Keeping An Eye On.... M. Rickert

M. Rickert is one of the quieter authors I've been Keeping An Eye On. In fact I would say she seems to be the most reclusive of all the authors on SF Signal's watchlist. (I couldn't even get a picture for her). She's keeps a very low profile in an attempt to let her work speak for itself. And speak for itself it does. Unfortunately for us readers, M. only has one short fiction collection but that collection and the stories within won a World Fantasy Award for Best Collection, a World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction, the 2007 Crawford Award, as well as being nominated for a Nebula Award, another World Fantasy award, and an International Horror Guild Award. That's a pretty reputable resume for any author's career, and Rickert managed to do all that with just one collection's worth of stories. Obviously, Rickert is a stickler for quality over quantity.

Either that or she wants to give other authors a chance to get nominated which wouldn't be surprising given how nice she was when I conducted the interview which, coincidentally, starts below

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SoY: If a reader has never heard of you before reading this, what is the one single piece of work of yours (novel, short story, cave painting, etc.) would you like them to read?

MR: I suppose if this reader could find a copy of “Map of Dreams,” my short story collection, she could page through that and see if anything sticks.

SoY: What's something about you that no one would ever guess from your writing?

MR: I have been told that some people are afraid of me. I’m not sure what that’s about. Almost all my anger, despair, fear and bitterness exists in my fiction and therefore has a rather light presence in my life. I was a kindergarten teacher for almost a decade and I still harbor much of that attitude in my demeanor.

SoY: To date you haven’t published any full-length novels but you have written several excellent shorter works. Will we see a full-length novel from you sometime soon? Or perhaps another anthology?

MR: Thanks for the kind assessment of my shorter work. The novel has been a big challenge for me. I have been trying to write novels for twenty years. When I look at my attempts I see that in each case I had fairly large stories with big themes, this is why I thought they were novels. I struggled for years believing that a novel is determined by the subject matter. I now have reason to believe that this was incorrect. Another painful mistake I made in pursuit of novels was working under the impression that each sentence, as it existed as a foundation for all the many sentences that follow, must be perfect. I thought this was very sensible because who wants to throw out all those unused sentences, or make a two hundred page wrong turn? Because of my lazy attitude I have made so many wrong turns that I have filled several boxes with them. I recently finished a project that with fits and starts, abandonment and engagement took me eight years, and it still was not a novel.

Once I finally let go of that folly I began working on a short story, which all by itself, and certainly with no encouragement on my part, made itself known as a novel. This was evident by the pacing, and the expanse of characters. The story, itself, is actually rather small. For the first time since I’ve started trying to write novels, I seem to be actually writing one. Most importantly, I have given myself permission to write a first draft, to have inconsistencies, unfleshed themes and unresolved issues, trusting that I can fix all of this later. I feel like I’ve been really stupid. Why did I think that writing a novel had to be an entirely different process than writing a short story? All those years I struggled with the form, trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, and the answer was right there, in the way I approach short stories. I probably could have really benefited from a teacher. At any rate, I feel like finally, after so many years, I am writing my first novel. I think. Maybe.

In the meantime I have a collection coming out next year with Golden Gryphon, called “Holiday.” All the stories have holiday themes, with a twist. Tom Canty is doing the cover and some interior art as well.

SoY: You are one of the few female authors (and one of only 5 on this list) in a genre dominated by male authors and male readers. What are your opinions on gender parity in speculative fiction today? Do you feel like being a woman viewed as a negative (unjustly so) by some readers?

MR: I know that being a woman is viewed as a negative by some readers.

I think this sucks.

SoY: As a follow-up, did these issues influence your choice to abbreviate your name to just the initial “M”?

MR: I was completely ignorant of this issue when I decided to abbreviate my first name. I have found it annoying how often people assume that they know why I did it, and on that basis hold opinions of me, my work, and also, weirdly, my name. Most spectacularly annoying of all was the suggestion that I was ashamed of my sex by choosing to present myself as a letter rather than a word.

I don’t mean to suggest that your question is in any way rude or inappropriate. I know people are curious about this, but it’s been educational for me how narrow the view is of possible reasons for it.

I really wanted to disappear in my work and have as little identity tied to it as possible.

When I made this decision I was quite young and given to fantasies of great writing success where my poor hand would be much relieved of the burden of those three extra letters.

And I didn’t like my name very much. I liked the sound of “M.” She sounded like she could get the job done.

SoY: What are your writing habits like? Do you have any peculiar writing habits that somehow work for you but everyone else would find quirky (and/or insane)?

MR: I write longhand. My computer is in the office. I write at a table in the bedroom, then go into the office to type and print what I’ve written, which I bring back to the table to edit. I make faces while I work, basically acting out the characters. I talk over scenes and ideas with my dog, Watson, when we go on his walk. Nothing quirky here.

SoY: Some people (as well as the Barenaked Ladies) say that it's all been done. Are there still new stories to tell? Or has humanity been retelling the same stories since the first myths and legends were spoken into existence?

MR: I think that to say every story has already been told is to dismiss the temperament of words, to devalue nuance and meaning. Yes, of course, if stories are summed up into one or two sentence synopsis, then I imagine they all fit into certain categories. But stories are not just a matter of summation; if they were, the summation would be enough to satisfy that need for story. In fact, every word matters. I don’t know why people are so eager to diminish stories. You don’t hear architects bemoaning that every building has already been built. Within each field of creation there is a structure that exists as the foundation of that creation. The opportunity for expansion and artistry lies within that structure and is not diminished by it.

SoY: What’s the best thing you’ve read this year?

MR: Ok, I can’t possibly pick just one and I don’t even want to stay in this year.

First, Christopher Barzak’s “The Love We Share Without Knowing” is hauntingly beautiful and should be read by more people. I consider Chris an Emotionalist, which is what I am as well. So if you’re looking for something to read where emotions matter, you can’t start in a better place than this.

A book I recommend to everyone, which came out a few years ago and was, I believe, the victim of poor marketing, is called “Strange Piece of Paradise, A Return to the West To Investigate My Attempted Murder and Solve the Riddle of Myself” by Terri Jentz. This was promoted as true crime but I think would have been better served as memoir. When she was twenty, Terri and her friend were attacked by a man with an axe. Both survived. Years later, Terri goes back to Oregon to solve the crime. I was really struck by how much of the author’s personal healing was resolved through finding her story, pieces of which were held by others.

