Review in Tangent

Here is the review of "Fantastic Texas" in Tangent, cut-and-pasted:

#

This is the first short story collection by a Texas journalist who has been publishing almost ten years with over 40 stories published in various venues. These 15 stories all take place in his beloved adopted state of Texas.Lou Antonelli is a journalist and thus has a journalist’s simple and clear style of writing; he is easy to read. His voices for his characters are delightfully idiosyncratic. You will not find any conceptually mind-blowing stories here, nor any literarily exciting fictions but you will find 140 pages of the best kind of “popcorn” fiction or beach reading, and this is a good thing. These are all enjoyable and perfect examples of well written SF in a sort of 1950’s mode, which I enjoy. The first story was Antonelli’s first publication in Asimov’s, a story Gardner Dozois bought just before announcing his retirement. “A Rocket for the Republic” is one of Antonelli’s “monologue” stories. It is an old man telling his life story to a journalist. A very old man. The story he tells is related in wonderful dialect about an alternate Texas where a rocket ship was launched in the 1800’s before the civil war. It’s delightful. Kind of Texas steampunk, if you will.The next offering also concerns a journalist doing his job. (You will find--naturally--journalism being a major thread throughout a lot of this collection.) This one is about parallel worlds. The world next to ours works on the principle of magic rather than science. It’s charming.In “Avatar” a survivor after a nuclear conflagration gets a history lesson from a descendent of the Aztecs. “Silence is Golden” tells about the discovery of radioactive “mercury” in a mining concern in East Texas (another monologue story with a wonderfully regional voice), “Rome, If You Want To” is about very unusual tourists in Houston during a record setting heat wave, and “Professor Malakoff”s Amazing Ethereal Telegraph” is another “western steampunk” story about a magician who can feel telegraph signals in the metal of his teeth and how he uses that to bilk rubes in the back areas of Texas. Other stories include “Video Killed the Radio Star” which deals with over-zealous, over-rich, and over-whelming Texans who want to set up their own republic in the near future; “Body by Fisher” concerns a Buick that runs on gasoline in a future of electric cars and how it is useful in a major emergency; “The Silver Dollar Saucer” tells the tale of two outlaws taken to a spaceship and who use their native wit to return to earth; “The Cast Iron Dybbuk” (great title) and what came out of it; another monologue by a grandmother explaining why her granddaughter is such a “Big Girl,” and “The Rocket-Powered Cat,” a short story about internet dating services with a major sting in its tail. All in all an enjoyable read on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Put your feet up or go get a tan and enjoy some breezy 1950’s-type SF stories.

Reviewed by Bob Blough

#

Off at ArmadilloCon

I'm in Austin at the ArmadilloCon convention, about halfway through. Had three panels and a reading so far, getting ready for a panel at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, Tangent has come out with its review of "Fantastic Texas" and its very positive:

http://www.tangentonline.com

Agreement reached with GUD

GUD and I have come to an agreement over terms for including "Dispatches from The Troubles" in "Texas and Other Planets". Basically, we will just work on a one-time waiver to their exclusivity clause. This allows me to include "Dispatches" in the new collection.

GUD's position as the original publisher of the story will be protected. I agree this is very important, I give them a lot of credit for including the story in their issue No. 6. As part of the galley I saw the list of contributors; this will be a very impressive issue.

In addition to allowing me to include a more diverse selection of stories, "Texas and Other Planets" will be at least 30,000 words longer than "Fantastic Texas". I think that will work out very well.

Now to firm up the table of contents.

