After reading hundreds of stories and days of painful deliberating, I can cheerfully announce the Table of Contents for Volume Two of the Mirror Shards anthology.  Congratulations to all who made it.

Mirror Shards: Volume Two

I’m more than pleased to announce my Kindle best-selling novelette The Cageless Zoo is now available in audiobook.  The ultra-talented Arielle DeLisle was the narrator and audio producer.  If you enjoy easy-to-access science fiction with a twist of light horror, then give this story a listen.

Visiting the galaxy’s only Cageless Zoo should be a special treat for Melandre and her children. Except she’s still trying to reckon with her husband’s recent death and how she’s going to raise two highly independent children on her own. As their visit quickly falls to chaos, Melandre learns that family is the only thing left she has to rely on.

The Cageless Zoo audiobook can be found at Amazon, iTunes, and Audible for $6.95.  Free copies are available with a trial subscription to Audible.

The final book in the Gamers trilogy – CODERS – is now available in all formats.  I’m proud to be releasing the last book in the trilogy, and also a little bit sad.  I won’t be spending any more time with Gabby or her friends, and it was time I truly enjoyed.  I hope you readers have enjoyed it as much, and more, than I have.

When Gabby infiltrates the Southlands, reality becomes a dangerous game.

Desperate to reach Zaela before war erupts, Gabby takes a chance that puts her life in peril. She asks the Coders to send her into the Southlands as a spy, a request she quickly regrets. Now she faces a new enemy, one that knows everything about her and exposes her weaknesses in a game for her life. But before she can win, Gabby must wrestle with old wounds and finally come to grips with the person she was meant to be.

The novel can be purchased by e-book at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords for $6.99, or as a paperback for $16.99.

Every year the SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) gives awards to the best of that year and that award is called the Nebula.  The Nebulas are different from the Hugos which are more of a fan based award for speculative fiction.  Getting a nomination for a Nebula requires impressing your peers, while earning a Hugo involves dazzling your fans.

Here are this year’s nominees for the Nebula:

Novel

• Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
• Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan UK; Del Rey; Subterranean Press)
• Firebird, Jack McDevitt (Ace Books)
• God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Night Shade Books)
• Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine (Prime Books)
• The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

Novella

• “Kiss Me Twice,” Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 2011)
• “Silently and Very Fast,” Catherynne M. Valente (WFSA Press; Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2011)
• “The Ice Owl,” Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,November/December 2011)
• “The Man Who Bridged the Mist,” Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Science Fiction, October/November 2011)
• “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” Ken Liu (Panverse Three, Panverse Publishing)
• “With Unclean Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2011)

Novelette

• “Fields of Gold,” Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse 4, Night Shade Books)
• “Ray of Light,” Brad R. Torgersen (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2011)
• “Sauerkraut Station,” Ferrett Steinmetz (Giganotosaurus, November 2011)
• “Six Months, Three Days,” Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com, June 2011)
• “The Migratory Pattern of Dancers,” Katherine Sparrow (Giganotosaurus, July 2011)
• “The Old Equations,” Jake Kerr (Lightspeed Magazine, July 2011)
• “What We Found,” Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2011)

Short Story

• “Her Husband’s Hands,” Adam-Troy Castro (Lightspeed Magazine, October 2011)
• “Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son,” Tom Crosshill (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2011)
• “Movement,” Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s Science Fiction, March 2011)
• “Shipbirth,” Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 2011)
• “The Axiom of Choice,” David W. Goldman (New Haven Review, Winter 2011)
• “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees,” E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld Magazine, April 2011)
• “The Paper Menagerie,” Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March/April 2011)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

• Attack the Block, Joe Cornish (writer/director) (Optimum Releasing; Screen Gems)
• Captain America: The First Avenger, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (writers), Joe Johnston (director) (Paramount)
• Doctor Who: “The Doctor’s Wife,” Neil Gaiman (writer), Richard Clark (director) (BBC Wales)
• Hugo, John Logan (writer), Martin Scorsese (director) (Paramount)
• Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen (writer/director) (Sony)
• Source Code, Ben Ripley (writer), Duncan Jones (director) (Summit)
• The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi (writer/director) (Universal)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book

• Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking Juvenile)
• Chime, Franny Billingsley (Dial Books; Bloomsbury)
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Hodder & Stoughton)
• Everybody Sees the Ants, A.S. King (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• The Boy at the End of the World, Greg van Eekhout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman (Big Mouth House)
• The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books)
• Ultraviolet, R.J. Anderson (Orchard Books; Carolrhoda Books)

While I haven’t read every offering on the list, I have done pretty well with a majority of the short fiction, so I’m going to give my picks for the best of those categories.

