The Science of Fiction

The Gondolier in Francoprovençal

2009-11-06T20:10:00.003+07:00

My ongoing quest to discover new worldwide SF markets has led me to find out about many of the regional or minority languages spoken in Europe. One of those is Francoprovençal, spoken by 150,000 people in France, Italy and Switzerland, according to Ethnologue. Like many of these minority languages, I didn't find a publishing outlet in Francoprovençal, but I did find a freindly translator. So, here is The Gondolier in its 25th language:

Lo Gondolèro

Lo bot nè de ma gondola findet brâvamin les égues calmes dous canâs.
La jôya imbarcassion me sarvèsset depu bien de sèzons. Menâ pe le mans de mos anciens, l'ayet condu de rinches de monsus su los canâs de la citâ.
Le solè se couchâve su la viyi citâ. L'éga simblâve changia in na banda d'incra panchia intre los biôs imeûblos avoué you davans in pira. J'aspiri fôrtamin l'ar refredi dou devèssè.
O i ayet-o on qu'o fusse in indret plu biô que cela marviyeûza citâ de canâs? Dou tin que lo balancimin dou batiô s'amodurâve din son amarrajo, je chômi na brèza per apinchi lo ciar dou mè de Mâr à bôr de nè.

Translated by Claude Longre

Gondolier Bibliography

2009-11-03T20:53:00.007+07:00

Many of the translations of The Gondolier appear on this site rather than an official publication. This is mostly because many of the languages don't have any SF magazines, or even any literary magazines in some cases. Here's a complete bibliography of The Gondolier so far. I'll keep this up to date and add a link on the side bar.

Basque – The Science of Fiction
Breton – The Science of Fiction
Catalan – MLN Languages
Cornish – An Garrak (Forthcoming)
Dutch – Looking for a home
English - Illuminations
Esperanto – I Antologia Luzidoj (Forthcoming)
Francoprovençal - The Science of Fiction
French – Under submission
Glosa - The Science of Fiction
Greek – Ef Zin #15
Hebrew – Under submission
Hindi – Vigyan Katha
Irish - The Science of Fiction
Latin - The Science of Fiction
Manx - The Science of Fiction
Mirandes – Flores Mirandesas
Portuguese – I Lusiadas (Forthcoming)
Romanian – SF Era
Russian – Under submission
Scots - The Science of Fiction
Scottish Gaelic - The Science of Fiction
Spanish – Efimeras #124 and Quimicamente Impuro
Swedish – Under submission
Welsh – Under submission

Book Review: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

2009-11-02T20:03:00.002+07:00

The first time I read the Hitchhiker books there was a gap of several months between each volume. Every time I started a book I struggled to remember what was going on and how Arthur Dent, still in his dressing gown, had ended up in his current situation. The second time I read the series it was almost one after the other, yet I still had the same problem. Eventually, and certainly by the third reading, I realised it doesn’t really matter. Almost everything that happens to the characters is bizarre and inexplicable, yet somehow follows its own quirky internal logic.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Red Claw by Philip Palmer

2009-11-02T20:02:00.002+07:00

Far in the future, mankind is ruled with an iron fist by a galaxy-spanning corporation that breeds soldiers, terraforms planets relentlessly and routinely commits genocide. Red Claw takes place on New Amazon, a planet of rampant jungle and insidious wildlife. Professor Richard Helms leads an expedition sent to explore and classify the wildlife before it is wiped out during the terraforming process. Philip Palmer doesn’t hold back on extravagant plot twists, bizarre alien biology and larger-than-life characters. At the risk of sounding cliched, it’s a roller-coaster ride: through destruction, intrigue, murder and chaos.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2009-11-02T19:59:00.001+07:00

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is one of those books that made such an impact on its release that it has become a movement as much as a book. The new thirtieth anniversary edition continues the quirkiness of the trilogy, featuring a badge, postcards and a DIY cover with a selection of stickers. For those new to the Hitchhiker phenomenon and now slightly puzzled, yes there are five volumes in the trilogy.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Anthology Delay

2009-10-27T20:44:00.002+07:00

My second anthology appearance of the year has been delayed until next year. Quantum Genre on the Planet of Arts, an anthology of quantum genre stories, will now be appearing in April 2010. It will include a revised version of my story Fluctuations.

Two Year Acceptance

2009-10-26T19:00:00.002+07:00

A Few Good Men, my first professional sale, has been accepted by long-running semi-pro Hungarian magazine Galaktika. The reply came just over 2 years after I submitted the story - a lesson in patience to all authors. No confirmed publication date yet, but it looks like a fantastic print magazine.

This is the third langauge for A Few Good Men, having already been translated into Spanish for Argentine webzine La Idea Fija.

Now Reading

2009-10-23T20:07:00.002+07:00

This week I've finished Trevor Denyer's excellent debut collection The Edge of the Country, and read Jupiter XXVI, in which I particularly enjoyed David Conyers' The Octagon.

Today I've started on Paul McCauley's Gardens of the Sun, and after much translatlantic delay, my contributor copy of Pow!erful Tales finally arrived. It's a shiny-looking book with lots of atmospheric pencil drawings to accompany the superhero stories.

Further Spanish Translations

2009-10-20T19:13:00.003+07:00

The Spanish translation of Up To My Neck In It is now on-line at Aurora Bitzine, with a couple of great illustrations to go with it. This is my ninth story in Spanish. Five of these have been reprinted, and another three stories accepted for translation and publication.

I also had an email from a different translator at Aurora Bitzine who is working on Roadmaker for a future issue. I submitted this months earlier and never heard back, but apparently they now have an extra translator so they seem to be going through their submissions backlog. Not sure when that will appear yet.

