Tag: asimovs

Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I mentioned before here and here, my short story “Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Specialists”, originally published in the March/April issue of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, is on the Sir Julius Vogel Award ballot for best novella or novelette, and also is on the ballot for Analog’s Analytical Laboratory (voted for by readers). The Analog final results come out in mid-June, I think, but the SJVs voting is on now, with the award ceremony happening at Concatenation con in Wellington over Easter (Kudos too for the organisers of the con, pulling together something out of almost nothing – great work).

If you’re a member of Concatenation, or SFFANZ, you have voting rights, so you can access the stories through the finalists page.

They’re also available to read for free on the Analog (Daisy and Maisie) and Asimov’s (Wildest Skies) websites, through until those respective awards are announced.

But, to add to that, “Daisy and Maisie…” is available from the website now as an ebook for $2.99. Just for reading here, you can use the code DandM50 to get it for fifty percent off. Not enough. Okay. Use the code DandM100 to get it 100% off (that is, free). I can’t go any higher than that, otherwise I’m giving you money 😁. I’ll leave these codes valid through until June 15th.

The print book version will be available soon. It looks grand. Link coming when all the details are in place.

 

Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts

Chuck Grimshaw works hard in the gruelling environment orbiting Mars. Long days fixing broken equipment, on a worn out ship, in a stinky spacesuit.

His two robot helpers, Daisy and Maisie, make things bearable. Never short of a wry observation or a correction to Grimshaw’s work habits.

When disaster strikes, Grimshaw finds they have more talents than just quips and repairs.

But do they have the skills to help him survive?

 

Grab it now! Use the discount! Do a little dance!

Thank you.

Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts – Award Ballots

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

My short story “Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts”, originally published in the March/April issue of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, is on the Sir Julius Vogel Award ballot for best novella or novelette. Now, I call it a short story, but there are technical lengths for awards and the cutoff for short stories is 7,500 words… “Daisy and Maisie…” is 7,600 words. That pushes it to novelette length.

That’s all well and fine, I’m thrilled to be nominated and to make it onto the finalist ballot.

Interesting side note, my 22,000 word novella “Wildest Skies” is also on the same ballot, so I’m kind of competing with myself, with stories of very different lengths.

Again, no complaints. Not at all. I’ve been on the ballots before, and even won once, but it’s been a while. All you nice people who’ve been reading the stories have been kind enough to consider them award-worthy and to nominate them.

Thank you, thank you. It’s very appreciated.

I have friends in other categories too – Lee Murray for Best Collected work, and Best Cover for her wonderful Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud and Mel Harding-Shaw for her novel Echoes of Earthshine and also (as Melanie Harding-Shaw) for her article “Your Guide to New Zealand Fantasy Romance Novels Coming in 2024”

A full list of the finalists can be found here on the Sir Julius Vogel Awards Finalists 2025 page.

The competition will be tight, and because of other commitments I will miss the awards ceremony in April. Wish me luck, but also best of luck to the other nominees Just not in my category 😉

“Daisy and Maisie…” will be out as a standalone story in ebook and print very soon. What do you think of the cover? This is the blurb.

Daisy and Maisie, External Hull Maintenance Experts, blurb

Chuck Grimshaw works hard in the gruelling environment orbiting Mars. Long days fixing broken equipment, on a worn out ship, in a stinky spacesuit.

His two robot helpers, Daisy and Maisie, make things bearable. Never short of a wry observation or a correction to Grimshaw’s work habits.

When disaster strikes, Grimshaw finds they have more talents than just quips and repairs.

But do they have the skills to help him survive?

Wildest Skies Survival Kit

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

cumberland patch 24824 thumb babyIt’s been quiet here for a while now. My great intentions to post more frequently vanished into the world of just writing more and tinkering with the business side of writing as I work on learning. Mostly the business side. More coming on that at some point, but it’s been figuring out things like Shopify, a mailing list, Bookfunnel, Kickstarter and others.

One thing was moving the main website seanmonaghan.com over to Shopify, and grabbing the new url seanmonaghan.blog for this site. With Shopify I can sell my books directly to readers without Amazon or the others stores in between, though of course my books are still available on all of those. Got to make it as easy as possible to find the books, right?

Now, a little more immediate news. To do with the mission patch right there.

My novella “Wildest Skies” will appear in the November/ December issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction – “Our November/December 2024 issue ends the year under Sean Monaghan’s “Wildest Skies.” This thrilling novella is filled with adventures on a dangerous and deadly alien planet.”

“Wildest Skies” was a fun story to write, and it was great to stretch my legs a bit. I’ve had other stories in Asimov’s, but this is the longest yet. Longer even than my well-received “Goldie” from the January/February 2022 issue. I’m always a little stunned to appear in those esteemed pages.

