I am about to send of the final submission file for Eclipse Two to the publisher. It has been through as many ups and downs as any book that I’ve worked on, but at the end of the day I’m very happy with it. This really is the science fiction volume in the Eclipse series, with just two real fantasy stories in the book. That was partly deliberate, and partly circumstance. I have real favorites, but am very happy with all of the stories. There’s a new ‘Virga’ novelette by Karl Schroeder, the first new Wormwood story from Terry Dowling in 17 years, as well as tales of galactic empires, superheroes, alien intelligences, time travel, and even a call for help on Facebook.

Eclipse Two will be published in October by Night Shade, and I think we’re going to have a launch of some kind at the Calgary World Fantasy Convention. For the moment, though, here’s the close-to-final table of contents (there is one contractual issue to resolve, but I’m hopeful that’ll work out).

1. The Hero, Karl Schroeder
2. Turing’s Apples, Stephen Baxter
3. Invisible Empire of Ascending Light, Ken Scholes
4. Michael Laurits is: Drowning, Paul Cornell
5. Elevator, Nancy Kress
6. The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, Daryl Gregory
7. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, David Moles
8. The Rabbi’s Hobby, Peter S. Beagle
9. The Seventh Expression of the Robot General, Jeffrey Ford
10. Skin Deep, Richard Parks
11. Ex Cathedra, Tony Daniel
12. Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose, Terry Dowling
13. We Haven’t Got There Yet, Harry Turtledove
14. Fury, Alastair Reynolds

Well, this has been a weekend.  It’s the first one in a couple where we’ve not had a lot on in terms of activities, but I’ve had it down as the time when I’d hoped to finish both Godlike Machines and Eclipse Two, as well as do some other stuff.  As I write this, it’s about 4pm on a rainy Perth Sunday.  It deluged earlier, while Marianne and the girls were out at the girls’ football practice game.  While they were out I checked in with Terry Dowling about his new Wormwood story, with consultation from Lou Anders bought the first story for Conquering Swords, bought a final story for another project, and pretty much laid both anthologies to rest.  Just as soon as I’ve signed off on the final details, I’ll post tables of contents etc here.  I am, at the end of the day, happy with both books and am getting ready to move into that phase of things when I worry about what everyone else will think.  The introduction’s are done (I don’t overlike them, but I never do), the stories are picked (I like them, and love some of them), and I’m ready for them to off and become books.

I had meant to blog more about some books I’ve been reading.   As I’ve mentioned here, I read and loved Ken Scholes’ Lamentation.  Loved it enough, in fact, to have started harrassing him to let me have a sneek look at the second book (I can’t wait a year for it).  I’ve also started two other books – Greg Bear’s City at the End of Time and John Scalzi’s Zoe’s Tale. More on those as I progress.

And from here? Well, in three weeks Marianne’s brother and his family arrive to stay with us for two weeks. It should be a lot of fun, but first we need to empty a large room that’s been stacked with boxes since we moved in here six years so that they have some hope of having somewhere to sleep.  That should occupy the next two weeks. At exactly the same time I have to write a resume and job application – I work for the  public service and it’s time to apply for my job again.  This is the first time in 19 years I’ve faced a full job interview, and I’m a tad nervous.  However, that should be resolved by the time the family get here.  They head home on July 17, I think, and then two weeks later I get on a plane for the US. So, it’s house and job, family and holiday, then panel preparation and travel.  In the background, reading for the year’s best is picking up.  As always, interesting times.  Hmm.  Must remember to ask Sharyn for a galley of her Firebirds antho – what else would I want to read when flying across America?

I am stumped about what to say in the introduction to Eclipse Two, and it’s all Jeff VanderMeer’s fault. See? That sounds like I must be bugged by, or annoyed with, Jeff.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Some people you talk to confirm your thoughts, beliefs and actions. Other people challenge them. Both are valuable, in different ways. They help you learn about yourself.

Jeff has challenged what I think about anthology editing over the past eight months or so, in a good way.  I’ve found myself asking why do I do that, or do I want to do it that way?  One thing I’ve been going round and round on is interstitial material, introductions, etc.  Truth in advertising is important. The cover, the blurb, the introduction and so on should all give you a good idea of what the book is like and what the collective group who’ve worked on that book are attempting to achieve.  Otherwise people get confused, annoyed, upset.

The thing with Eclipse is that those things are purposefully in flux.  Eclipse One was it’s own book.  I’m happy with it, and proud of it.  Eclipse Two is a quite different book. It’s had a different genesis, and I’ve been learning about anthology editing while working on it.  I need to work out how to encompass that, in less than a thousand words.

There are two things I’d add. First,  I’m grateful to Jeff for the interactions we’ve had on the subject of anthologies.  We don’t always agree, but I learn more about why I think what I do when we are in touch.  It’s a dialog I’m Iooking forward to continuing.  Second, while I’ve been tempted to skimp on intros, they’re important.  Readers learn more about the book they’re about to read from them, and scholars looking back at the field tend to use them as primary source material (which is way disturbing).

So, on to the intro. Eclipse Two gets finished this weekend.  I’ll report back when  I send it in.

Well, I just did another Mind Meld for the SF Signal folks. This time we were asked ‘Who Are Tomorrow’s Genre Stars’? you can read the discussion over on SF Signal. I think it’s interesting how we’ve all interpreted the idea of new, up and coming, and genre star.   For my own money, there are a bunch of writers I don’t mention over much because I think they are stars now; they have commercial success etc. For example, Scott Westerfeld is a New York Times Bestseller who has been publishing for over a decade and is well-established in the field. He’s one of today’s stars.  Same thing for Charlie Stross.  A question I want to ponder for a while is not ‘who are tomorrow’s genre stars’, but ‘who will still be being read in twenty years’?  I can see Westerfeld and Stross being active and widely read then. But who else?

The good folk at the University of Kansas have also announced the nominees for the 2008 John W Campbell Memorial Award. They are:

• Brian Aldiss, HARM
• Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
• Kathleen Ann Goonan, In War Times
• Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon’s Arms
• Jay Lake, Mainspring
• Ken MacLeod, The Execution Channel
• Ian McDonald, Brasyl
• Rebecca Ore, Time’s Child
• Matt Ruff, Bad Monkeys
• Robert J. Sawyer, Rollback
• Jose Carlos Somoza, Zig Zag
• Sheri S. Tepper, The Margarets
• Jeffrey Thomas, Deadstock
• Robert Charles Wilson, Axis