Publishers Weekly

It's not a full review per se, but the reviewer at Publishers Weekly called Chromatophoric Histories of the Sepiidae a standout story of Tesseracts 18: http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/978-1-77053-068-3#path/978-1-77053-068-3 

SpaceBox

One of my new projects this year will be an ongoing webcomic I'm calling SpaceBox.
It will detail thrilling adventures through time and space coupled with the claustrophobic frustration of being confined in a propulsion-less escape pod that's not much larger than a phone booth (and not bigger on the inside.) Enjoy!

Wrestling With Gods - Tesseracts Eighteen



The Kindle-exclusive version of Wrestling with Gods - Tesseracts 18  is out now, just in time for Christmas shopping (and print versions should be out by Easter.)


My story in the anthology, Chromatophoric Histories of the Sepiidae, is in there somewhere (about three quarters of the way through if I have the right information.)


I'm looking forward to reading all the other contributions tand am pleased to have contributed a few pixels to the picture Jerome and Liana have put together.

Tesseracts 18

I'm pleased to announce that my short story, "Chromatophoric Histories of the Sepiidae" will be a part of the Tesseracts 18: Wrestling With Gods anthology by EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.

The Tesseracts anthology has featured some fantastic writers and stories over the years and I'm looking forward to seeing how my odd, little post-human story fits into this year's collection. Thanks to editors Liana K and Jerome Stueart for giving this story a home...and what looks to be some amazing (and even more interesting) neighbours.

Mazes and the Futility of a Controlled Life: "Thirteen Generations" Reviewed

I am humbled at being read at all  and just about speechless on the handful of occasions when people have publicly shared their thoughts on things I've written. I've realized (probably a bit later than most people) that being a reader is really is a type of co-conspirator to text. To describe it in the loose-analogy of film-making: If a writer is providing a script then the reader must provide the rest of the production to create the particular experience in their mind: Actors, sets, camera-angles, CGI effects and other post-production, etc. It is the most flattering thing to be read and yet, one can never take too much credit for someone else's good experience in reading as they've obviously brought something special to the transaction themselves.

Derek Newman-Stille's pensive and insightful review of "Thirteen Generations" at Speculating Canada has me in such place. His piece "Mazes and the Futility of a Controlled Life" leads me to thinking about aspects of the story in ways I hadn't fully considered. I think he may understand this story better than me.

"Thirteen Generations" is up at AE: Science Fiction Review.

AE Micro 2013 - Elements

I've loved the whole concept of the AE Micro anthologies since coming across them at the Friday night party of SF Contario 2: A collection of five very short stories (all less than 200 words) printed in a tiny point-size onto a sheet of 8.5 x 11 that could be cut and folded into a tiny booklet.

So, I was more than delighted when I found out the other week that my story "Dig for Fire" was to be included in AE Micro 2013 - Elements. The theme was open to interpretation: classic elements, periodic table, fundamental particles or the more general idea of things being reduced to more abstract essences. For my story, I chose the made-up element of phlogiston. Hardly my own creation, phlogiston theory was all the rage for explaining heat in the 17th century, prior to the discovery of kinetic-molecular theory. Phlogiston itself was allegedly a flammable substance that was otherwise undetectable essence inside things. When it was released it transformed into heat and fire. This attempted to explain why phlogiston-rich substances like wood and coal would weigh significantly less after burning, having just lost their reserve of phlogiston. It's all very quaint in light of current knowledge, but the question rose: What if this were actually true? How might the pursuit of energy (particularly on the scale of a country or empire) change as a result of this...especially if certain astronomical theories of the time also held?

It's a similar approach to an idea I first encountered in the too-obscure Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle. His conceit was to take Aristotelian physics and Ptolemaic astronomy and write a novel within those constraints.

Suddenly, I had pages upon pages of notes about alternate histories, scientific theories and Austro-Hungarian navy vessel names. There was more information that would fit into a 2000 word story that was heavy on exposition, much less fit comfortably in a 200 word piece.

So, there was "process" and after leaving behind many darlings--like descriptions of calculating the epicycles on epicycles of the different spheres' rotations and the physical conditions on the island-like sunspot--the story was hewed to be within limits and submitted with a few minutes to spare.

And so it's here and readable in less time that it takes to listen to its namesake Pixies song.

Aurora Awards

I've got a few stories that are eligible to be nominated for this year's Prix Aurora Awards.

If you're signed up with CFSSA (or want to sign up for a modest $10 that includes a nice voter's pack of nominated work) you may want to consider my story "Thirteen Generations" from AE Science Fiction earlier this year.

Adam Shaftoe from Page of Reviews writes: 

Thirteen Generations is one of the smartest, most touching and ultimately tragic pieces of fiction I've had the pleasure of reading in quite some time. There is both symmetry and artistry in the prose. People would be doing themselves an injustice by not reading this story.

