|
Strange Monsters of the Recent Past
- A blog by the Dodo
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.
Dec 24 - Considering the news below, what better time than now to more officially announce details of the next Aeon Award Short Fiction Contest? The contest opens to writers of all nationalities, for stories of all speculative genres, on January 1st, 2008, and runs until the end of November 2008 in four rounds. The grand prize is once more, 1000 euro, with second and third place prizes of 200 and 100 euro. All of the top three stories will be published in Albedo One to boot. So, entering the contest is certainly something worth considering. With three Honourable Mentions in the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and with David Levine's story chosen for the 2007 Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois, getting your name in the Aeon Award shortlist will certainly get you noticed! Full rules and guidelines can be found here. And the entry fee is a paltry 7 euro!
Dec 23 - Happy holidays to one and all from Albedo One, Aeon Press and the Aeon Award. We've some good news - three of the top six shortlisted stories for the Aeon Award 2004-2005 have been given Honourable Mentions in Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant's Year's Best Fantasy ^ Horror 20. The stories were Julian West's "My Marriage", David Levine's "I Hold My Father's Paws" and Dev Agarwal's "Queen of Engines". Fine stories all. Congratulations to the authors, and a big thanks to the editors of the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror for supporting Albedo One.
Dec 07 - ***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!
Dec 04 - Thanks to all who have supported Albedo One by buying back issues from the website. Online sales have been a great success, so much so that a number of our back issues are on the verge of going out of print! In particularly short supply are issues 21, 22, 23, 29, and 31. So get over to our online store here now, if you want those issues! On the plus side, we're in the process of making a far more extensive selection of our back issues available for download as low-cost pdf versions. Watch this space!
Dec 1 - Well, it's been a while since we last blogged. WHat have we been up to since then? Well, the next issue of Albedo One is already in hand and is in the layout stages - expect that very early next year, featuring the winning story from the 2006-2007 Aeon Award, alongside the others on the top three. Expect an in-depth interview with New York Times Bestselling author Raymond E. Feist. Also expect more of our popular book review collumns from Juliet E. McKenna and Andrew McKenna. On other news, we've finalised the entry rules and details for the Aeon Award 2008, which is going to launch on January 1st! Keep an eye out here, we'll be posting the rules shortly. This time, as well as the 1000 euro top prize and publication in Albedo One of the top three stories, we'll be providing cash prizes for 2nd and 3rd places, of 200eu and 100eu respectively. We thank Yellow Brick Road for sponsoring the 3rd place prize.
Nov 20 - If you happen to be traveling to attend the fine Beneluxcon 2007 in Leuven, Belgium, November 23 - 25, be sure to say hello to Albedo One editors and authors Bob Neilson and David Murphy. They'll both be sharing their expertise, performing on panels and other convention items for your interest and entertainment. You'll also be able to get your hands on some Albedo One & Aeon Press merchandise directly at the Con. Things look set for a fun time indeed! We'd also like to thank Culture Ireland for supporting David's trip to read and perform at the Con. It's great to see some support being directed to promoting genre writing in Ireland and showing what we can do to our European neighbours.
Oct 12 - Nice to see writers of SF & fantasy get some of the credit they deserve. Doris Lessing, respected author whose works often include fantastical or strong science fictional elements, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 88 (also making her the oldest recipient of the Award). For more details, see the article here available on the very excellent SFScope.com.
Sept 21 - Some good news to report. At long last, Irish Science Fiction has a new national body to represent the many activities of fans, artists, writers and others. This takes the form on the New Irish Science Fiction Association (NISFA), whose website can be found here. Well worth checking out, and we here at Albedo One wish the organisation the best of luck and sucess. On other news, the website for the Phoenix Convetion has been given a permanent and redesigned home, which can be found here. Another site well worth investigating! Finally, keep an eye out here in the coming days for the winner of the Aeon Award 2006-2007 contest, which we'll be first announcing at the European Science Fiction Convention, Copenhagan, Denmark this September.
