Quick Sips 11/26/2021

Still kinda struggling to catch up here, but that’s not to say I’m not getting to a lot. This week I’m mostly in November releases, though I do dip back to pick up an October issue I missed (October was really fucking full). First it’s two weeks of Strange Horizons, then the November Clarkesworld. Then back to pick up October’s The Future Fire. Then November’s The Deadlands, a Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Diabolical Plots. Alas, I’m not caught up on either Strange Horizons or Beneath Ceaseless Skies, to say nothing of the Escape Artist releases, but I’m trying. Well and truly. I’ll get there eventually.

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!

2021 Awards Eligibility Post - Charles Payseur and Quick Sip Reviews

In many ways, 2020 was supposed to be my swan song. I was planning to cut back and give myself more time for other projects that weren't reviewing. In that, dear readers, I failed. Miserably. Instead, I've made 2021 the busiest year to date for me and reviewing. I've already covered over 1500 works of short SFF, and by the end of the year I expect that number will be over 1700. So...it's still I guess rather front and center that I make an eligibility post both for my work as a writer (more on that in a bit) and as a fan writer. To that, I am eligible for...

The Hugo Awards - Best Fan Writer - Charles Payseur
The Hugo Awards - Best Fanzine - Quick Sip Reviews

Any other award that covers blogging, reviewing, or similar

Now, for this my body of work is most evident here at Quick Sip Reviews, where every week this year I have covered a whole slew of works, plus added commentary on life and other things that I'm doing, watching, reading, etc. I also write on my Patreon, for free and exclusively for Patrons. I had five X Marks the Story posts at The Book Smugglers. I have done a number of interviews. To say at this point that I am prolific in my fan work is not to understate things. Being Midwestern, it's easy to think humility is to downplay the work I've done but to be honest, give that the year has nearly broken me in ways I wasn't even expecting, I do want to say that what I have done is perhaps without precedent. Not only over 1000 reviews, but well over that mark. It's...a lot. 

And that's not even all this year. I also had a number of stories out, mostly in my collection, The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories. Which itself is eligible for awards that honor collections. Plus I'm not an editor! Eep! But first for writing, I am eligible for...

Short Story Awards - "Just Toonin'" in The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories
Short Story Awards - "Door Thirteen" in The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories
Short Story Awards - "Little Blue Men" in The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories

Collection Awards - The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories (Lethe Press)

And finally, as stated, I'm now series editor for We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction so I should say that I'm eligible for...

Anthology Awards - We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020 ed. C.L. Clark, series ed. Charles Payseur (Neon Hemlock Press)

Short Fiction Editor Awards - C.L. Clark & Charles Payseur (We're Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020)

And there you have it. Consider my hat officially in the ring for all the things. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Quick Sips 11/19/2021

So it’s another busy week of reviews, if not quite so full as the week before. But I’m done with October for the most part so it’s all November issues I’m looking at today. I start with Lightspeed and things get grim as I look at Nightmare, The Dark, and Apex one after the other. Things get a little brighter (though there’s perhaps a death theme moving through the field this month) with Uncanny and Fireside Magazine. There are all issues that send my review copies, which I super appreciate, and which means I can get to them a little earlier. Next week I’ll try to hit the latest Clarkesworld as well as catch up on Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, the Escape Artists, and more. Stay tuned!

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips 11/12/2021

Well I can’t say I’m not firing on all cylinders this week, as my review load just to get through the October content I hadn’t covered already meant I had to do a lot of reading and reviewing. It also means that yeah, I only cover October content this week, despite it being decidedly November. But I did get through all the October Escape Artists original offerings (except the special, which honestly, I have no idea how to cover, so I might just skip that for now). But that’s three episodes of Cast of Wonders, two each of Escape Pod and Pseudopod, and a special flash fiction edition of PodCastle. Plus the Fund Drive issue of Strange Horizons and the latest from Samovar. Plus October’s Diabolical Plots, Tor, and Mermaids Monthly. And if all that weren’t enough, Omenana released a late issues as well, and seems to be planning to release another before the end of the year. So yeah, any hopes of breezing into 2022 are pretty much gone. Still, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it. Onward.

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips 11/05/2021

So I’m back from vacation but I’m not exactly back up to speed yet. And my brain is apparently all over the place, because I jumped into November reads before realizing that there’s still a bunch of October stuff that I haven’t gotten to yet. Shit! But so it goes, I guess. This week I’ll be covering the October The Deadlands and Shoreline of Infinity and then jumping ahead to November’s Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine. If I had been clever I would have done October’s Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Escape Artist podcasts like I had planned, but alas, I did not. Those will have to wait as I scramble to locate my brain going forward. Good times!

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!