Another book I loved that seems seriously under-read was “The Tattoo Artist” by Jill Ciment. If you are interested in beauty, art and sacrifice, and if you want to read a book about a strong woman, read this book. It has stuck with me ever since I read it, which was years ago. Really, everyone who reads this book tells me how much they love it.

Finally, I recently read Alice Hoffman’s new book, “The Story Sisters” and I loved it. She’s one of my favorite authors.

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That's it from M. I have a great respect for her for wanting her work to be the focus. However, she could benefit from being a little bit easier to get a hold of; she's very pleasant to talk to and she has some very interesting thoughts on writing. That's been something I've noticed throughout all these interviews.

Just a few more interviews are left. Then I'm not sure what I'll do.

How I love Distractions...

There is a point in my reading/review cycle that always makes it difficult for me to blog, especially if I don't love the book I'm reading. Child of Fire isn't the best Urban Fantasy, in case you were wondering. It's not bad, it's just unremarkable.

I know I need to get a review of The Windup Girl up but I'm finding it hard to do the book justice in my review. I think I need to impose a write review before reading the next book rule.

The new TV season doesn't help either.

New Kindle Price. Same Kindle Problem.

The Amazon Kindle has a new lower price: $259 for the US model, $279 for the International model. There's also a $489 Kindle DX. $259 is $40 off the $300 price which was $100 off the introductory price of $399.

Carry the 2, add some sales tax, factor in shipping, divide by book, adjust for inflation, and round up the remainder and the final price is:

Still Too Much.

Amazon is getting closer but they still don't have it. It's not the price of the device, it's the price of the content you put on the device. I'm willing to spend a lot for a large, touch-screen, video capable iPod but that's only because I have the ability to fill it with content that I previously own and that I can get for a reasonable price. I don't have that ability with the Kindle. I can't burn my existing library onto a Kindle and rebuying everything is cost prohibitive. It's not necessarily a deal breaker because of the nature of books (many of which I will only read once) but it's still enough of a disincentive to keep me from attempting a Kindle transition. But even that isn't a huge deal in the long run.

eBooks are expensive.

Until the eBooks themselves are priced for what they are, nontransferable DRMed copies that can be endlessly reproduced at zero additional cost with miniscule storage and distribution fees, I can't get on board with them.  I don't know all the ins and outs of the publishing industry but I do know that the raw materials/printing/warehousing/shipping/etc. physical fees are significantly larger portion that the discount they are offering to the readers. After you make back your initial investment to the editors/digital production/author advance, everything (minus an almost zero per unit cost for servers/bandwidth) is pure profit split between Amazon, the publishers, and the authors. Unless the authors are getting more than they are letting on, the Publishers and/or Amazon are making a killing. And the market will only going to grow.

So why doesn't Amazon try to aggressively pursue the market before Apple/Microsoft/whoever debuts their inevitable devices. Why don't they cut the eBook prices and get everyone on Kindles before competitors can release their own next gen eReaders? It doesn't make a whole lot of business sense if Amazon is in it for the long haul. The only rational explanation I can think of is that Amazon is trying to set themselves up as a distribution network across 3rd party platforms, similar to what they already offer as an iPhone app. They want to be the iTunes for books. Not the iPod for eBook readers.

Now I don't know if Apple would go with Amazon or with a new iTunes substore but Amazon already has a tremendous head start when it comes to selling, marketing, and recommending books. Internet books are synonymous with Amazon in the same way that internet music is synonymous iTunes. Microsoft on the other hand would be crazy not to go with Amazon. As of right now they don't have anything close to Apple's iTunes distribution system unless Windows 7 is hiding some stuff. They would get a proven distribution system that would rival iTunes level of exposure.

So is Amazon sitting on high margins and slowplaying the device market rather than developing that killer eReader and aggressively pursuing market share with low profit margins for the heck of it? Or is it more likely they are going to keep the price points high, monopolize the distribution system and split the high profit margins with Apple/Microsoft and anyone else willing to sign on to Amazon's whispernet eBook delivery system and proprietary format while getting out of the expensive and continually demanding hardware market.

My money is on the money.

Unexpected Surprise

A few days ago I recieved an e-mail from Wikio which promotes itself as the number 1 news aggregator and blog-indexing website in Europe, indexing nearly 200,000 English-language source. I've never heard of Wikio before as I don't go through visit too many European sites.

But apparently they visit me since I am the 16th ranked blog in the literature category. I'm not sure how exactly Stomping on Yeti qualified but I'm excited to know that someone thinks I'm doing a good job. If I can help people find good authors and and good books, I'm accomplishing my goal.

Thanks Europe!

Keeping An Eye On... Vandana Singh

After what feels like forever, I was finally able to get in touch with one of the first authors I approached in my Keeping An Eye On Series. Out of all of the names on the SF Signal Genre Watchlist, Vandana Singh was one of the authors I knew least about and I wanted to correct that. After doing a little digging and reading a few stories, I realized that Vandana was doing some very interesting writing that stood out as unique against the majority of my reading experience. This inspired me to see what the highly regarded author was currently working on and to learn more about her as an author. Unfortunately, I initially had some trouble getting in touch with Vandana and my interview with the author responsible for such brilliant pieces as "Delhi" and "The Wife" was unfortunately put on hold.

However, after a few months trying to track her down, I've finally got some answers which I'd like to share with you.

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SoY: If we are keeping an eye on you, what should be looking for in the near future? What have you been working on recently?

VS: I’ll have two short stories out in early 2010, and possibly a couple of novellas next summer. I tend to write mostly in the summer, since I have a very intense college teaching job, which, while it feeds my writing, also prevents it for most of the year.

SoY: If a reader has never heard of you before reading this, what is the one single piece of work of yours (novel, short story, etc.) would you like them to read?

VS: This is a hard question! Perhaps the answer would be my novelette “The Tetrahedron.” Or, if I were allowed to offer a choice, my novelette “Infinities.” The reason I pick those is that the stories are familiar to me like an old shawl or coat might be. If I can inhabit them so easily, perhaps a reader will find more of what makes my fiction my fiction in those stories. If that makes any sense.

SoY: Describe your writing style in haiku-form.

VS: Ask a crow

How it flies; look! A feather

Sails down.

SoY: To date you haven’t published any full-length novels but you have written several novellas and novelletes. Will we see a full-length novel from you some time soon?