July 20 - At long last, the new additions to the Aeon Award 2006-2007 shortlist are ready to be announced. Apologies for the delay, but it took the judges some time to read through the final flurry of submissions accompanying the last round's deadline. The high quality of stories received didn't make their work in picking the new shortlisters any easier! Thank you ALL who entered. We truly appreciate your support, whether your story was shortlisted or not. The Award simply couldn't exist without you. And hopefully it will continue to fulfill its role of promoting new writers long into the future. We'd also like to thank everyone who supported the Award in the form of publicity. Again, your help was crucial in informing writers of the Award's existence and making it the success it has been this year. Thank you! In the next couple of weeks, the judges will be debating long into the night and whittling the shortlist down to the top six, which will then be sent on to Grand Judge Ian Watson for the final consideration. The winning story will be announced at the upcoming European SF Convention in Copenhagen, and the winner will receive the 1000 euro prize. The top three stories will also appear in a future issue of Albedo One. Watch this space for more news!
July 19 - Some great news for all those interested in Irish speculative fiction of all its varieties. Some of the best work of well-known Irish author, Robert Neilson (also an editor with Albedo One and Aeon Press) can now be found collected in one convenient volume by the excellent Elastic Press. The collection features fourteen strange and inventive stories dealing with the concept of "entertainment" in all its wonderful forms. Described by Anne McCaffrey as a great new talent in storytelling, Neilson's explorations are at times tragic, at times hilarious, and certainly always unique in style. Well worth a look! The book is titled That's Entertainment.
July 3 - Before we announce the final additions to the Aeon Award shortlist, an announcement concerning a very worthy cause coming to us from Dee Rimbaud, responsible for the excellent AA Independent Press Guide. Please take the time to go and have a look at The Book Of Hopes And Dreams, a charity poetry anthology, featuring some of the best poets writing today. The royalties go to Spirit Aid 's medical aid operations in the Baglan province of Afghanistan, which has been particularly badly hit after over 25 years of invasions and civil wars. For more information, you can download the flyer here.
Apr 23 - No doubt you will have spotted that the new (3rd round) additions to the Aeon Award shortlist have been announced to the left. Again, congratulations to the selected authors (you'll all be contacted individually in the coming days). It's worth also saying a big thank you to everyone who has submitted, right from the beginning of round one, whether you have been selected this time or not. It may be small comfort but the judges reported great difficulty in making their choices, commenting on the overall quality of the stories. Your support is appreciated. Without the writers, the Award couldn't exist. Remember that the Award is now in its last round, and runs until the end of June 2007, so get those stories entered. €1000 is not a prize to be sniffed at!
Apr 18 - You will no doubt be wondering when we are going to announce the new additions to the shortlist for the 3rd round of the Aeon Award. Well, we apologize it's taken so long. Making our way through the deluge of submissions has taken some time, but it's been great work. Thank you all for sending in such wonderful stories, whether or not yours makes the list. We're almost ready to announce it. This time it looks like there'll be around six new additions! And don't forget, the final round is now open, and runs until the end of June. Go on, send us your work, and you could have your name on the €1000 prize cheque! See here for full entry details!
Apr 1 - Some collected news. Of course, this day marks the end of the 3rd round of the Aeon Award, and the opening of the 4th and final round, which will run until the end of June. We'll have the 3rd round shortlist up shortly! Some of you will have noticed that the Albedo One site was down for a short period a couple of days ago. This was because our bandwidth limit had been exceeded by the number of visitors to the site here, something we could scarcely have expected!!! But fear not, we have now upgraded, so keep coming back! Don't forget to check out the new issue (#32) and our expanded selection of electronic .pdf issues for download at a cut down price. Finally, for those interested, we have discovered that the
second issue of The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies was launched on 17th March, 2007. This is an academic journal dealing with all things gothic, in written, cinemagraphic, multimedia and TV formats. Worth a look. Mar 13 - Today we have a guest Dodo on the blog. Take it away: From the Bar - a Dodo's Eye View of the Phoenix Convention, Dublin, March 07. Disappointed that there were no Phoenixs present, so sex was off the agenda. Ah well, such is life for an extinct bird. Anyway, I went along on Friday night - the night before the con - and the bar was packed with SF faces including most of the guests. Drank very little, as usual, and spoke eloquently of the problems of the world and SF and small magazines (and extinct birds) in particular. I'm sure I impressed everyone who spoke to me with my loquacity and sagacity. Crawled home in the wee small hours and got to bed very late. Saturday was good, although the Scotland-Ireland rugby match pretty much spoilt my lunch. Glad the Jocks aren't allowed wear kilts into battle (or onto the pitch) any more. Imagine what one might have to face in the scrum. Speaking of Jocks, attended a couple of panels featuring Ken McLeod. Nice bloke. Pity he doesn't speak much English. And speaking of panels, most of them seemed to consist of Charlie Stross and some other poor buggers trying to get a word in edgewise. Unfortunately he knew more about everything than anybody. On Saturday night many of us went for dinner is some restaurant that used to be a church. Big prices, small portions, but the company was good. Then we retired to the bar until late. Seems to be a recurring theme here. Sunday is always relaxed. Went to see some readings by famous authors and John W Sexton. The readings were kicked off by the estimable and Albedo-bound Juliet McKenna, with an action packed extract from her latest novel. This was followed by John W. If you've been to one of his readings you'll know what we got. If you haven't, it beggars description. Suffice to say that he puts on quite a show. When he finished Juliet turned to Ken McLeod and said simply, "Follow that." Note to self - if asked to read make sure it is before John W. Alternatively, fake a heart attack. As the con wound down, Albedo One folded its tents and repaired to the bar. Then the damn lightweights went home early. Attempted to drink to extinction. Failed miserably. Wrote this.
