I cast my vote yesterday -- The deadline for 2010 Hugo Award nominations is tonight, folks. You don't want to be left out of it, so please vote.

To be more specific: nominations close on Saturday, March 13 2010 23:59 PST (March 14 07:59 UTC/GMT, 18:59 AEDT).

If you want any tips on Best Novel, here are a few suggestions, in no particular order of importance:

The Red Tree, by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente

The City & The City, by China Miéville

Galileo's Dream, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Finch, by Jeff VanderMeer

I reviewed Miéville's and VanderMeer's novels a while ago. I just finished Kiernan's and Valente's novels and I started Robinson's novel a few days ago. Loved them all (loving Robinson's as well, at least until now). Expect reviews soon.

Following the whole mess regarding Norman Spinrad's Third World Worlds article, the SF community on the Web has brought forth a plethora of rants, thoughts, considerations, and discussions on matters of ethnicity, prejudice, bigotry, and related topics. I would like to recommend to those of you that haven't been following the entire thread two links that will get you quite up to date:

First, an excellent compilation of reactions made by Charles Tan for The World SF Blog. You will find pieces by Jason Sanford, Nick Mamatas (those two are, IMHO, the best of the lot, especially for the comments), Cheryl Morgan, N. K. Jemisin, Polenth, and Larry Nolen, and many others. A must read.

Charles also wrote for the SFWA site a list of international SF books and sites that must be checked out.

On a side note, the Hugo nominations period is drawing to a close (tomorrow, people, tomorrow!) and I want to remember you that my name is in the BASFA 2010 Hugo Recommendations list for Best Fan Writer - as Charles Tan's. I'm asking for your vote - but I want to declare publically here that my vote goes for Charles, for his superb work for SF all around the world. Good luck, Charles!

Because sometimes we need to remind ourselves to keep our heads above the water.
This is a weird world.

Just finished reading Norman Spinrad's article on Asimov's on Third World on SF. Still not sure if I agree with everything (especially on the denomination Third World, but let's discuss it in another post).

What I caught myself agreeing wholeheartedly with him, however, is his opinion regarding Brazil in Paul McAuley's The Quiet War:

But there's something pro-forma about McAuley's Greater Brazil, or anyway the Brazilian identification of the very well rendered culture of his future terrestrial green feudal capitalist imperialist power, so that this doesn't really hurt the novel per se, but there seems to me to be nothing essentially Brazilian about it. Change some names, some locales, and so forth, and it would work just as well as "Greater Congo" or "Greater Indonesia."

It's almost as if McAuley had good political reasons not to make it "Greater North America," let alone the "Greater United States," or even the European Union, which he mentions but doesn't visit or describe, and figured Greater Brazil was as good a "non-America" as any. And since the society he describes is just about entirely his own invention, it doesn't really affect the story one way or the other.

If there was a more specific reason for making "Greater Brazil" the terrestrial heavy, I don't get it, since the future updated feudal plutocracy doesn't seem to have much of a Brazilian flavor, especially to someone who has read Ian McDonald's Brasyl, which so thoroughly places the reader in such strongly and completely Brazilian futures.

That's my opinion as well, which I expressed briefly on my last post. But apparently that's where me and Mr. Spinrad stop agreeing with each other.

For starters, I personally couldn't care less about First, Second, and Third World denominations any longer. We are really in the same boat and it is sinking. This is not tree-hugger left-wing talk. We SF writers should have known that for a long time now.

That said, the dichotomy inside/outside a culture is still a valid point etnographically speaking, and I won't say I don't relate with him in that matter, especially when he refers to a kind of "Writing Method" in the Stanislavsky sense, since I'm also an actor and writer for the stage, so I'm well aware of the power of such system.

But is there really a need to bring forth the culture gap all over again? A writer should be judged for her/his level of immersion in the culture? I didn't like McAuley's novel because it failed to amaze me, and the "brazilianness" of it was one of the elements that certainly helped in the process, but I really don't think he had to come to Brazil and "live among the savages" (I'm not quoting Spinrad here, please, just making a joke without any fun at all) in order to gest the gist of it.

