I didn't get around to posting a year's end summary for 2008 until the first day of 2009, so I'm going to post early this time like I did in 2007, partly in hopes that it will help me figure out my 2010 resolutions (in a later post).

New stories published in 2009: 6

• "The Shadow-Witch", Cinema Spec, Raven Electrick Ink (print, short story/fantasy)
  
• "Come-From-Aways", On Spec #76 (print & PDF, short story/science fiction)
  
• "Stilts and Straw", Flashing Swords #12 (print, short story/fantasy)
  
• "Sphinx!", Ages of Wonder, DAW Books (print, short story/fantasy)
  
• "Tekkai Exhales His Avatar", Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show #11 (online, short story/science fiction)
  
• "Silk and Shadow", Beneath Ceaseless Skies #11 (2009, online, short story/fantasy)
  

Reprints published in 2009: 2

• "Metamorphoses in Amber", The Best of Abyss & Apex, Vol. 1, Hadley Rille Books (print, novelette/fantasy)
  
• "Dynamics of a Hanging", The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Night Shade Books (print & online, short story/mystery)
  

To be published in 2010: 3

• "The Character of the Hound", The Dragon and the Stars, DAW (TBD, print, short story/fantasy)
  
• "The Paragon Lure", Alembical II, Paper Golem LLC (TBD, print, novella/fantasy)
  
• "Cygnet's Shadow", On Spec (TBD, short story/print)
  

Awaiting editorial response: 3

• "Night of the Manticore" (novelette/fantasy)
  
• "The Curse of Chimere" (short story/fantasy)
  
• "The Spirit of Wine" (short story/fantasy)
  

In the hands of my writer's group: 1

• "Stilts and Sorcery" (short story/fantasy)
  

Firsts

• nominated for the 2009 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer
  
• attended my first WorldCon
  
• started a a neo-pro writer's group in Toronto (the Stop-Watch Gang)
  
• third pro sale, qualifying me for full membership in the SFWA
  
• about to join Crime Writers of Canada
  

Plus a handful of works-in-progress. Overall, a great year! I hope it finishes on a high note.

At the end of a night of insomnia, a cheery mention in Rich Horton's Year End Summary 2009 for On Spec here:

My favorite story this year was Tony Pi's "Come-From-Aways" (Spring), about a linguistics professor in Newfoundland who risks her career when she decides that a strange shipwrecked man is really the [12th Century] Welsh Prince Madoc.

In other news...completed a draft of "Stilts and Sorcery" yesterday (fun!) It's now off to the First Reader and the Stopwatch Gang for critique. Can't wait to see what the writing group makes of this one. :)

And does anyone know why I can't find any chamomile tea anywhere in Toronto? Is there a shortage?

My Toronto writer's group finally has a name (after months of debate)...The Stopwatch Gang (because we use one). Members currently consist of me, Stephen Kotowych, Mike Rimar, Ian Keeling, Costi Gurgu, Brad Carson, and Derwin Mak. Just back from a great meeting, but I better get my new story in shape for the next meeting!

The Nebulas have changed their rules, so there's a flurry of Nebula nomination posts everywhere. Here's mine.

Two of my stories in the eligibility period (1 July 2008-31 Dec 2009) that SFWA members may find to their liking are:

>7500 words (short story)

"Sphinx!", Ages of Wonder, DAW (March 2009) - "A delight" (Rich Horton, Locus Magazine); "most impressive world-building" (Nader Elhefnawy, Strange Horizons)

"Silk and Shadow", Beneath Ceaseless Skies #11, February 26, 2009 - "Moody dark fantasy, grim and beautiful at the same time. RECOMMENDED" (Lois Tilton, IROSF); "A fine romantic fantasy" (Rich Horton, Locus Magazine)

If you are a SFWA member and would like to see a copy of "Sphinx!", let me know in the comments or email me. Thank you for your consideration.

Some info from one of the editors about an upcoming anthology I'm in.

The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Eric Choi and Derwin Mak, the first anthology of fantasy and science fiction stories by ethnic Chinese outside China, will be published by DAW Books next year. It's an international anthology with stories from writers in Canada, the United States, Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Here are the stories in order of their appearance in the book:

Introduction by Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestseller novelist.

"The Character of the Hound" by Tony Pi (Canada)
During the war between the Southern Song and the Jin Dynasties, a soldier allows a spirit to possess his body so he can solve a murder.

"The Fortunes of Mrs. Yu" by Charles Tan (Philippines) (charlesatan)
A Filipino Chinese woman is horrified that each of her fortune cookies has a blank strip of paper inside it.