Feb 19 - The AEON AWARD 2006-2007 remains open to submissions. Grand prize is €1000 and guaranteed publication in Albedo One for the top three stories as chosen by renowned SF and fantasy author Ian Watson. The winner will be announced at the upcoming, high profile European Science Fiction Convention in Copenhagen in September 2007. The contest is open until the end of June 2007 and the entry fee is a paltry €5, which can be paid here securely and easily with credit/debit card through PayPal. We've said it before and we'll say it again, the Award is designed to promote new writers by raising their profile and giving them a nice cash prize. At this we do our very best, but we need the support of writers to keep on improving the Award! And we're delighted by the support we've received so far, with thirteen stories on the shortlist. And there's plenty of room left! Stories making it to the shortlist at the end of the third round (of four) will be announced here at the end of March, so keep an eye out, your name could be on the list!
Feb 6 - For all those interested, here are some details about the upcoming, excellent Phoenix Convention, to be held in Dublin in Wynn's Hotel, Abbey Street, from 10-11 March, 2007. This is the P-Con's fourth year, and we're glad to see the con is going strong! Guest of honour this year is Kim Newman, an excellent writer of horror and dark fantasy, whom most of you may be familiar with already, and winner of the prestigious 2006 Bram Stoker Award. With some modesty, we can tell you that the editorial team of Albedo One will also be there, so it's a chance for you to come and give us a piece of your mind for rejecting your stories! The P-Con this year will have a wide selection of panels, discussions and activities, ranging from the serious to the fun. So come along! More details can be found here.
Feb 1 - Some news on the Aeon Award 2006-2007. It has been decided that the winning story will be announced during the prestigious European Science Fiction Convention, in Copenhagen in September of 2007. Remember that our €1000 short story contest is still open to submissions until the end of June 2007. Stories entered in this round (Jan 1 - March 31) will be announced here and added to the shortlist at the beginning of April. Thirteen stories have already been listed. Yours could be one of those in a few months time! Once the contest closes, we will pick the top six stories and send them to respected SF author Ian Watson for the final verdict. The top three will have guaranteed publication in Abledo One, and the winner will receive the €1000 euro prize. We're counting on you for the success of the Award. Please do consider sending in a submission, full details can be found here and the reading fee is a paltry €5, which may be paid at the above link by credit card through paypal.
Jan 3 - At last, after numerous requests, we have gotten round to putting up more of our past issues as low cost pdfs for download from the site. You can find them all here. Originally only issues 28 & 29 were available, but we've now put up a complete run from issue 25 to 31. There couldn't be a better, or more affordable way, of supporting the magazine and getting yourself a flavour of what we publish, for readers and writers alike! Hopefully, in time, we'll be able to make all our back-issues available for download, including those that are out of print in paper. One last thing, as you may know, issue 32 has been delayed by protracted problems at the printers, but the master electronic file has been ready for some time. So, we've made this available ahead of time, for download at a reduced price. Enjoy!!!