VS: I have two novels in my head. But they each require about three months of dedicated writing time, and freedom from various responsibilities, which isn’t going to happen any time soon. On the other hand a novel might sneak up unexpectedly on me. When writing my novella Distances (Aqueduct Press) I came the closest I’ve ever been to 40,000 words. It was like almost falling off a cliff! So you never know.

SoY: What sub-genres are you most interested in? Is there a difference in what subgenres you read and the ones you write?

VS: I don’t really think in terms of sub-genres as much as I think in terms of authors I like to read. I like reading authors with interesting, deep, thoughtful ideas couched in elegant language with or without strong plot elements, such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeffrey Ford, Ian R. Macleod, Molly Gloss. I love stories in which science is taken seriously but used with imagination and sensitivity to the human dimension (Kim Stanley Robinson, or Geoffrey Landis, for example). I love stories about alternative ways humans and human societies could be (Ursula K. Le Guin, Eleanor Arnason to name just two). I love stories that challenge comfortable, conventional ways of looking at the world (L. Timmel DuChamp, Karen Joy Fowler, Carol Emshwiller, for instance). Put in terms of sub-genres, I like urban fantasy and some traditional fantasy as well as good hard SF (scientific more than technological), enlightened space opera, pretty much everything if it is well written. The sub-genre I have the hardest time with is alternative history. So I find myself not reading too much of that.

SoY: How does your Indian heritage influence the stories you write? Are there any thematic elements that resonate strongly in Indian culture that may be overlooked by the uninitiated?

VS: My being Indian is possibly the biggest thing that influences my stories. Not just in terms of settings --- most of the settings in my stories are Indian --- but also in terms of characters and plot. I think growing up in India grew my imagination in certain ways that would not have happened in any other place. I’m also fascinated by the idea of India, and writing stories allows me to explore this. As for thematic elements, they are probably pretty obvious in my stories. Non-Indians might miss a few cultural allusions and will probably misunderstand some things because they are generally viewing them through the distorted lenses of stereotypes, but I’m going to be optimistic and say that the main ideas are likely clear to all readers unless they’ve been hiding in a cave somewhere. I also hope that my stories bust stereotypes at least to a modest extent.

SoY: What are your writing habits like? Do you have any peculiar writing habits that somehow work for you but everyone else would find quirky (and/or insane)?

VS: I write like anyone involved with a family and a full time job: in stolen moments. I’ve had to adapt because I have so little writing time, so I write while dinner bubbles on the stove, and get away to cafes when I can. It is good to have a small laptop to haul around. I wish I could admit to bizarre writing habits, you know, like “I can only write in the presence of my favorite pet elephant, who is my fount of inspiration,” but the truth, alas, is far more mundane.

Perhaps if there is anything remotely interesting about my writing style, it is this: more often than not I have no idea what the story is going to be about. Sometimes I have a fuzzy vision, or a glimpse of one scene, or a character. But mostly all I have is a random first sentence, and I follow it to see where it might go. I know there are writers who plan everything down to the details of every scene, and more power to them if that works for them. For me, if I attempted that, my Muse would run away screaming and I would bore myself silly. It is the process of discovery, of gradually figuring out what happens in the story and how it ends, that makes writing an interesting process for me.

SoY: An incident occurs resulting in your removal from the list of up-and-coming genre stars. What is the most likely cause of that incident? Who do you nominate in your place?

VS: I write my novel, and it is a best seller, and I am up-and-coming no more --- I have arrived! Or: I am abducted by aliens, return after an amazing space-operatic adventure and achieve instant celebrity status! The two are about even in probability I think. But anyway rather than appointing someone in my stead I’d like to name at least one person who should be on the list anyway: Anil Menon.

SoY: You’ve written some short-stories specifically for children. What do you find are the major differences in writing for children versus writing for adults?

VS: For me it is less a question of decreasing the sex or violence because there isn’t much of those things in my adult fiction (with some exceptions). One difference is that there are kids in my children’s stories, but the stories are not only about kids. Also, I think my style changes somewhat. The themes I am interested in exploring are mostly the same, but I tackle them differently. My Younguncle books are at the surface comic adventures of the eccentric title character but they are also serious beneath the fun and frolic. And I use Big Words, like “ambrosial,” which bothers some children’s book reviewers. The children’s short stories you mention are mostly quite serious.

SoY: I’m largely unfamiliar with the world of Indian Speculative Fiction. Is there an Asimov, Heinlein, or Clarke of Indian SF? Are there any seminal authors who have been translated into English?

VS: Indian speculative fiction has quite a history. The first SF story in India was probably written around the late 1800’s in Bengali. The problem is that we have 18 languages apart from English and there are very few translations, so we don’t really know where the next Clarke or Le Guin is hiding. One writer who is brilliant, whose translations from Bengali to English were done some years ago, is Premendra Mitra from the 1940’s. I’m waiting to find more such writers in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and other languages. Writing in English are Anil Menon, Manjula Padmanabhan, Samit Basu, Priya Chhabria, Payal Dhar, to name just a few.

The Indian spec fic scene is full of promise. There are annual conferences, there is an Indian Science Fiction Association, and this past summer I co-taught at a science fiction workshop that was bursting with talent. I’ve written extensively about it on my blog (see below).

SoY: Every writer has a favorite word. Mine’s plethora. What’s that unique word that tries to find its way into everything you write?

VS: Oh I don’t know. I’ve lately become fond of concatenation but haven’t had a chance to use it much, yet.

SoY: What has been the highlight of your career so far?

VS: I have a pretty modest career as far as writing, but among what you might call the highlights is a recent review of my story collection “The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet and Other Stories” by Paul Witcover in Locus. And there’s a teeny picture of me in that issue as well. Also four of my short stories have been reprinted in Years’ Best anthologies, most recently “Oblivion: A Journey” in Year’s Best SF 14 (eds. Hartwell and Cramer).

SoY: You are one of the few female authors (and one of only 5 on this list) in a genre dominated by male authors and male readers. What are your opinions on gender parity in speculative fiction today? Do you feel like being a woman viewed as a negative (unjustly so) by some readers?

VS: I don’t have the data on how readers view female authors, so I don’t know. But I know there is gender imbalance in the spec fic field, and it concerns me very much. We live in a gender-biased world, so how could that not be reflected in our field? There have been some fascinating discussions and studies on this on the internet in recent years. There seem to be a lot of women writing spec fic and not as many getting published, or getting their works reviewed, or otherwise taken seriously. While it seems there is less overt bias against women writers compared to a few decades ago, there are still institutionalized biases, subtler biases that are harder to discern. I think these are serious issues that deserve examination by the community.