When I was working on the novella, I realized there were other stories to tell in that universe. Ed Linklater was an intriguing character and, well, I’d tossed him into one adventure so why not see how he did with other adventures. Right now, there’s one story available – “Spindle Shatters” – set in the lead up to the main mission. A prequel, I suppose.

All of this will appear on the Wildest Skies Survival Kit Page – www.wildestskies.com

Spindle Shatters cover 9924 thumb

Spindle Shatters

A Wildest Skies story.

Preparing for the deep space mission on the interstellar ship Cumberland Ed Linklater and the crew run through batteries of trials and drills.

A grueling schedule.

When trouble with the training centrifuge proves almost catastrophic, Ed must face alterations to the mission profile that test him in whole new ways.

Alterations that shake him to his emotional core.

With the future in the balance of not only his career but the mission itself, Ed faces whole new challenges.

More stories coming. There will be at least five. At least, that’s how many I’ve written so far (well, I’m well into writing the fifth one now, so not far away). So far they’re all prequels. I think this my subconscious’s way of avoiding letting out spoilers about the novella. Have I ever ranted here about spoilers? Not a fan. Maybe after “Wildest Skies” is out in the world there will be some sequels.

What’s up, you ask, with the heading here? Well, “Wildest Skies” is a survival story (is that a spoiler?), and I figure survival takes a little gear. Coming soon on the page will be handy things from the Deep Space Vessel Cumberland’s inventory. Plans are afoot for a satchel, a water bottle, a towel, a cap, a windbreaker. Maybe more. Right now I’m waiting on samples. from Printful to check the quality of the items themselves and how my designs look.

Here’s one, for the windbreaker, on one of the Printful models. Still just a draft, though. More news soon.

jacket on model

 

shard of tempered thumbAnother story, Shards of Tempered Glass will be out soon too.

Ed Linklater discovers cracked glass on one of the deep space vessel Cumberland’s tender craft. The  damage jeopardizes the entire mission.

Light years from Earth, Ed and crew must figure out a solution. With limited resources and no way to contact home, it takes everything they have.

And then some.

A prequel story to the novella “Wildest Skies”.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading. Stay in touch!

 

Chasing Oumuamua – new story in Asimov’s

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 1 Comment

 

IMG_20190523_082919With the vagaries of postage, I had two publications arrive in the mail a couple of days apart.

A couple of days back, I mentioned my story in New Zealand literary magazine Landfall.

A while before, I mentioned my story “Chasing Oumuamua” in the May/June issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. I said enough then enough then, but receiving the actual artifact is always exciting. This is my seventh story in Asimov’s (my second this year), and I’m still surprised each time. Little old me, next to other authors like Jay O’Connell and Ian R. MacLeod. Wow.

Now, I have no more stories lined up for the rest of the year. I will be self-publishing some, of course, and I’m submitting stories all the time.

Hoping to have Red Alliance, the sequel to my middle grade novel Blue Defender, out by the end of June. Lots of business things keeping me busy too.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Chasing Oumuamua in Asimov’s

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

ASF_MayJune2019_400x570Following “Ventiforms” in the January – February 2019 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction, I’m privileged to have have a new story “Chasing Oumuamua” in the May – June issue.

“Chasing Oumuamua” is, I guess, another of my family relationships story. Ultimately I think most of my stories are along those lines. Even when there’s lots of stuff blowing up and people hanging onto blistering railings by their fingertips.

‘Oumuamua was the name given to a chunk of interstellar flotsam (or possibly jetsam) that flittered through our solar system (well, it’s still within the solar system, just that it’s on its way out and we can’t actually see it any more), first noticed in 2017.

‘Oumuamua comes from the Hawaiian ‘oumuamua, meaning scout (forgive me if I have the wrong), and I kind of like that name. Just a little scout, coming to take a look around. There’s a good overview on Wikipedia. Yes, the apostrophe comes first – something I neglected in my story.

 

While I’m here (I’m not here as often as I should be, but perhaps that’s a good thing), I’ll mention one or two other things.

I have another story coming out in Landfall, the Autumn 2019 issue which should be out in the next few weeks. “Landslide Country” is me heading into more literary territory, with a story about a retired woman finding herself coming of age, I suppose.

Landfall is New Zealand’s iconic literary magazine and I’m grateful to editor Emma Neale for taking the story. This will be my third appearance in Landfall’s pages, which is kind of cool.

This is also the first year where I’ve had three pro stories come out. Not a bad first half. I’m still somewhat startled that I’ve had even one at all, ever 🙂 I mean, seriously look at the names on the cover of Asimov’s there! Holy Money.

I’m still blogging on Pro Writers Writing – every Monday morning a new post comes out. That’s taking a little energy away from here, too, I guess. That’s okay. It stretches my brain. I am thinking that I’ll collate my posts maybe next year into a little book of my take on how to be a writer.