Jan 2 - Some great news to ring in the new year for Albedo and our readers. David Levine's Aeon Award 2004-2005 shortlisted story (first published in Albedo One issue 31, available here) has been chosen for reprinting in the forthcoming 24th volume of the prestigious Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois. Congratulations to David! You can check out David's site here. As you may also know, another of his stories, "Tk'Tk'Tk", has recently won a Hugo Award. Long may his success continue!
Dec 31 - Just a couple of quick, but nonetheless very important announcements before the new year rings in! We're truly delighted to welcome Juliet E. McKenna to our reviews team at Albedo One. Most of our reader's will of course be familiar with Juliet, who is a well known and respected author of fantasy, and has reviewed extensively for such esteemed venues as Emerald City. Indeed, she may be nearly as well known for her distinctive reviews as she is for her fine novels, and we're excited to have her join the team here! You can check out Juliet's homepage and blog here. It's well worth a look. This bring to two the number of new dedicated reviewers we've brought on board to revitalise Albedo's reviews department. You'll be able to see Andrew McKenna's (no relation to Juliet!) first collumn in issue 32 (forthcoming - sadly delayed at the printers) and Juliet's from issue 33. We're hoping to make these collumns available online here as well! Thanks for all your comments so far, and we hope you'll like the changes.
The last part of this blog concerns the Aeon Award. As you all know, the deadline for this round is today, the 31st of December. We'll accept entries right down to the wire, and anything in before midnight will be considered for this round. We'll be announcing the new stories that have made the shortlist a couple of days into the new year. The best of luck with your entries, and thank you once more for your support! Anything else ... well, if you happen to miss this round's deadline, the next round opens straight away, so feel free to enter. We also have reports that some of the emails sent out to the last round's shortlisted authors may not have made it through. We'll be rectifying that this round, and everyone on the list will be given a confirmation email. Again, the best of luck, and happy new year!!!
Nov 6 - We're delighted to announce that Albedo One is set to become a fully paying market for the fiction published in its pages. Of course, we'd love to be able to pay the world to the authors whom we publish, but we hope that changing over from a single payment of €100 to the story voted best-in-issue, to a payment for all stories should make people happy and go some way towards rewarding our authors more evenly! The change over is due to start with issue 33 (issue 32 has hit the printers as of last week) and is currently set to run at €3 per 1000 words. In time, we hope to be able to improve that rate further! Questions and comments welcome as always!
Nov 1 - Some good news to announce for all you interested readers! We're delighted to say that both Geoffrey Warburton and D. J. Cockburn received Honourable Mentions for their stories 'Campion and the Demon Boy' and 'Summer Holidays' in Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant's important Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, featuring the very best horror and fantasy fiction of 2005. Congratulations to Geoffrey and D. J.! Both stories were first published in Albedo One issues 30 & 29 which are available for purchase here on this very site.
Oct 16 - One last story to add to the shortlist from the last round. It is 'Angelus'. Congratulations to the author! Remember, there is no limit to how many times you can enter, or how many stories you can have on the shortlist! We'll be sending out confirmation emails to all the shortlisted authors in the next couple of days. For those of you who didn't manage to get onto the shortlist this time, our thanks for supporting the Award, and don't forget it's still open to submissions until the end of June 2007, with the next announcement of stories that have earned a place on the shortlist at the end of December '06. Good luck!
Oct 14 - The Aeon Award: just a couple of quick announcements - the second round is open now to submissions and we're looking forward to reading more of your work. With the standard so high, it's a joy to read them, and the only chore is trying to whittle down the stories to those we choose for the shortlist. But there's plenty more room on the shortlist yet, and this round runs until the end of December, so keep trying, it could pay off! Also, there may be one or two further additions to the shortlist from the last round, so keep an eye on this page in the next couple of days! The best of luck with your entries!
Oct 12 - Some sad news to relate, which many in the Irish SF community will already have heard. Dave Stewart, long-time Irish SF fan and the organiser of many fine events, has passed away after a battle with cancer. Our condolences to all who knew him.