Yeah...what he said.

Also, there were plenty of fantastic short fiction written last year that are probably more Aurora-worthy than my own works to date. I hope to see any and all of these stories on the ballot.

• "Wing" by Amal El-Motar
  I really like short, flash length fiction that pushes and pokes at the borders between prose and poetry. "Wing" is this fantastic arrangement of ideas and words into something remarkably visual and tangible.
• "The Old Boys Club" by Geoff Gander
  The epistolary form can work really well in short pieces, particularly for telling stories that take place over a protracted time. It infers a greater scheme and world beyond the words, to say nothing of the voice we never get to hear directly due to seeing only one side of the correspondence. This one really drew me in.
• "Blessed" by Helen Marshall
  Helen has more gifts for storytelling than I can possibly enumerate, but "Blessed" puts forth her uncanny sensibilities around the experience of childhood as woven in with events that start off uncanny and get progressively bizarre and macabre.
• "Δπ" by Matt Moore
  I like highly conceptual stories where fundamental rules of math and physics can change and be altered. Text has a great advantage for telling a story such as this, where the characters are dependent upon their own observations to determine what is happening to them in the face of an event that is both world changing but remarkably subtle.

The whole bumper crop of about 300 eligible short stories listed in the complete list of eligible works  at CanSpecFic courtesy of Michael Matheson. Many of them available online to read.

April 15 is the deadline for Prix Aurora Awards nominations.

Ad Astra

In several respects, Ad Astra has been a convention of firsts for me. It was the first convention I'd ever attended when arriving onto the scene of writers and readers a few years ago. Last year, it became the first event that I was invited to attend as a panellist.

I am delighted to be attending again and my tentative schedule is as follows:

• Friday 10 pm Beaufort East - What is Happening With Webseries?
  James Bambury (m), Thomas Gofton, Scott Albert
• Sunday 1 pm Beaufort East - Summer Scifi Trailer Park
  Sara Dhooma (m), James Bambury, Matt Moore, Adam Shaftoe
• Sunday 12 pm Ellsemere West - Drowning out Distractions
  James Bambury (m), Karina Sumner-Smith, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Ed Greenwood, Julie Czerneda

Thankfully, I am in the will be moderating the two panels where I have the least qualifications.

End of the Universe Theories

New flash fiction at 365 Tomorrows: End of the Universe Theories
I read this at SFContario as part of the "Flash Fiction After Dark" and was happy to see it get some laughs. It's challenging to read a story that it mostly dialogue between two people and find a way to distinguish the voices without comic exaggeration (at least it is when one isn't a trained voice actor) but I think I got the point across.

SFContario 3 Schedule

I'll be going to SFContario 3 this weekend. I've had some fantastic times at the the last two instances of this convention and last year's was particularly special. I've really appreciated the focus they give to stories and science, the downtown location and a really comfortable setting where it's more about the quality of people and panels and not the volume. This will be the first time I'll be a panelist and I've got an interesting set of discussions ahead for the weekend.

Flash Fiction After Dark Can a short story be a thousand words? A hundred? Six? Listen to some short readings of recent speculative flash fiction and learn the tricks of how writers cram big stories into tiny word counts.

Friday 10:00 PM, Location TBA

Short Stories Our panelists discuss the role short stories have and will play in science fiction and fantasy, from proving ground to promotions to the merits of writing and reading short stories. We'll explore where the form is headed, whether its early popularity is enduring and what are the influence of contests and electronic publishing. 

Saturday 3:00 PM, Ballroom A

Will we ever stop being human? From the cyberpunk desire to transcend the flesh to speculative fiction's monstrous bodies, when does the category "human" cease to apply? This panel will explore what the terms "human,""transhuman," and "posthuman" really mean and, through the lens of science fiction, imagine what the future of humanity might look like. 

Saturday 4:00 PM, Gardenview

Writing in the digital age Many professional writers these days maintain an online persona. How does one survive as a writer in the digital age? How does an internet persona mesh with the introverted lifestyle of an author? What's the best way to deal with the trolls and haters? 

Sunday 10:00 AM, Ballroom BC

Leaves the City in Silence

My short-short piece about the arbitrary nature of sheet music Leaves the City in Silence is in the November issue of The Cafe Irreal. They have a wonderful sense of the fantastic and the incongruous along with a healthy appreciation for Kafka and Borges, the later of which I was shamelessly (and quite hopelessly) trying to imitate.

"Thirteen Generations" at AEscifi.ca

 Thirteen Generations is now live at AESciFi.ca.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the artwork by Paul Jackson to go along with the story. I've had art for two stories of mine to date and it's a flattering and humbling feeling. I think Jackson's drawing does a great job playing up both the physical features of the gastrotrich-like worm-creatures and the more iconic nature of the maze.

