My guest-editing experience for M-Brane SF has moved into a new phase. I have all but one story decided upon and the lineup for the issue is taking shape. It has been an interesting experience to be sure. I still need to provide Christopher Fletcher with introductions to each story, as well as an editorial. (I’m not sure if Christopher will also do an editorial.)
There are some very fine stories in the lineup. I had a lot of trouble deciding which story should lead. the story I originally wanted to open the issue with ran into some problems. The author apparently misread or didn’t read my email and thought it was rejected. The author subsequently sold the story elsewhere, so I lost that one, and it is a shame because it was excellent. I had about 5 other stories that I would feel comfortable leading with. One of those was a novelette, which I think is too long for an opening, so I will be putting that one in the other power position, the closing story.
Ultimately, that still left me with four stories I could use to open, and none of them really had quite the impact as the story I lost. I finally did make a choice. I don’t know if Christopher wants me spilling the beans on this yet, but it looks like we’ll have commissioned cover art. Because I know the artist’s style, I selected the story that best fit the style of the artist. That’s all I will say right now because I have no idea whether the business end of the story in question is ironed out (read: contract signed).
Still, this is shaping up to be one issue packed with some really interesting stories.