Am I reading your story? Well, I might be. I’ve now handed in the final corrections for the Australian edition of The New Space Opera.  That means that I’ve now finished work on all of this year’s book projects, except for Eclipse, which is pretty cool. Actually, I’ve bought a terrific Maureen McHugh story for the first Eclipse, and have just started to see a few other stories. The deadline for that is in May, so I’m both excited and a little nervous about how it’s all going to work out. I’m also really happy with the way The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year is being received. The first book has done really well, and it looks certain that Volume 2 will happen next March. Which means that I’m now, at last, diving into reading 2007’s short fiction. I’ve been letting it build up while I work on projects, and read a few novels, but I’m now officially reading, which means I could be reading your story. And, if you think I might not be, feel free to drop me an email to see. I’m eager to see stories from all venues, so if you think there’s a chance I might miss it, please let me know.

The ever kind and generous Jason Nahrung spoke to a few people about space opera for The Brisbane Courier Mail. I was fortunate enough to be included in the article. Be sure to check it out. We’re only a few months away from the book being published, after almost a decade, so it’s pretty exciting.

I’ve just about talked myself out of the Australian science fiction anthology idea. This is the critical period in whether I do things. I’ve spoken to at least one person who thinks it’s a great idea, and one who thinks I’m out of my tree. They both have good points. The main thing about it is that it’s a distinctly non-commercial idea, and I have to decide whether I can afford that time and money. Hmm.

I’m toying with a bunch of ideas at the moment. I’m certainly not between projects, but I’m always playing with new ideas, new notions, while I try to work out what I’ll put my energies into over the next year or so. When I decided to do Eidolon with Jeremy Byrne nearly two years ago, my goal was to reconnect with the Australian SF scene. That’s still very much what I want to do. Russell Farr and I are discussing one possible project, and Jack Dann and I have been tossing ideas around for some time as well. However, this evening I was struck by another idea. I love fantasy, and I really like some horror, but my main thing is SF. I’ve edited two original anthologies for trade publishers over the past two years, both featuring space opera, or at least big spaceship stories. It’s always been a passion of mine, and I’ve always felt we’ve not done quite enough of it here in Australia. I’m not sure of the business end of it, but I think I might edit an anthology of big spaceship stories by Australians. If I do it, the absolute essentials for the project would be that all of the stories would have to feature spaceships in some way or another, and they would have to be written by Australians. I can think of a bunch of people who could write for it brilliantly, but I think, like Eidolon, it would also be essential for it to be an open submission book.  I even know what I might call it – Woomera: New Australian Science Fiction. But, is it a goer? I don’t know. I think I need to sleep on it a little, try to work out how the business end of it would work. It could be very cool.

This is the way it would be, if I could make it this way. This morning I woke a little early, checked the overnight cricket scores, and then decided to get some clerical work done. I’ve had some issues relating to The Starry Rift weighing on me for quite some time, but I got news in the morning email that the main problem had finally been overcome, so I dove into writing letters, drawing up cheques, addressing envelopes and so on. Then the girls got up and, because they were expecting a friend over for a playdate, I decided to bake them some fresh blueberry muffins. By the time they were out of the oven, I’d dealt with the morning email, then jumped into the shower. After that, into the car and down to sunny Mt Lawley. It’s a lovely fresh morning so, after mailing off the various Starry Rift documents, I decided to sit down with the laptop at a local cafe, get a little work done, and then head home. If I didn’t have a day job, this is how every day would be. In fact, if I can arrange it, it’s how I intend to spend a good part of my long service leave next year. For the moment though, I have some long overdue flap copy to finish, an editor bio to write and a few other things. It’s a nice way to spend the morning.