|
Strange Monsters of the Recent Past
- A blog by the Dodo
Oct 1st - A new and very worthy initiative that has recently come to Albedo One's attention is The Big Smoke Writing Factory which offers creative writing classes and workshops and is based at number 7, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin 2. We know several of the organisers and teachers, including the estimable Claire Hennessy, and they definately mean business. If you're looking to improve your writing skills, The Big Smoke Writing Factory comes highly recommended. Check our their flyer here, and their website here.
Sept 15 - David Conyers, Albedo One’s most recent member to the team and their man in the land Down Under will be a special guest at GenCon [http://www.genconoz.com], Australia, to be held at the Brisbane Convention Centre 18-20 September 2009 in Queensland. While he is there talk about his science fiction writing, he will also discuss his role as a contributing editor and reviewer for Albedo One and will provide details on the Aeon Award, which is open to all speculative fiction writers of all nationalities. David’s science fiction story “Black Water” was short-listed for the 2nd Aeon Award, which ultimately became the catalyst that brought him onto the Albedo One team in the first place.
July 25 - Some of the editors of Albedo One will be attending the upcoming SF Worldcon in Montreal in August of this year. We always value meeting other writers, readers, editors and publishers. Being stuck on an island, we probably don't get enough of this sort of contact. So, if you're going too, make sure to say hi to Bob Neilson, David Murphy, John Kenny or Frank Ludlow. In fact, the organisers of Worldcon have kindly given us a panel to discuss all things Albedo One. Come along and say hello!
Panel Details:
When: Sun 11:00
Location: P-524C
Title: Albedo One
Session ID: 572
July 06 - Round 2 of the 2008 Aeon Award short fiction contest is now closed, and the judges are making their final decisions on the stories to add to those shortlisted after Round 1. Expect the additions to be announced here in the next few days. The contest remains open to entries until the end of November 2009, and lets not forget the Grand Prize of 1000 euro and publication in Albedo One, with 200 and 100 euro prizes and publication for the 2nd and 3rd place stories. The goal of the contest is to promote new writers and writing in the speculative fiction genres. Stories shortlisted for previous Awards have been reprinted in the prestigious Year's Best SF edited by Gardner Dozois, received Honourable Mentions in other venues such as the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and have been translated into other languages for publication in national venues such as Galaxies magazine in France. Click here to enter.
July 03 - A quick round-up of news for all our readers. But where to begin?! Congratulations to Albedo One authors Philip Raines and Harvey Welles, whose story "Alice & Bob" in issue 35 of Albedo One has been given an Honourable Mention in the most recent volume of the prestigious Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois. Congratulations also to Julian West, whose 2004-2005 Aeon Award winning story, "My Marriage" will be translated and published in the highly respected French science fiction magazine Galaxies, edited by Pierre M. Gevart. Albedo One editor Bob Neilson has now taken to the blogosphere, one of his main intentions being to further Albedo One's efforts at translating and promoting European and international work in SF, fantasy and horror into English. See how the project is coming along here.
May 24 - Issue 36 of Albedo One is now at the printers, so subscribers can expect their copy in the post soon. The issue is of course also available to buy in print or low-cost pdf form on this website through PayPal! The issue features an interview with Paul Di Filippo and new fiction from Mike O'Driscoll as well and the Aeon Award 2008 winning story from Colin Henchley. Not to be missed!
Apr 20 - Yes, it's been a while! What can I say? We've been busy completely redesigning the Albedo One website to include RSS Feeds, podcasts, forums and the works! Expect that to go live in the next few months. In the mean time, the 36th issue of Albedo One is almost ready to go, and features the winning story "Twinkle Twinkle" from the Aeon Award 2008, not to mention a host of other stories and an in-depth interview with Paul Di Fillipo. Not to be missed! On other news, the Albedo One team will be at the 2009 Worldcon in Montreal! Be sure to track us down and say hi! We may well have an extra special Worldcon issue of Albedo One for you to enjoy!
Dec 29th - A brief update on the Aeon Award 2008. The judges are still in the process of choosing the top six stories from what is an unprecedented number of shortlisted stories (40 in total, a record for the Aeon Award). So please be patient! We will announce the top six going to Grand Judge Ian Watson for a final decision as soon as the judges have finished their selection. Take some comfort in the fact that it is the high quality of your stories that is causing the judges such difficulties in deciding the six that will go to Ian. Thank you for making their lives difficult! The Aeon Award couldn't survive without you. In the meantime, the fourth International Aeon Award contest, 2009, opens January 1st, and it needs your support to succeed in its goal of promoting writers and writing in the spec fic genres. So get those word processors busy and send us your best! Entry details here.
Nov 20th - Just a short note to thank everyone who has entered and supported the Aeon Award 2008 short fiction contest in the final round. We've had a great response, which gives us the ammunition to increase the profile of the Award, and thereby increase the profile of the shortlisted authors and writing in the speculative genres in general. If you're interested in entering, the contest is open until the end of November - so still some time left! The judge's tastes are extremely broad, so if in doubt, send in that story. Remember, the grand prize is 1000eu and publication in Albedo One. The potential benefits don't stop there, however. Previous stories shortlisted for the Award have been received Honourable Mentions in the prestigious Year's Best Fantasy & Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant and been reprinted in the Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois, not to mention the forthcoming possibility that some of the shortlisters will be translated from English and reprinted in a highly prominent European genre magazine (more news on this soon).
Full entry details can be found here.
