As posted on Io9:
“…In my humble opinion, Randy Tatano’s story “Backtiming” (deceptively simple, but keying into a fantasy I think a lot of us have entertained at some point), “Terra Incognita” by Camille Alexa (set in a deteriorating Antarctica in a dystopic near-future that is all too plausible), and Sarah Monette’s “After the Dragon” are worth the price of admission alone.”
To support this unique Gulf Coast charity anthology, check it out at the Book View Cafe.
“. . .Late-night shift at Compost was two to ten. At the start of each shift I’d unload cardboard wine-boxes of dusty hardcover books and worn toys and dented silver–my boss Toni’s gleanings from yardsales, estate sales, thrift shops. I’d carry them to the old kitchen of the 1930s bungalow which housed Compost Books, its lowish ceilings and antique linoleum painted in swirling dove-grey patterns like the feathers of freakish emus. . . “
The Sniplits audio version of “Occupational Hazards of the Late-Night Girl” is FREE this week at Sniplits. If you’ve wanted to check out Sniplits, now’s your chance. If you’ve wanted to read one of my more ‘literary’ stories, now’s your chance. If you just like getting something for free that usually costs money, now’s your chance.
The offer lasts just a few days, so don’t wait too long. This story is also available in the anthology Tales of the Heart, Vol. 1.
The final episode of my serialized Victoriana gender-flip SF-ish novella, “Particular Friends,” is live over at The Red Penny Papers. Snippet from Episode 5:
The richly attired man threw back the lid of a large box by the hearth–one I had supposed to hold spare kindling–and pulled forth rope and a bottle of lamp oil. All the while he muttered to himself under the guise of speaking to me. He was obviously utterly mad.
“They thought they could hide it from me, the birth. They thought they could pass it off as some random deWinter by-blow. That was a bit of a surprise–deWinter of all people!–but not too farfetched. Besides, who’d care about a Jonathan deWinter?”
At the sound of my name, I began to feel the blood pumping through to the ends of my fingers and toes. Perhaps, with the help of this bit of adrenaline and some concentration on my part, I could regain use of my limbs! I must try, I told myself. I cursed the empty pot of tea on the table and the soporific it had obviously contained. . .
If you haven’t read the first installments, Episode 1 here / Episode 2 here /Episode 3 here / Episode 4 here.
Zandra Renwick 