"Goin Down to Anglotown" by William F. Wu (U.S.A.)
In an alternate America that is dominated by Asians, three young Asian men go out for a night of intrigue in exotic "Anglotown".

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail" by Derwin Mak (Canada)
Chinese investors and a Chinese Canadian pilot try to start a space tourism business in northern Canada. Unfortunately, they have bad feng shui at their spaceport.

"Lips of Ash" by Emery Huang (U.S.A.)
During the time of a historical dynasty, a cosmetics artist uses dark magic to help the ambitious mistress of a nobleman.

"The Man on the Moon" by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo (Hong Kong)
Yue Lao (月老), the Man on the Moon, hosts a beauty pageant to find a bride.

"Across the Sea" by Emily Mah (U.S.A.)
A Tlingowa Native American woman's aunt tells a legend about mysterious visitors who came to America hundreds of years ago.

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" by Eugie Foster (U.S.A.) (eugie)
During the reign of the First Emperor, a clay sculptor finds love and tragedy with a soldier.

"Dancers with Red Shoes" by Melissa Yuan-Innes (Canada)
In Montréal, magical red shoes dance by themselves.

"Intelligent Truth" by Shelly Li (U.S.A.)
A young Chinese American woman discovers truths about herself and her mother’s intelligent robotic servant.

"Bargains" by Gabriela Lee (Singapore)
A young woman meets a strange shopkeeper in Chinatown. The shopkeeper sells success as a writer – but with a terrible price.

"Threes" by E.L. Chen (Canada)
A Canadian man thinks his dead wife has become a Chinese dragon in Lake Ontario.

"The Son of Heaven" by Eric Choi (Canada)
The Chinese rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen (钱学森) is persecuted during the Red Scare in America in the 1950s.

"Shadow City" by Susan Ee (U.S.A.)
In a fantasy universe, a gatekeeper must stop people from leaving an evil place called Shadow City.

"The Water Weapon" by Brenda W. Clough (U.S.A.)
The British police are suspicious of a talking Chinese dragon and a Chinese princess who appear at the Great Exposition of 1851 in London.

"The Right to Eat Decent Food" by Urania Fung (U.S.A.)
Two American English teachers in China will do anything to get decent food during the SARS epidemic.

"Papa and Mama" by Wen Y Phua (Singapore)
A Chinese daughter struggles to remain dutiful to her late parents, who are inconveniently reincarnated as a fish and a bird.

"Beidou" by Ken Liu (U.S.A.)
In the Ming war against Japan, an ingenious Chinese army officer invents new weapons to defeat the Japanese.

Afterword by Derwin Mak & Eric Choi

First, a sale to the DAW anthology The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Eric Choi and Derwin Mak, to be published in 2010. The anthology contains Chinese theme stories by Chinese authors outside of China. My story is "The Character of the Hound" (and I just finished a draft of another story set in the same universe, "The Spirit of Wine"). I see Eugie Foster and Charles A. Tan have announced their acceptances as well (*waves*). It's going to be a great antho.

Also, I'd been eagerly anticipating the release of the anthology The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [Amazon.com], edited by John Joseph Adams, and got the contributor copy a week ago. It's a beauty. There's a great review up at io9.com.

Also check out the official site for free samples and author interviews.

Just got home from Montreal an hour ago, and am still decompressing. Here are some highlights over the past week:

* It was a blast meeting people from the Codex Writers' Group and Critters either again or for the first time--the breakfast discussions were great fun.

* Having drinks with Lawrence, Buck, and Eric to talk Paper Golem stuff.

* Chatting with editors whom I've only known by name before. Also did two interviews.

* The pre-Campbell Awards paper airplane contest between 4 of the 5 nominees (Aliette, David, Gord and me). It was eerily accurate: David Anthony Durham's plane flew farthest!

* The Zombie and Linguistics panels were both awesome.

* Dressing up for the Hugo Awards, and seeing a Hugo Award up close! Congrats to all the winners.

* Coming in Third in the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (Not A Hugo), which isn't too shabby...I guess I am officially Not A Hugo Loser :)

The energy from the Con and the attendees was infectious. Can't wait to write more and more!

John Joseph Adams has his website for The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes up and running, and it includes author interviews and free short stories (available in web and eBook sampler formats).

