Apex is running into some trouble with their subscription numbers and needs some help.

They write:

The reality of the situation is that we need 150 new subscribers (or roughly $3000), or we’re looking at a hiatus until I have enough disposable income to push out another issue. We use the term “hiatus” because there won’t be any mercy killings going on around here. We love the damn magazine too much to let it go (or possibly too stubborn), but the hiatus could be an extended one.

and,

Subscriptions are a measly $20 for 4 issues in the US. $24 for Canada/Mexico. $34 for the rest of the world.

We've re-initiated the APEX FOR LIFE subscription option that gives you Apex until you die. This goes for $100.

Visit their store and give them a hand.

James Dashner, author of The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Tales (reviewed, interestingly enough, just yesterday by Fantasy Debut), is living the dream. Or, he "likely" will be:

James Dashner is a number cruncher by day and an architect of children's fantasy novels by night.
    This West Jordan accountant/author has battled for years between his creative right brain and his logical left in deciding which career path to follow.
    Now, with a national book contract in hand, Dashner says he likely will quit his budgeting job...and choose the right - brain.

It's encouraging to see someone "making it" after reading this piece of somber news.

I can relate to the left/right brain allusion more than others perhaps: I'm a software engineer by day trying to fulfill the creative end at nights and in my free time (I work with accountants, too, but that's another story). Dashner is, without a doubt, ahead of my game: He's under contract for a "five book series" from Shadow Mountain Publishing, but has a handful of books to his name already. Congrats go to James not only for showing some longevity but also for taking the plunge and saying good-bye to the stability of his accounting job for the potential uncertainties of life as a writer.

You often hear straight from the horse's mouth (successful authors, that is) not to quit your day job until your writing makes up a certain percentage of your current income. That percentage is without a doubt a personal threshold--we all grow accustomed to a certain lifestyle and have different tolerances for sacrifice. It also depends on if you are the sole money-maker in your household or not, how many dependents you have, etc.

We still want to achieve our writing goals, though, and so it becomes an issue of balance. Dashner understood this balance. He worked his day job while writing in his free time for eight years. Only with the security of a multi-book deal in hand did he jettison the day job to focus on his writing full-time.

Good luck to him. I hope I get there someday, too.

Quitting his day job - Salt Lake Tribune

As reported here, Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away at age 69.

The man's contributions to my own interest in fantasy literature are difficult to describe. Though it's been years since I've played, D&D coupled with some specific fantasy books really formed the foundation for my interest in the genre. His contributions will be missed.

2008-03-05 - Update: Go here for a more thoughtful remembrance than I could ever provide.

2008-03-12 - Update:

I continue to come across interesting stories and views on the death of the Dungeon Master. Thought I would share some of them along with some highlights:

• Boston.com: My Escape to the Dungeon

"I now know the reasons why I needed to escape into Dungeons & Dragons. I haven't played for decades, but my lingering attraction to these fantasy realms leaves me dissatisfied with reality. Simple pursuits - folding laundry, mowing the lawn, "Sopranos" reruns - seem dull by comparison to the exploits of that parallel me in a faraway land."

• NY Times: Geek Love

"Dungeons & Dragons was a brilliant pastiche, mashing together tabletop war games, the Conan-the-Barbarian tales of Robert E. Howard and a magic trick from the fantasy writer Jack Vance with a dash of Bulfinch’s mythology, a bit of the Bible and a heaping helping of J. R. R. Tolkien."

• Gamespy.com: Magic and Memories

*** The whole scoop on the game and history of Dungeons and Dragons. Highly recommended reading.

What do writers of f/sf read?

It's not surprising to me that they sometimes read out of their field:

• Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates and The Skies Discrowned) recommends Robert Heinlein's 1941 short story, "By His Bootstraps": "I couldn't have written 'The Anubis Gates' if I hadn't read this. Anyone who has written a time travel story in the past 50 years could say the same."
• Rebecca Moesta (Young Jedi Knights Series) chooses Isaac Asimov's 1951 short story, "The Fun They Had": "It was cautionary for me. I highly recommend it."
• Anne McCaffrey (Pern Series) looks ahead to new author Andrea Kail's short story, 'The Sun God At Dawn, Rising from a Lotus Blossom" in the anthology L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume XIII: "The story is a fascinating glimpse of a reborn young King Tut and his emotional development as he comes to realize his plight as a political pawn."

I say "not surprising" because I read out of the fantasy field a bit myself: Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Bernard Cornwell, Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft (the latter two sort of overlap into fantasy, but I'm considering them more of the horror vein for my purposes here).

Why is it a good thing to read outside your field as a writer?

Because you want to see how other writers use their tools. You want to study their style, see how they develop their characters, learn how they structure their story. If you read O'Brian, you're looking at the manner in which he represents setting--the authenticity of the time period is crucial to transporting the reader to the story's world. For Cornwell, more of the same, but also how he tempers suspense and action, how he raises the reader's interest and holds it through one harrowing experience after another. King--how he creates undeniably believable characters that suck you in from the first moment you encounter them.

I know you have your own favorite authors outside of the field in which you've chosen to write. Make sure you're studying their work as much as you're enjoying it.

Galaxy Press :: Top Speculative Fiction Writers Pick Favorite Stories - Some Oldies and Some Surprises

Interesting debate on Helium concerning whether or not the fantasy genre has stagnated.

I'm in the "No, it has not" camp. There's plenty of fresh writing going on--George R.R. Martin, Ellen Kushner, Steven Erikson, Scott Lynch, and stalwarts like Robin Hobb who always seem to break stereotypes and keep me guessing as to what's going to happen next. These are not the sort of writers who use such tropes as dark lords and elves or dwarves--that's a lesson unto itself for budding writers--but who rely on more meaningful devices to keep their readers interested--intrigue, suspense, characterization.

Sometimes you have to sift through some junk to find those authors, though, and I think that's where the belief in stagnation comes from. I received an ARC a few months back that just didn't do it for me. Had I spent money on that book I might have felt obligated to read further. But the fact of the matter is I gave it about 100 pages and had to put it down. There just wasn't anything engaging or original in it.

Let this all be a warning: that as new writers we need to think outside the box, break stereotypes, and write the kind of story that we would want to read were we browsing the shelves looking for that next great fantasy novel.

Debate: Has the fantasy genre become stagnant? - Helium

New F/SF Magazine blog.