Okay gang. Sorry for not keeping you all up to date. Let’s see, what’s been happening at Merton Way? Well, both Jessica and Sophie have been down with tonsilitis over the past few days. With school starting in a few days, that’s been a real drain on both them and Marianne. On the other hand, we had a wonderful dinner on Saturday night when Janet, Stefan, Amanda, Nick, Robin and Toula came out to our place and we ate, drank and laughed till after one in the morning. Definitely a tonic, and who knew Stefan cooked that well?!

On the work front, the day job continues to dominated. I’m part of four person team who work in an online services environment. Two of the positions are currently vacant, so I’ve had to give up one of thetwo days per fortnight that I work from home on SFnal stuff to help stay on top of things (and may have to give up the other one), and for the next ten days am the only person on deck. Which is fine, but puts some pressure on things.

In the science fictional world, as I think I reported elsewhere, I’ve stopped proofreading Locus. I’m still reviews editor, but what this means is that I’m a little less clear on what’s going into the magazine on a day to day basis. In fact, for the first time in five years I’ve not read the recommended reading stuff (except for the short fiction stuff, which I compiled for the magazine). I’m sure the pendulum will swing back soon, and I’ll spend more time on the magazine, but the past month has been mostly other projects.

Speaking of other projects, The Jack Vance Treasury is now shipping from the stealth bunkers at Subterranean Press. I’ve not seen a copy of the book yet, but they do a lovely job and I can’t wait. One of the reasons for doing a book like this is that I wanted to own a copy. Anyone could have edited it or published it, but I wanted a copy. And now I can have one, and you should get one too. SubPress titles have a bad habit of going out of print quickly, and I wouldn’t want to risk missing this one. Speaking of SubPress, as previously advised I’ve finished up work (except for the appallingly late flap copy) on Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling. The cover is done, the copyedits are done, and the galleys should go out in the next month. I’ll post a full table of contents shortly, but this one really surprised. It was a LOT more work than I’d thought it would be, but the final book is a very good one.

What else? I completed the corrections for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 1. I really need to learn more about how to add corrections to PDFs. I think I’ve given Jason a real nightmare, making sure all of the changes make it into the final book. Anyhow, it goes to press on Thursday, and is rocketing ahead for a March publication. I’m very happy with the anthology, which I think makes a great first step towards tracking the best of fantasy and SF in a year. I’ve seen one positive review of the book already, and I’m hoping it’ll be similarly well received over the next six months. I’m a little late getting started on my 2007 reading, but just as soon as I deliver Best Short Novels I’m onto it. I’m also working on the new anthology series for Night Shade at the moment, lining up people for my SF Book Club novella anthology, and expecting to see copyedits/proofing for the Australian edition of The New Space Opera any time. Busy, busy days.

It wasn’t over.

So, the Poms prove that now they could not beat an egg. That should see them out of the ODIs after this weekend. I guess they’ll have some extra time off before the World Cup.

Bruce Chrumka points out that there’s a new Howard Waldrop story “Kindermarchen” available to read for free (free!) over the Lou Antonelli’s Sentinel Science Fiction. You need to go check it out. So do I. Damn I wish Howard was on email.

I forgot that Sterling was fuh-nee! The Leggy Starlitz stories are f*cking hilarious. I love them. Even though they’re out of date, pointing back to some bygone moment just after the Russians tore down the wall, they’re still the most up to the moment thing Sterling’s ever written. There’s lots more to say on this. The Shaper/Mechanist stuff is a hipper version of Baxter’s Xeelee stuff, but out of date. Gone daddy, gone. “Dori Bangs”, though, will never date. Nor will the fantasy stuff. And, how did I miss that “Taklamakan” was what brought it all full circle? Suddenly, there is it is: Leggy Starlitz meets the Shaper/Mechanists. A Russian scam about star travel buried deep under some crazy-ass Asian steppe. Awesome stuff. More on this soon, but (a) you need to buy this book when it comes out – the collections are no substitute; (b) you have to read from the beginning to the end – no skipping; and (c) I need to write the goddamn flap copy.

Oh, and anyone got ideas for the title for an original antho series? It’s getting ridiculous.

PS: I love the interwebs when proofing. Sterling refers to ‘kawai’ as Japanese cuteness in a story. Google says 3.8 million hits, if you spell it ‘kawaii’. Neat. You need to be cautious, but how useful is that?