At the end of 2012, I posted an assessment of my writing goals for the year. I originally noted that I’d written only three short stories instead of the four I’d hoped to do. This is what happened:

3. Finish four pieces of short fiction.

Fail! I finished only three short stories, though I did get to sell all three to good markets.

Update, December 31: In the comments one of my most supportive readers, Willy B, took me to task for calling this a fail, and then pointed out I had four days to write another short story … so I did. I finished a solid draft last night, and even though I still have to read it over and (I’m sure) fix it up, it IS a finished story, so I’m switching this from “Fail” to “Done.” Thanks, Willy B!

I got some feedback on the story, titled “Halfway Home,” early in the month, and then shelved it for three weeks while frantically revising the forthcoming novel. But I finally sat down to work on the revision, and yesterday I sold “Halfway Home” — 🙂 — to editor John Joseph Adams for new online publication Nightmare Magazine by Creeping Hemlock Press.

Now, if you’d asked me last week if I write horror, I would have said “No!” That stuff is scary. I still wouldn’t call myself a horror writer. In my mind, “Halfway Home” is a dark fantasy with a here-and-now setting, or possibly it’s magic realism, or…well, it’s a short story, anyway. I’ll leave it to y’all to figure out the genre.

And an extra “Thank you!” to Willy B for encouraging me to write it!

It’s been a truly gratifying year on the short fiction front. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I’ve had some short fiction sales in 2012 — five in fact. Three of those stories have been published; two are pending. Now comes the season when the contents of the best-of-the-year anthologies are announced — and I’m astonished to report that two of my stories have been included, one of them multiple times.

“Nightside On Callisto,” originally published by Lightspeed Magazine, will be in Gardner Dozois’ The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Thirtieth Annual Collection, to be released on July 23, 2013.

“Nahiku West” will be in Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Seven, The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 5 an audiobook compilation edited by Allan Kaster, and in Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2013 Edition (table of contents not yet posted).

I’ve never before had any of my stories in “best of” editions so, yeah, my mind is blown.

Both stories are currently available together, in ebook form, from the usual vendors:
Book View Café (worldwide)
Amazon.com USA
Amazon UK
Kobo Books (international)
Barnes & Noble

At SF Signal, the table of contents has been posted for ‘The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Seven’ Edited by Jonathan Strahan, with my own “Nahiku West” at #22 in the list of stories! This is the first time my short fiction has made it into a best-of-year anthology, so I’m pretty happy about it.

The anthology will be published by Night Shade Books on March 5, 2013.

“Nahiku West” — a 9,000 word novelette, originally published in Analog and now available as an ebook at Book View Cafe.

Long ago — actually last spring — I wrote a companion story to last summer’s novelette “Nahiku West.” It’s called “Out In The Dark” and it’s the second story featuring the reluctant Commonwealth police officer, Zeke Choy**.

Since “Nahiku West” was published in Analog, I sent the second story there as well and waited the summer to hear back on it. Three months passed, and I was just about to inquire on its status when Stan Schmidt, long-time Analog editor, announced his immediate retirement — and I knew the waiting wasn’t over yet.

I did eventually receive good news. Analog’s new editor, Trevor Quachri, will be publishing “Out In The Dark” in a future edition, date to be determined.

And now, I must get busy writing more short stories! I want to do at least one or two more featuring Zeke Choy, as well as striking out in some new directions.

If you haven’t done so yet, please sign up for my Very Occasional Newsletter so I can let you know when new stories and novels come out.

I’m very pleased to announce that a short story I wrote last spring has been accepted at Asimov’s. “Through Your Eyes” is scheduled for the April/May 2013 double issue. This will be my first publication in Asimov’s, which is a milestone for me.

In the post linked to above I mention that “The protagonist of this story is proving rather troublesome. He’s in my head, lobbying for his own novel…” Uh-huh, and since then he’s gotten his own novel. That’s the one I’m presently working on, with the first draft just finished a couple weeks ago.

Detail from the cover of The Dread Hammer; digital painting by Sarah Adams.

This is the first time I’ve had two stories debut in the same month. Story #1 was “Nahiku West,” a police procedural in a nanotech-saturated story world. Story #2 is part of the August edition of Lightspeed Magazine. The story has been available as part of Lightspeed’s ebook edition, but starting today it’s available to read free online — or you can listen to the audio book version!

“A Moment Before It Struck” is a prequel story to my novel The Dread Hammer. It’s less than 5,000 words so it won’t take you long to read. Why not take a look?

And do consider buying the ebook edition of Lightspeed Magazine, for an easy-to-read version of all this month’s stories.

Illustration for Analog by Tomislav Tikulin

Lois Tilton reviews short fiction at Locus and has some nice things to say about my recent Analog story “Nahiku West,” giving it a “Recommended.”

Find the review here.

The story is not available online, but the August issue of Analog can be purchased in both ebook and print form.

Check this page for ebook vendors.

Analog’s October issue is now available, and it includes my story “Nahiku West.” This one is pretty special to me, not just because I like the story, but because it’s the first short fiction that I wrote since “Goddesses,” which was published in 2000!

“Nahiku West” is set in the same story world as my Nanotech Succession novels. It takes place in the years before The Bohr Maker and features the early life of a character from that book, Zeke Choy. If you get a chance to read it, please let me know what you think.

The issue you want to look for is the one pictured at right. The illustration is for the issue’s cover story, “The Liars,” by Juliette Wade. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Analog has a print edition, which is presumably out in bookstores now. I don’t know for sure though, because there aren’t any bookstores around here anymore. However, you can definitely buy an ebook-version. A single issue or a subscription can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Check this page for other ebook vendors.

I’ve heard reports that my story “Nahiku West” is now out and in the hands of subscribers to Analog Science Fiction & Fact. It’s the October issue, and I think it’s not generally available just yet — not surprising, given that it’s still July.

I’ll post more here as I learn more, but if you’ve seen the issue, please let me know.

This week, “Nightside on Callisto” is available for reading online at Lightspeed Magazine — or you can listen to the podcast!

This is my first-ever story to be podcast, so it’s exciting.

Please check it out! And check out the great illustration by Galen Oara.