SoY: You are approached to write a tie-in novel in an existing (and your favorite) SFF universe. Which universe is it? Do you take the offer?

VS: No. I can’t imagine playing in someone else’s universe without changing it too much. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy other universes. I haven’t had a TV for years but I remember being fascinated by Babylon 5, and Stargate Atlantis, and, always, Dr. Who.

SoY: What’s the best thing you’ve read this year?

VS: I can’t pick just one thing because my mind doesn’t work that way, but I’ll restrict myself to two things: Ursula Le Guin’s novel Lavinia and Carolyn Ives Gilman’s novella Arkfall.

SoY: [Obligatory pimpage] Is there anywhere online that readers can follow you and your work? [/obligatory pimpage]

VS: There’s my website, http://users.rcn.com/singhvan which also has information about my recent short story collection and how to order it, and my blog, http://vandanasingh.wordpress.com/. There is an older story of mine archived at Strange Horizons: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20040105/sky_river.shtml.

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As much as I've enjoyed talking to some of my favorite authors, discovering and getting to know new authors has been one of the highlights of this interview series. Vandana Singh is no exception. Hopefully, she can find the time to sit down and write one of those two novels sooner rather than later.

Barnes and Noble eReader Revealed!

Here's a first look at it over at gizmodo. It seems to correct on a few of the things I don't like about the Kindle.

It also appears to be a horrible time to put this out with Kindle with an established marketshare and everyone else waiting for Apple/Microsoft devices.

It's going to be interesting to see what kind of files are supported/DRM/etc. There is so much potential for bad decisions here!

DRM device specific formats.
Exclusive publisher deals with Amazon vs. B&N.
Ridiculous price points.

Hopefully, the people behind the device put some thought into this. Either way, tune in next week when the device is official announced.

Also, a thought inspired by the dual eInk/multitouch screen design: What if Apple released a eInk reader that you could plug your iPhone iPod Touch into?

Steal This Story...LHC Sabotage

Saw this article from the London Telegraph which suggests that the future experiments on the LHC could be sending ripples through time which impact it enough to damage it.

That's a very interesting concept and one that begs to be explored but I would take it one step further. My idea would involve a time traveler trying to sabotage the machine in the past because it screwed up the future (and also helped them invent time travel) but doesn't want to get exposed as it would be met with disbelief and/or renewed efforts to invent time travel. I'd write it from the perspective of a physicist working on the project that keeps encountering setbacks that seem almost too coincidental...

io9 Book Club

I've got kind of a love/hate relationship with io9. On one hand, they have a lot of news, some of which is interesting. On the other hand, they steal quotes from my interviews without attribution.

That being the case, I was interested to see how their attempt at a Book Club would go. Would they only endorse books that the publishers had advertised on io9? Would they allow negative comments? Would anyone participate?

io9's first book was The Quiet War which I also recently read and reviewed. Since I had already read the book, I decided to participate. I was also interested to see what others thought as I felt there was a disconnect between the ammount of hype the book got and what I thought of it. The overwhelming consensus agreed with my review: Science good, characters bad. I wasn't missing something, the book legitimately lacked enjoyable characters/character development and people had no problem saying so.

io9 also is holding a Q/A session with McAuley himself tomorrow. There have been some pretty blatant questions about the characterization problems so I'm very interested to see what he says on that front. I myself offered a question regarding the overall scope of the series as The Quiet War felt like the first part of a bigger story rather than a stand alone novel.

Not to mention the fact that io9 stopped deleting my commments. That's at least a step in the right direction.

Stomping on Yeti: Now FTC Compliant

All over the blogosphere people have been discussing the new FTC regulations placed on testimonials, celebrity advertisements, and, most relevant to me, bloggers.

 

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it basically states that you need to disclose any "material connections" between advertisers and endorsers. If I say the product is wonderful because I have a 30% stake in the company, that's not honest.

While I don't think that I'm the targeted audience for this regulation (I'm guessing they are looking for examples like this, it can't hurt to be open with my readers. My end goal is to establish Stomping on Yeti as a blog that people trust for honest reviews and if there's any shady dealing going on, that can't happen.

I write this blog for a number of reasons:

• To help people find good books by interesting authors
• To participate in the genre community that up-to-now has been a one-sided relationship
• To practice writing (even if it doesn't directly apply to fiction)
• To become more conscious of what I'm reading and why I do or don't like it
• To help promote authors whose work I enjoy (it doesn't hurt that if they are more successful they will write more books)

I don't write this blog to get free books. At the same time, I'm also not going to say no. Writing this blog takes time and the occassional free book is a perk. But I'm not going to let free books change how I review my books. To date, I've reviewed 4 books that I haven't personally bought myself. I've also included my rating for each book.

 

Moxyland - 4.5/5
Nekropolis - 2.5/5
Unclean Spirits - 4/5
The Quiet War - 3/5

 

In 3 out of 4 cases, I requested the book from the publisher with the intent of reviewing. For the 4th, Unclean Spirits, Daniel Abraham was willing to stand up for the quality of his work so he sent me a book I wasn't willing to buy. Turns out he was right but that's not the topic for discussion. Now two of the books rated "really liked it" or above on the YetiStomper scale and the other two rated "Okay" and "Didn't like it." I give a book what I think it deserves. Read the reviews, I think they speak for themselves

But in the interest of maintaining government compliance, I'll keep you informed when I am reviewing a book I didn't buy myself.

 

 

Author Spotlight: Joe Schreiber

Tuesday, October 13th marks the debut of a highly anticipated novel in these here parts: Joe Schreiber's Death Troopers. Look at that cover; what's not to be excited about? It's a Star Wars horror novel and the first Star Wars horror novel at that. It's also Joe Schreiber's first Star Wars novel. I didn't know a whole lot about Joe other than Del Rey was really throwing their support behind Death Troopers so I approached him to see if he was interesting in answering a few questions here on Stomping on Yeti to help readers get to know the man behind the book.

Joe graciously took some times out of his busy schedule (he's going on tour) to answer some questions about Star Wars, his current projects, and his opinions on writing horror.

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SoY: October 13th appears to be a big release day for you. Can you tell us a little bit more about your two new books?

