Just for fun, I've been toying with ideas for a sequel to "Ack-Ack Macaque". These are the titles I've come up with so far:
TTA Press have just announced their new podcast site, Transmissons From Beyond. Every other Monday, they'll broadcast a new story taken from one of their magazines - Crimewave, Black Static or Interzone.
I have already been working with Pete Bullock to produce audio versions of my two Interzone stories - "The Last Reef" and "Ack-Ack Macaque" - and they will both make an appearance on the site in due course.
The first review of The Last Reef is now online at The Fix, and it's positive. The reviewer, Rae Bryant, writes:
"In The Last Reef, Powell holds a cross-section of science, nature, and technology in his quintessential human hand and gives it a roll across the universal table. What turns up is an eclectic mix of possibility, tragedy, and hope—a gamble worth betting on."
And:
"Powell’s depth and breadth of characterization work, and his settings are truly impressive. His work displays a willingness to show truths and flaws for what they are, rather than gratuitously exaggerating only strengths. With his instinct for subtlety, Powell is an author to watch. His work is the spyglass of science fiction, the ship just over the horizon."
Read the full review here: http://thefix-online.com/reviews/the-last-reef/
The new issue of Interzone is here, including the results of the 2007 Readers' Poll.
As you already know, my story "Ack-Ack Macaque" came first in the poll, closely followed by stories from Grace Dugan and Alastair Reynolds.
Included with the results in the magazine this year are a selection of comments from the voters. There were a couple of complimentary ones about "Ack-Ack Macaque" - and only one negative one, which made me laugh out loud because it described the characters as "petty and unpleasant hipsters".
Coming first in this poll means a great deal to me, as it was my ambition for many years to sell a story to Interzone, and I'm absolutely delighted that now I've had two featured in the magazine, both have enjoyed an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from the readership.
I'm delighted to see the readers of Interzone have voted "Ack-Ack Macaque" as their favourite short story of 2007.
I'm very pleased and surprised with this accolade for three reasons: 1) because my story was up against some very strong writing from some excellent authors, 2) because Interzone's always been the standard against which I've measured my success, and 3) because this poll was voted for by the readers of the magazine, and shows there's an audience out there for the kind of stuff I'm writing.
This is the second year running I've had a story placed highly in this poll, and I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me.
You can see a list of the full results here: http://ttapress.com/441/2007-interzone-readers-poll-results
If you are a member of the British Fantasy Society, you may like to know that my short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" is eligible to be recommended in the short fiction category for a BFS Award...
If you missed the printed version, you can read my short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" by purchasing an electronic copy of Interzone 212 from Fictionwise.
Don't forget to vote for my short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" in the Annual Interzone Reader's Poll: You can cast your vote online at: http://ttapress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=456
I'm very proud and pleased to say that my short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" has been nominated for a British Science Fiction Association award for best short story of 2007. This is the second consecutive year that one of my stories has been nominated for this prestigious award.
I would like to remind you that you can vote for my short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" in the Annual Interzone Reader's Poll. Voting starts with the new issue of Interzone, available next week. I came sixth in this poll last year with my story "The Last Reef" - and I hope to do well again this year.
And while we're on the subject, the following stories are all eligible for the Preditors & Editors reader's choice poll, should you feel like nominating any of them.
2007 was the year my story - "Ack-Ack Macaque" - appeared in Interzone.
It also saw the following publications:
Plus, I:
Of the stories that I personally contributed, my favourites were:
I also published my second collection of poetry - Los Muertos & Other Poems - five of which were included in the October issue of the BSFA's Focus magazine:
And last but not least, 2007 saw the announcements that:
"Ack-Ack Macaque" gets another mention in Colin Harvey's review of Interzone 213 on Suite101.com.
In his review of Interzone 212, Blue Tyson calls "Ack-Ack Macaque" a "high point" of the issue and sums the plot up in one succinct sentence:
"Everybody loves the monkey until it goes a bit Skynet."
In his review of Interzone 212, Neale Monks writes:
Next up is the delightfully-named 'Ack-Ack Macaque' by Gareth Lyn Powell. The author plays with the idea of what happens when the Fourth Wall between the protagonists of the tale and their fictional creation collapses. The mechanism chosen for this catastrophe is clever enough to be plausible without too much technobabble being required and Powell manages to pull the thing off remarkably well in what is basically a humorous, lightweight tale. There's also a very British (ie gloomy) love story going on in the background, as well as some decent satirical swipes at what happens to characters in comic novels when Hollywood decides to turn them into cash-cows. All in all, a fun story and one of the best in this particular issue of 'Interzone'.
From: http://interzone.blogdrive.com/
Começa com "Feelings of the flesh" de Douglas Elliott Cohen mas confesso que gostei mais da short story de Gareth Lyn Powell com o titulo "Ack-Ack Macaque". Em apenas quatro paginas este conto descreve-nos a historia de Tori e seus namorados Andy e Josh, em que numa animação por computador criada por Tori e postriormente transformada num jogo on-line pela empresa de Josh, sai fora de controlo e tras o caos e o apocalipse perante a impotência e desespero deles.
My short story "Ack-Ack Macaque" receives two mentions in the December issue of Locus magazine - the professional journal of science fiction and fantasy publishing. Nick Gevers and Rich Horton both mention it in their review columns. In particular, Rich Horton writes:
"Ack-Ack Macaque" is a weird, sad story about a man's relationship with a woman who writes a web-based anime series about a monkey airship pilot, named, of course, Ack-Ack Macaque. She leaves him for a guy who wants to promote the comic - and he tries to commit suicide. And Ack-Ack Macaque begins to change too - or perhaps come to life. The tone is best here - the protagonist's flaky despair is beautifully caught.
Rich Horton picks out "Ack-Ack Macaque" as one of his favourite Interzone stories of 2007:
My favorite Interzone short story was "Heartstrung", by Rachel Swirsky (June), with its powerful central metaphor of girls removing their hearts and sewing them to their sleeves as part of their passage to adulthood. I also liked Beth Bernobich's "A Handful of Pearls" (October), a dark story about a scientist investigating an isolated island who has a troubled history -- only too disturbingly replicated when his team discovers a girl from a humanlike species on the island. Another good one is Gareth Lyn Powell's "Ack-Ack Macaque" (October), about a man's failed relationship with a woman who writes a successful anime about a monkey airship pilot. (One does wonder, between this story and the Blaschke story and David Mole's "Finisterra" in F&SF, if some stories aimed at the delightful anthology of a couple of years ago, All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories (co-edited by Moles, actually), didn't get finished in time for that book and are now appearing.) And I enjoyed Benjamin Rosenbaum's "Molly and the Red Hat" (December), a neat tale about a very young girl and her magical hat and how it saved her brother. M. John Harrison's "The Good Detective" (April), about missing persons -- people lost to the pressures or the existential stress of contemporary life. It's quite beautifully written. Other good stories came from Jay Lake, Stephen Francis Murphy, Aliette de Bodard, Tim Akers, and Ahmed A. Khan.
In a review of Interzone 212, SF Signal says:
"...212 is chock full of stories. The standouts being: 'Feelings of the Flesh' by Douglas Elliot Cohen (a unique story with creature who can steal a person's senses), 'Ack-Ack Macaque' by Gareth Lyn Powell (about an underground comic character that becomes very powerful), and 'The Algorithm' by Tim Akers (a clockpunk story where God is of the machine, the best of the issue)."
SFRevu calls the stories in Interzone 212 "edgy but good" and conclues that Interzone is still "the best science fiction magazine on the market."
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