Midnight Echo 6 Honourable Mention in Australian Shadows

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Issue, made the shortlist for the Edited category of the Australian Shadows Awards 2011. The issue was edited by David Kernot, Jason Fishcer and myself. The stories "The Wanderer in Darkness" by Andrew J. McKiernan and "Out Hunting for Teeth" by Joanne Anderton also made the shortlist in Short Stories category.

Full list of shortlists and winners can be found here. Congratulations to all.

Midnight Echo 6 Reviewed

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror issue edited by David Kernot, Jason Fischer and myself was recently reviewed at Thirteen O'Clock.

This particular issue is dedicated to fiction that marries the genres of science fiction and horror, which leads to some truly wonderful and creepy tales. I’ve always felt those two genres go hand in hand; the future often seems bleak and a lot of sci-fi tends to venture into darker territory anyway. There’s something for everyone here, from dystopian futures to hard sci-fi to Lovecraftian mythology ... All in all I can’t recommend this issue of Midnight Echo enough. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better way to spend two dollars (and even the printed version is a steal at ten dollars). I have a feeling a subscription may be finding its way onto my credit card sometime soon. - Andrew Kliem

He also said this about David Kernot and my story in the magazine:

"Winds of Nzambi" by David Conyers and David Kernot is a unique and rather dark tale of Portuguese colonisation and gods brought to life.

Read the full review here.

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special Released in November

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special, is almost complete and will be out in November 2011.

Today Midnight Echo has a new website and includes a press release on issue 6, an interview on the issue with myself a co-editors David Kernot and Jason Fischer, and details on how to submit for Issue 7 edited by Daniel I. Russell.

It also includes my story co-authored with David Kernot, "Winds of Nzambi".

SA Writers Centre and Salisbury Writers' Festival

Now that I'm back in Adelaide again, I decided to rejoin the South Australian Writers' Centre, a very cool organisation that has helped me very much over the years in becoming the writer I am today. Now that I'm back, it was very cool to see that I made their list of authors, which includes D.M. Cornish, Sean Williams, Fiona McIntosh, Jude Aquilina and Malcolm Walker. My entry is found here.

On related news, I'll be giving a talk at the Salisbrury Writers Fesitval, on 'Getting Started Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy'. I've done workshops for the SA Writers' Centre in the past and really enjoyed them, meeting some great writers who are getting started in their craft. The full program and how to book can be found here.

1pm – 3.30pm Getting Started Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

Join David in an open discussion about how to get started as a science fiction or fantasy writer. He’ll cover plotting a story, characters, worldbuilding, getting the science (or the fantasy) right, researching topics, and getting ideas. On the business side of things he’ll cover how to write a covering letter, proper manuscript formatting, where to find markets, the advantages of writing short stories, getting reviews and entering awards, networking, and maintaining a website.

On other news, David Kernot, Jason Fischer and I caught up in the city to discuss all things related to spec fiction, including an opporunity to workshop ideas and swap opportunities. It was great to catch up with these two talented authors again.

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special

The Australian Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce the line-up of the sixth issue of their official fiction magazine, Midnight Echo. This edition is a themed issue, with all stories being science fiction horror.

The nine stories are set in the far future and taking place in the distant reaches of space. Inside you’ll discover a strange world with a planetary ring forged from organic matter, bizarre aliens cataloguing and collecting humans to populate their idea of paradise, Lovecraftian horrors come to life in the heart of a comet, cybernetic monsters hunting humans in the hull of an abandoned star ship, and paranoid space explorers pushed to their limits at the frontier of an uncharted universe.

Stories have been penned by various renowned speculative fiction authors from Australia and the United States, including:

• Cody Goodfellow – editor of Perilous Press and author of Radiant Dawn and Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
• Cat Sparks – fiction editor for Cosmos Magazine and multiple Aurealis Award winning author
• Stephen Dedman – Australian science fiction veteran and author of Shadows Bite and Foreign Bodies
• Shane Jiraiya Cummings – Managing Editor of Horrorscope.com.au and author of Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves
• Joanne Anderton – author of upcoming speculative fiction novel Debris

Emerging talented authors include Helen Stubbs, Alan Baxter, Andrew J. McKiernan, Mark Farrugia, and poet Jenny Blackford.

The issue will feature an in depth interview with Charles Stross, one of the most imaginative and insightful science fiction authors writing today. Stross has been honoured with two Hugo awards and Locus Reader awards, and has published more than a dozen novels, including Saturn’s Children and The Fuller Memorandum. He talks to David Conyers for Midnight Echo about his Lovecrafitan science fiction horror series, The Laundry, and his latest novel, Rule 34.

A second interview is with Chris Moore, world renowned British science fiction artist best known for his striking covers for Orion Publishing’s SF Masterworks series and for his official wallpaper art for film The Empire Strikes Back. Insights are gained into Moore’s process for achieving his striking and imaginative art, and the many changes he has been facing in the publishing industry since he began illustrating in the 1970s.

The cover for Midnight Echo 6, ‘Strange Behaviour’, is a creation of talented UK artist, Paul Drummond, who will be well-known to readers of Interzone for his striking depictions of star ships, futuristic humans and robots.

Featured interior illustrators include:

• Steve Gilberts – Apex Digest, Space and Time, and Book of Dark Wisdom
• David Lee Ingersoll – The Black Seal and Worlds of Cthulhu
• Olivia Kernot – Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
• Nathan Wyckoff – Jumpgates Comics

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special, has been edited by South Australian trio, David Kernot (editor of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine), Jason Fischer (Writers of the Future winner and Aurealis nominee), and David Conyers (author of The Eye of Infinity, The Spiraling Worm and co-editor of Cthulhu Unbound 3), and is due for release in November 2011.