Oct 8th - The Aeon Award judges are almost through with deciding the additions to the shortlist after the end of the 3rd round. These should be up later this evening or early tomorrow. Thanks for your patience, and Good luck to all those who entered in the last round! Also, don't forget that the final (current) round of the Aeon Award is now open, and you can submit at any time up to the last day of November 2008. Keep sending those stories and help to make the Award better (and have a chance to win the 1000 euro grand prize and publication in Albedo One)! Full entry details can be found here.
Oct 7th - Albedo One authors have picked up four Honourable Mentions in the Year's Best anthologies for 2008. In Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant's fine volume, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror,
Michael Matthews' "A Trail of Stars Whirling", Andrew McKenna's "Barrellhouse" (from issue 33 available here) and Nicola Caines' "Times Winged Chariot" (from issue 32 available here) were all given Honourable Mentions. Well done to the authors! In Gardner Dozois' prestigious Year's Best Science Fiction, Geoffrey Maloney's story "Blonde on Blonde" was also given an Honourable Mention. Not bad for a small magazine from Ireland!
Oct 6th - We've spotted that Alexander Kruglov's fine cover art, "It Will Never Fly Again" (issue 32 of Albedo One) was nominated for a 2008 British Fantasy Society Award, as was John Hogan's horror tale, "Unnatural" (also issue 32). Though these didn't make the ultimate shortlist, we're happy to see Alexander and John's work being recognised (Alexander's cover was also nominated for a 2007 British Science Fiction Association Award).
July 17th - Just a personal thanks to everyone who submitted their stories during the second round of the Aeon Award 2008 contest. Thank you for your support. Aside from being in with a chance to win one of the three cash prizes and publication in Albedo One, you really are helping promote new writers of speculative fiction and promote the genres you yourself may be making a name in! As evidence of this we need point no further than the three Honourable Mentions given to stories shortlisted for the Aeon Award 2004-2005 in the prestigious Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and the reprinting of one shortlisted story, David Levine's "I Hold My Father's Paws" in Gardner Dozois seminal Year's Best SF. So please keep submitting and help us show those unconvinced of the merits of speculative fiction what they're missing out on!
July 16th - It has been some time since I last blogged here, as no doubt you'll have noticed. Well, cut an extinct bird some slack, eh?! The team at Albedo One has been very busy indeed, behind the scenes. A complete and total revamp of our website is under construction, with heaps of new content, including RSS feeds, podcast versions of our stories, online-only reviews and stories and even a forum to air your views on all things Albedo. Keep an eye on this space early in 2009. Before then, you can of course expect a new issue of Albedo One to appear, the 35th, featuring the very best of fiction and non-fiction we can get our hands on. Due out late summer! As always, we listen to our readers, so keep sending in those comments! Feedback is the only way we can improve. Emails to fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk as normal!
Feb 26th - Some good news to report! Albedo One author Will McIntosh, whose story Friction appeared in issue 30 and won the "Best In Issue Award" has appeared in a recent podcast on the excellent escapepod.org and can be downloaded or listened to free on the website. Well worth listening to! On other news, Mark Watson has posted a review of issue 33 of Albedo One on Best SF. The review contains some interesting comments, which we'll be taking on board in the coming months, particularly with a long-overdue redesign of our website. You can read the review here and see what you think! Finally, we spotted that our cover from issue 32, by Alexander Kruglov, was nominated in the Best Artwork category of the BSFA Awards (2007). Though the cover wasn't shortlisted, we're happy that Alexander's work was recognised in this way, and we hope to bring you more cover art from him in the future.
Feb 12th - Issue 34 of Albedo One is almost ready to go. We're in the final proofing stages, and expect to see the issue in print by the end of February! As you know this issue features all top three shortlisted stories from the Aeon Award 2006-2007 contest, including Nina Allan's winning story, "Angelus". Juliet E. McKenna and Andrew McKenna return with more erudite book reviews, and we have an interview with Raymond E. Feist to boot! Not an issue to be missed! On other news, the Aeon Award 2008 roles on, and thanks to all who have entered so far, it's been a pleasure reading your work. We look forward to announcing those stories making it to the shortlist after the first round ends on March 31st! Get those stories entered and you could be €1000 richer!
Jan 5th - Just a quick thank you to all the sites and newsletters that have posted news of the Aeon Award 2008 short fiction contest in the past days. We appreciate your support, and thanks to everyone who has entered already, your stories are on the way to the judges. Remember, the contest is open until 30th November 2008, with a grand prize of €1000 and publication in Albedo One, so start sending in those stories! Full entry details here. Also worth your interest is a new once-off contest being run by Ralan of the excellent ralan.com market resource site. The contest is open to submissions of flash fiction of less than 1000 words, with a prize of $50 and publication. Anything that supports ralan.com, which is truly the place to go for up to date market information is well worth your time. Check it out here! Deadline is 29th of February.
***SPECIAL OFFER*** Due to the success of our last special offer, and as a token of our appreciation for your support, we've decided to spice things up and provide a new incentive. For a limited time, all new subscribers and renewals will be treated to a choice of three of our electronic pdf issues completely free. Currently, we have issues 25-33 available for download to your computers or PDAs. Just email us your choices and we'll send out the passwords! To subscribe online or renew with Albedo One and be entitled to your free pdfs of our fine back-catalogue, go here. If you need help making your choice of which issues to download, go here. To download your three free issues, go here. To email us your choices, use this address!
|
