DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

I am a huge fan of the late Roger Zelazny (pictured here), one of the three so-called "New Wave" writers who redefined the SF&F field in the sixties and seventies (bonus points if you can name the other two). Zelazny died in 1995 from cancer, far too young at 58.

My story "State of Disorder" will be translated into Hebrew for publication in Mercury, a new magazine in Israel. "State of Disorder" was first published in the long running and now defunct (again) US magazine, Amazing Stories, in 1999 (cover shown here).

It was a finalist for the Aurora Award in 2000 and was an honourable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror. This will be the eleventh appearance for this tale, and its sixth language.

I'm in Rome for the first time this week, on a business trip with some time to play tourist tacked onto the end. To mark the occasion, here are two of my stories that have previously been published in Italian.

A new monthly Romanian print magazine, Sci-Fi Magazin (yes, that's how it's spelled), will be translating and publishing my Aurora-winning short story "Scream Angel" later this year, likely in their April issue.

Well, one of my stories, at least. In 2002, my supernatural horror story “By Her Hand, She Draws You Down” was selected by Stephen Jones for the thirteenth edition of his annual The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Shortly after, director Anthony Sumner of TinyCore Pictures approached me.

TinyCore does work in a number of areas, including commercials, promotional videos, music videos, and documentaries, with a client list that includes JP Morgan Bank, Jesse Jackson, and Hootie and the Blowfish. But they also do short independent horror films, and Anthony was interested in doing a film based on the story to show at indie film festivals.

“By Her Hand, She Draws You Down” was described by the Review Journal of the American Library Association as “delightfully creepy” and “about a young woman who is driven by a mysterious hunger to sketch people and steal their life force as her horrified lover looks on.” You can read more reviews here.

I agreed, and Anthony added the project to his production schedule. Alan Rowe Kelly joined the project as co-Executive Producer. Zoe Chlanda and Jerry Murdock were cast in the lead roles of the artist Cath and her boyfriend Joe, and an award winning SciFi illustrator and Time Warner art director was commissioned to do the sketches that are such a key part of the story. They filmed on location around Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, New Jersey, during which Fangoria magazine came to the set for an interview.

Shooting finished in November, and they are currently editing the project. After that they’ll add the visual effects and the sound mix, and then it’s off to festivals. Very cool! I’m looking forward to seeing the final result. Hopefully, Anthony will let me post it here on my site.

[UPDATE: storyboard script added in March 25 blog entry.]

My story "Enlightenment," which first appeared in the UK SF magazine, InterZone, in 2004, will be reprinted in early 2008 in the upcoming anthology Desolate Places from Hadley Rille Books in the US.

My dark fantasy story "The Dancer at the Red Door" first appeared in 2007 in the DAW anthology UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS (editors Julie Czerneda and Jana Paniccia). The story inspired the artwork for the anthology's gorgeous cover (click on the thumbnail at the left to see the cover). This story is eligible to be nominated for the 2008 Hugo Award and the 2008 Aurora Award (Canada). Give it a read and, if you enjoyed it, please consider nominating. To learn how to nominate for the Aurora Award, click here. To learn how to nominate for the Hugo Award, click here.

The award-winning UK magazine, Postscripts, will be publishing my novelette "Doorways" in 2008, likely in the summer. The story is a dark SF tale of love, revenge, and a house where it's easier to get in than to get out.