Interviews include:

* Dominic Green, author of “The Adventure of the Lost World”
* H. Paul Jeffers, author of “The Adventure of the Mummy’s Curse”
* Laurie R. King, author of “Mrs. Hudson’s Case”
* Tim Lebbon, author of “The Horror of the Many Faces”
* Tanith Lee, author of “The Human Mystery”
* Sharyn McCrumb, author of “The Vale of the White Horse”
* Tony Pi, author of “Dynamics of a Hanging”
* Barbara Roden, author of “The Things That Shall Come Upon Them”
* Rob Rogers, author of “The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil’s Cape”
* Robert J. Sawyer, author of “You See But You Do Not Observe” [external link]
* Darrell Schweitzer, author of “The Adventure of the Death-Fetch”
* Bradley H. Sinor, author of “The Adventure of the Other Detective”
* Mark Valentine, author of “The Adventure of the Green Skull”

Here's the cover copy:

Sherlock Holmes is back!

Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first—and most famous—consulting detective, came to the world’s attention more than 120 years ago through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels and stories. But Conan Doyle didn’t reveal all of the Great Detective’s adventures…

Here are some of the best Holmes pastiches of the last 30 years, twenty-eight tales of mystery and the imagination detailing Holmes’s further exploits, as told by many of today’s greatest storytellers, including Stephen King, Anne Perry, Anthony Burgess, Neil Gaiman, Naomi Novik, Stephen Baxter, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, and many more.

These are the improbable adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where nothing is impossible, and nothing can be ruled out. In these cases, Holmes investigates ghosts, curses, aliens, dinosaurs, shapeshifters, and evil gods. But is it the supernatural, or is there a perfectly rational explanation?

You won’t be sure, and neither will Holmes and Watson as they match wits with pirates, assassins, con artists, and criminal masterminds of all stripes, including some familiar foes, such as their old nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

In these pages you’ll also find our heroes crossing paths with H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll, and even Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and you’ll be astounded to learn the truth behind cases previously alluded to by Watson but never before documented until now. These are tales that take us from the familiar quarters at 221B Baker Street to alternate realities, from the gaslit streets of London to the far future and beyond.

Whether it’s mystery, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, no puzzle is too challenging for the Great Detective. The game is afoot!

Check it out!

Here's my most up-to-date Anticipation schedule. Unfortunately I won't be able to do all the panels they originally scheduled me for, but I'm looking forward to the panels and events below. I will also be at the Auroras Banquet.

When: Fri 12:30
Location: P-516AB
Title: I for One Welcome our New Zombie Overlords
Session ID: 583
All Participants: Dan Wells, Heather Urbanski, Steven R. Boyett,
Trisha Wooldridge, Tony Pi
Moderator: Steven R. Boyett
Description: “The fast zombie is bereft of poetic subtlety,” said
Simon Pegg, star of Shaun of the Dead. So zombies are slow,
shambling...and what else? What will the zombie apocalypse really be
like?
Duration: 1:30 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Literature in English
AV/Internet request: None


When: Sat 10:00
Location: P-512CG
Title: How to Bluff SFnal Linguistics
Session ID: 912
All Participants: Lawrence M. Schoen, Leah Bobet, Tony Pi, Geoff Hart
Moderator: Lawrence M. Schoen
Description: How to make the language sound plausible, and the
reasoning behind it.
Duration: 1:00 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Human Culture
AV/Internet request: None

When: Sun 9:00
Location: D-Royer
Title: Writing Workshop B
Session ID: 695
All Participants: Tony Pi, Eileen Gunn
Moderator:
Description: Critique session for previously submitted manuscripts

Duration: 2:00 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Creative Writing
AV/Internet request: None

When: Sun 11:00
Location: P-522A
Title: Author Reading
Session ID: 227
All Participants: Daniel Duguay, Frank Roger, Mary Robinette Kowal,
Tony Pi
Moderator:
Description: Mary Robinette Kowal; Tony Pi; Daniel Duguay; Frank
Roger.
Duration: 1:30 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Reading
AV/Internet request: None