Because, let's face it: if you really want to write a novel as a Brazilian would, you must live at least a decade here, and what's the point? (I'm not saying you shouldn't - Brazil is a wonderful place, you'll love it) But we write space operas all the time and never had to live in outer space, alas - nor in New Crobuzon, Ambergris or any other city or time period.

We writers are always faced with the inevitable in the end -- there is no 100% granted formula for absolute success in what you write. You must brace yourself, apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair, give your imagination free rein and hope for the best.

Reading a lot these past few weeks, I noticed at least two interesting things about Brazil in science fiction:

The Quiet War - Paul McAuley's novel presents us a kind of old-fashioned space opera where Earth is mostly dominated by Greater Brazil, a sort of mega-country that seems to occupy all the Americas and then some. That is never made entirely clear - nor does it anything else regarding Earth culture. McAuley is interested in telling us a story of a war between our planet and humans living in other worlds in the system. The story is fast-paced but failed to attract me, and I still didn't understand why he chose Brazil to rule Earth when any other country would do, since there is nothing on the novel that can give the reader any specific information on Brazilian culture. The characters doesn't sound convincing, and even Brasilia, our capital city, seems cardboard-like in the end, which is a shame, because I was really looking forward a great reading here. I'm starting Gardens of the Sun next week, so let's see if it can clarify something on that matter.

Flood - Stephen Baxter is a terribly competent writer when it comes to hard SF. In this catastrophe-ridden novel, which really scared the bejesus out of me, the world is quickly flooded entirely in a few decades, and there's absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. The protagonists are strong and resorceful, but (fortunately) not especially trigger-happy mankind-savior kind of people, something that annoys me to no end. But there is one thing that upsets me along the reading: there is not a single mention of Brazil in the novel. I'm not trying to be an übernationalist here, but let's keep it straight: Brazil is one of the top economies of the world right now; we're (very) quickly rocketing out of a underdeveloped position to a developed one in the geopolitical scene. So, it would be more than natural that Brazil could play an important role of some kind in that novel, economically at least. (I'm halfway through Ark and so far nothing, by the way.) Sometimes the absence is louder than the presence.

A little bit late here, but still with plenty of time not only to publish this list but also to review some of the nominees soon:

Via the site of SFWA:

Short Story

* Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela, Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Books, Jul09)
* I Remember the Future, Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Publications, Nov08)
* Non-Zero Probabilities, N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)
* Spar, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)
* Going Deep, James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jun09)
* Bridesicle, Will McIntosh (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette

* The Gambler, Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)
* Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage, Michael Bishop (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jul08)
* I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said, Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)
* Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast, Eugie Foster (Interzone, Feb09)
* Divining Light, Ted Kosmatka (Asimov's Science Fiction, Aug08)
* A Memory of Wind, Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella

* The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)
* Arkfall, Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)
* Act One, Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar09)
* Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)
* Sublimation Angels, Jason Sanford (Interzone, Oct09)
* The God Engines, John Scalzi ( Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel

* The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books, Sep09)
* The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)
* Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)
* The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)
* Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)
* Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

* Star Trek, JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Paramount, May09)
* District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)
* Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)
* Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)
* Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)
* Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

* Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)
* Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)
* Ash, Malinda Lo (Little, Brown and Company, Sep09)
* Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)
* Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)
* When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
* The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)
* Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet the evening of May 15 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, just 20 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center in Fla. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

Wonders never cease - I just received my Google Alert e-mail and with a big surprise in it: my name is in the BASFA 2010 Hugo Recommendations list for Best Fan Writer. The Bay Area Science Fiction Association has a tradition of holding Hugo (and Campbell) Recommendation Nights in January and February, and they posted their accumulated recommendations in a series of entries in the Hugo recommend community.

My thanks to Cheryl Morgan and to BASFA for the longlist nomination.

A few days ago, Jeff VanderMeer disclosed the TOC of Steampunk II - Steampunk Reloaded. It's a great job, featuring names as William Gibson, Stephen Baxter, Margo Lanagan, and original stories by Ramsey Shehadeh and Vilhelm Bergsoe.

