Is it possible to write a science fiction story involving a young adult protagonist who has entered military service with the intention of serving in an extraterrestrial setting that reads like it was written after 1955?

So, I’m at home working today. Been reading through an enormous pile of magazines, collections, and anthologies, as I work my towards a final shortlist for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year and Best Short Novels: 2007, doing an editorial pass on my intro for The New Space Opera, and working on a few other bits and pieces. Sophie, of course, couldn’t abide me not paying attention to her, so a photograph. I spent time on the interview that I’m doing with Jeff, which is interesting, and had some interesting conversations with various people. There may, it seems, be a change in my working arrangements. Too early to tell, but it may not be good news. I’m not sure. If it is bad news, then I’ll just have to work harder on other stuff. I’ve been pretty lucky these past few years, and I try to never lose track of that.

Ask and you shall receive! My publisher at Night Shade let me know this morning that you can now pre-order The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year from amazon.com. The cover that you can see there is a placeholder, though the art by Stephan Martiniere is one of two fantastic pieces that will feature on the final cover. I think Night Shade’s designer Claudia Noble is one of the company’s best kept secrets – she’s responsible for the spectacular covers Night Shade have been doing of late – and I can’t wait to see what she’ll come up with. I’ve no doubt it will be fantastic.

In the meantime, I just got approached to do an interview about year’s bests by Jeff VanderMeer for his upcoming SF Site column, ‘Adventures in the Ink Trade’. Jeff just announced the column over at VanderWorld, and says this about it: “The second column will be about SF/F/H for SF Site and it is tentatively entitled Adventures in the Ink Trade. It will have a video component most of the time, in addition to traditional print interviews with people like Jonathan Strahan, mini book reviews, and commentary on “issues of the day” as they say. It will debut November 1.” I’m actually pretty stoked about doing the interview. Jeff sent me the questions yesterday, and they’re smart, relevant, and are the kind of questions that help you work out what you think about something. I’ve found over the past few years that, when I do something like this, I end up needing to externalise something that I know but haven’t necessarily had to articulate. So, it’s the first thing up for me to do, just as soon as I’ve finished the intro for The New Space Opera this weekend. I’m actually looking forward to it.

I’m in the midst of working on books, working to (and occasionally passing) deadlines, and reading, reading, reading. My first book for Night Shade, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, is dominating my thoughts. It’s a 200,000 word anthology that will be published in March 2007 in trade paperback. Given the word count for the book, I’m figuring it’ll feature about 195,000 words of fiction and about 5,000 words of story notes and stuff. The fiction will probably break down 50/50 by genre, and include something like twenty to twenty-five stories, and I think it’s going to prove to be a dynamite book.

At the moment I have a long-list of about forty stories that I’m still adding to. In the end, I’ll probably winnow a list of about sixty ‘possibles’ down to the final table of contents, and that’ll happen in about three weeks or so. I have just sent out letters of invitation to authors for stories that will fill about 40% of the book, though, so it is taking shape. I only slightly regret that I can’t include horror stories in the book this year, because I’ve read some terrific stories that fall outside my purview. For anyone who hasn’t read it, Jay Lake had a terrific horror-influenced story, “The American Dead”, in Interzone a while back, and Laird Barron had an extraordinary story “Hallucigenia” in F&SF, which set the gold standard for magazines (as it has for several years now).

I’ll be avoiding novellas in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, as much as possible. The main reason for doing so is length. I simply can’t fit 40,000 word stories into a 200,000 book without significantly distorting it. That’s not too much of a sacrifice, though, as I’m also assembling Best Short Novels: 2007 for the Science Fiction Book Club, and I think it should be a corker of a book. For those who don’t know, I’ve been editing the Best Short Novels volumes for the past three years, and I love doing them. I actually think Best Short Novels: 2006, which was published by the Book Club in June (go buy it, it’s worth it, and the Club is well worth joining) is the best reprint anthology I’ve done so far. It has range, variety, and really is a forerunner to the work I’m doing on the Night Shade book (which is very much a companion to it, at least in my mind).

Because the way my year works out is a little odd, I usually don’t get a contract from the Book Club till close to Christmas (which makes for a great present!), so even though I’ve not sold this one yet, I’m feeling confident and have decided to go ahead and assemble the manuscript on the probability that it’ll be needed. So far I’ve read some great novellas by Michael Swanwick, whose “Lord Weary’s Empire” is one of the best thing he’s done in years; by Jeffrey Ford, whose “Botch Town” I loved; by M. Rickert, whose “Map of Dreams” is wonderful; and by Cory Doctorow, whose “After the Seige” is one of his best ever stories. I also have novellas shortlisted by Brad Denton, Al Reynolds, David Herter, Chris Robson, and others.

For all that I’ve been down with the ‘flu and feeling a bit miserable, I’ve got to admit that working on these two books really cheers me up. I think Best Short Novels: 2007 could be the best one in the series yet, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year is a book I’ve wanted to do for ages. I’m a happy guy. I’d just add, the inspiration for these two books really is the late Terry Carr, who may be the best editor of year’s best annuals ever. I grew up loving his tightly edited, concise and really smart anthologies, and hope to emulate them, at least somewhat, with these books. If I’m lucky, very lucky, I’ll achieve that.

One thing I will try to arrange shortly is pre-orders for the two books. I don’t know what’s possible yet, given the books won’t be published till March and June 2007 respectively, but if I can, I’d like you to be able to place your orders and let the publishers know you’re interested. More on these soon.

I probably shouldn’t be so delighted about this, but CJ Cherryh writes in her journal that she has finished the latest Foreigner book and is now going back to the Cyteen sequel that she started last year. I don’t know how this will work out in publishing terms – I actually think this one might be coming out from my wonderful editor Diana Gill, but I’m not sure – but if all goes well it should be out in the first half of 2008. That’s forever away, but it’s also when I’ll be taking my big break from the day job, and I can’t wait.

There are many reasons why I’ve been quiet since getting back from the US. The first would be the non-stop flu that I’ve had, which has kept me both slightly miserable and overly tired. It’s not broken yet, but pfeh to it. The second would be the head’s-down backside-up approach for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, which I’m working on diligently right now. The other reason is I’ve just been almost comically unable to write. Don’t know why, but it’s killing my schedule. I need to get a book introduction finished (and will this weekend), and have nightmares at the the thought of going back to book reviewing. What would I say? Gah.

On that, a far too brief recommendation. While I was traveling in the US – losing pretty much a full month’s work along the way – I managed to read two novels: Ellen Kushner’s The Privilege of the Sword and John Scalzi’s The Android’s Dream.  Both deserve much more intelligent, quotable recommendations than the one’s I’m about to give them, but still…. While jetlagged, tired, depressed and miserable these two books lifted my spirits and gave me joy and delight. In many ways both of them are confections, amusements, the kind of tales you read with guilty pleasure, realising there is no homework here, only rousing adventure, quick wits and far too much fun. Kelly Link’s described Ellen’s novel as Georgette Heyer meets Dumas, and that sounds about right: D’Artagnan’s niece adventuring in the land of the seemingly dissolute and crazy. I loved Swordspoint, was slightly less enamoured of The Fall of the Kings, and loved this one. I still think her best novel is the superlative Thomas the Rhymer, but Privilege was a delight. As to Android: it was unlike The Ghost Brigades and Old Man’s War in just the right way – funnier, less Heinleinesque, and better. I liked the two earlier novels very much, and will read The Last Colony when I can, but The Android’s Dream is a peach, the perfect sci-fi summer beach read (if that makes sense).  So, many thanks to both Ellen and John. I’ll be waiting for their next novels, and you should be running out to get these.