JS: No Doors No Windows is a novel that I’ve been working on, on and off, for almost five years. It’s my attempt at a haunted house novel, somewhere between Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Shirley Jackson’s Hill House. On the other side, Death Troopers is an amped-up, high energy horror novel set in the Star Wars universe. I feel that it ought to come with its own action figures; apparently that wasn’t in the budget.

SoY: What else are working on right now? What can we hope to see from you next year and beyond?

JS: Another Star Wars horror novel in the fall of 2010, along with an original horror novel based on the characters from TV’s Supernatural. I’m doing that one for DC Comics.

SoY: Your debut Star Wars novel is just about to his shelves (if it hasn't already). Star Wars hasn't really done horror before so a lot of fans aren't sure what to expect. How did you approach writing a horror novel written in the Star Wars universe?

JS: We jumped off the idea that this would be a George Romero story set in a George Lucas universe. From there, I wrote it like I wrote my other books, focusing mainly on crafting a compulsive impossible-to-put-down reading experience. I really wanted to take the reader by the throat and take them for a ride. Getting to play in the Star Wars sandbox gave me extra thrusters; it was also a hell of a lot of fun.

SoY: Star Wars has some of the most complex continuities of any cross-media franchise out there, not to mention a fanbase that can be "less than kind" to authors who rock the metaphorical continuity boat. Was the transition from writing within your own creative worlds to writing in such a massive universe difficult? What did you do to prepare yourself?

JS: It wasn’t difficult at all, actually. I got nothing but encouragement and support from my publishers and from Lucasfilm, and I really got the idea that they wanted to try something new—that they trusted me to give them something really scary and a little bit subversive. I wrote a couple outlines, ironing out the plot until we were all pretty comfortable with it. Then I plunged in. As far as continuity, Lucasfilm supplied me with all the reference material and resource guides I could ever need, and I made sure to keep them right next to my desk as I moved through the story.

SoY: Based on your first few books you seem to blend supernatural horror with psychological horror as they feature apparitions as well as abductions. What's your preferred subgenre of horror (if you have one)? Do your two new books continue the hybrid trend?

JS: I don’t tend to think in terms of subgenres and categories—I read all over the map, and I guess my writing reflects that. If anything I’ve always worked to create a believable world with sympathetic characters, people whose anxieties and thoughts resonate in a familiar and human way. You need to do that before the reader trusts you enough to follow along…whether you’re writing about New Hampshire or a Star Destroyer. To that extent, I guess these new books uphold those same basic themes.

SoY: To get an idea of your own sense of horror, what (characters, concepts, locations) do you find scariest? What's the scariest movie or book you've ever seen/read?

JS: Sometimes the scariest situations are the familiar ones with some element of the unexpected thrown in. Lying in your own bed at night can become unbearably frightening once you hear that first thump from downstairs…the one that you know is coming from your living room. As a parent, I can tell you there’s nothing scarier than a mall, the moment you realize you’ve lost your child.

Although I’m a sucker for horror movies, there aren’t many good ones…and even fewer scary ones. I think the last good scare I got was watching The Descent. And that was probably because I was watching it with someone who screamed like crazy every time something happened. It heightens the experience. I found Exorcist III pretty scary…the one that William Peter Blatty directed. I don’t read much horror fiction these days, although the stories of Thomas Ligotti are quite disturbing.

SoY: Is writing a horror novel any different than normal fiction? Do you have to place yourself inside the story/setting more when writing horror?

JS: No difference for me—it’s all fiction. It either gets you off, or it doesn’t.

SoY: When writing a horror novel, what kinds of literary tools do you use to make the novel frightening, creepy, etc, and how are you able to effectively shock/surprise your readers in as non-visual a medium as the written word?

JS: Again, so much of this depends on creating people that the reader wants to spend time with. Nothing’s less scary than a zombie on page one. You can structure short chapters with single-sentence paragraphs in an attempt to simulate shock and surprise, but without establishing some recognizable sense of place and emotion, it’s all joy buzzers and whoopee cushions. Like the horror movies soundtracks that insist on blasting a sudden sharp squeal to startle the audience rather than genuinely unsettle them.

SoY: What's been the highlight of your career so far? In the statement "If I could write a book that ________________, I would consider my career a success." what would you put in the blank?

JS: I used to want to write a book that would inspire a pinball game. Now I want to write a book that inspires a haunted house.

SoY: Do you have any weird writing habits that somehow work for you? (i.e. sitting in a recently dug grave in a cemetery writing by candlelight with the blood of a Trekkie)

JS: Coffee. Silence. Time. Ass plus seat equals book.

SoY: Del Rey/Lucasbooks was so happy with Death Troopers that they've asked you to write another unrelated SW novel to be released October 2010. Can you provide any information at all about the new story idea, even if it’s a teaser word or two? Has the time frame been established? How is the writing coming?

JS: It’s scary. It won’t be a sequel. I sent in my first draft of the novel to my editor yesterday.

SoY: During your SW research, did you find any other Star Wars horror concepts that jumped out at you (pardon the pun) as needing a story of their own? Ancient Sith abominations or rituals? Imperial bioengineering gone wrong? In other words, if you were offered a SW novel, what story would you write?

JS: I’d love to do an “acid Western” style story of Imperial deserters on the run, trying to get work as outlaws. Kind of a stormtrooper version of the movies Robert Benson and Hal Ashby were making back in the ‘70s.

SoY: There's been an ongoing contest to create a suitable Book Trailer for Death Troopers over on Suvudu.com. If I’m not mistaken, I believe you were in one of them as a Storm Trooper. Have you seen any of the other trailers? What's your opinion on book trailers in general?

JS: I love them. I love the idea of creating something relatively cheaply that people can look at and get a sense of what the book is about. I’ve seen all the Death Troopers trailers and I can tell you that I loved them all. Some of them gave me chills.



SoY: Recent "horror" movies seem less scary and more just torture porn, Japanese remake, or Halloween knockoff/remake film 231,138. What is Hollywood Horror doing wrong? Are they doing anything right?

JS: As always, Hollywood is making money—they do that right. As far as quality goods, I think it’s great that they chose not to remake Paranormal Activity and promote it as an ultra-low budget scarefest that really delivers the goods. It looks pretty good. The others….eh. I know the guys who make the Saw movies, and they’re nice guys, but I don’t think we need much more of that.