When: Sun 14:00
Location: P-517ABC
Title: Hugo Award Rehearsal
Session ID: 1560
All Participants: Neil Gaiman, Elisabeth Vonarburg, Taral Wayne, Tom
Doherty, Julie E. Czerneda, Alan F. Beck, Aliette de Bodard, Ann
VanderMeer, Beth Meacham, Bill Willingham, Cheryl Morgan, Christopher
J. Garcia, Cory Doctorow, Darlene Marshall, Dave Howell, David Anthony
Durham, David Hartwell, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Emma Hawkes,
Farah Mendlesohn, Gord Sellar, Gordon Van Gelder, Guy H. Lillian III,
Jay Lake, John Helfers, John Kessel, Jonathan Strahan, Karl Schroeder,
Kathryn Cramer, Kevin J. Maroney, Kij Johnson, Lillian Stewart Carl,
Lou Anders, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mike Resnick, Nancy Kress, Neil
Clarke, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Paul Cornell, Paul Kincaid, Rev. Randy
Smith, Sean Wallace, Stephen H. Segal, Yves Meynard, Steve Green,
Steven H Silver, Sue Mason, Tony Pi, Claude Lalumière, Mike Glyer,
John Hertz, John Scalzi, Stanley Schmidt, Charles Stross, John
Picacio, Frank Wu, Sheila Williams, Felix Gilman, Ginjer Buchanan,
LeAmber Kinsley, Paolo Bacigalupi, Pia Guerra, Tobias Buckell
Moderator:
Description: Hugo Award Rehearsal
Duration: 2:00 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Event
AV/Internet request: None
Notes: Each presenter and nominee should drop by for about 10 minutes
between 2 and 4 Sunday afternoon to see the layout of the stage.

When: Sun 18:00
Location: P-710A
Title: Hugo Awards Reception
Session ID: 10
All Participants: Neil Gaiman, Elisabeth Vonarburg, Taral Wayne, Tom
Doherty, Julie E. Czerneda, Alan F. Beck, Aliette de Bodard, Ann
VanderMeer, Beth Meacham, Bill Willingham, Cheryl Morgan, Christopher
J. Garcia, Cory Doctorow, Darlene Marshall, Dave Howell, David Anthony
Durham, David Hartwell, Elizabeth Bear, Ellen Datlow, Emma Hawkes,
Farah Mendlesohn, Gord Sellar, Gordon Van Gelder, Guy H. Lillian III,
Jay Lake, John Helfers, John Kessel, Jonathan Strahan, Karl Schroeder,
Kathryn Cramer, Kevin J. Maroney, Kij Johnson, Lillian Stewart Carl,
Lou Anders, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mike Resnick, Nancy Kress, Neil
Clarke, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Paul Cornell, Paul Kincaid, Rev. Randy
Smith, Sean Wallace, Stephen H. Segal, Yves Meynard, Steve Green,
Steven H Silver, Sue Mason, Tony Pi, Claude Lalumière, Mike Glyer,
John Hertz, John Scalzi, Stanley Schmidt, Charles Stross, John
Picacio, Frank Wu, Sheila Williams, Felix Gilman, Ginjer Buchanan,
LeAmber Kinsley, Paolo Bacigalupi, Pia Guerra, Tobias Buckell
Moderator:
Description: Reception for the Hugo award nominees, presenters and
guests
Duration: 2:00 hrs:min
Language: English
Track: Event
AV/Internet request: None

Tags: worldcon

Lots to do before WorldCon at work and home, including last minute travel arrangements if VIA Rail goes on strike, so just a quick post for now. I'm steaming along on revisions for the Alembical 2 story, plotting a story for an anthology invite, and a sequel to The Character of the Hound. Unfortunately I cannot participate in the CityChase as I originally hoped due to a wedding invitation on the same day. There's another review in Locus of On Spec #76:

The Spring On Spec has finally arrived, with nice pieces from Jack Skillingstead and Tony Pi...Pi's "Come-From-Aways" is about a linguistics professor in Newfoundland who risks her career - and eventually much more - when she decides that a strange shipwrecked man is really the 11th century Welsh Prince Madoc. - Rich Horton

I will be one of many writers leading the Writing Workshops at WorldCon. More information about it can be found on Oz Whiston's blog here. The deadline is soon (July 25th), so if you'd like to have your story critiqued, apply soon!

Workshop instructors include:

* Laura Anne Gilman
* Richard Chwedyk
* P. C. Hodgell
* Nancy Kress
* David D. Levine
* John A. Pitts
* Karin Lowachee
* Eileen Gunn
* Jean Lorrah, Ph.D.
* Delia Sherman
* Tony Pi
* Lawrence Schoen
* Mike Shepherd Moscoe
* Colin Harvey
* Catherynne Valente
* Mindy Klasky
* Elizabeth Bear
* Jody Lynn Nye
* Mary Robinette Kowal
* Victoria Janssen
* Jay Lake
* Geoff Ryman
* Elissa Malcohn
* Larry Hodges

A review from Australia of "Come From-Aways" in On Spec #76, by James Doig of HorrorScope:

My favourite piece in the Spring 2009 issue was Tony Pi’s “Come-From-Aways” about a Viking ship that washes up in a Newfoundland harbour with a single survivor on board. Tony Pi, a linguist by profession, handles the technical material well without swamping the reader, and the ending is up-beat and satisfying.

