LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF—and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales. This month, our cover art is by Reiko Murakami, illustrating new science fiction from Dale Bailey ("The Horror of Party Beach"). We also have new SF from Molly Tanzer ("The Real YouTM"), along with SF reprints by Adrienne Celt ("Big Boss Bitch") and Jack Skillingstead ("Tribute"). Our original fantasy shorts are by Cameron Van Sant ("Super-Luminous Spiral") and Mel Kassel ("Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake"). We also have fantasy reprints by Silvia Moreno-Garcia ("Kaleidoscope") and Alex Irvine ("The Dream Curator"). All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns. We also have a feature interview with author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Our e-book exclusive novella reprint is "Investments" by Walter Jon Williams. Ebook readers can also enjoy an extract from Dale Bailey's new novel IN THE NIGHT WOOD.
Authors
Adrienne Celt is a writer, cartoonist, and avid reader living in Tucson, AZ. Her debut novel THE DAUGHTERS won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Crawford Award. Her second novel, INVITATION TO A BONFIRE was a June 2018 Indie Next Pick, an Amazon Top 10 Book of the Month, and named a Best Book of the Year by the Financial Times. Her new novel, END OF THE WORLD HOUSE, will be published in spring 2022. Winner of a 2016 O. Henry Prize, her short fiction and essays have appeared in Esquire, The Kenyon Review, Epoch, Zyzzyva, Ecotone, The Tin House Open Bar, Prairie Schooner, Electric Literature, The Lit Hub, and many other places. Also a cartoonist, her comics have been published by The Rumpus, The Toast, Bat City Review, Broad! Magazine, The Southeast Review, and other places, as well as appearing on her weekly webcomic: loveamongthelampreys.com. A collection of her comics, APOCALYPSE HOW? AN EXISTENTIAL BESTIARY was published in 2016.
Carrie Vaughn is the author more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories. She's best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. In 2018, she won the Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. She's published over 20 novels and 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop. An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies. Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn
Alexander C. Irvine is an American fantasist and science fiction writer. He also writes under the pseudonym Alex Irvine. He first gained attention with his novel A Scattering of Jades and the stories that would form the collection Unintended Consequences. He has also published the Grail quest novel One King, One Soldier, and the World War II-era historical fantasy The Narrows. In addition to his original works, Irvine has published Have Robot, Will Travel, a novel set in Isaac Asimov's positronic robot milieu; and Batman: Inferno, about the DC Comics superhero. His academic background includes an M.A. in English from the University of Maine and a PhD from the University of Denver. He is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maine. He also worked for a time as a reporter at the Portland Phoenix.
