Michael Walsh at Old Earth Books has just published Things Will Never Be The Same, the selected short fiction of Howard Waldrop. It’s an incredibly wonderful book, filled with many strange, different, oddball, but always terrific stories. You can order it from Old Earth Books, and if you do so before 1 Apri, the shipping’s free. See? Already you’re wondering why you haven’t bought it, aren’t you. Go on then, you do it here.

Oh, and if you don’t believe me, go see what Pulitzer winner Michael Dirda had to say about the book over at The Washington Post.

I’ve not been posting much, so a quick update on life, the universe and what I’m reading at the moment. First, the submissions have started to come in for Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is very exciting. At the same time, Marianne is working in her office on the proofing/copyedits for the Australian edition of The New Space Opera. It’s a small world. I’ve also started to move ahead again on The Starry Rift, which should be heading into galleys and such before too long. I’m also waiting for the proofs for Best Short Novels: 2007 to who up. And, in the meantime, I’ve got taxes to do this weekend. Yay.

There are, however, some seriously cool upsides to this gig. First, last week a copy of this made it’s way into my hands. No. I can’t let you see it. And yes, it’s the book I’ve been most excited about reading all year. I also got a copy of Ken Macleod’s The Execution Channel, which looks terrific.  The book I’m reading now, though, is Gene Wolfe’s Pirate Freedom. Thanks to the kind offices of one David Hartwell, it showed up on Monday morning here in Perth. I was half way through something else at the time, but started it last night with gusto. I think Wolfe has the reputation as being admirable, kind of ‘good for you’, the SFnal equivalent of bran in your diet. I’m not sure why, but I think he is. His work is also seen as difficult and maybe somehow clever. I think this is mostly based around not actually reading his stuff. I’ve also seen things in his short fiction that suggest to me that he could have been one of the best pulp adventure writers who ever lived, had he chosen too. Anyhow, this story of a young priest mysteriously transported back through time to captain a pirate ship during the Golden Age of Piracy looks to be the bomb! More on it, as I progress through.

What else? Sophie came into my office yesterday morning at about 6am, all tousled and sleepy-eyed, and asked if the fairy she’d seen out the front window of our house was real or a dream? Apparently she’d dreamed waking up, walking to the front of the house, and seeing Stardrip the Fairy in our front garden.  I told her all dreams are just a little bit real. She seemed pretty happy with that.

There’s an article about my two pals Jer and Jason in PW. It’s very cool, and so are they. Check it out.

Greg Egan has sold a new science fiction novel, Incandescence, to Gollancz. The book will be published in May 2008. No US edition seems to have been announced yet. You can read related story “Riding the Crocodile” to get a taste for the book.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Tor Books was kind enough to send me an advanced reader’s copy of John Scalzi’s new novel, The Last Colony. And then, when the first copy hadn’t shown up quickly enough, he sent me another. Both copies arrived safely, and I’ve duly read and enjoyed the book, however something’s been bothering me. The kindness of publishers isn’t something to be trifled with, and it’s not really fair on the world that I should end up with such bounty, so I’ve been thinking about what to do with the second The Last Colony ARC. And here it is. I’m going to run my first ever competition. The competition is this:

Scalzi Last Colony ARC competition

Create your own The Last Colony promotional image, post it on your blog, journal or website, and then let me know in the comments field to this post. If you don’t have a blog, journal, or website, email it to me, and I’ll add it here. The most interesting, entertaining or amusing will win the ARC, which will be posted by yours truly to your door. The competition is open from now until 21 March. The winner will be announcedhere on 22 March, and the ARC will be in the winner’s hands by the end of the month.