LAST CHANCE TO SEE...

Twelfth Planet Press has just announced the ToC for their upcoming anthology New Ceres Nights. To Whit:

• Smuggler's Moon -- Lee Battersby
• Murder in Laochan -- Aliette de Bodard
• Fair Trade -- Stephen Dedman
• The Widow's Seven Candles -- Thoraiya Dyer
• A Troublesome Day for Jacky Midnight -- Matthew Farrer
• Debutante -- Dirk Flinthart
• Code Duello -- John Hay
• Dynamics of New Ceres -- Sue Isle
• The Sharp Shooter -- Sylvia Kelso
• Suffer the Children -- Martin Livings
• Prosperine When It Sizzles -- Tansy Rayner Roberts
• The Piece of Ice in Miss Windermere's Heart -- Angela Slatter
• Tontine Mary -- Kaaron Warren

For those not familiar with the New Ceres shared world, all stories take place on (or about) a planet wherein the residents have 'capped' technology and society at the 18th Century level. All work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License, which means authors can build upon each others' characters, settings, storylines, and so forth, and there's a substantial 'non-fiction' component as well, with several articles expanding upon the society and culture of the planet. Frankly, it's bloody interesting stuff, and you can read the two pdf issues of the original magazine here to get a taste of it.

Now, if any of you other there are Battfans (Go on, stand up..... and the crowd leaps to his feet...) this might be of interest: Smuggler's Moon, which is very loosely based on the Dr Syn novels of Russell Thorndike, is likely to be the last short story of mine you read in print. I have no more coming out, no more ready to be sent out, and no more in the drafting process. Having made the switch to novels, and with nothing else in my toolbox, this is pretty much it for the interim. You may or may not consider that a good thing as you see fit, however, the fact remains: for the foreseeable future, this is the last short story of mine you'll be reading. Never say never, of course, but unless something special crops up, a commission or a request I just can't turn down... anyway, you get the idea.

So: New Ceres Nights. Coming in April. A fascinating concept, a solid crew of Australian regulars, and me.

Go. Buy. Enjoy.