SoY: This will be many Star Wars fans first foray into the horror genre. Suppose someone loves Death Troopers and immediately churns through your catalog of books. If they enjoyed what they read, what other authors would you recommend? What's the best thing you've read recently?

JS: I’d suggest the stories of Richard Matheson and the crime novels of Duane Swierczynski, Peter Abrahams and Jason Starr. Everyone should read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. Also E.L. Doctorow’s Civil War novel The March is excellent.

SoY: Where can we keep an eye on you and your work?

JS: I’m on Facebook and I’ve got a website: http://www.scaryparent.blogspot.com/

---

Go buy Death Troopers. Seriously.

You should be scared if you don't.

Strange Realization

I've read in the neighborhood of 40 books so far this year. I'm just starting Child of Fire by Harry Connolly.

This is the 1st MMPB I've read this year. Everything else has been TPB or HC.

It actually feels weird to hold such a small book. I can't honestly remember the last MMPB I read. Maybe I've got a subconscious aversion to MPPBs. Or I just can't wait to read the books I really want.

Anyways, just thought that was strange.

The Windup Girl

Just finished Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl

1 Word Review: Wow!
3 Word Review: Read this now.
5 Word Review: Best I've read this year.
7 Word Review: Bacigalupi is no longer up and coming.

Look for a for a normal sized review sometime soon, but in the meantime go read something by Bacigalupi. He's really really really good.

Really.

Keeping An Eye On... Jason Stoddard

This week's Keeping An Eye On author is poised to have a big 2010. For the past few years, Jason Stoddard has been slowly building a very respectable portfolio in the science fiction circles. His work was impressive enough to catch the eye of Ellen Datlow, Jonathan Strahan, and Gardner Dozois and to stick out in their minds when asked to name the writers of the future by SF Signal. After making a splash in the short fiction markets, Stoddard is publishing not one, but two(!) novels next year. And that in addition to his usual short fiction output. Stoddard is also a member of the generation of authors who have at least partially used fiction websites, blogs, and other forms of internet publishing to establish their name within the genre market. That's not suprising given his day job which he still maintains despite a blossoming writing career.

To find out just what Stoddard does for a living and how it affects his writing career, read on...

---

SoY: If we are keeping an eye on you, what should be looking for in the near future? What have you been working on recently?

JS: The big news is that I have two novels coming out in 2010 from Prime Books: Winning Mars and Eternal Franchise. The titles sound familiar, don't they? More on that later.

As far as what I'm working on, ha! Most is work-work. But, with luck, I'll soon finish the rewrite of my new near-future novel Hello World, and I'm working on a script based on my short story Willpower--which appeared in Futurismic--and you'll be hearing about another story or two soon.

SoY: If a reader has never heard of you before reading this, what is the one single piece of work of yours (novel, short story, comics, etc.) would you like them to read?

JS: Actually, Willpower is a good place to start. It was originally published by Futurismic, and will show up in Rich Horton's anthology Unplugged: The Best of Online Fiction, and it's had some (tiny) love from the Hollywood crowd. Here's where you can read it for free:

http://futurismic.com/2008/12/01/new-fiction-willpower-by-jason-stoddard/

Your day job involves working with social media and virtual worlds. Can you expound on this a little more? Is it as interesting as it sounds?

Yes! And, well, no!

In a broader sense, what my day job involves is marketing. Frequently we work on the bleeding edge. Frequently we work for companies doing interesting stuff, like nanotech or mind-controlled toys or kids' virtual worlds. This is the exciting part--getting to see a broad swath of what's happening tomorrow. Getting to have drinks with some of the people who are shaping the future.

But, guess what? It's always still about results. The campaign has to get results. The site has to work. So there's plenty of detail work, plenty of keeping-up stuff, plenty of grind. Not complaining--it goes with the territory.

SoY: How has your experience with social media influenced the content of your writing? The way you market yourself to potential readers?

JS: Ha. Yeah, I write what I know, and you could look at a lot of my recent output--especially the story Monetized, which appeared in Interzone this year, and the upcoming novel Hello World--as taking social media (and monetization of social media) to logical extremes. Social media is so powerful on a personal level, it's a fairly profound change.

As far as social media for marketing myself, sure, but tempered with a huge dose of lack-of-time, and another strong dose of caution. People don't want to be marketed to when they're hanging out with their friends. It's like me coming into your house with a sandwich board and bullhorn, saying. “Buy my book!” Because of this, I concentrate mainly on blogging. Facebook is more or less for friends, Twitter is dedicated to one-line wine reviews.

That said, I do have some interesting ideas for marketing the book when it comes out--but they aren't entirely social. I'm going to keep my hat on these for now.

SoY: What's the most innovative example of “social media” you've come across this year? What's at the bleeding edge of the market?

JS: When we're talking social media, I think we need to concentrate on “most relevant,” rather than “most innovative.” And only one thing really comes to mind as an example of a company doing it right. Google “Extreme Shepherding” and watch the video. This is the way to do it. It's so well-done I didn't think to ask myself “Hmm, did they really just find these guys and pay them to do this, or did they engineer the whole thing (maybe even to the point of CG?)”

Bleeding edge? That's easy. Augmented reality is the bleeding edge. It's kind of a marketing fad at the moment--only Ray-Ban has a good use for it, which allows you to model virtual sunglasses via your webcam. But augmented reality is going to mature, it's going to be big, and it's going to be pervasive. But before that, it'll have to go through its Second Life moment, where it's savaged by the press.

SoY: What's been the highlight of your career so far? What would you have to do to consider your writing career a success?

JS: The high point was getting contacted by Sean Wallace of Prime Books. The conversation went something like this:

Sean: “So, are Winning Mars and Eternal Franchise available for publication?”

Me: “Well, uh, yeah, but I've released one as a Creative Commons PDF and one's being serialized on my blog.”

Sean: “Doesn't matter. More publicity for the physical product.”

Me: “!!!”

So there you go. Two novels, both released into the wild. Now both will be hardbacks. From an unknown author. Or, in other words, what a whole lot of people said could never happen. I'm very happy about that.

And, as far as long-term success goes, I'll be thrilled if I can just keep writing stories and books (and, hopefully, screenplays) that people like. Everything else will come.

SoY: Like Cory Doctorow, you appear to be a proponent of Creative Commons, giving away PDFs of your first novel, Winning Mars. You are also serializing your second novel for free on your blog. How has the free revolution worked for you?

