No News Like Bad News

Cometh more bad: Sara Nelson laid off at PW, ironically on the same day her column posits that the worst of the cannings have passed, and things will inevitably look up. David Ulin at Jacket Copy has it right –  her voice is a big loss to the magazine. (But, of course, best of luck to the new editorial director, SLJ's Brian Kenney.) See also: The New York Observer weighs in.

Okay, so that's too depressing a note to end on… How about the news that Lauren Graham's got a new TV project in development and describes it as "Arrested Development"-like in tone?

Only one song seems appropriate, as reports of big bad doings at Macmillan circulate. I offer you "Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Sea of Tears)"* live, from the appropriately named band, Destroyer.** Enjoy.

*I do, in fact, love this song.

**Also known as Dan Bejar's other band.

Wowza on all the Black Wednesday Publishing-ocalypse Bloodletting, huh? Andrew Wheeler has a good round-up of the links that are to be got so far.

Good luck, publishing types.

Having your car broken into, your stereo stolen and your dashboard broken in half in 17 degree weather. While it’s at the garage.

Sigh.

Update: Driving the 2006 Dodge Magnum makes it suck less. SWEET!

(Or from Karen’s words to the Insurance/Rental Car Gods’ ears!)

For those of you who didn’t regularly read Sci Fiction and are wondering what all the fuss is about, a list of my own personal favorite stories published there with links to them. Read now, as no one seems to know how long the site will be archived. I’m only linking to new stuff; pretty much everything from the classic science fiction series is worth your time. I know I’ll leave out some excellent stories, but here goes nothing. (Oh, and I didn’t read the site consistently from the very, very beginning, so that explains why I’m missing a bunch of excellent stories from the start–I suggest you go browse the archives on your own.)

• From the Files of the Time Rangers, Rick Bowes
• The Pottawatomie Giant, Andy Duncan
• Editing for Content, Gavin J. Grant
• Standing in His Light, Kage Baker
• The Black Heart, Patrick O’Leary
• Non-Disclosure Agreement, Scott Westerfeld
• Struwwelpeter, Glen Hirsberg
• Water Master, Carol Emshwiller
• What I Didn’t See, Karen Joy Fowler (This story alone should have justified Sci Fiction’s existence forever!)
• What Mattered Was Sleep, Patrick O’Leary
• Dr. Pretorius and the Lost Temple, Paul McAuley
• Boys, Carol Emshwiller
• The Empire of Ice Cream, Jeff Ford (There’s a ton of great Ford stories in the archive, but this my favorite.)
• Daughter of the Monkey God, M.K. Hobson
• Ancestor Money, Maureen McHugh
• At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (If you have an older pet, be warned before reading this; but it’s a beautiful story.)
• It’s All True, John Kessel (And my name makes a cameo!)
• House of the Future, Richard Butner (A far underappreciated story)
• Zora and the Zombie, Andy Duncan (Yams!)
• The Baum Plan for Financial Independence, John Kessel
• The Voluntary State, Christopher Rowe (My Favorite by my favorite, although he’s writing this awesome new story called Asphalt which might displace it.)
• The Wolf-man of Alcatraz, Howard Waldrop
• Super 8, Terry Bisson
• Heads Down, Thumbs Up, Gavin J. Grant (Awesome story)
• There’s a Hole in the City, Rick Bowes
• Calypso in Berlin, Elizabeth Hand
• Anyway, M Rickert

We are losing something special. Ellen is one of the best editors working right now, period. As far as I’m concerned, the best literary magazine in the world just got shut down. It’s a pretty rare situation that an amazing editor with fantastic, broad taste is able to pay such that she can pick from the best stories being written in the field. It’s time for some billionaire who loves SF to step up and start a new magazine for her to edit.

(p.s. What stories am I missing, peeps? I haven’t read everything, obviously, with Lucius Shephard being a big blindspot.)

(Updated) Reactions elsewhere:

• Meghan McCarron saying it damn well as usual.
• David Moles loses his retirement plan.
• Matt Cheney, eloquent as ever.
• John Joseph Adams on other things they  might have tried.
• Dave Schwartz says how it feels.
• Jonathan Strahan calls this "a bodyblow for the field."
• Cheryl Morgan notes the news.

Stupid corporate parents:

As SCIFI.COM gears up to expand with exciting new ventures utilizing the newest technology, it will discontinue SCI FICTION, the online publishing division of of the site, at the end of 2005.

In almost six years of groundbreaking online publishing, SCI FICTION and its editor, Ellen Datlow, had an unparalleled record of critical success, earning 10 major awards, including three Hugo Awards, four Nebula Awards and a World Fantasy Award.

We wish Ellen the best and look forward to seeing her future work.

There’s a message from Ellen at  the site too. I’m just stunned and sad.

Updated: Okay, three quick thoughts.

1. This pretty much tells me that the Sci-Fi Channel cares nothing for science fiction.
2. They have lost my viewership forever.
3. If there’s any justice, Ellen will have a great new gig instantly.

Back to being stunned and sad. (Letter writing campaign? Endless, brand-crushing interweb mockery of SciFi.com, anyone?)