Is Carhenge the power behind this?

Or a gargantuan magazine floating in orbit, put there by NASA to plug the holes in the ozone layer.

As useful as either one of those would be, when it comes to magazines, large isn’t about the form factor, it’s about circulation.  The world’s largest science fiction magazine is called Science Fiction World (SFW) and has a circulation of 300,000 magazines sold per month to a predominately student readership[1,2].  It’s estimated that the magazine is shared with two to four other people [1,2] (Oh those students, so practical and saving their money for important things like milk tea.  Can you blame them when Chinese milk tea tastes so damn good?) which puts the estimated readership at over a million readers.

You probably haven’t heard of Science Fiction World because unless you can read Mandarin, you aren’t going to go any deeper than look at the pictures.

But since I like pictures, let me share a few with you:

In the meantime, ‘let us dance.’  (Yes that old Saturday Night Live line.)  At least I’m dancing because a Mandarin translation of “KanjiKiss,” a story of Internet love, will be coming to a Chinese newsstand sometime this year, 2010.  If English is your only language, then you can read “KanjiKiss” in the Speculative Realms anthology out in eBook and book.

Sources:

[1] Science Fiction World, Wikipedia

[2] China’s Science Fiction World, Concatenation.org article

Click to get the eBook!

Yes, love is a wonderful thing.  Speculative Realms has now been released as an eBook which can be shipped anywhere, instantly!  (Or as fast as you can enter in your payment information.)  Within it, you can read about how a boy from Wyoming finds love with a woman named KanjiKiss. It’s quite scandalous really.  His family wants him to stay home and help his Dad, but they had a fight at his high school graduation party so he takes a long, long drive–a drive that ends in Seattle. He’s always loved escaping country life via the Internet. But the Internet in Seattle is incredibly more advanced. And there, he meets KanjiKiss in an online bar.

This turns into a big family fight about love and commitment.  He’s in love. His family tries to stop him from committing to this woman. Read the whole story of “KanjiKiss” in Speculative Realms, an eBook filled with thirteen other great stories. And get this: buy it before February and you can have the ebook edition for only $1 using Coupon Code: ST94L at the checkout. (It comes in pretty much every eBook format known to man, including the Kindle and IPhone).

It seems fitting to receive a story about Internet love in a format that is delivered instantly via the Internet.  But if you are still a caveman who likes books, you can click on one of the book covers you see on the right side of this web page and buy yourself something that has a good “thud” factor. After all, you can’t kill a deer with an eBook.

Here are the other stories and their authors in Speculative Realms:

• KARMA by Sasha BeattieA mother’s determination escalates to obsession as she searches for her daughter beyond the grave.
• The Widower’s Tale by Davin IrelandA reclusive hitman discovers vengeance can’t always be left for dead.
• Where Strength Lies by Karen Lee FieldWhen warrior mages try to abduct her son, a woman must trust her past to ensure her son’s future.
• Shouting at the Stone by TW WilliamsIn a world where the most powerful magic is the loudest, a mage who has lost his voice must find a way to save the woman he loves.
• Second Chance by David MeadowsA failed writer discovers that somebody is stealing his manuscripts — before he even writes them!
• To Hell and Back by Rob RosenA boy’s love for his father is endless, timeless, and deeper than the very pits of hell itself.
• The Guardian by Lyall HendersonAboard the most powerful warship in the galaxy, a soldier must sacrifice what he loves most to save his people.
• Children of Ba-Seku by Christopher DonahueA desperate prince will use one of Egypt’s darkest secrets to try and turn back bronze-wielding invaders.

Click to buy on Amazon

It’s not often I get to post on my blog about something so lurid. So bear with me, I’m quite excited! “KanjiKiss” is a short story about a young Wyoming man who is lured away from a quiet life in the countryside by sexy Internet technology. He leaves his home for Seattle and falls in love with a girl. The girl lives in Asia, and he’s never kissed her, touched her, or even been in the same room.  His family isn’t happy about the situation, and he want’s to be with her forever.

KanjiKiss is part of the Speculative Realms anthology and is filled with other great stories such as: “The Guardian” by Lyall Henderson, where a soldier aboard the most powerful warship in the galaxy must sacrifice what he loves most to save his people; or “Children of Ba-Seku” by Christopher Donahue, about a desperate prince using Egypt’s darkest secret to try and turn back technologically superior invaders.

Speculative Realms is now available on Amazon for $5.88, for a limited time only.

Well, I actually don’t know if the offer is limited.  But now that I’ve said it, you feel you’ll miss out if you don’t hurry, right?

OK, clicky, clicky. 

If you missed the Wayward Coffeehouse reading where you heard Kij’s story about cute little girls cutting up unicorns, Tim’s story about a really, really, mad scientist, or (previously at Flying Saucer Pizza) Elizabeth’s story of love and tragedy on an archeology dig, pop into Redmond’s Flying Saucer Pizza for a pizza and a beer and you could hear those stories or something completely different.

Coming to you the third Saturday of each month, are science fiction and fantasy readings from 8-10PM.  For this month, on May 16th, 8-10 PM, I and Kij Johnson, and Tim McDaniel will be there to entertain and amaze you with some pretty out-there science fiction and fantasy stories.

Oh yeah, I DARE anyone to show up as a steampunk Quaker.  That would be too cool to not photograph and blog about.

It’s fitting that this is a virtual book party.  You get to try and trap me online and ask the tough questions like, why I wrote the story, or what was I smoking.  And maybe you’ll decide I’m cool enough to have written a story you’ll want to read and you’ll buy the book.  (See it over there on the right-hand side of the webpage?  Hint!  Hint!)  

Even if you don’t buy the book, maybe you’ll have fun socializing with the other authors, and maybe you’ll find them cool enough to read a story by them (they are pretty cool, BTW) and decide to by the book.  (It’s the one with the purple cover, still over on the right-hand side of the wedpage.)  

Oh, and even if you don’t have enough scratch to buy a book, by showing up, you are automatically in a drawing to win a free one!

Now back to that guy in KanjiKiss who fell in love with a Japanese woman whose Dad drug her to Korea (she doesn’t like it there much, that’s why she’s meeting men on the Internet).  Do you think he’ll have to take out the garbage?  I mean he gave up everything he had to be with her.  What more does a guy have to do to prove his love?  Comment ladies?

Details on the party:

Date:                            1 September 2008

Time:                            For as long as it’s 1 September 2008 somewhere in the world

Place:                           http://www.runboard.com/bspeculativerealm - people who wish to participate will have to become a member of the forum, however, this shouldn’t be a problem as membership is required in order for me to contact the winners (see next point)

Prizes:                          3 copies of the book will be given away on the day (authors and staff will be excluded from the draw)

Check out the postings and the chat room and see who you run into.

==>Lancer—