readying today's issue of Science Fiction Weekly. And with the deadline for the next issue of SCI FI magazine fast approaching, I only have time for just a few brief comments.
I was on 10 program items, ranging from panels on "Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost" to "Science Fiction Poetry" to "SF on the Web." I took part in the annual Writers Workshop to help critique newer writers, and at the Hugo ceremony I presented the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award. (Though to be honest, I should admit that I was so worn out by the con that when I put my head down briefly to rest one afternoon, I ended up sleeping through a panel.) I broke bread with old and new friends, and partied as much as I could, given the fact that I still had to keep an eye on work throughout the con.
And I look forward to doing it all over again in Toronto.
August 27, 2002
Good news! Jim Lowder just accepted my short story, "Goobers," for his upcoming anthology The Book of More Flesh. (Last year, he included "Live People Don't Understand" in the first of his zombie-themed anthologies, The Book of All Flesh.) Also, he indicated that it will appear as the lead story in the book, which is due out in October.
August 20, 2002
I just agreed to be the Editor-in-Residence at the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop over an extended July 4th weekend next year. They'll be making an official announcement shortly, but the powers that be indicated that they were fine with me going ahead and telling the world.
I was a student at Clarion in 1979, and then the Editor-in-Residence 20 years later—the only two times I've ever been in East Lansing, MI. (By the way, both times I flew to East Lansing, my luggage ended up elsewhere. I'm hoping to break the curse next year!)
August 18, 2002
To my surprise, there seem to be a number of people out there who actually read this site, because I have recently received a number of complaints that I haven't been updating these pages regularly. I guess I never thought of this as a place to report all of my personal comings and goings, but primarily as a locus for news of my professional life. But since my rotator-cuff surgery back in May, some of you have apparently been worried. So, for those who care—
I had my final in-patient physical-therapy session Friday. I still won't be pitching for the Yankees, but at least I'll be able to live my life without interruptions again. More later, when I can steal a few moments of time from the latest issue of SCI FI. Meanwhile, check out the Short Stories section for my most recent publication.
July 16, 2002
I managed to have fun at Readercon, even though my rotator-cuff recovery meant that I sometimes had to vanish to my hotel room to do an hour or so of physical therapy and then pack my shoulder in ice—so it wasn't non-stop schmoozing, which is my typical convention behavior. I spent much of the time there hanging with writers with whom I've shared workshops, including Resa Nelson, Mary Turzillo and Leslie Choras, and also Bill Shunn and Laura Chavoen, who still can't keep their hands off each other. As usual, there were far too many people (yes, you all know who you are) with whom I chatted for far too little time. Before and after the con, Paul Di Filippo and Deb Newton hosted me in their Providence mansion, which is starting to look even more like a wing of the Library of Congress.
As for some actual writing news, my next short story due to hit bookstores will be out in the DAW anthology Once Upon a Galaxy. The volume, edited by Wil McCarthy, will goes on sale September 3. Other recent good news is that the anthology Crossroads: Southern Stories of the Fantastic, edited by Andy Duncan and F. Brett Cox, which was dropped by its original publisher when the company decided to abandon fiction completely and stick to non-fiction, has been picked up by Tor Books. My short story, a time-travel tale involving Randy Newman, is titled "My Life is Good." That story seems inextricably tied to Readercon. It was at Readercon two years ago that the editors asked me to contribute to their anthology, I chose to give a reading of it at last year's con, and I learned this welcome publishing news just before this year's Readercon. if this cycle (and my luck) holds, maybe I'll have a copy of the book in hand in time for next year's convention.
I won't be hitting the road again (at least not for conventions) until Worldcon in San Jose over the Labor Day weekend. By then, my arm should no longer be a impediment to partying until dawn!
June 22, 2002
Recovery from surgery has kept my entries here few. I've been visiting physical therapists three days per week for the past month, which has meant that the remainder of my time—including weekends—has been spent working on my print and Internet magazines. There has certainly been no time to update this site.