I rather like this storyand I hope it's a good fit alongside the fantastic short fiction AE has been putting out over the last two years (like Matt Moore's Touch the Sky, They Say and David Steffan's The Infinite Onion.)

Check out Paul Jackson's other creative efforts at www.theskycaptain.com.

"Thirteen Generations" coming to AE SciFi

 

I'm delighted to announce a short story sale to AE Science Fiction Review. It's quite validating in that it makes my previous professional sale slightly less of a fluke and it's also a very recent story, so the thrill of acceptance feels rather immediate. Anyhow, I look forward to sharing "Thirteen Generations" through a site that has had some brilliant short SF that isn't afraid to veer into literary and experimental territory.

Thank you AE!

Writing: Year 1

It's an anniversary of sorts for me today. In early July of 2011, I submitted a pair of stories to some publications for the first time, and one year ago to today I received my first rejection letter for a short story.

It was for a short piece that would later be called "Estimated Time of Arrival". I consider it my attempt to write an SF comedy, a  version of Stephen Leacock's "Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town", if you will. It  wound up with a greater debt to sitcoms and had a more dour and somber tone to it by the end. I don't think it's a bad story, but it took a little time to find a market that appreciated the particular balance of moods and themes. Ray Gun Revival  gave it a chance and the story was published with them last April. It was also my first ever reviewed piece thanks to Adam Shaftoe taking the time to critique it on his Page of Reviews.

The other story submitted last summer took a stranger route through publications that shut down before I heard anything back, had a finalist run in the Friends of the Merril Contest and a faced rejection or two before being picked up by Daily Science Fiction for my first professional sale (thanks Michele and Jonathan). That story, "The Mobius Garden" was mailed out to their subscriber list today and should be on their web archives in a few weeks.

Anyhow, if you've just received Daily Science Fiction and were curious enough to visit,  please accept my thanks and gratitude for your time spent reading "The Mobius Garden". If you have opinions, reactions or other thoughts to share I'm happy to chat over my twitter (@JamesBambury) and Google+ accounts. If you're not into social media there's the contact form at the top of the page that will e-mail me somewhat indirectly.

Again, my thanks.

Story Coming to Daily Science Fiction August 30

I am delighted to share that my first professional story sale, "The Mobius Garden" will be the e-mail story for Daily Science Fiction on August 30 and will be available on their website a week or two after that.

If you're not already familiar with Daily Science Fiction, signing up for their list is absolutely free and they send very short stories right to your email box each weekday.

The Loon

My story The Loon appears today on the bizarro blog "The Mustache Factor".

Longing to Play the Oboe

My not-particularly-speculative bit of flash fiction "Longing to Play the Oboe" is in the July issue of Jersey Devil Press.

The oboe players across the street were in the midst of a blistering ecumenical argument. Their voices were muted by the glass but I caught enough words to figure out they had severely divergent views on the Book of Job... (read the rest at Jersey Devil Press)

Pointland

My very-short piece Pointland is online at Bewildering Stories. It should be extra-enjoyable if you've ever read Edwin A. Abbot's classic with a similar name. 

After failing to find moksha beyond the Calabi-Yau manifold, I went the other way. I dodged tesseracts going left and right, ana and kata on my way to Spaceland...(read the rest at Bewildering Stories)

I'm also intrigued that the editors have included a series of questions to accompany the piece which really get at some of the themes and allusions I tried to fit into it. So, take the Bewildering Stories Challenge for this issue if you feel inspired.

Polaris Schedule

Over the last few years, I've come to associate the Polaris convention with the arrival of summer. Thanks to my work schedule I've had lots of free time before and after to make sure I can arrive early and stay late. This is my first year as a participant and I'm excited about the discussions and activities that have been lined up by the programming staff (whom I'd like to thank in advance for the lighter schedule on Sunday).

Here is a tentative list of the discussions and events I'll be at during the Polaris convention next week.

• Sherlock: A New Game Is Afoot - Friday 7pm 
• "Duel at Badlands Junction" (film screening and Q&A) - Saturday 12pm
  
• Let's Have A Death Match - Saturday 4pm
• When Live Action Gets Animated - Saturday 5pm
• The Evil Dead-Third Time's the Charm  - Saturday 11pm
• Bonding Over Books and Beer - Sunday 3pm

"Estimated Time of Arrival" - Review

Adam Shaftoe at Page of Reviews has been kind enough to write a thoughtful review of "Estimated Time of Arrival".

I have to agree with just about everything he wrote and was pleasantly surprised at a few readings I hadn't considered. Getting to read a thoughtful and insightful response to one's work is truly one of the joys of writing and I'm very appreciative of Adam taking the time to look at my bit of light fare about near-light speed travel.

"Estimated Time of Arrival" can be read at Ray Gun Revival.