Oct 10 - Halloween, 2006, sees the launch of "The Irish Journal of Horror and Gothic Studies". This is an interdisciplinary, FREE, electronic journal. The web site can be found here, and is the only journal of its kind in Ireland, it will be paying particular attention to Irish texts and themes in the first issue (and succeeding editions) but it will by no means be confined to local subjects. Literature, film television, video games and comic books (I'm sure they mean "Graphic Novels" (ed.)) from all over the world will also be discussed. It is the aim of the journal's editors to combine academic credibility and critical excellence with genuine enthusiasm for the subjects featured. Contributors to the first issue include noted genre critic and author, Kim Newman, who will be discussing Irish-themed horror films (including dubious gems such as "The Leprechaun" and "Dementia 13"); Darryl Jones(TCD), author of "Horror: A Thematic History"; David J. Skal, author of "The Monster Show" and "Hollywood Gothic", who will be contributing a book review; and folklorist Patricia Lysaght (UCD) who will be writing on the history of Halloween. Frequent "Sight and Sound" contributor, John Exshaw, will also be reviewing a wide range of gothic and horror themed texts in the New Media, Film, Television, and Literature review sections.
The Albedo One team wishes this new venture well and looks forward to reading the first and, hopefully, many subsequent issues. Good luck to the editors, Bernice Murphy and Elizabeth McCarthy.
Oct 8 - For those of you interested in Irish SF events, we're delighted to announce that Albedo One editor David Murphy will be attending this year's Octocon, the national Irish SF convention, as a guest. If you're there too, feel free to say hello! The convention runs from 14-15th of October. See their site for more details.
Sept 30 - For those of you waiting to see if you have managed to secure a place on the first round of the Aeon Award shortlist, we are nearly ready to announce it! It's taken a while due to the flurry of entries we've had just prior to the deadline, and also due to the impending new issue of Albedo One. Our apologies for the delay! Thank you for your patience, and most of all for supporting the Award, because without authors willing to submit their work, it could of course, not even exist!
July 22 - Entries for the Aeon Award 2006-2007 have now begun to land upon our doorsteps, both virtual and physical. Thank you everyone for your support, and we hope it will continue. One question that has been asked on a couple of occasions is whether the entrants must be Irish.This is NOT the case at all! The Award is open to writers of all nationalities, and we hope to make the Award as international an event as possible. The only constraint is the the language must be English. Keep 'em coming. Plenty of room on the shortlist yet!
July 15 - Nearly a year after its launch, the debate over Emerald Eye continues. You can see the most recent post here in the discussion forums of Tangent Online. If you are interested at all in the art of reviewing or on people's notions of what traditional and modern irish fantasy constitutes, then you'll be interested in this. There have been almost 90 posts by now in response to the original review, and over 10,000 viewings of the discussion, which is an unprecedented number for Tangent Online in recent years.
July 10 - Just a quick note to say that David Levine's story, "I Hold My Father's Paws" which was shortlisted for the first Aeon Award has been reprinted on Infinity Plus, which is one of the most important sources for online reprint fiction. The story originally appeared in issue 31 of Albedo One. The new edition can be found here. Enjoy!
July 8 - A new issue of Albedo One is soon looking likely to rear its interesting head. This will be issue 32. Not a bad run for a spec fic semiprozine even if I do say so myself. You can look forward to two interviews with high profile authors, some of the finest fiction we can get our hands on, including one truly evocative horror tale that still creeps me out at night. And having been in the business for a long time now, that doesn't happen very often at all. Also, remember that issue 31 featured ALL of the top six stories shortlisted for the Aeon Award 2004-2005, including the winning story, which won the €1000 grand prize. But the story voted best in issue by readers will win €100. The voting is excruciatingly close at the moment, and has been something of a surprise to us! Cast your vote, and better yet, tell us why chose what you chose! Email dmbc@gofree.indigo.ie with your decisions.
June 29 - A quick update on Dee Rimbaud, compiler of the long running and very useful AA Independent Press Guide. Dee is currently offering a number of her interesting artworks for sale on her website, however, this is soon to be rehosted at another address. So, you should instead visit this site. Worth a look, and it's for a good cause. Also keep an eye on Ralan of www.ralan.com fame, who's yearly fiction contest opens for entries during August. Again, this one of the main sources of funding for ralan.com and it really IS an indispensable market resource for writers. Support it!
June 16 - Full rules and guidelines for the €1000 Aeon Award 2006-2007 have now been posted here on the Albedo One website. Payment of the €5 entry fee may now also be made quickly and securely here with credit card via PayPal by following the payment button at the bottom of the page. Already we have had a good number of entries, so it's time to start dusting off those typewriters!