As it turned out, I wasn't quite up for the Stoker weekend. I turned in at 10:15 after the awards ceremony, rather than partying until two or three in the morning as I usually do. I hope to be myself again by Readercon 14, which I will be attending July 12-14. Readercon is my favorite convention, and I have attended all of them so far—no rotator cuff better stand in the way of my fun! May 26, 2002
For those of you who have been checking back for an update since my May 10th message—I still live! The surgery turned out to be the easy part; it's the recovery that's hard. Working on the computer has been so frustrating that I've generally stayed away except to keep up with my day job. I'm stuck typing with only one finger of my left hand, and for somone who once tested out at 82 words per minute, that is agonizingly slow. I am scheduled for three physical therapy sesions per week for the foreseeable future. Those, plus the daily at-home excercises, should bring me back to 100%. The only unanswered question is when.
I attended Balticon this weekend, albeit briefly—the pain proved too wearying for me to be my usual party animal. I only stayed for about seven hours Saturday. I hope that by the Stoker Awards banquet on June 8th that I will be in better shape. If I should see you there, remember—don't slap me on the right shoulder!
May 10, 2002Life continues to overcome my best intentions, which is why a month has passed since my last note here. Part of that absence had to do with the two conventions (noted below) which I attended, part wrestling the latest issue of SCI FI magazine out the door, which had me working 16-hour days, and part was/is my right rotator cuff, which has been acting up, causing me to spend time in physical therapy. Unfortunately, the physical therapy has failed to solve the problem, and so today I head in for surgery. Any additions to this site over the next month will be made using only my left hand. Wish me luck.
One writing-related note—yesterday, I received a printed copy of the book Mars Probes in the mail (see February 3 note below), which means that it should soon be in stores. Watch for it!
April 5, 2002
I just updated a few pages, adding a couple of titles to my Comics page, as well as one photo from the trip Irene and I made to the Galapagos Islands.
March 31, 2002
I'd hoped to post some more book, comic book and magazine history over the past week, but my scanner has been acting up recently. I've been getting an odd error message—"Omnipage cannot load the image because its resolution is less than 200 dpi"—and so won't be putting more images here until I can figure out this glitch.
April will be a busy travel month for me, as I'll be attending two science-fiction events. First there's I-Con 21, which will be held from April 19th through the 21st on the campus of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Then I'll be in Kansas City for SFWA's Nebula Awards Weekend that runs from April 25th through the 28th. On top of that, Irene and I are considering a trip to London next week to witness the Queen Mother's funeral procession ... but common sense will probably prevail.
March 10, 2002
Sigh ... and here my intentions were so good! I had planned to add new content to this site every few days, but then the June issue of SCI FI magazine took over my life. Wrangling the words and pictures for articles on Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, Spider-Man, The Scorpion King, Jason X, Dinoptopia, Jeremiah and other films and TV shows consumed those final weeks of February into March. I hope when you pick up the issue at newsstands on April 2, you'll find that the cause of the delay was worth it.
I also had a few days stolen due to a visit this past week to Vancouver, thanks to an invitation from Castle Rock to come on the set of the new Stephen King film, Dreamcatcher. I interviewed Lawrence Kasdan and other members of the creative team for articles to appear down the road in Science Fiction Weekly and SCI FI. It was fun, but very cold. My fingers are crossed that the next film set I visit will be in Miami.
February 8, 2002
I just added pages on my past and current Magazine Editing, as well as the beginnings of a Comics section.
February 5, 2002
I just added some Photos, as well as the first screen to the Books section, covering my fiction only. I'll be returning to add non-fiction information in a few days.
February 3, 2002
You can expect that for the first month of this site's life, I'll be spending most entries here telling you what additions I've made—such as the fact that I just brought live a page in the Short Stories section listing my three most recent publications.
But here's one bit of actual news. My short story "Mom, the Martians, and Me" is now scheduled to hit stores in the anthology Mars Probes, edited by Peter Crowther, on June 4, 2002. Here's a peek at the cover flat, which I just received.
This marks the second short story Peter has bought from me on a celestial object, the first being my piece for Moon Shots. He's been a wonderful editor to work with, so my fingers are crossed that he decides to work his way through the rest of the planets and moons of our solar system.
February 2, 2002It's about time I had a personal presence here on the Web, one separate from my professional role as the editor-in-chief of Science Fiction Weekly. There's very little here as yet—just the front page and this first entry in the News section. I've decided to grow the site a little bit each day, rather than waiting until it is complete and making it live all at once. I'll note here what additions and changes I make each day, so this is always a good place to start so you don't spend too much time wandering around and seeing my "Under Construction" page again and again. Welcome!