Just when I thought life couldn't get any stranger, MacMillan starts releasing my books as iPhone apps!  This is very cool.  Since they apparently don't have the licensing rights to sell the app into Canada, I can't confirm its presence in the iTunes Store; however, you can find my latest Virga novel, The Sunless Countries, at appshopper.com.

Not only that, but The Year's Best Science Fiction: 26th Annual Collection is also available; it contains my popular Virga story, The Hero.  

And here's what they'll look like in your iPod or iPhone:

I published three short stories last year in addition to my novel Pirate Sun and the novella "To Hie from Far Cilenia."  You can find one of those stories, "The Hero," in The Year's Best Science Fiction, 26th Annual Edition, edited by Gardner Dozois.  I'm the company of Paolo Bacigalupi, Stephen Baxter, Elizabeth Bear, Aliete de Bodard, James L. Cambias, Greg Egan, Charles Coleman Finlay, James Alan Gardner, Dominic Green, Daryl Gregory, Gwyneth Jones, Ted Kosmatka, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Paul McAuley, Ian McDonald, Maureen McHugh, Sarah Monette, Garth Nix, Hannu Rajaniemi, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Mary Rosenblum, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Geoff Ryman, Gord Sellar, and Michael Swanwick.  "The Hero" was originally published in Eclipse Two, edited by Jonathon Strahan.

As if that wasn't enough, the story "Mitigation," which I wrote with Tobias Buckell, has been published in The Year's Best SF 14, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.  Our company in this volume includes Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Alastair Reynolds again and, naturally, Michael Swanwick.  "Mitigation" first appeared in Fast Forward Two, edited by Lou Anders.

Since "To Hie from Far Cilenia" is up for a Hugo award as part of the METAtropolis audiobook project, I'd say 2008 was a pretty good year.

Thanks to Davide Mana, the Alia project in Italy has translated my short story "Halo" for the ALIA project of L'ARCIPELAGO DEL FANTASTICO.  ALIA is an anthology in several volumes, and in several languages.

I'm honored to part of this collection, and hope it's very successful for Davide and his team.

Here's the complete nomination results--and congratulations to all my friends who were nominated in other categories!  The awards will be handed out at Anticipation in Montreal, which happens August 6-10, 2009.

 Nominated works

Best Novel
(639 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Morrow; Atlantic UK)
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen; HarperVoyager UK) — Free download
• Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
• Zoe’s Tale by John Scalzi (Tor)

Best Novella
(337 Ballots / Bulletins)

• “The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
• “The Political Prisoner” by Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF Aug 2008) – Read Online
• “The Tear” by Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
• “True Names” by Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2) — Free download
• “Truth” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette
(373 Ballots / Bulletins)

• “Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s Jan 2008) — Read Online
• “The Gambler” by Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2) — Read Online
• “Pride and Prometheus” by John Kessel (F&SF Jan 2008)
• “The Ray-Gun: A Love Story” by James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s Feb 2008) — Read Online
• “Shoggoths in Bloom” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s Mar 2008) — Read Online

Best Short Story
(448 Ballots / Bulletins)

• “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s Jul 2008) — Read Online
• “Article of Faith” by Mike Resnick (Baen’s Universe Oct 2008)
• “Evil Robot Monkey” by Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
• “From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s Feb 2008)

Best Related Book
(263 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
• Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art by Cathy & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
• The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold by Lillian Stewart Carl & John Helfers, eds. (Baen)
• What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Beccon Publications)
• Your Hate Mail Will be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story
(212 Ballots / Bulletins)

• The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle Written by Jim Butcher, art by Ardian Syaf (Del Rey/Dabel Brothers Publishing)
• Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
• Fables: War and Pieces Written by Bill Willingham, pencilled by Mark Buckingham, art by Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, color by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein (DC/Vertigo Comics)
• Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic Story and art by Howard Tayler (The Tayler Corporation)
• Serenity: Better Days Written by Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews, art by Will Conrad, color by Michelle Madsen, cover by Jo Chen (Dark Horse Comics)
• Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores Written/created by Brian K. Vaughan, pencilled/created by Pia Guerra, inked by Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC/Vertigo Comics)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
(436 Ballots / Bulletins)