And excerpts of two stories of mine as well, in the section "A Secret History of Steampunk", which will also feature original fiction by Ekaterina Sedia, Matthew Cheney, and Jeffrey Ford. Also, Jacques Barcia translated one of his stories from the Brazilian steampunk antho published last year, and it will appear as a web exclusive in October in connection with the publication of Steampunk Reloaded. Way to go, Jacques!

My thanks to Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. It's a pleasure and an honor to be among such masters of the trade.

Sadly, I just got the news that Kage Baker has died. Just a few days ago, I wrote pretty much everything I could say about it - there isn't really anything else to say, except praying.

If you don't feel like praying, go read one of her books. You will like it.

I just found out, via Cheryl Morgan, that The storySouth Million Writers Award is open for business again.

The award is for stories published in 2009, so that means some of my first stories published in English are eligible as of now. I published the whole list of stories here, but (quoting the site here) "the award is for any fictional short story of at least a 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2009." So I'm listing below my stories over 1000 words:

. The Arrival of the Cogsmiths (oil on canvas, by Turner, 1815) - Everyday Weirdness, April 27th 2009 - (also featured in StarShipSofa - Aural Delights #102)

. Who Mourns For Washington? - Everyday Weirdness, May 16th 2009

. Ganesh, in the Afternoon - The Nautilus Engine vol 2 number 4 (May 2009 issue)

. Edgar Can´t Stand It - Semaphore Magazine (December 2009 issue)

Hope you like the stories. You can make nominations (even if you don't like my stories, that's okay, just go and nominate the stories you liked best in 2009) here.

The Translation Lag - on how the lack of translations of contemporary SF is affecting the output of Brazilian writers of the genre.

A few days ago, The British Science Fiction Association has announced its shortlist: this year there are only four nominees in the Best Novel category, and six nominees in the Best Short Fiction and Best Artwork categories due to ties for fifth place. The Awards will be presented at this year's Eastercon, Odyssey.

Novel

The City and the City, China Mieville (Macmillan) - my review here
Ark, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz)
Yellow Blue Tibia, Adam Roberts (Gollancz)
Lavinia, Ursula Le Guin (Gollancz)

Short

The Beloved Time of Their Lives, Ian Watson & Roberto Quaglia - The Beloved of My Beloved, Newcon Press
Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast, Eugie Foster - Interzone
The Assistant, Ian Whates - The Solaris Book of Science Fiction Volume 3
Vishnu at the Cat Circus, Ian McDonald
Johnnie and Emmie-Lou Get Married, Kim Lakin-Smith - Interzone
The Push, Dave Hutchinson - Newcon Press

Art

Adam Tredowski - covers of Interzone issues 220, 224 and 225
Nitzan Klamer - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, cover, art project published online (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kipizki/3753443748/in/set-72157621759215456/)
Stephanie Pui-Min Law - Emerald - http://www.shadowscapes.com/image.php?lineid=23&bid=512
Stephan Martiniere - Cover of Desolation Road by Ian McDonald: http://www.angel.org/will/site/files/ian-mcdonald-desolation-road.jpg

Non-Fiction Mutant Popcorn, Nick Lowe - Interzone
Canary Fever, John Clute - Beccon
Ethics and Enthusiasm, Hal Duncan
I didn't Dream of Dragons, Deepa D
A Short History of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn and Edward James

Now I just read in Hal Duncan's blog that he gracefully declined the nomination in favor of Deepa D.

Even so, you must read that piece all the same. I urge you. Hal's attitude has just illustrated the point - you can't be more ethical than that.

Less than two weeks ago, the SF community was taken by surprise by the news of Kage Baker's illness. It turned out that she was battling a cancer for quite a while, but she didn't want to make it public until now. Jeff VanderMeer had relayed a plea for support from her caretaker, adding his own words about Baker, her humor, and her work. He also gave her address (both physical and email), because she wanted to receive mail from friends and fans alike - her caretaker would read it all to her.

I hadn't read almost anything written by Kage Baker - half a dozen of non-Company related short stories and that was that. But I liked her stories, and I had even saw some of her Company novels in my favorite bookstore a while ago, but hadn't bought them. As soon as I heard the news, though, I did three things: first, I send her an e-mail. Second, I
bought every available short story of hers for Kindle (all Company-related) and read them in the same day. Third, I bought all of her books I could find.