Novella

I’ve read all of these stories except for Ken Liu’s, which pains me because I’m a huge fan of his writing.  So this pick will be a partial pick since I’m not exactly choosing based on the full list.  And it’s almost a blessing that the list is one short, because I loved every one of these stories and adding another would be difficult.

My three favorites are: The Ice Owl, The Man Who Bridged the Mist, and With Unclean Hands.  Each one of them transported me into a different world and each one left me wanting to know more.  Kij’s story in particular reminded me of George R.R. Martin’s With Morning Comes Mistfall.  Both stories remind us of the preciousness of mystery.

But my final pick would be With Unclean Hands.  While The Man Who Bridged the Mist and The Ice Owl told me great stories, With Unclean Hands provoked my thoughts about the roles of guilt and violence in a society.  I won’t elaborate much more than that, so I don’t spoil the plot, but that story is the one I’ve thought back to most often since reading it.

Novelettes

I’ve read most of this category as well, but I doubt I would pick anything else than Ray of Light.  This was the first story I’d ever read by Brad R. Torgersen and when I was done, I realized that he was one hellava writer.

Science fiction often becomes guilty of being a downer too much (though I love downer stories just as much as the next guy.)  Brad shows us with this story that science fiction can elevate man’s spirit in the face of technological tragedy and he told the tale with such skill that I was left with elation by the end.  And that’s why I would pick Ray of Light as the best Novelette in 2012.

Short Story

I’ve read all but one of these stories and for me, the choice came down to two stories: Ken Liu’s The Paper Menagerie and Nancy Fulda’s Movement.  Most of the others – while skillfully told and even in some cases creatively told – did not pull me into the story.

If I could I would pick a co-winner, but picking does involve, well, picking.  So I’ll buck up and make a choice.  Movement makes a great case to be the winner.  It’s lyrical, flows and dances like a dream, and illuminates a unique point of view with a strong, clear voice.  In some respects, I expect Movement to be the winner, but since I’m picking I’m going to go with The Paper Menagerie.

Both stories make me sympathize with a viewpoint that I’m not familiar with.  I’m not a mute autistic or a first generation Chinese-American, but after reading these stories, I have a tiny insight into what that would feel like.

Add to that humanistic view the practical magic of tiny paper animals that gallop around the room, go “Rawrr-sa,” and exist on the breath of a dying mother, and I’m sold.  The Paper Menagerie wrapped its fingers around my heart and tempted me with magics of a child’s heart.  So that is why I would choose The Paper Menagerie as my winner for Best Short Story.

The second book in the Gamers trilogy — Frags — is now available just in time for the holidays.  If you haven’t read the first book in the Gamers trilogy, go pick up a copy now at your favorite retailer.  The trilogy has been compared to a cross between the Hunger Games and the Uglies trilogy by many reviewers and readers.

When the Frags escape to the Freelands, they find freedom has its own challenges.

Without the familiar rules of LifeGame, Gabby and the Frags stumble from one dangerous Freeland to the next, while conflict in the group threatens to split them up. As the trail to Zaela becomes confused by the looming war, Gabby must reinvent herself or never see her best friend again.

The novel can be purchased by e-book at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords for $4.99, or as a paperback for $13.99.

In my Gamers trilogy people use auto-driving FunCars to get around while playing augmented reality games along the way.  The cars can be customized to look like anything you want them to.  The Toyota Fun-Vii concept video seems like a trailer right out of a Gamers movie.

I’m please to announce the second book in The Digital Sea trilogy — The Godhead Machine.  This one takes up a couple of years after the first book, when life has seemingly settled down for our favorite heroine Zel Aurora.  Here’s the back cover blurb:

When religions spread like computer viruses, even atheists have to take notice.