• The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer, story; Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, screenplay; based on characters created by Bob Kane; Christopher Nolan, director (Warner Brothers)
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army Guillermo del Toro & Mike Mignola, story; Guillermo del Toro, screenplay; based on the comic by Mike Mignola; Guillermo del Toro, director (Dark Horse, Universal)
• Iron Man Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway, screenplay; based on characters created by Stan Lee & Don Heck & Larry Lieber & Jack Kirby; Jon Favreau, director (Paramount, Marvel Studios)
• METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc)
• WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
(336 Ballots / Bulletins)

• “The Constant” (Lost) Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof, writers; Jack Bender, director (Bad Robot, ABC studios)
• Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen , writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
• “Revelations” (Battlestar Galactica) Bradley Thompson & David Weddle, writers; Michael Rymer, director (NBC Universal)
• “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” (Doctor Who) Steven Moffat, writer; Euros Lyn, director (BBC Wales)
• “Turn Left” (Doctor Who) Russell T. Davies, writer; Graeme Harper, director (BBC Wales)

Best Editor, Short Form
(377 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Ellen Datlow
• Stanley Schmidt
• Jonathan Strahan
• Gordon Van Gelder
• Sheila Williams

Best Editor, Long Form
(273 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Lou Anders
• Ginjer Buchanan
• David G. Hartwell
• Beth Meacham
• Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Best Professional Artist
(334 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Daniel Dos Santos
• Bob Eggleton
• Donato Giancola
• John Picacio
• Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine
(283 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Clarkesworld Magazine edited by Neil Clarke, Nick Mamatas & Sean Wallace
• Interzone edited by Andy Cox
• Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
• The New York Review of Science Fiction edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kris Dikeman, David G. Hartwell, & Kevin J. Maroney
• Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fanzine
(257 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
• Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
• Challenger edited by Guy H. Lillian III
• The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
• Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
• File 770 edited by Mike Glyer

Best Fan Writer
(291 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Chris Garcia
• John Hertz
• Dave Langford
• Cheryl Morgan
• Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist
(187 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Alan F. Beck
• Brad W. Foster
• Sue Mason
• Taral Wayne
• Frank Wu

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
(288 Ballots / Bulletins)

• Aliette de Bodard*
• David Anthony Durham*
• Felix Gilman
• Tony Pi*
• Gord Sellar*

*(Second year of eligibility)

David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer have chose the short story Toby Buckell and I wrote last spring, "Mitigation," to be in their annual Year's Best collection.  For me, this is a chance to shine with one of my favourite authors of SF's new generation.  It's also flattering that, of three short stories I wrote last year, two of them have chosen as Year's Best entries (the other being "The Hero" which Gardner Dozois has picked up for his collection).

Writing this story was a blast.  Toby came up from Ohio and crashed on my couch for a weekend, and I wrote at the desktop while he had his laptop open on said couch.  We played literary hopscotch, with him writing one scene while I wrote another that preceded or followed it.  Coffee, lots of laughs, and blasting electronica from my stereo (most Delerium, which I often use while writing) completed the scene.

Thanks to David and Kathryn for choosing this story for their anthology.  And special thanks are due to Lou Anders for believing in Toby's and my vision, and accepting "Mitigation" for Fast Forward 2 in the first place.

Here's the official word:

The judges of the 2008 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia SF Society, along with the Philip K. Dick Trust, are pleased to announce six nominated works that comprise the final ballot for the award:

• EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro (Eos Books)
  

•  ENDGAME by Kristine Smith (Eos Books)

• FAST FORWARD 2 edited by Lou Anders (Pyr)
  
• JUDGE by Karen Traviss (Eos Books)
  
• TERMINAL MIND by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press)
  
• TIME MACHINES REPAIRED WHILE-U-WAIT by K. A. Bedford (EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing)

First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 10, 2009 at Norwescon 32 at the Doubletree Seattle Airport Hotel, SeaTac, Washington.