1. The Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino, where we stayed. The room was spacious, comfortable, and had a great view of the Strip and the pools. There were three flat-screen TVs - one in the bathroom! Beautiful recreations of Venice landmarks. Highly recommended.

( Read more... )

Maybe a list of things we didn't like so much later!

Another review - this time from Gareth D. Jones at SF Crowsnest:

'Come-From-Aways' is an enjoyable yarn by Tony Pi in which a Viking long-boat washes up in Newfoundland and a forensic linguist tries to identify the origins of the only survivor on board. The insight into linguistics and the glimpses of local history and culture are fascinating. Is the mariner a prankster or has he really travelled through time? As the story develops and with it the possibilities that the voyager's arrival suggests, the story takes on a marvellous spirit of adventure culminating in an endearing and satisfying conclusion.

A review of Ages of Wonder, this time from Nader Elhefnawy at Strange Horizons. It's a great review of the anthology, and it had a few nice things to say about my story (among others):

...two of the stories—Jana Paniccia's "A Swift Change of Course" (a Japanese-influenced tale in the "Age of Sail" set) and Tony Pi's "Sphinx!" (which takes place in a city somewhat reminiscent of early twentieth century Paris)—develop fully separate alternative worlds that were simply inspired by those milieus...some add an element of fantasy to other well-defined genres—the Western in Linda A.B. Davis's "Pony Up," the archaeological horror-mystery story in Pi's "Sphinx!" and hard-boiled crime in Queenie Tirone's "A Bird in the Hand." Pi and Tirone in particular offer more than an easy tweaking of well-known conventions, Pi providing some of the most impressive world-creation in the volume...

On a different front, I'm heading to Las Vegas at some point this summer for rest and relaxation (plus novel research). Anything I shouldn't miss while there?

Whoa, it was thunderstorm-black outside and still pouring rain, so I'm having lunch inside.

"The Character of the Hound" is done at 5,700 words and sent off to the Chinese theme anthology. Feedback from Codex and a few friends was positive and useful, so I'm hopeful the editors will like this one. The milieu (war-torn 12th century China; alternate history with magic) seems like a good series setting, and I've got lots of ideas already for other stories. Doing more research now.

ETA: Almost forgot...Gardner Dozois' review of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show #11 in the June Locus says:

Also interesting in March is Tony Pi's "Tekkai Exhales His Avatar", where virtual entities maneuver and fight and double-cross each other through a game world influenced by Far Eastern metaphysics.

(The others mentioned that issue were Peter S. Beagle and Rebecca Day.)

I mentioned a while back that I was invited to speak to the students in the Science Fiction class at the English Department at the University of Toronto, and it was this afternoon. The class had read and discussed "The Stone Cipher", and I filled them in on the Writers of the Future Contest, how I came to submit to them, and the origins of the story. There was actually a very lively Q&A period, where they wanted to know things like the origins of the names, what would happen if I were to write another scene past where I stopped, how my own experiences fed into the story, and so forth. It was quite an enjoyable experience.

One thing I didn't prepare, though, was a list of my top ten authors and novels (I named a few I really enjoyed, but I haven't ranked them in a while -- reading preferences change over time too), but I promised to email the professor a copy. Maybe I'll stick to just SF authors for this, and do a separate fantasy list.

Interesting meme floating around...I haven't read The Wheel of Time, so I don't know how well this fits me. What do you think?

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Robert Jordan (1948-2007)

-13 High-Brow, -7 Violent, -19 Experimental and 7 Cynical!

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

My scavenger hunt with Stephen Kotowych and Leah Bobet last weekend went well - although we only came in second. We were so close! I have gained new respect for cryptographers after solving all those codes. Leah's an ace now at the Enigma cipher.

I'm hard at work on the Chinese anthology story, which I'm now calling "The Character of the Hound". Everything's coming together, but I only have 20 days to the deadline to finish it. The hard part was all the research, but I'm brushing up on my Chinese reading ability as I go. Parts of it will be experimental, so I hope it all hangs together in the end. Guess what I'll be doing for the next two weeks! :)

Meeting Steve Kotowych & Leah Bobet for an alternate reality game at the pub. This weekend it's an internet scavenger hunt. Never done one before, but it's supposed to have some running through town too. The pub, with free WiFi, will be our homebase until we know more.