An old enemy seizes control of the newly expanded Wiki-religion to create a new world order.  To stop him, Zel must join forces with a mega-celebrity doing penance and an orphan girl out for revenge.  However, mired on a thawing city in Greenland, she cannot just use her considerable powers to bend reality and fix the problem.  Instead, she must turn her greatest weakness – understanding people – into a strength or doom the planet to endless religious war.

The novel can be purchased by e-book at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords for $4.99, or as a paperback for $14.95.

I’ve had strong feelings about this story since the moment I conceived it.  Seeing readers enjoy what I so lovingly crafted makes my heart soar.  In the last few days sales of The Cageless Zoo have really taken off.  It’s a science fiction novella for $0.99 that one reader said: “I am not much of a fan of sci-fi but this would make one cool movie.”

There’s a host of other quotes and I really appreciate the readers that stopped by to express their feelings about the story.  It helps remind me why I’m doing this in the first place–the readers.

And readers must be enjoying it because right now it’s #5 (or was this morning) on the sci-fi short story list and climbing on a few others.  It’s only a buck and worth the thirty minutes of your time for an enjoyable read.  And for those fans that hope that it will someday be a full-length novel, I intend to do that after I finish a few of my trilogies.  Stay tuned and pick up one of my novels while you wait.

Putting together an anthology around the concept of augmented reality has been one of my goals since I first heard about the technology.  After many years of trying to make it happen, I was finally able to pull it off this year.  I’m extremely excited to announce that the Mirror Shards Anthology (Volume One) is now available in paperback and electronic formats.

EXPLORE the edge of augmented reality in thirteen tales from thirteen fantastic authors.  When the digital world collides with our real one, bringing all its problems and benefits, mankind will have to relearn what it means to be human. 

In this glimpse of possible futures, you will go on the hunt to track down a fugitive on the other side of the known Universe.  Learn the price of ubiquitous knowledge, or find peace and understanding in the absence of it.  Dive deep into the ocean to avert a kidnapping using only the tools at hand.  Experience new realities underwritten by an alien love of entertainment.  Find hidden truths contained within our smallest gestures.   Hide something so valuable, it would drive a man to crime.  Or find that sometimes, what it doesn’t hide is what endangers us most.

The Table of Contents:

“El Mirador” by Alex J. Kane

“Music of the Spheres” by Ken Liu

“These Delicate Creatures” by Melissa Yuan-Innes

“Below the Bollocks Line” by T D Edge

“The Sun is Real” by George Page

“A Book By Its Cover” by Colleen Anderson

“Of Bone and Steel and Other Soft Materials” by Annie Bellet

“Witness Protection” by Louise Herring-Jones

“Stage Presence, Baby” by E.M. Schadegg

“Gift Horses” by K.E. Abel

“The Cageless Zoo” by Thomas K. Carpenter

“More Real Than Flesh” by Grayson Bray Morris

“The Watcher” by George Walker

Mirror Shards: Volume One can be purchased electronically for $4.99 at Amazon, B&N or Smashwords, or in paperback for $11.99 at Amazon.

Life as a writer, both indie and traditional, is filled with long quiet periods in which we question our commitment to the job.  We have keep our expectations in check and survive on the little things to keep us going.  August, so far, has exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds.  Besides a couple of bestselling short stories, my overall sales have taken a big jump upwards.  I’m also racking up great reviews across all my novels and stories.  I’m thrilled readers are enjoying them and will work hard to make sure every story is the best I can make it.  My readers deserve no less.

Here’s my favorite bit of feedback for my novel Gamers, from Amazon top reviewer Beth Kristen Nehme:

I love young adult dystopia novels. I’ve read several over the last year. To me this book ranks with some of the best including the Hunger Games and The Pretties series. Only the first book in the series has been written so far, so it’s hard to tell if the promise will hold – but I can’t wait for the next book to come out.

Progress on the next book in the series, Frags, is going swimmingly.  I plan on releasing it right around the winter holidays.

But if you can’t wait for that, I have other things brewing for the fall, including a big announcement on Tuesday.  In honor of this impending doom, I offer a slice of Phil Collins.