Further details on Midnight Echo can be found at http://www.australianhorror.com/

Previous issues of Midnight Echo can be purchased at http://www.shop.australianhorror.com/

Midnight Echo 6: the Science Fiction Horror Special Line-up

I can now announce the line-up of interviews, stories and authors for Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special to be published by the Australian Horror Writers Association later this year. The issue is edited by critically acclaimed Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine editor David Kernot, Writers of the Future finalists and Australian Shadows award nominee Jason Fischer, and myself.

Stories

We aimed for science fiction stories set into the far future and taking place in the far reaches of space. In this issue you’ll discover a strange world with a planetary ring forged from organic matter, bizarre aliens cataloguing and collecting humans to populate their idea of paradise, Lovecraftian horrors come to life in the heart of a comet, cybernetic monsters hunting humans in the hull of an abandoned star ship, and paranoid space explorers pushed to their limits at the frontier of an uncharted universe.

The stories, in no particular order, are:

• “Out Hunting for Teeth” Joanne Anderton
• “Trawling the Void” Alan Baxter
• “Silver-Clean” Jenny Blackford
• “Graveyard Orbit” Shane Jiraiya Cummings
• “More Matter, Less Art” Stephen Dedman
• “Seeds” Mark Farrugia
• “Earthworms” Cody Goodfellow
• “The Wanderer in the Darkness” Andrew J. McKiernan
• “Dead Low” Cat Sparks
• “Surgeon Scapelfingers” Helen Stubbs

Interviews

The issue will feature an in depth interview with Chris Moore, world renowned British science fiction artist best known for his striking covers for Orion Publishing’s SF Masterworks series and for his concept art for film The Empire Strikes Back. We also interview a well-known multiple award winning science fiction author, and who that is we will announce later.

Artwork

Artwork will be announced in the coming days, but I can say that we were lucky to score a cover from an extremely talented science fiction illustrator who will be well known to the readers of Interzone.

Midnight Echo #6 Submissions Closing Soon

This is a reminder to all those authors planning to submit a short story to Midnight Echo #6 for the science fiction special, the submission due date ends on 31 January 2011.

So far my co-editors (Jason Fischer and David Kernot) and I have had some good stories sent to us, but there is still space for more good tales. What I'm really keen to see are science fiction stories that really understand the genre, yet have a horror twist to them. While we've got some good stories, and many feature sci fi tropes such as spaceships, particle accelerators, cloning, genetic engineering and so forth, only a few have really thought about the science and technology and how they affect the futures they have imagined in a realistic way.

So, I'm looking forward to what writers out there come up with.

Full guidelines can be found here.

Midnight Echo #6: The Science Fiction Horror Special

It's official, the guidelines for Midnight Echo #6 are now out, the science fiction horror special, and submissions are being accepted from September 1. I'll be editing this issue with Jason Fischer and David Kernot.

Here is a recap of what we are looking for:

"We are looking for stories that blend the science fiction and horror genres. We are especially looking for stories set on worlds other than Earth, or in deep space, and especially, stories in the future. Themes might include contact with alien species that defie explanation, plagues or viruses destined to wipe out humanity, enslavement by an alien race, nanoplagues gone wrong, alien artifacts that are death traps, future totalitarian governments, gothic alien worlds, or enslaving technology are just some ideas. Films like Alien and 28 Days Later are obvious influences. Alternatively imagine what Iain M. Banks, Charles Stross, or Alastair Reynolds might write if they got really dark - that’s what we are looking for.

"We are not looking for fantasy stories. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, and zombies are unlikely to impress us unless you can deliver something outstanding within these guidelines. We will consider Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos tales provided they meet the theme, and then, we are likely only to select one such tale in this style at most. Remember, the key ingredient to getting your story picked up is to write a science fiction tale with horror elements, not a horror tale dressed up with science fiction references."

Midnight Echo #6: The Science Fiction Horror Special

Here is a heads-up about issue #6 of the Australian Horror Writers Association’s magazine Midnight Echo, which will be edited by Jason Fischer, David Kernot and myself.

The theme will be science fiction horror. Why? Well we just don’t believe there is enough science fiction published in Australia, and dark science fiction is even better.

Although we are not accepting stories just yet (when submissions will be open will be announced later here), we've included the themataic guidelines early.

What are we looking for? Well essentially we want stories that blend the science fiction and horror genres. We are especially looking for stories set on worlds other than Earth, or in deep space, and especially stories in the future. Themes might include contact with alien species that defie explanation, plagues or viruses destined to wipe out humanity, enslavement by an alien race, nanoplagues gone wrong, alien artifacts that are death traps, future totalitarian governments, gothic alien worlds, or enslaving technology are just some ideas. Films like Alien and 28 Days Later are obvious influences. Alternatively imagine what Iain M. Banks, Charles Stross or Alastair Reynolds might write if they got really dark - that’s what we are looking for.

We are not looking for fantasy stories. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, serial killers and zombies are unlikely to impress us unless you can deliver something outstanding within these guidelines. We will consider Lovecraftian or Cthulhu Mythos tales provided they meet the theme, and then we are likely only to select one such tale in this style at most. Remember, the key ingredient to getting your story picked up is to write a science fiction tale with horror elements, not a horror tale dressed up with science fiction references.

We will publish further details later in the year. Word count will be up to 5,000 words. Any questions, please post here (or on David's or Jason's) online journals, and we'll do our best to answer them for all to see, or email me, David or Jason directly.

Jason Fischer Writers of the Future Contest Winner

A belated congratulations to fellow South Aussie author Jason Fischer, who's short story "The House of Nameless" came first place in the Writers of the Future Contest. His prize is a week-long workshop in the United States in 2010. Well done Jason.