Gardner Dozois has posted the table of contents for his 26th Annual Year's Best SF collection.  He's selected my short story "The Hero" as one of the featured stories, which puts me in fine company indeed. 

"The Hero" is the first short story I've set in the world of Virga (setting for my last three novels) and it's a pretty intense little romp through some of the stranger places in that world.  It was published originally in Eclipse Two, edited by Jonathon Strahan; in fact, it leads off that collection.  "The Hero" is peripherally connected to the grander plot of the novels, but as with the books themselves, it's also a stand-alone piece that doesn't require familiarity with the rest of the series.

Needless to say I'm thrilled--enough so that I've started on a couple more Virga short stories.

The review talks about all the pieces in the anthology, and reinforces the widely held impression that this has been a very good year for science fiction short stories.  When it comes to the story "Mitigation" written by Tobias Buckell and myself, Futurismic has this to say:

“Mitigation” by the potent double-act of Karl Schroeder and former Futurismic staffer Tobias Buckell takes the best of both writers. Buckell’s instinct for fast-moving action drives the plot, while Schroeder’s concern with (and deep knowledge of) the impending ecological crisis provides the set and setting for a classic double-bluff. It’s a good balance; the bleakness of the impending future is mitigated by the snappy pace, so you take on board the underlying message without being drowned in it.

There's a lot more in this rich and detailed review, so head on over to Futurismic and check it out. 

You can try out Metatropolis, the shared world anthology from Audible.com, before buying.  There's a sample from my own story, "To Hie from Far Cilenia", or if you want you can listen to Jay Lake's excellent story, "In the Forests of the Night" in its entirety.  

Audible and I have been collaborating on other projects as well.  In fact, you can now download the first three Virga books, unabridged, in audiobook format from Audible.  I've been having a rollicking good time listening to them myself--it's quite an experience when your own words come back to you through someone else's voice! 

I'm actually engaged in writing several stories set in my world of Virga (the setting for Sun of Suns, Queen of Candesce, and the forthcoming Pirate Sun).  "The Hero" is the first--thanks to Jonathon Strahan for choosing it for Eclipse 2!

I'm in pretty amazing company with this anthology; here's the lineup:

The Hero, Karl Schroeder
Turing’s Apples, Stephen Baxter
Invisible Empire of Ascending Light, Ken Scholes
Michael Laurits is: Drowning, Paul Cornell
Elevator, Nancy Kress
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, Daryl Gregory
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, David Moles
The Rabbi’s Hobby, Peter S. Beagle
The Seventh Expression of the Robot General, Jeffrey Ford
Skin Deep, Richard Parks
Ex Cathedra, Tony Daniel
Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose, Terry Dowling
We Haven’t Got There Yet, Harry Turtledove
Fury, Alastair Reynolds

I won't say anything about what "The Hero" is about, except to say that it does have to do with one of the major plotlines running through the first three Virga books; and it doesn't have any of the characters from those books in it.

Kickass space opera master Toby Buckell and I just blitzed a story ("Mitigation") and sold it to Pyr's next anthology, Fast Forward 2.  It's a gonzo, post-cyberpunk romp through an open arctic ocean about twenty years hence.

Also, my short story "Book, Theatre, and Wheel", will appear in the Solaris Book of New SF #2, which will be on sale in March!  (Actually, you can order it now; it'll be in the stores in March.)

These are both going to be fantastic anthologies, featuring some of the finest of the current generation of SF writers (and, for some reason, me).  They're also triumphal examples of the new generation of SF publishing houses--neither big presses nor small houses, but something in between:  medium-sized publishers, an animal that was never able to survive in the wild before.  Both Pyr and Solaris are surviving--and thriving!--which signals a new era of choice and flexibility for both readers and authors.  All in all, a very good time for science fiction.