Hypnagogic State

Fantasy Magazine has a poll where readers can vote for the best story that appeared in the publication last year. The winning author will receive an unspecified prize that may or may not be laser mounted sharks. Readers can also enter into a drawing for a laser mounted shark $25 Amazon gift card.

My vote already went for Aidan Doyle’s Reading By Numbers (yay, number theory!). The full list of stories up for the vote:

Leningrad by D. Elizabeth Wasden
The Moon, a Roman Token by Darren Speegle
The Gnomes are Coast Guards by Chantel Tattoli
Teaching a Pink Elephant How to Ski by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
The Men Burned All the Boats by Patricia Russo
The Adventures of Petal by Paul Jessup
Chemical Magic by Katherine Sparrow
White Stone by Genevieve Valentine
Birds by Jean-Claude Dunyach
Jane by Nicole Kornher-Stace
The Most Dangerous Profession by Sergey Gerasimov
Shades of White and Road by Camille Alexa
Early Winter, Near Jenli Village by J. Kathleen Cheney
Garkain by Samantha Henderson
Voice like a Cello by Catherine Cheek
Revisionist History by Alison Campbell-Wise
Oh He Is by Karen Heuler
Timepiece by Gay Terry
People of Leaf and Branch by Jay Lake
Superhero Girl by Jessica Lee
Woman in Abaya with Onion by Ruth Nestvold
Lake Tahoe’s Lover by Nadia Bulkin
Trench Foot by Cate Gardner
The Water Tower by John Mantooth
The Integrity of the Chain by Lavie Tidhar
Playing with Spades by Mari Ness
Golden Lilies by Aliette de Bodard
The Vigilant by Dirk Strasser
Offerings by Stephanie Burgis
The Moon Over Tokyo Through Leaves in the Fall by Jerome Stueart
Images of Anna by Nancy Kress
The Girl in the Green Sequined Dress by Berrien Henderson
Tending the Mori Birds by Caroline Yoachim
The Good Window by Lisa Hannett
The White Part of the Apple by Emily Yersoff
Clockatrice by Tanith Lee
La Mer by Simon Logan
Jews in Antarctica by Lavie Tidhar
Undocumented by Rachel Swirksy
Light on the Water by Genevieve Valentine
In Dreams Tangible by Su-Yee Lin
A Song to Greet the Sun by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Cesare by Meghan Arkenberg
The Confessions of Prince Charming by Kelly Barnhill
My Best Friend’s Girl by Ari Goelman
Medusa Complex by Christie Skipper Richotte
Into the Monsoon by A. M. Muffaz
Reading by Numbers by Aidan Doyle
The Chrysanthemum Bride by Angela Slatter
The Raccoon’s Daughter by Nicole Kornher-Stace
The Tongue of Bees by Claire Humphrey
Choke Point by Sarah Totton

Voting closes January 25th.

Apex Magazine is asking readers to vote for the best original story published in the magazine in 2009. The 21 finalists:

“59 Beads” (4300) by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
“Overclocking” (2600) by James L. Sutter
“After the Fire” (2900) by Aliette De Bodard
“Benjamin Schneider’s Little Greys” (2100) by Nir Yaniv
“A Poor Man’s Roses” (2400) by Alethea Kontis
“To Dream of Stars: An Astronomer’s Lament” (5500) by Peter M. Ball
“Fungal Gardens” (6100) by Ekaterina Sedia
“Advertising at the End of the World” (4100) by Keffy R.M. Kehrli
“Kenny 149″ (2700) by Brad Becraft
“Pimp My Airship” (6000) by Maurice Broaddus
“She Called Me Sweetie” (4500) by Glenn Lewis Gillette
“…That Has Such People in It” (2300) by Jennifer Pelland
“Hideki and the Gnomes” (500) by Mark Lee Pearson
“Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens” (7500) by Peter M. Ball
“Waiting for Jakie” (3000) by Barbara Krasnoff
“Hindsight, in Neon” (2400) by Jamie Todd Rubin
“The Mind of a Pig” (3000) by Ekaterina Sedia
“The Puma” (6700) by Theodora Goss
“Dark Planet” (4300) by Lavie Tidhar
“Cai and Her Ten Thousand Husbands” (4500) by Gord Sellar
“On the Shadow Side of the Beast” (3900) by Ruth Nestvold
“Starter House” (5000) by Jason Palmer

Vote here. My vote went for Peter M. Ball’s brilliantly steampunk “Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens”.

Apex Magazine is one of my favorite online sources for dark science fiction. The magazine, like many independent publications, is having some troubles with financing at the moment. But there’s something easy and relatively cheap that we can all do to help.

Editor-in-chief Jason Sizemore is asking those willing to donate $10 (or more) a year to keep Apex running to email him at jason at apexbookcompany dot com. No need to send money now. He wants to see how many people would be willing to do it before officially opening up for donations.

if you blog/tweet, pass along this information to your readers/followers.

Update: If you’d like to contribute some cash to Apex, go here and become a “subscriber”. Donations of $25 or more will receive a free copy of Descended from Darkness: Apex Magazine Vol. 1 .