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, we have original science fiction by Caroline M. Yoachim ("Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station") and Craig DeLancey ("RedKing"), along with SF reprints by Timons Esaias ("The Mars Convention") and Aliette de Bodard ("The Waiting Stars"). Plus, we have original fantasy by Rich Larson ("Sparks Fly") and Marie Vibbert ("Michael Doesn't Hate His Mother"), and fantasy reprints by Andy Duncan ("The Premature Burials") and Seanan McGuire ("Rat-Catcher"). All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns and a roundtable interview on the Star Wars canon. For our ebook readers, we also have an ebook-exclusive reprint Mark W. Tiedemann's novella, "Miller's Wife." And for our novel excerpt this month, we're proud to present a preview of Hugh Howey's novel, SHIFT, out now from our editor's new book line for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, John Joseph Adams Books.
Authors
Chuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey. He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP). He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope. Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011. He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
Hi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline. Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon). I do not check this inbox. Please don't send me messages through Goodreads; they won't be answered. I don't want to have to delete this account. :(
Craig DeLancey is a philosopher and writer. His writing includes speculative fiction and plays. His story "Julie is Three" won the 2012 Anlab award for best short story, and his play "My Tunguska Event" was a finalist for the Heideman Award. His philosophical research is mostly in the philosophy of mind, and is recently concerned with applications of descriptive complexity theory to problems in metaphysics. www.craigdelancey.com
I'm the author of WOOL, a top 5 science fiction book on Amazon. I also wrote the Molly Fyde saga, a tale of a teenager from the 25th century who is repeatedly told that girls can't do certain things—and then does them anyway. A theme in my books is the celebration of overcoming odds and of not allowing the cruelty of the universe to change who you are in the process. Most of them are classified as science fiction, since they often take place in the future, but if you love great stories and memorable characters, you'll dig what you find here. I promise.
