#16 RELEASED

M-Brane #16 PDF edition was distributed to subscribers this morning. The print version is available in the Lulu store. Thanks again to the writers for their great stories, and to the zine's many readers for their continued support. I will be mostly offline for the next couple of days as I relocate.

M-BRANE #16 COMING...this week sometime!

Sometime between tonight and Saturday May 1, I will release the terrific sixteenth issue of M-Brane SF. Sorry to be so indefinite about it, but I am now (finally) in the midst of the move back to STL and will need to fit in this project where I can. It's basically ready to go, just doing a bit more proofreading on it. It will feature amazing work by Glenn Gillette, Kay Holt, TJ McIntyre, Michael Andre-Driussi, Sean Eads and Bob Labar. In the meantime, here's a video to watch:

M-BRANE #16 contents announced

M-Brane #16 releases in a few days with an exciting and unusual assortment of stories. Here's the table of contents:


"Why Look Down?" by Glenn Lewis Gillette
"Pieces of You" by Kay T. Holt
"This Electronic Life" by T.J. McIntyre
"Passion in the Year 2090" by Sean Eads
"Mad Dogs of Mercury" by Michael Andre-Driussi
"Wake" by Bob Labar

Glenn Lewis Gillette is the author of this zine's first story ever, appearing last year on page one of M-Brane #1, while T.J. McIntyre appeared in M-Brane #3. Michael Andre-Driussi has appeared twice recently in M-Brane. New to our pages are Kay T. Holt, co-editor of Crossed Genres; Sean Eads, a reference librarian and writer from Colorado; and Bob Labar who makes his print debut with his unusual and experimental story.

Dhalgren on stage

I was astonished when I saw this review by Jo Walton of a stage play based on Samuel Delany's Dhalgren. I was dazzled by tbe very idea. I had that same feeling that I have while asleep in recurring dreams when I discover that there exist "lost episodes" original Star Trek. But evidently it's real, this on-stage reimagining of Delany's magnum opus, a play titled Bellona, Destroyer of Cities.


Dhalgren elicits a wide range of reactions. Writers that I admire almost as much as Delany, such as Ellison and Dick, said unflattering things about it, while others, like Sturgeon, heaped highest praise on it. It seems like a lot of people have started reading it and then given up on it. But I adore it. I don't know if I can say firmly that  it's the single greatest novel I have ever read, but it would certainly be in the top five. It's not just a stunning achievement of speculative fiction, it is a towering triumph of American literature penned by one of the most literate and subversive writers ever to write sf.

That book maintains a sort of garrison in my imagination and I am always waiting and looking for the next thing that will astonish and thrill as deeply as it did. It's a fairly fresh memory, since I read it for the first time in the fall of 2008 in several intense sessions, patience fraying when I had to break to go to work or to sleep, needing to get back to it ASAP. Frequently, when I am between books, I consider rereading it, but I refrain because I don't always need the reminder of how small and inept my own imagination and writing are in contrast. But when I made my attempt at NaNoWriMo last November, I used Dhalgren as a sort of cultural touchstone for my characters, and inserted as a plot detail a fictitious readers' discussion of the book on the Diane Rehm Show.

Now that there has been a play, I wonder if there could ever be a movie? It would probably suck, but it's still fun to imagine.

Another progress report

Though a period of extreme day-jobbery followed by a period of out-town-travel and a grueling search for our new home put me well behind on all projects, I can report happily that the M-Brane slush-pile is caught up through April 10. Stories have been booked for the May issue, and I will announce the TOC soon. It's a really good one! Also, just today, I completed a sort of rough advance reader copy of The Aether Age for the multi-media crew to look at, and we are getting very, very close to being able to turn the final product over to our publisher, Eric at Hadley Rille Books. That print-out that I'm holding in my hand is something like the way first page of each story will probably be formatted. That element at the top is a segment of a timeline highlighting the main "historical" event of the story along with a couple of events that are thought to have happened before and after. This is a very fancy project!

In other news, I recently actually finished a short story and submitted to a zine. And it was accepted. I'm not sure if I am supposed to talk about it yet because I don't think they have announced their TOC yet, but I am quite pleased about it. I have so many works-in-progress that never get done and I haven't subbed anything to anyone in a long time, so it was very encouraging experience to finally do so and get a great response.

Progress report

I can't believe I have not posted to this page since the release of M-Brane #15. I have a good excuse, however: we have been deep in the process of getting ourselves moved back to STL, and for most of the past week have been there working on finding a new home to rent. I'm happy to report success on that, and also on finding a decent new day job. We leave OKC by May 1.

To writers with submissions pending: I am sorry for my recent rather slow response times, but I intend to catch up within a few days. A few writers will be getting the exciting news that have had stories accepted for M-Brane #16. Yes, it's April 8 and I have not yet booked a single story for the May 1 issue. But I swear I will soon, and news of the next table of contents will show up right here in a few days.