"It Is a Delight to Read" -- Pub Day for The Universe Box!!!

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I've been waiting for this for what feels like forever: It's Publication Day for The Universe Box, my new collection of short fiction from Tachyon Publications. It gathers together all the best stories I've written since my last Tachyon collection (Not So Much Said the Cat) nine years ago.

A lot of my heart and soul went into this collection. So you'll understand why I'm so very glad that the reviews so far are overwhelmingly positive. And why, in the coming weeks, I'll be subjecting you to a sampling of them.

First out of the gate is Paul Weimer's review in File 770. It is the kind of thoughtful, insightful, and positive review that we writers live for. Here's a paragraph that you have my permission to use in place of an obituary on that sad day, many decades from now, when I finally kick the bucket:

Is Swanwick a better short story author than a novelist? That’s a hard question to answer.  I seem to vacillate depending on what I have read more recently, but I think that the sheer variety he brings to his short stories and the honed nature of his craft, as seen in this collection, pushes me to the short story side of the equation. His novels show he can go the distance, but his short fiction show what he can do in a limited time and space, the short sharp punch that leaves you wondering what is next. The arrangement of the stories in here is good, so that you can read this collection throughout without taking a break, because the variety of what he has on offer changes so much from story to story. 

You can read the review here.  Or just go to File770.com and scroll down. It's an addictively entertaining site for those who love science fiction.

Above: "It is a delight to read" closes the review. You can imagine my reaction.

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Today! At SPARKLE BOOKSTORE!!!

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I'm doing a reading today at The Sparkle Bookstore in Sparkill, New York.

At last! I was originally scheduled to appear there two weeks ago. There was a snow squall that morning, but Marianne and I got into the car anyway and... two miles down the road, after a lot of close calls, we passed a stranded bus and saw a car slide sideways into a transformer box.  It became clear that we could never make it to the bookstore in time (we'd given ourselves an extra hour), so we called them to cancel and went home.

Round trip: Four miles in an hour. 

The kind people at Sparkle rescheduled for the following weekend.

And then--you saw this coming--Snowmagodzillageddon! My second appearance was rescheduled.

But now, mirabile dictu, the weather gurus say it won't snow until the next day. Which means I'll be reading and shmoozing at 3 p.m. today! I'm looking forward to it.

If you're in the area, you should consider showing up. Not for my sake but because look at the picture above! Isn't that just the coolest, most sincere, most gemutlich bookstore you've ever seen? Be honest now. It's the Ted Lasso of independent book retail. How could you possibly resist it?

I don't think you can. But if you can, don't.

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I Believe There Was Also a Library . . .

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The Universe Box, my newest collection of short fiction, almost a decade in the making, is coming out in only a few days. Ass it chances, I was just now rererereading the almost-title-story, "Universe Box," and came upon the following notion, which pleased me greatly when I came up with it:

The Universe Box, my newest collection of short fiction, almost a decade in the making, is coming out in only a few days. As it chances, I was just now rererereading the almost-title-story, "Universe Box," and came upon the following notion, which pleased me greatly when I came up with it:

Holding up a finger, Uncle Paulie made an owlish face and said, “Let me posit a question: What one thing does the world currently need most? Eh?”

“Um... love?” Howard ventured.

“World peace,” Mimi said firmly.

“Pah! I’m disappointed in you both. A good bottle of wine, of course!” Uncle Paulie flipped open the lid of the cigar box and reached within. “As you doubtless know, the very finest collection ever assembled was the legendary Wine Cellar of Alexandria. Destroyed in that dreadful fire, such a pity. But no matter. I’ll just have to dig deeper.”

Uncle Paulie is, of course, Trickster. Howard is in for a hard time of it. And Mimi is, despite being kidnapped by the most dangerous assassin in the universe, about to have the time of her life.

But that's not why I shared that excerpt with you. The Wine Cellar of Alexandria! Makes you wonder what else went up in that dreadful blaze, doesn't it?

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Win A Free Copy of The Universe Box

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Tachyon Publications has a small but painless contest--a chance to win a physical copy of my new short fiction collection, The Universe Box, or one of three e-book versions.

Which is not as big as winning the lottery. But it costs nothing and you don't have to walk to he corner store to enter.

Just click here, scroll down past the effusive praise from writers I admire and respect, and look for the buttons marked "enter giveaway."

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Books! Booze! Ellen Kushner! Caitlin Rozakis! Amanda Cockrell! And Also Me

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Above, l-r: Caitlin Rozakis, Ellen Kushner, Michael Swanwick, Amanda Cockrell, Randee Dawn

Last night, I had a reading for Brooklyn Books & Booze , hosted by Randee Dawn at Barrow's Intense Ginger. It was great fun, if you happened to be me, and everybody else seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.

Also reading was Ellen Kushner, my dear friend from so long ago that neither of us can remember that far back. As she recently posted, she and I invented fire.

We met. We embraced. I said, "What putzes we were! We invented fire and didn't patent it!"

"I know!" she said. "And look at who we gave it to."

I also got to meet Caitlin Rozakis and Amanda Cockrell, both of whom impressed me greatly. You might well want to consider reading their work. 

It was a warm (not literally; the temperature was so cold that the traditional BB&B outdoor pic was taken inside) and gemutlich evening. The attendees were everything you would want in an audience. And they loved my story. I know because what seemed to be a dozen sought me out and told me so.

In retrospect, this was inevitable. There were a lot of writers, readers, and literary types present and "The Star-Bear" was about maintaining artistic integrity in the face of philistines with power. There is a particular pleasure in hearing your audience laughing at all the right places, horrified at the moments you thought worst, and approving of how the story ended when it finally found safe harbor.

I've been at Brooklyn Books & Booze before and can honestly recommend it as a warm and pleasant way to spend an evening. With or without my presence.

Also, the drinks are good.

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Today's Bookstore Reading CANCELLED and RESCHEDULED

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I had been looking forward today's reading at Sparkle Bookstore in Sparkill, NY. Then, alas, the snow started coming down and the roads turned murderous. I got four miles down the road and it was obvious that 1) I could never make the trip in time for the scheduled event, and 2) that it would be dangerous to try. In that brief time, I saw two cars slide off the road. One of them ran into a pad-mounted transformer. 

So I had to cancel. That felt bad.

The good news is that the event has been rescheduled to Sunday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't snow.

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A Paucity of Cat Whiskers

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I have never in my life thanked a reviewer for a positive review. That would be insulting. All he or she has to offer is their honest opinion. Injecting the reviewee's reaction would cheapen that and make it out to be less than it was.

Nevertheless, I was greatly pleased by Gary Wolfe's review of The Universe Box. By my reading (and of course yours may differ), he understood what I was getting at in every story of the collection. And if my publisher is looking for a blurb-quote, why, here it is: "for all his narrative adventurousness and sly wit, Swanwick can also be a master of evocative, graceful prose."

That's all very gratifying.

But I am not grateful for it. Because my desire from long before my first published story was to deserve such praise. If I have done so, good. If not, my bad. And if you wonder whether I deserve such a positive review, well... you can always read the book.

Those with money are encouraged to support their local indie bookstore. Those without have a friend in interlibrary loan.

And f you are curious, you can read Wolfe's entire review here.

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