JS: I'm absolutely all about Creative Commons. Giving away my stuff got me a two-book deal from a reputable publisher!

SoY: Combining your career in new marketing techniques and your experience in short fiction circles, do you have any idea on how to modernize/fix the genre short fiction market?

JS: Oho, wow. That's a loaded question. The short answer is, “Yes, I have some ideas, but . . .”

On the “Yes, I have some ideas,” side, the publishers can go a long way to improving their fortunes by taking a lesson from niche marketing: take care of your fans, actively. You do this by keeping people informed, holding special events, and encouraging people to tell their friends. There's no magic here. I'm talking newsletters and Q&As and giveaways and contests. There's no need to go out and have a Facebook and MySpace and Twitter and YouTube and Flickr presence and frantically post and fan and friend. Though Facebook ads would be an interesting test. A more interesting test would be a more visual magazine targeted at people who hang out on i09 and BoingBoing (amongst others), but that takes much deeper pockets.

The “But,” comes from the fact that I've never done a mile on a publisher's Segway, so I can't claim any great expertise. And, like all marketing, any program would take testing and optimization--which means it could end up somewhere very different than where it started.

SoY: What are your writing habits like? Do you have any peculiar writing habits that somehow work for you but everyone else would find quirky (and/or insane)?

JS: I'm an isolationist. I can't write in a coffeehouse. I can't write while listening to music with lyrics. I also frequently don't remember big pieces of what I wrote a week before, so the first rewrite can be a big surprise (both good or bad.) Is this weird?

SoY: An incident occurs resulting in your removal from the list of up-and-coming genre stars. What is the most likely cause of that incident? Who do you nominate in your place?

JS: If I'm removed, it'll probably be due to me skewering some sacred cow of science fiction groupthink. I'm amazed at how such a forward-thinking group of people can sometimes seem so sad and morose. Maybe it's because I'm in contact with a lot of leading-edge technologies and the people who are creating them, but I'm hugely excited about the future. I think that yeah, there's some scary stuff, and yeah, it ain't necessarily going to be easy, but, I think it'll work out in the end. And it'll work out better. Which some people simply don't want to hear.

The person I'd nominate? The guy who skewered the sacred cow of the reputation economy. Currently with only one Futurismic story to his name, this is a name to watch: Adam Rakunas.

SoY: What are your opinions on eBooks? Are they the future of publishing? What's the biggest deterrent toward eBooks changing the market the same way digital downloads changed music?

JS: Having your whole library in one device beats “the look, the touch, the feel of paper.” Wireless distribution beats shipping slabs of wood pulp all over the world. Yep, ebooks are what make sense for the future.

What doesn't make sense is the pricing. Sorry, big publishers, knocking three bucks off the hardcover price for an ebook simply doesn't work. eBooks make sense at $1-5. Just like iPhone apps.

When the upward pricing pressure falls away, then ebooks take over. It's that simple.

SoY: Your fiction has some interesting ideas about funding the future of spaceflight. What's your opinion on the current state of the Space Program? Where is it going to be in 20 years? Where should it be? What needs to be done to get from where it is to where it should be?

JS: Even when hamstrung, the US space program has achieved some very cool stuff. That said, we're hamstrung. The news of water on Mars could have come in 1976. It took an Indian space probe to confirm water on the moon.

The future, at the least, should look a lot like Zubrin's presentation to the Augustine Commission: Reclaiming the American Spirit Through Mars. In short, he's proposing that we go back to being destination-based, and the destination is Mars. The push is for a number of missions, run continuously, which would put a largely self-sufficient, permanent presence on Mars. And it would be done fast. And it would pay off in terms of a new frontier, and a new focus on science and engineering.

Beyond that: multiple private companies competing to build the first space elevator. When we get low cost to orbit, then everything opens up. Everything changes. And even our biggest fears suddenly seem very, very small.

If we wanted to, we could have Zubrin's Mars presence, workable space elevators, and a lunar colony in the next 20 years. Remember, the original plan for Project Orion was to be on Mars . . . in 1965. I'd love to see some of that spirit back, whether it's in the public or private sector--but, ah, with less nuclear weapons involved.

SoY: If you were offered a one-way ticket to be the first human on Mars, would you go?

JS: Yes. Even if I am The Man Who Lost the Sea.

SoY: You get to choose a single SF/F author (can be living, dead, or zombie) to write one additional book. Who do you choose and why?

JS: I'd love to see what Cordwainer Smith would do if he was living today. His work was so off-path from, well, almost everything else at the time, I used to think he must be a time-traveler hiding in the past.

SoY: What's the best thing you've read this year?

JS: You're assuming I read. Kidding. Though time has been at an extreme premium. And perhaps that's reflected in how long my backlog is--the best thing I've read this year is Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge . . . which yeah, I know, I should have read in 2007.

SoY: [Obligatory pimpage] Is there anywhere online that readers can follow you and your work? [/obligatory pimpage]

JS: You can usually keep abreast of what I'm doing at http://www.strangeandhappy.com/ (that is, provided I'm not buried in work and unable to update it!) There's a ton of links to free stories and social media-y stuff, as well.

---

That's it from Jason. He had a lot to say on a number of interesting topics (ignore the fact I was asking the questions) and if this interview got your brain whirling, you should definitely check out his fiction. Even if you don't I'd keep an eye out for the name Jason Stoddard, by the end of 2010 you're most likely going to see it whether you want to or not.

Galileo's Dream Contest Winners

Congrats to Joe N. from Phoenix, AZ.

Fortunately for him, the odds weren't quite Han Solo levels of improbable. 50/50 is pretty easy to beat. I know I have 12 readers, why didn't you other 10 participate?

Book Trailers

I'm generally not one for Book Trailers. For the most part, they are underbudgeted and underproduced. The only books with enough marketing behind them to afford a professional trailer are the books that don't need trailers to sell copies (i.e. Harry Potter, Twilight, Dan Brown, etc). The other alternatives are fan produced/amateur trailers and for that you need someone with a lot of skill, a lot of free time, awareness of the authors work, and a desire to help them. For your average author, that's not going to happen.

There are only a few fanbases out there that meet those 4 criteria. One of which is Star Wars. They've got a lot of tech-savy fans who enjoy making Stormtrooper costumes and fan films in their spare time with publishing schedules that are known and dissected years in advance. These guys love Star Wars and go so far as to digitally edit Jar Jar Binks to make a vastly superior edition of The Phantom Menace. Other than SW, Star Trek, John Scalzi, and a few other groups I'm sure I'm forgetting, the majority of books aren't going to have that level of amateur support. Not to mention the fact that the Star Wars publishing empire could afford to buy a professional trailer (and probably a 1:1 scale Death Star).