I do try to stay a few posts ahead on that. My posts there are a little like here too, somewhat stream of consciousness. They also come in bursts. Sometimes I’ll write three in a week, sometimes I’ll see next Monday looming and wonder what the heck I’m going to ramble about.

VentiformsAlso, “Ventiforms” my story from Asimov’s this past January, will be out as a standalone ebook on May 31st. Just in time for Geysercon. I’m moderating a panel, and sitting on another. I hope to have some print copies available for release at the con too.

Wonderful evocative illustration for the story by Kerem Gogus there. I like the image, and it’s forced me to shift around the type in places I wouldn’t normally put it. I don’t know what a professional designer would make of it, but I like it.

I’ll fill in more on Geysercon and other things in another post soon.

 

 

Asimov’s Readers’ poll.

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 3 Comments

asimovs-cover-jan-2016Asimov’s Science Fiction hold reader polls each year – where readers get the chance to vote for their favorite story from the past year’s issues.

I’m honored that my story “Crimson Birds of Small Miracles” is a finalist in the short story category. Amazed really.

The full list of finalists, in all categories is on the Asimov’s website.

The story is also a finalist in New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, so I’m doubly honored.

And, triply cool is that the fabulous cover image by artist Maurizio Manzieri for the story is also a finalist in the Asimov’s Awards. I’ll be releasing the story later in the year as a standalone ebook, with an alternative illustration that Maurizio has graciously licensed to me.

Exciting times. Fingers crossed.

___________

As a bonus, most of the stories are available for a limited time to read online for free at the site.

Crimson Birds of Small Miracles – story in January/February Asimov’s

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 10 Comments

asimovs-cover-jan-2016My story “Crimson Birds of Small Miracles” is out now in the January-February issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. 2017 marks the 40th year of Asimov’s. I’m honored to be included, and extra-honored to have my story illustrated for the cover with wonderful art by Maurizio Manzieri.

C.J. Penn does everything he can for his ailing daughter, including traveling across worlds in search of relief from her symptoms. When they find the opportunity to witness the displays of Shilinka Switalla’s crimson birds, Penn leaps at the opportunity.

The issue should be out in bookstores now, and it’s also available as an ebook from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and others.

Maurizio was kind enough to share with me (and grant permission for me to share here), the original image and his study work for the birds themselves. I’m thrilled with these. The images capture the story so well.

“Wakers” in Asimov’s Science Fiction, August 2016 issue.

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 6 Comments

71mt-lhxg1l-_sl1024_My story “Wakers” is out now in the August issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. This is the third of my stories editor Sheila Williams has selected, and it continues to be a humbling honor. I’m stunned to see my name on the cover. It was a teenage dream to ever be published in Asimov’s, let alone see that.

I’m sharing these pages with some established authors – Sandra McDonald, James Alan Gardner, Jason Sanford, Kathe Koja & Carter Scholz (who doesn’t seem to have a website, and whose name some websites have as Sholz. He’s also a composer of music, which is kind of cool) – and some newcomers like me, Sieren Damsgaard Ernst and Matthew Claxton (sorry, can’t find links for them right now).

The issue has been out for a couple of weeks, though right now I’m still waiting for my subscriber’s copy. A disadvantage of living halfway around the world. Still can’t wait to get my hands on it.

“The Molenstraat Music Festival”‘s wonderful life

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

aurealis2016bMy story “The Molenstraat Music Festival”, published in the September 2015 issue of Asimov’s has surprised and delighted me with some of the notice it’s garnered.

Firstly it was a finalist in Australia’s Aurealis Awards in the Best Novella Category. The prize went to Garth Nix, a lauded and celebrated writer.

Next it showed up as a finalist in the Asimov’s Readers’ Awards in the Best Novelette Category (word counts vary as to what makes a novelette and what makes a novella). The estimable Michael Swanwick and Gregory Frost‘s co-written work Lock Up Your Chickens and Daughters H’ard and Andy Are Come to Town! took that award.

As part of the Asimov’s Readers’ Awards, most of the finalists are available to read for free at their website. Click here for The Molenstraat Music Festival.

Lastly, the story was a finalist for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards, losing to the extraordinary Octavia Cade. Nice to see Octavia has a story forthcoming in Asimov’s too. It was fun to hang out with other writers at Au Contraire and the awards ceremony a few weeks back.

I had a finalist in the short  story category of the Sir Julius Vogel Awards too, “The Harsichord Elf” from A.C. Buchanan‘s Capricious online magazine. The talented Lee Murray‘s story “The Thief’s Tale” won the award.

I’m thrilled to be nominated, and honored and humbled to be among such remarkable company. All this feels like a kid’s dream really.