A rose of many petals…
As 2004 draws to a close it’s become clear that one of the most engaging new fantasists to emerge over the past few years is Boston-based writer Theodora Goss.

Goss has published just a small handful of stories, several of which have been collected in year’s best annuals, and all of which are quite beautifully written. Often opting for retelling fairy tales or at least adopting a fairy tale feel, Goss writes stories of women finding strength in difficult times, and of people transcending their circumstances.

Her early story “The Rose in Twelve Petals” received a lot of acclaim, as did semi-surreal tale “Professor Berkowitz Stands on the Threshold”, but arguably her most accomplished tales are appearing now. Her Victorian-toned story “Miss Emily Gray” from Alchemy 2 is a beautifully structured tale of love, governesses and wishes gone astray, while “The Wings of Meister Wilhelm” is a deceptively powerful, and slightly whimsical, tale of coming of age in difficult times.

The indefatigable Small Beer Press has just published a chapbook of Goss’s best short fiction, The Rose in Twelve Petals and Other Stories, which costs only a little more than a cup of coffee. If you have any thought at all of keeping up with the field, or just want to read some beautiful fiction from a writer who’s getting better with every story, then you should grab a copy before they’re all gone.

2004
“The Wings of Meister Wilhelm”
“Miss Emily Gray”
“Her Mother’s Ghosts”
2003
“Lily, with Clouds”
“Sleeping With Bears”
“In the Forest of Forgetting”
“Professor Berkowitz Stands on the Threshold”
2002
“The Rapid Advance of Sorrow”
“The Rose in Twelve Petals”
2001
“The Tile Merchant’s Garden”
2000
“Hyacinth”

For those trying to contact me via email, I’ll be out of touch for about 24 hours from Friday afternoon. Why? Marianne and I are headed off to celebrate her birthday, and we’re going here. It’s a special occasion, and it’s the first night that we’ve been away together by ourselves since Jessica was born back in June 2000, so we’re both looking forward to it. I will, though, make a point of catching up on email when I get back.

From WorldCon…
Most people I know were running around with cameras at WorldCon. I had one, I just didn’t use it. Still here are two recently developed snaps.

This one was taken just after I’d had lunch with Sharyn and signed the contracts for the new book. We’d been wandering around the huckster’s room and stopped to chat with Kelly, and got this photo taken.

And this one was taken in the Locus suite, with Charles posing for fun. I actually think it’s a cool photo.

Ta da!
When I was in Boston my publisher, Byron Preiss, gave me a sneak peek at the covers for next year’s year’s best volumes. When I’d first heard the artists would be the winners of a competition in a digital arts magazine I was a little nervous, but I couldn’t be happier with the final result. Both volumes look way cool, and I can’t wait to see the final books when they came out next February.

I struggle to read when travelling on aircraft, but with deadlines looming and more than 60 hours of transit time to fill, I tried to read a few books at least. Of the batch I attempted the book I’d been most looking forward to was Michael Chabon’s second McSweeney’s anthology, McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. While I thought the first book was a little uneven and somewhat over hyped, it still had some top notch work, and I’d hoped the second book would be even better.

When I looked down the table of contents and saw Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Steve Erickson, Stephen King, Roddy Doyle, Poppy Brite, China Mieville, Joyce Carole Oates, and Peter Straub listed I really thought I was in for a treat. However, overall, the book was a disappointment. A lot of the stories were unfocussed and just didn’t add up to much. There are also a couple I need to re-read to be sure what I think. Still, the highlight of the book is a new novelette by Stephen King, “Lisey and the Madman”. Clearly echoing King’s recent concerns about writers and their safety, the story tells of the attempted murder of a famous writer, as told by his wife. It’s powerful, moving and heads like a freight-train to its conclusion. Unfortunately for year’s best anthologists, it’s basically a mainstream story, but every reader should try to check it out. I thought Joyce Carole Oates distinctly weird “The Fabled Light House at Vina Del Mar” was the best weird horror story I’d read in years, China Mieville’s almost metafictional “Reports of Certain Events in London” was just engagingly weird, and Peter Straub’s “Mr Aickman’s Air Rifle” was as good as anything he’s written of late. For my money those four stories alone make the book worth the price of admission.

One of the things some reviewers will probably respond to is Chabon’s editorial, which suggests that the role of book’s like the McSweeney’s anthologies is to reinvigorate the modern short story. I’m not sure it’ll do that, and I’m not sure it’s really important what anthologists say in their introductions, but his book is worth approaching (if with some caution).

PS: Readers eager for a second instalment of Chabon’s “The Martian Agent” will be disappointed. Apparently deadlines didn’t permit, but perhaps the tale will be picked up in the next book.