Electric Velocipede 20 Cover Teaser

(art copyright (c) 2010 Thom Davidsohn)

I have seen the new cover for Electric Velocipede 20, and it is, if I can say so, awesome. As always, I got a couple sketches (I call them sketches, but they're essentially finished pieces of art) from Thom Davidsohn, and I picked one. There's rarely any art direction to do, and in this case I didn't have any comments for Thom.

As I did with the last issue, here's a piece of the cover. What do you think this could be?

Also, if people want, I can ask Thom about posting the cover image we didn't go with.

Various Miscellany, UPDATED

(photo from Flickr user roadsidepoctures)

UDPATE Jeff VanderMeer has information on his blog on how to get in touch with Kage Baker or otherwise lend your support.

Here's a bunch of different things that have happened recently that I thought I should make note of. First, the Crawford Awards (for best first fantasy novel) have been announced, and Jedediah Berry's Manual of Detection won! I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I was surprised to learn recently that I actually met Mr. Berry one time when visiting Gavin Grant in MA.

Over at SF Signal, they do this thing called a Mind Meld at least once a week. They ask a bunch of science fiction pros the same question and then post their answers online. This week it's "Who should be the next SFWA Grand Master?" and I took part.

This Recording has a list of the Top 100 Science Fiction Books of All Time. I've haven't gone over the list in detail, but it looks pretty good. I'm sure I haven't read everything, and I think I'll make a separate post about the list in the next day or two.

Finally, I am very sad to say that Kage Baker's battle with cancer has not gone well. While she is still with is, they feel she only has a few weeks left. Kage is one of my favorite writers and an extremely nice person. Kage answered the questions to the Electric Velocipede Blindfold Taste Test in issue #13*, and I wish I had more chances to work with her. More importantly, I got to enjoy her as a reader and I wish there was more work coming. This news makes me very sad, to say the least. I hope other people take the chance to discover her work and see how amazing she was.

* Her taste test is not online, but perhaps I'll take this opportunity to put it up.

Also... my POV.

(photo from Flickr user Troy Holden)

To all those who deluged John about proofreading, your kindness is appreciated.

The worst of it is that then you have to work with me. :>

I'd like to point out that editing and proofreading are not the same. I realize that the first time someone proofreads, that's not exactly what s/he may be thinking about.*

However... Proofreading is not critiquing and it is not editing either. That's important.

John is the editor.

As the assistant editor, I have many clerical duties. They do not involve editing. I also proofread.


* [Ask Steven Brust about me asking him questions some times ago. Poor Steve!]

Proofreading January 2010

(image from Flickr user monsterpants)

UPDATE: Due to overwhelming response, I'm no longer looking for additional proofreaders. Thanks for your support!

Time is getting short on EV #20. We're transitioning to our new quarterly schedule, and that means we'll be behind on what will become our schedule probably with the third issue this year (I built a schedule where we'll be doing stuff several months out so that we have time to addresses problems).

Right now, I'm in the need of some people for proofreading. The issue is mostly together, but there are a few parts that are missing but we need to get started.

If you're interested, e-mail me at editor [at] electricvelocipede [dot] com.

Heading into 2010

(My, that's a big lemon by me!)

What would people like to see on this blog in 2010? More making a zine posts? Posts about the industry? Stories about giant lemons?

I have to admit I lost a lot of motivation in the second half of the year. Somehow I convinced myself that I was having a bad year* and it made me just want to coast...and I let myself. Suffice it to say, I worked myself a lot harder and longer than I needed to if I had been organized and motivated.

So, if you don't have suggestions for this year, what do you do to keep motivated? I've been playing with my kids more, and they help me feel younger and more energized.

See what's after the jump!

2010 Hugo Eligible from Electric Velocipede

The Hugo Nomination ballot is now available for the 2010 Hugo Awards, which will be presented at the 68th World Science Convention, Aussiecon 4, in Melbourne this September.

Members of Aussiecon 4 who join by January 31, 2010 and members of Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, will be eligible to nominate people or works from 2009 in various categories.  If you didn’t attend Anticipation, and you don’t plan to attend Aussiecon, you can nominate by purchasing a supporting membership.

To help you out, here is a list of all the Electric Velocipede material sorted by category:

Best Editor, Short Form:
John Klima

Best Semiprozine:
Electric Velocipede

Best Artist:
Thom Davidsohn (covers here, you'll need to scroll down to see them)

Issue Seventeen/Eighteen, Spring 2009 (double issue)

Fiction
Novelettes:
Darin C. Bradley - “All the Blue in the Mirror”
Toiya Kristen Finley - “The Death of Sugar Daddy”

Short Stories:
Richard Bowes - “The Bear Dresser’s Secret”
K. Tempest Bradford - “Enmity”
Cris Cox - “The Paper People”
Merrie Haskell - “Sun’s East, Moon’s West”
Loreen Heneghan - “Jointed”
Damon Kaswell - “The Leaf Gatherer”
Barbara Krasnoff - “In the Gingerbread House”
Matthew Kressel - “The Spaces Between Things”
Jay Lake - “An Elderly Pirate Recalls the Death of Love”
Richard Larson - “The Sandbox”
Yoon Ha Lee - “The Fourth Horseman”
Katherine Mankiller - “Grandfather Paradox”
M. E. Parker - “The Truth in Violet”
Mercurio D. Riveria - “Dear Annabehls”
Chris Roberson - “The Improbably Legend of Quick Johnny”
Trent Walters - “Life’s Rich Demand”
Matthew Wanniski - “The Column That Held Up the Sky”
Caroline Yoachim - “Setting My Spider Free”

Poetry
Nina Alvarez - “October”
Elizabeth Barrette - “Bathing the White Stone”
KJ Bishop - “An Affair in Babylon”
Linda Ann Strang - “Fabula”
Linda Ann Strang - “Kimono Monochrome at Midnight”
Pat Tompkins - “The Chiromancer”
Marly Youmans - “Isle of Dream”

Issue 19, Fall 2009

Fiction
Novelettes:
Mark Teppo - “The Lost Technique of Blackmail”
A. C. Wise - “A Mouse Ran Up the Clock”

Short Stories:
Jonathan Brandt - “Frayed”
Erin Hoffman - “Darkest Amber”
Celia Marsh - “Nightlight”
Ken Scholes - “The Boy Who Could Bend and Fall”
Kjell Williams - “Life at the Edge of Nowhere”

Poetry (currently here as of Jan 2010)
KJ Bishop - “When the lamps are lit”
Beth Langford - “My Past Lives”
Beth Langford - “Retired Shapeshifters”