Yesterday, more bad news, I'm afraid: I got the news from Green Man Review:

Just in from Kathleen Bartholomew, Kage Baker's sister and care giver:

Kage's doctor has informed us she has reached the end of useful treatment. The cancer has slowed, but not stopped. It has continued to spread at an unnatural speed through her brain, her lungs and - now - reappeared in her abdomen. It is probably a matter of a few weeks, at most.

Kage has fought very hard, but this is just too aggressive and mean. She's very, very tired now, and ready for her Long Sleep. She's not afraid.

We've been in a motel the last week or so, in order to complete her therapy.I'll have her home in her own bedroom by the weekend, though, so end of life care can take place in more comfortable surroundings.

There's nothing we can do or say in such moments that can ease the pain. Watch and pray, the Bible says (It doesn't really matter if you're a Christian or not - I'm a Buddhist but I was raised a Catholic and I still find that the Bible comforts me as much as the Dhammapada). I read Kage Baker and pray for her.

Due to the malfunctioning of the past two weeks, many of you maybe don't know yet, but I was invited by Pablo Defendini to be a part of the team of bloggers of Tor.com.

So far I've published two posts, one about apples and the multitude of names they can have, and other about my experience translating Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange to Brazilian Portuguese. There's more to come, including a series - more on that later.

Thanks to Pablo, and to Ami Greko, Torie Atkinson, and Megan Messinger for all the help, the patience, and the excellent disposition - it'll be fun to work with you and all the great people blogging there (Jo Walton, John Klima, Mur Lafferty, just to name a few - need I say more?)

After 15 absurd days offline here because of a #MAJORFAIL of our servers at Locaweb, I'm back. A huge thanks to Tiago Casagrande for not to give up and fight the good fight for his loyal bloggers here at Verbeat.org. More real soon (have you been following my emergency blog during the crisis?)

That´s the title of the article I wrote for The World SF Blog, in which I talk a little about my novel Os Dias da Peste, and how does it feel to be a bilingual writer. My thanks to Lavie Tidhar for the invitation to publish there.

Sorry, Elvis fans and impersonators all over the world - peace, love and respect to you all.

BUUUT...

Let´s praise a man who not only is REALLY alive but also had many incarnations in only one life! Happy birthday, Mr. David Bowie!

Here is the original clip of Space Oddity, recorded in 1969. (Thanks to Natania Barron for the tip.) Enjoy!

2010 started in a very good mood, under the least sheltering sky possible in Rio de Janeiro (bye bye ozone layer - the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference major FAIL didn´t help, alas), but, hey, I´m not complaining - at least I could go to the beach! And read a lot in the first days of the new year. A healthy mix of Brazilian and American fiction to give me a jumpstart before my major assignments (acquiring stories from all over Latin America for Best American Fantasy 4 and writing my novel) begin.

1. Coraline - Neil Gaiman - I had never read that one, and I liked it hugely. I had already purchased the DVD, but I really wanted to read the story before I saw the film.

2. Leite Derramado - Chico Buarque - The brand new novel of our most celebrated living songwriter. After almost thirty years composing and singing (he also wrote plays for the stage in the seventies), Chico started to write novels. This is his fourth one - all the others have already been translated (my favorite is Budapest).

3. Xochiquetzal - Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro - This novel came as a big, lovely surprise to me. Ribeiro is a longtime friend of mine, and also a successful writer, one of the first Brazilian SF authors to publish stories outside the country (his very first books, two short stories collections, were in fact published in Portugal). Xochiquetzal is Alternate History, a genre of which Ribeiro is an absolute master in Brazil. He won several awards in Brazil and Portugal, and, under the pseudonym of Carla Cristina Pereira, was a finalist of 2000 Sidewise Awards, with Xochiquetzal, a short story which is the prologue of this novel, the story of the Aztec wife of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. She follows his husband in his travels and chronicles them, showing us a world where the Empire of Portugal rules all the Americas (or the Cabralias, since they were christened in honor of Pedro Álvares Cabral, the discoverer of Brazil in our timeline, and not Americo Vespucio). A damn fine story - highly recommended.