The Gondolier in Mirandes

2009-10-19T18:16:00.002+07:00

The Gondolier has been translated into its 24th language: Mirandes, a language related to Portuguese. The translation, along with the original English, appears on the Mirandes community blog Froles Mirandesas.

Many of The Gondolier translations appear on this site rather than having been published externaly, so this story is my 13th officially published language, the 6th for The Gondolier, and my 75th publication all together!

New Twitterfiction

2009-10-13T19:38:00.002+07:00

My twitterfic Imagine is out on Thaumotrope today. Technically it was out yesterday, but due to time differences I didn't see it till today. Of course, it's shorter than this blog entry!

Latest Magazines

2009-10-12T18:23:00.003+07:00

Jupiter XXVI: Isonoe is on its way, which I'm looking forward to. Of all the magazines I've read, Jupiter most closely matches my taste in stories.

Also out this week is the latest issue of Estronomicon, described this time as being darker than usual.

Go, read, and enjoy yourself!

Two More Magazines Are Lost

2009-10-08T19:03:00.003+07:00

Sad news for the genre magazine world this week, though this is the first I've reported for quite some time.

Web-based fiction mag Pantechnicon is to cease publication. The final issue will be in December. The site has been experiencing technical difficulties, so the final issue will appear on the website of Theaker's Quarterly Fiction.

Also coming to an end after 21 issues is Death Ray, the news stand genre magazine, as reported at SF Crowsnest.

Strict Guidelines

2009-10-05T19:26:00.002+07:00

Standard manuscript format for writing fiction is well-defined and well-established, though many short fiction markets aren't too strict on the details. I was looking at formatting for screenplays at the weekend, and it's a hundred times more exacting. There are so many rules for font and alignment, depending on what you're writing! Luckily you can download free screenplay writing software that keeps it all straight for you. That's only the begining though. There's also an endless list of abreviations, conventions and other rules.

Now you're all wondering why I was looking into screenplay formatting, aren't you? Well, that's another story...

Intriguing Tagline

2009-10-02T19:12:00.003+07:00

The audio stories published on Hypersonic Tales can now be accessed via podcast site such as HuffDuffer and PodCastAlley. The tagline for my story Up To My Neck In It is:

Speculative fiction story about sewage.

Now, who could resist that?

Shooting Stars

2009-10-01T19:44:00.002+07:00

Rufus Balikind, the galaxy's greatest hunter, appears on Big Pulp today in the flash fiction story Shooting Stars.

I have 2 other short stories featuring the inestimable Mr Balikind. Hopefully they'll also appear on-line one day.

Foreign Market Update

2009-10-01T18:10:00.003+07:00

Doug Smith has updated his Foreign Markets List this week. It now includes several of the markets that I've had stories published in recently. It was this website that got me hooked on the idea of translations and Doug has done a great job of keeping it up-to-date for several years.

Update from Brazil

2009-09-30T19:33:00.003+07:00

The Lusiadas website has been updated with more information about their upcoming flash fiction e-anthologies. The Gondolier will be appearing in the Portuguese anthology I Lusiadas and in the Esperanto anthology I Antologio Luzidoj.

Book Reveiw: Wireless by Charles Stross

2009-09-28T20:09:00.002+07:00

I stood next to Charles Stross at Eastercon a couple of years ago. He was signing books in the dealer hall. I didn’t know who he was until he walked away and I could see which books he’d signed. At that point I’d not read any of his work, so I was relieved that I’d not spoken to him and had to admit as much. I was very pleased therefore to be reading Wireless, the new short story collection that showcases his work with stories ranging from flash fiction to novella length.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

The Catalan Gondolier

2009-09-27T17:22:00.002+07:00

Linguist Jim Morrison has arranged for The Gondolier to be translated into Catalan. You can read and listen to the translation over on his website. This is the 23rd language for The Gondolier, and the first translation you can listen to.

Books I’ve read more than once

2009-09-25T19:16:00.001+07:00

The 30th anniversary editions of the Hitchhiker trilogy arrived yesterday, some of the few books that I’ve read more than once. There’s always so much else to read I rarely have time for a second reading. Here’s my list of novels I’ve read more than once.

Three Times

The Last Legionary Quartet – Douglas Hill
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lord of the Rings (age 11, 13 & 15)
The Hobbit “
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy vol. 1-4

Twice

The original 2 Dune trilogies (re-read after reading the prequels)
The original Foundation saga “
Dragonflight – Anne McCaffrey

How about you?

Not Writing

2009-09-24T21:31:00.004+07:00

I haven't written any fiction for a week or more. A new job and attempting to finish refurbishing my new house have left me with no time or brain power.

I have managed to finish reading Charles Stross' collection Wireless and written a review for SF Crowsnest. I'm now reading Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles - The Complete Edition (750 pages!). Lined up next I have Interzone #224 and Philip Palmer's Red Claw, plus the latest re-issue of the Hitchhiker trilogy (in 5 parts).

Hopefully, normal writing service will resume shortly...

Comic Art

2009-09-18T19:23:00.004+07:00

I've found an artist to work on with my new 2-page comic script. He's working on the rough sketches as we speak, so I should get my first glimpse next week. It's a brilliant feeling to know your ideas are being brought to life this way. :o)

Spanish Dozen

2009-09-14T18:28:00.001+07:00

Up To My Neck In It, published last month in Hypersonic Tales, has been accepted by Spanish webzine Aurora Bitzine. No confirmed publication date yet, but this will be my 12th story in Spanish.

Travel to Galicia

2009-09-12T17:37:00.000+07:00

My story Travel by Numbers that first appeared in Nature magazine last year has been translated into its fifth language. You can now read it in Galician on the website Nova Fantasia. That's my ninth new language this year.