Antonelli signs contract for "Texas and Other Planets" with Merry Blacksmith Press

John Teehan, publisher of Merry Blacksmith Press, and Texas science fiction and fantasy author Lou Antonelli announced Monday, August 23, 2010 that they have signed a contract for a reprint collection of short stories, "Texas and Other Planets".
Antonelli has had 50 science fiction and fantasy stories published in the U.S., Australia, Canada and the U.K. since he took up writing fiction in 2002. His first collection, the Texas-themed "Fantastic Texas", was published by Fantastic Books in 2009.
Recent releases by the Merry Blacksmith Press include "Broken Mirrors" by Tim Pratt, "The Wannoshay Cycle" by Michael Jasper, and Ron Collin's SF short story collection, "Piccaso's Cat & Other Stories".
Its most recent release is "Anthopology 101: Reflections, Inspections and Dissections of SF Anthologies" by Bud Webster.
Lou Antonelli's short fiction has been published in over two dozen venues, including Asimov's Science Fiction, Jim Baen's Universe and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.
Unlike his previous collection, "Texas and Other Planets" will be not comprised solely of Texas-inspired tales, said Antonelli.
"This collection will give me the opportunity to reprint my most entertaining stories without regard to theme," he said.
With over a decade's experience in professional typesetting and book design, John Teehan started The Merry Blacksmith as an independent press in the spring of 2010
"We have plans for the future to expand our titles to cover a wide range of interests, and represent the singular attribute of quality," said Teehan. "We are proud to publish this collection of fine fiction by Lou Antonelli, who's made a name for himself in a few short years."
"While our interests are wide and varied, many of our books will appeal to fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics, and other such fine geekery," added Teehan. "We geeks inherited the Earth, and we mean to keep it that way!"
"Sounds like another fun project," Antonelli concluded. "I'm looking forward to it."

#

Contract signed

John Teehan at Merry Blacksmith Press has mentioned that my collection is upcoming on his web site, http://www.merryblacksmith.com/

I signed and dropped the contract back in the mail to him today. Like he said, stay tuned. I hope we will have a formal announcement shortly.

Armadillocon coming up

I'm looking forward to Armadillocon next weekend. Just as a recap, here are my panels for the weekend:

Fr2200SB No Matter What I Do, Cleveland Still Loses
Fri 10:00 PM-11:00 PM Sabine
L. Antonelli*, R. Bennett, S. Swendson, M. Fletcher
You went back in time, stomped some butterflies, and returned, but nothing important changed. How hard is it to change history?

Sa1000SB Promoting Your Work (and Yourself)
Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Sabine
G. Faust, S. Wedel, P. Kitanidis, R. Eudaly*, K. Hoover, L. Antonelli
As an author, you work hard to promote your work. But shouldn't you promote yourself as well?

Sa1200SB The Trials and Tribulations of the Short Story
Sat Noon-1:00 PM Sabine
M. Bishop, H. Waldrop, L. Carl, J. Blaschke*, L. Antonelli, S. Allen
In the short story, you have 7500 words to introduce characters, set up the plot, develop the plot, and then wrap it all up. Our panelists discuss the agonies and rewards of the short story.

Sa1330SA Reading
Sat 1:30 PM-2:00 PM San Antonio
Lou Antonelli

Overtones
Sat 4:00 PM-5:00 PM San Antonio
L. Carl, K. Hoover, J. Hall, S. Cupp*, M. Bishop, L. Antonelli
Some works don't fit in one genre. Our panelists talk about writing and reading those works, and how to describe them to others.

Su1200SB Planning for Your Time Travel
Sun Noon-1:00 PM Sabine
J. Cheney, K. Kimbriel, L. Antonelli*, P. Sarath, M. Williams, R. Clement-Moore, S. White, T. Mallory
So, you're going back in time. What will you need to bring and what will you need to remember to make it?

Su1500DR Signing
Sun 3:00 PM-4:00 PM Dealers' Room
G. Wilhite, L. Antonelli, B. Mahoney

A good week

Copies of the contract for my next collection, "Texas and Other Planets", are going back and forth between myself and the publisher.

Finally got galley proofs of "Dispatches from The Troubles" from GUD. That's my chore for tonight - checking them. Since the story is over 11,000 words, this is harder than it sounds.

Finally, the reading and signing at the New Boston Friends of the Library Monday night went very well. We had a small, appreciative crowd, and sold seven books - which for the size of the crowd was a lot. The Texarkana Gazette ran a big story in their weekly edition for Bowie County.