4. Liberdade Virtual - Sylvio Gonçalves (releitura) - This is a new edition of a YA classic, published for the first time in the mid-nineties. Gonçalves, another good friend of mine (Brazil may be a big country, but the SFF writing world fits easily in a nutshell - everybody knows each other), wrote this cyberpunk tale of teen rebellion and defiance with all the Gibsonian gadgets and Sterling political discussion. Gonçalves is a screenwriter, and a damn fine one - but I wish he wrote more novels.

5. Jubiabá - Jorge Amado - A Brazilian classic. Amado, a best-seller in Brazil and all over the world, began his writing career not writing about sensual women in Bahia, but about the survival of strong men. Member of the Brazilian Communist Party in the 1930s, Amado wrote a series of novels about the exploitation of the working class, especially black men. The protagonist of this peculiar Bildungsroman is Antônio Balduíno, an orphan who lives in the slums of Salvador, Bahia, and grows up learning to survive among famine and extreme poverty: he becomes a thief, then a boxeur, a sailor, a circus strongman, and finally a stevedore who becomes the leader of a major strike. Balduíno is an interesting character, maybe the first real black protagonist in Brazilian literature. (In the sense that he´s not a satirical, stereotyped character.)

6. The Quiet War - Paul McAuley - This novel has been much talked about in the last few months. Many friends of mine, like Larry Nolen, are curious to know what I thought of it, since it portrays a future world where Brazil rules most of Earth. To be frank, I didn´t like it. And Brazil has nothing to do with it. Expect a review soon.

7. Geosynchron - David Louis Edelman - Just started to read it. I loved Infoquake and Multireal, and considered them two of the best SF novels I´ve read in the past few years. I expect no less of Geosynchron.

8. Bone Song - John Meaney - Started it yesterday. I bought both Bone Song and Black Blood because of Necroflux Day, one of the best short stories I read in 2009. I´m finding the worldbuilding quite exquisite and intriguing. Definitely worth reading.

Returning today from vacations, with excellent news from Jeff VanderMeer:

Feel free to spread these guidelines far and wide...

BEST AMERICAN FANTASY #4 NOW READING

The Best American Fantasy series (Underland Press) founded by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer is now reading fantasy short stories up to 10,000 words published or to be published from May 1, 2009 through May 31, 2010 for volume 4.

Stories must be by Latin American or North American residents and published in Latin American or North American publications (or magazine websites) during the May-to-May period. All work must have been published in English to be eligible.

Guest Editor: Minister Faust

The guest editor for BAF4 is critically acclaimed writer Minister Faust. The guest editor for volume 5 will be Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz and the guest editor for volume 6 will be World Fantasy Award finalist Catherynne M. Valente. Each of these guest editors will bring excellence, expertise, and their own unique perspective to the position.

Announcing New Editors

BAF is proud to announce that the new series editor for BAF4 is reviewer and critic Larry Nolen, with translator/writer Fábio Fernandes serving as head of Latin American acquisitions and writer Alan Swirsky serving as first reader for online venues.

BAF founders Ann and Jeff VanderMeer will remain as managers/administrators of the anthology series, while former series editor Matthew Cheney will stay on as an advisor. Clayton Kroh and Tessa Kum will serve as assistant editors for BAF beginning with volume 4.

How to Submit Stories

--All relevant print publications and anthologies published in North America should be sent by the publishers to: Larry Nolen, BAF Series Editor, 151 Few Road, Dickson, TN 37055 USA.

--Editors of online publications based in North America should send relevant URLs to the first reader for online publications, Alan Swirsky (jynxshot@gmail.com).

--Editors of online publications based in Latin America should send relevant URLs to Fábio Fernandes (zeroabsoluto@gmail.com), while editors of print publications based in Latin America should query Fernandes about how best to send in eligible work.

--If you have already sent your print publication or anthology to either Matthew Cheney or Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, the materials will be forwarded to the series editor and do not need to be sent again.

