26Mar09: Nature published String-Driven Thing in its Futures column.

Coming sometime:
- Extra Time in Hub.
- The Eye Patch Protocol in 'End of an Aeon' (The Aeon Anthology).

I have just received an acceptance for The Last Botnet from Henry Gee at Nature. This short-short will appear in the Futures feature of a future (sorry!) issue of Nature Physics.

Needless to say, my happiness level has just red-lined. What more could a former astronomer turned SF writer (part-time) ask for? Okay, the answer is "lots", but this will certainly do for starters.

The Last Botnet was one of those instant ideas, pretty much instantly written (all right, in a single afternoon). I passed it on to my critting angel (she knows who she is) who had some very useful suggestions, which I responded to. And lo! It came to pass that my 15-month "dry" ended with a bang**. And about bloody time too.

V.

(** not counting reprints)

I've just signed a contract with the publishers of Hub for The English Dead. This story, which I think of (rightly or wrongly) as one of my best, should be published soon, possibly this year. Needless to say, I'm very pleased. Hub may not pay pro-rates, but it does have a subscription base exceeding 5000, which beats all but a handful of print magazines.

Written in 2001, The English Dead had proved difficult to place, having garnered lots of praise from several leading editors, even an acceptance from a pro 'zine that died before it could publish the story. I'm glad it's finally found a good home.

http://www.hub-mag.co.uk/

Just before I went to bed last night I heard from William Sanders, Senior Editor of Helix webzine. The good news is that he wants to publish my novelette "Family Tree". I'm absolutely delighted, as I feel that "Family Tree" is one of my better stories. Now, at last, it has a good home. It's my eleventh story to be accepted for publication.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of this acceptance is that the whole process, from sending my asking-permission-to-submit email to William replying with "OK, I want it", took only 2.5 hours. That must be some kind of record!

http://www.helixsf.com/index.htm

Vaughan