There is a pragmatic, if somewhat blind, terror stalking my everyday thoughts as the month of May slowly slides by as though nothing could possibly be amiss.
Every day a new story is published. Hah! Every day dozens of new stories are published. Hidden in books and magazines and websites, in .epub files and .mobi ones, places you’d never think to look. I struggle to find them, to not lose track of them on my Kindle, in my iBooks thingie, on the shelf behind my desk. Wherever they may end up. And every day we move inevitably, inexorably towards the moment when I’m going to have to start choosing stories for my next best of the year volume. I can see the day from here, and I am not ready!
Not only am I not ready, but I have a magazine issue to get ready for the end of September and two original anthologies due in January and March of next year. Things are going to be crazy over Christmas, my friends. Off the top of my head, I’ll be delivering 400,000 wds of manuscript, a collated reading list and writing an essay between Christmas and the end of March. I have no idea how that’s going to work out!
How can you help? Let me know about the best stories you see. Blog, tweet, post on my Facebook or email me direct, but let me know. If you’re working on something, let me know too. I want to know. Really!
I’m curious to know, at this point, which company will be publishing your Year’s Best. I have the first seven and am looking forward to the next seven. And wish you all the best in all the hard work ahead.
But compare your terrifying prospect to Garner D’s, in the years when he had to put out both his massive YBSF and monthly issues of ASIMOVS. Of course, the SF was Gardner’s day gig.
And like the guy above says – All the best.
I am working to answer that very question. I’m actually avoiding working on Volume Eight right now, which probably means I should go and do that. Many thanks for your good wishes!
True. But I’ve never been able to quite get my ahead around the herculean amount of reading Gardner has always done. And thank you!