As and when possible, and keeping in mind constraints such as expense and a need for additional personnel, the Best American Fantasy series eventually hopes to consider material published in Spanish and Portuguese.

Visit http://bestamericanfantasy.com/ for the Best American Fantasy 3 table of contents, guest editor Kevin Brockmeier. BAF3 will be published by Underland in mid-February 2010.

More Information on BAF Editors

Guest editor Minister Faust is an Edmontonian writer, community broadcaster and organiser. His second critically-acclaimed novel was the winner of the 2007 Carl Brandon Society Kindred award, and was the runner-up for the Philip K. Dick Award. His first novel was hailed by The New York Times Review of Books, and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Locus Best First Novel award and the Compton-Crook award, and made several year's best lists, including those for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, January Magazine, and SFSite.com.

Series editor Larry Nolen is a history and English teacher who devotes much of his spare time to reading and translating interviews and articles from Spanish into English. Since 2004, he has been blogging at the literary fantasy site, OF Blog of the Fallen. He also has had his reviews, interviews, and columns published at the Nebula Awards site, Strange Horizons, and Omnivoracious. In addition, several of his interviews and columns have been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and published in Spain and Portugal.

Latin American acquisitions editor Fábio Fernandes is a writer living in São Paulo, Brazil. Also a journalist and translator, he is responsible for the Brazilian translations of several prominent SF novels including Neuromancer, Snow Crash, and A Clockwork Orange. His short stories have been published in Brazil, Portugal, Romania, UK, New Zealand, and USA.Fernandes also published a non-fiction book on the work of William Gibson, A Construção do Imaginário Cyber, and an SF novel, Os Dias da Peste (both in Portuguese). In 2008, he created the SFF review blog Post-Weird Thoughts.

Spread the word!

2009 is coming to an end, and, if I had thought 2008 had been the busiest, craziest, best year in my life, that is certainly something of an understatement today. I didn´t read and reviewed as many books - work and health issues didn´t help much, though I can´t complain: 2009 was the year I started publishing in the English language market, with no less than eight nine stories (six seven flash fictions, two short stories), and two of those podcasted. They are:

. The Boulton-Watt-Frankenstein Company - Everyday Weirdness, February 23rd 2009 - (also featured in StarShipSofa - Aural Delights #92)

. The Use of Knives - A Short Tutorial - Powder Burn Flash # 167 (03/16/2009)

. The Arrival of the Cogsmiths (oil on canvas, by Turner, 1815) - Everyday Weirdness, April 27th 2009 - (also featured in StarShipSofa - Aural Delights #102)

. Who Mourns For Washington? - Everyday Weirdness, May 16th 2009

. Ganesh, in the Afternoon - The Nautilus Engine vol 2 number 4 (May 2009 issue)

. Cold Sleep - The Human Genre Project

. Semiotic Smoke - Everyday Weirdness, November 4th 2009

. Ghosts - Everyday Weirdness, December 9th 2009

. Edgar Can´t Stand It - Semaphore Magazine (December 2009 issue)

Thank you who have been reading me so far, with a special thanks to (in no particular order):

. Jacques Barcia

. Richard Diegues

. Gianpaolo Celli

. Larry Nolen

. Lavie Tidhar

. Charles Tan

. Ann Vandermeer

. Jeff Vandermeer

. Matt Staggs

. Natania Barron

. Christopher Fletcher

. Cesar Torres

. All the team of The Outer Alliance

. Eugie Foster

. Robert Thompson

. Cindy Hannikman

. Mihir Wanchoo

. Liviu Suciu

. Pablo Defendini

. Torie Atkinson

. Ami Greko

. Lou Anders

. Jeffrey Thomas

. David Louis Edelman

. Jeff Carlson

. Rhys Hughes

. Flávio Medeiros

. Mark Newton

. Cheryl Morgan

. J.J.Adams

. John Klima

. Octavio Aragão

. Harry Markov

. Nathan E. Lilly

. Marie Hodgkinson

. Fabio Cobiaco

. Roberto Mendes

. Tiago Casagrande

. Leandro Gejfinbein

. Aurora Barbosa

Have an EXCELLENT New Year!! May 2009 be a better place in the space-time continuum for us all!