So when I saw that Random House was holding a Book Trailer contest for Joe Schreiber's Death Troopers over at Suvudu I was immediately interested. These book trailers could be interesting. These book trailers could be, dare I say it..., good.

So I watched the trailers. For the most part they are pretty meh. Inferior computer animation, bad dialogue/acting, and absolutely terrible costumes/sets. Even the official Del Rey trailer, complete with Joe Schreiber cameo, isn't anything special. The majority of book trailers simply don't work. The most stunning scenes of the movie can be spliced together to make a killer trailer in a way that you can't cheaply replicate off the page.

But this one, this one I liked. It's simple. It knows it's limitations and it works with them rather than trying to hide them. Have a look:



What do you think?

10 Ways to use Time Travel to Fix the Short Fiction Market.

My December issues of Analog and Asimov's arrived on Sept 30th. The only logical explanation is that their editors possess some form of Time Travel.

 

Why don't they use it for saving the short fiction market rather than publishing issues through time. Here are ten ideas to use their time travel powers to prevent the collapse of the genre short fiction market.

1. Go to the past invest in Google/Microsoft/Apple until you can pay your authors $10 a word and enough editors to scour the resulting slushmountain for gems.





2. Go back in time and destroy the internet in it's infancy like it's Skynet.





3. Go to the past and buy Harry Potter from J.K. Rowling and serialize the novels for the next 30 years at $20 an installment.





4. Go to the future and obtain a copy of A Dance With Dragons and promise to release it when subscriptions reach a certain level. Also consider obtaining the answers to Lost or the Blu-ray copies of the 3rd Nolan directed Batman movie.





5. Go way, way back and teach foreign cultures English. A potential reader base of 6 billion has to be better than what you've got now.





6. Bring several copies of Harlan Ellison to the same point in time, put them in a room together and sell tickets.





7. Re-create Heinlein classic "-All You Zombies-" and sell the memoir as non-fiction/go on Jerry Springer.





8. Go to past and pay Stephanie Meyer not to publish Twilight. I will throw in $100 bucks. You don't even need to publish anything. Also consider: Saving Firefly or Preventing "Everybody Loves Raymond"





9. Tape bacon to your issues. It worked for Scalzi.





10. Publish the January issue in September. Genius!

What's your solution?

YetiStomper Picks: Books for October

Canticle (The Psalms of Isaak) - Ken Scholes

Canticle is the 2nd book in Ken Scholes "Psalms of Isaak" sequence after last year's Lamentation. I haven't had a chance to read Lamentation yet but it did get a lot of rave reviews. I'll be interested to see whether Scholes can keep up the pace. Once the series finishes, I'll be hoping on board.

Peter & Max: A Fables Novel - Bill Willingham

Keeping An Eye On author Chris Roberson (interview here) and Bill Willingham were both part of the same writing group. Now it seems they are switching roles as Roberson has been writing comics and Willingham is making the leap to novels. Fables is simply one of the best comic book series out there. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in novel form.

Star Wars: Death Troopers - Joe Schreiber

Star Wars. Horror. Stormtrooper. Zombies. Look at that cover. What else do you need? I also might have an interview with Joe Schreiber sometime this month. If I had to pick one book on the list I would be sure of completing by the end of October, this would be it.

Star Wars: 501st: An Imperial Commando Novel - Karen Traviss

One of Karen Traviss's last SW novels (after she announced she was leaving the universe due to continuity concerns). 501st continues the story of Traviss's Republic Commandos once they find their employers have undergone some restructuring. Out of the two SW novels this month, I'd check out Death Troopers first but Traviss is a great author in her own right and her Republic Commando novels were always excellent.

Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is a young adult novel portraying WWI in an alternate universe that took a steampunk twist sometime down the line. Prince Aleksander Ferdinand and girl-posing-as-airman Deryn Sharp adventure the world in the titular airship, Leviathan. This book features stunning black and white steampunk drawings throughout the book. Recommend buying the book, reading it carefully, and giving it a child for Christmas if you can part with it.

Eclipse 3: New Science Fiction and Fantasy - Jonathan Strahan

I have neither heard of this book or any interest in reading it. The table of contents has WAY too many women in it. Kidding. This is the third in an absolutely fantastic series of anthologies. If you are looking for quality new authors accross the entire genre, this is the singular anthology for you.

Lovecraft Unbound - Ellen Datlow

Lovecraft + Datlow + Laird Barron = Anthology Cthulu might come back to Earth to read. I'm not particularly well read in the horror subgenre but I've always been interested in the Cthulu mythos/dark SF kind of thing. This is another highly anticipated one.

My Dead Body: A Novel - Charlie Huston

The final book in Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt Casebook. That's right; a urban fantasy series that ends. It will be interesting to see how the 5 book arc ends and how Huston finalizes the transition from episodic plot to an overarching one. I'm planning to read/review all 5 now that the series is complete.

The Secret History of Science Fiction - James Patrick Kelly & John Kessel

This is another anthology but a very interesting one. SHoSF offers to a slate of stories blending science fiction and "literature", two things which aren't always paired together. With stories by Ursula K. LeGuin, Michael Chabon, Gene Wolfe, Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, and others, this anthology might be one to have your "literary" friends read after you smack them over the head with it. They deserve it for dismissing some absolutely incredible authors who manage to tell a story and write literature at the same time.

The Devil's Eye - Jack McDevitt

In the 4th Alex Benedict novel, Jack McDevitt takes his main character to the dark recesses of the universe. This book has been out for a year but I like the books to line up on the shelf so PB for me.

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas - Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba

The Umbrella Academy got a ton of critical praise last year. This is the follow up series by the same team. I enjoyed the first one and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Here's hoping the quality stays up.

October is filled with a lot of series installments and anthologies but there aren't too many big name SF stand-alones. I wonder if there's a good time a year for that? Anyway, as always, if you are interested in more details regarding any of the above books, just click on through the Amazon links. I'm more interested in telling you why I recommended them rather than simply what's out there. Anything that might have escaped my genre nets? Which one of these covers is your favorite?

You can view previous installments of YetiStomper Picks here