Happy New Year to you all.

2010 looks to be another busy year. First off, my debut novel Silversands will be launched by Pendragon in April, at the annual convention of the British Science Fiction Association. Hopefully the event will also see the launch of two anthologies, each containing a new short story of mine: The Shine anthology from Solaris, which features “The Church of Accelerated Redemption”, a story I co-wrote with Aliette de Bodard; and Conflicts, an anthology from NewCon press, featuring a short story I wrote called “Fallout”.

In addition to the above, I’m making good progress with my second novel, and writing further short stories, which I hope will one day comprise a second short story collection, following on from 2008’s The Last Reef and Other Stories.

In February 2009, my short story “Memory Dust” appeared in Interzone. It was intended to be a full-throttle retro space romp, but somehow failed to attract the same enthusiastic reviews as my two previous stories in the magazine, and looking back now with the benefit of hindsight, I can see areas where it could have been improved. Niall Harrison probably judged it about right in his review on Torque Control.

Obviously, I was disappointed that I’d shot slightly wide of the mark, but took it as a lesson: not every story will be an unqualified success, and just because an editor likes it enough to include it in a magazine, it doesn’t mean the readers will feel the same way. Nevertheless, I enjoyed writing “Memory Dust”, and I had especial fun with passages like this:

The Red Shark was a tough, streamlined wedge with a thick heat shield, and paint scoured to ash by the pitiless fires of hyperspace. He walked up the cargo ramp into her belly without looking back. He’d been stuck on this worthless planet for three long years, growing old and tired and soft. He could hardly wait to get airborne again, to open the throttle and feel the kick of the exhaust, the giddy freedom of the up-and-out.

It may not have been to everyone’s taste, but at least it’s made Blue Tyson’s list of Best New Stories of 2009, and I’ve already submitted new and better stories to Interzone (among other places), which when they appear, I’m sure will get a better reception.

Day two of the TTA Press advent calendar features a link to my short story “Hot Rats”.

TTA Advent: Day Two

This December, TTA Press will be hosting an advent calendar. Each day, from the 1st through to the 25th, the TTA website will feature a new link to a story on another website. Some of these stories will be new, others old. Some will be written by previous contributors to TTA Press magazines (Interzone, Black Static, etc.) and some will be by new faces.

I believe one of my stories will be linked to on 2nd December. For more details, keep your eye on the TTA Press discussion forum.

Writing on Jeff Vandermeer’s blog, Jason Sanford puts in a good word for the UK SF&F magazine Interzone.

Gardner Dozois has called Interzone “the best looking SF magazine,” and it’s hard to disagree. But as good as their design is, the writing is even better. I love their fiction, and find their reviews and nonfiction articles to be the best in the business.

He backs up this view by linking to four sample stories from the magazine – three of which are past winners of the magazine’s annual readers’ poll for best short story of the year.

• Mercurio D. Rivera’s “Longing for Langalana” (PDF download). Also available in a podcast. Winner, 2006 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Gareth L. Powell’s “Ack-Ack Macaque” (podcast). Winner, 2007 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Jason Sanford’s “When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees” (PDF download). Winner, 2008 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Eugie Foster’s “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” (reprinted in Apex Magazine).

Read the whole of Jason’s article here: www.jeffvandermeer.com

The latest podcast from TTA Press features a recording of my Interzone poll-winning story Ack-Ack Macaque, read by the author.

The recording is accompanied on the website by the artwork which accompanied its original appearance in Interzone in 2007.

Listen to it here: Transmission 19

This is the first time I’ve released a recording of myself reading a full-length piece, so please feel free to leave feedback in the comments below.

My short story Memory Dust scores a respectable 4 out of 5 in Blue Tyson’s review of Interzone 220.

Mark Watson reviews my story “Memory Dust” in Interzone 220 at Best SF:

“The third story from Powell in the ‘new’ Interzone, which puts him up for being a ‘regular’. The two previous stories were well-received, with ‘Ack-Ack Macaque’ topping the last reader’s poll, and ‘The Last Reef’ having many plaudits, none of course to match the signal honour of being the first ever story to be featured in Best SF Presents. Continue reading “Best SF Review”

The January issue of Interzone is out now, and it features a 5000 word short story from yours truly, entitled Memory Dust. This is my third sale to the magazine and I hope it’s as well received as the previous two.

Interzone is available, as they say, from all good stockists – but why not subscribe instead?

Click here for a full table of contents.

In addition, I:

• Had a story reprinted in Concept SciFi
• Was interviewed by Concept SciFi
• Sold a third story to Interzone (Memory Dust, coming Jan 2009)
• Sold a story to the Future Bristol anthology edited by Colin Harvey (What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done? coming April 2009)
• Co-wrote a short story with Aliette de Bodard (The Church of Accelerated Redemption, finishing touches currently being applied)
• Co-wrote a short story with Rob Starr (The Winding Curve, which appeared in Rob’s collection Sophistry by Degrees, Jan 2008)
• Was interviewed by SF Crowsnest
• Garnered excellent reviews for The Last Reef & Other Stories from The Fix, SF Crowsnest, Morpheus Tales, Interzone, etc
• Wrote another short story, Laptop Jack, that’s ready to go out to market…