June 13 - Don't forget to vote for your favourite story in issue 31 of Albedo One! This issue features some excellent fiction, including all of the top six shortlisted stories from the first Aeon Award, 2005. Voting is extremely close at the moment. Remember that the story voted top by our readers will receive the €100 Best in Issue prize, so make your opinion felt. Email your vote, and any other comments you may have to dmbc@gofree.indigo.ie
June 15 - While Albedo One has no direct involvement in Beneluxcon 2007, one of our editors is a co-organisor, and we are very happy to give some publicity to one of the Continent’s main international SF events.
The Future is Now: Leuven, Belgium
November 23 – 25, 2007
Guests of Honour: Christopher Priest and Richard Calder
June 10 - Ralan.com, one of the most indispensable and excellent guides to markets in the world of speculative fiction has announced that the 2006 Grabber Contest will be open to submissions as of August 1st. Full rules can be found here. The annual contest is one of Ralan.com's main fundraising events. It takes a hell of a lot of time and effort to compile and maintain such a large and up to date database of market news and information, and the site absolutely deserves your support. Check it out!
June 06 - Dee Rimbaud, author and compiler of the excellent AA Independent Press Guide is offering many of her unusual and creative original artworks for sale. Some would certainly make good covers for SF or fantasy/horror magazines, and they can be viewed here at Dee's website. Have a look, it's for a good cause!
May 31 - As of today, we are launching the Aeon Award 2006 for short fiction, with a grand prize of €1000! This currently comes in at a little under $1300! Publication is guaranteed for the top three shortlisted stories in Albedo One. All of which will also be eligible for the €100 euro best in issue prize as voted upon by the readers of Albedo.
Full rules and guidelines will be online here soon, but for now, here are some details to get you going:
The entry fee has been set at €5 or dollar/sterling equivalent, and you can pay via paypal on this very site. For alternative payment options, including credit card & cheque, contact bobn@yellowbrickroad.ie
Fiction submissions may be made by email to fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk (with Aeon Award in the title) or hard copy to Aeon Award, 8 Bachelor's Walk, Dublin 1, Republic of Ireland.
Once more, renowned SF author Ian Watson has kindly agreed to act as grand judge. There is no minimum word limit on stories, and a maximum of 8000 words applies. Submissions may be in any spec fic genre, including SF, Fantasy, Horror, or anything in between or unclassifiable! The judges are very flexible in this regard, so give it a shot. Also, submissions may be made from any nationality. Of the top six shortlisted stories last year, four were from different nationalities!
All queries may be addressed to bobn@yellowbrickroad.ie or fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk. The very best of luck, and we look forward to reading your stories!
May 15 - We always aim to give interested readers here a free taste of some of the contents, both fiction and non-fiction, featured in the pages of Albedo. To access some of our favourite stories and interviews, you can follow the link to "online content" at the top of this page. Occasionally, we also throw in something completely new, and here you can access a guide by veteran author and editor of Albedo, David Murphy, on the travails and strains of dealing with today's increasingly robotic and headless bookshops and chain-stores. A must-read for the small publisher or any author tempted to have a go at marketing of their own works.
May 7 - A new review of Albedo One # 30 by Pauline Morgan has appeared on the prominent SF Crowsnest website, always a good place to look to for news, reviews and comment on current items and events in the specfic world. The review has some interesting comments, and, as always, we'd be delighted to hear some feedback from our readers! Emails may be sent to bobn@yellowbrickroad.ie, or to fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk
May 2 - A number of items for the interested reader! Albedo One author Sam Millar (who hails from Northern Ireland) has just had a new novel published by Brandon, entitled The Darkness of Bones. Millar is the author of the best selling On the Brinks and you can find his story, 'The Barber' in our Aeon Press collection, Emerald Eye. This latest novel is quite a dark crime thriller, and you can be sure to see it being reviewed in a forthcoming issue of Albedo. Also just out is a collection of very distinctive comic strips (and one excellent and poignant short story) from Irish artists Sean Mac Roibin and John Robbins, both of whom have been known to brighten the pages of Albedo from time to time. The name of the collection is Negotiating the Beast. It's certainly worth a look (and is published by Downright Bockedy). For our full judgment however, you must wait for the next issue of Albedo!
|
