Thank you for your interest

Thank you for your interest The Friday Challenge. This blog was operational from 2009 through 2013. If you're looking for the current incarnation of Bruce Bethke's Friday Challenge writing workshop/contest, you'll find it on the official website of Rampant Loon Press and Stupefying Stories magazine: STUPEFYINGSTORIES.COM.

Check it out!

The Slush Pile Survival Guide Has Moved!

Pending getting a place of its own, The Slush Pile Survival Guide is now cohabiting with STUPEFYING STORIES. Today's new column is "About That Secret Handshake," by multiple Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning writer Bruce Holland Rogers. Check it out!

2012: The Year in Review (Part 1)

A week into January, life begins to return to normal. The ornaments have been taken down, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, and packed away again until next Christmas. The tree (a real one this year) is out on the brush pile, currently providing temporary shelter for birds and already well on its way to becoming the dry and brittle centerpiece of next midsummer's bonfire. The last of the pine needles have been vacuumed out of the carpet; the living room furniture returned to normal configuration; the holiday cards taken down and changes-of-addresses noted and filed away; and the NFL playoffs have begun as they rightly should, with the Packers beating the snot out of the Vikings. It's time to pause, take a deep breath, and take stock of the situation.

(Read the rest at StupefyingStories.com)

STUPEFYING STORIES 1.11 RELEASED

Hard to believe it's December 2012 already. Depending on who you listen to we only have about three weeks left before the world ends, either from magnetic pole reversal, crossing the galactic ecliptic, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, a collision with Planet X, global warming, global cooling, the return of Quetzalcoatl, President Obama and Speaker of the House Boehner joining hands, flooring it, and going full Thelma & Louise off the edge of the fiscal cliff, or the regrettable and wholly inexplicable failure of the Ancient Mayans to invent the perpetual calendar.

In any case, as we were putting together this book, we thought: what better way to go out with a bang that with a bunch of great stories exploring the end of the world—and what might come after? From ecological catastrophes to alien invasions; from tyrannical overreaching central governments to dangerous unfettered cowboy capitalists: It's the End of the World, As We Know It!

And the stories in this book will make you feel just fine.

STUPEFYING STORIES 1.11 (a.k.a., "the December edition"), is edited by award-winning writer Bruce Bethke and features:

   "We Talk Like Gods," by Jon David
   "Tiny, Tiny Hungers," by Mark Wolf
   "Moonbubble," by Eric Cline
   "The Relic," by Lou Antonelli
   "Mr. Non-Existent," by Paul Malone
   "Blue Stripped," by Gerry Huntman
   "HoPE," by A. A. Leil
   "Avocado Rutabaga Aubergine," by M. Bennardo
   "In the Shadows of the Empire of Coal," by Shaun Duke
   "Measure of Intelligence," by Torah Cottrill
   "The Gods of Sand and Stone," by Joel V. Kela

Now available for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Reader apps at these links!

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFYXAX0
UK  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AFYXAX0
DE  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00AFYXAX0
FR  https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00AFYXAX0
IT  https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00AFYXAX0
ES  https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00AFYXAX0
JP  http://www.amazon.jp/dp/B00AFYXAX0

Now available for Barnes & Noble Nook and Nook Reader apps at these links!
US  unnecessarily complex URL
UK  Amazon helpfully supplies all links. B&N makes you hunt. Check back later or let us know what it is, if you find it.

Coming soon to the Apple iTunes iBookstore!

STUPEFYING STORIES 2.1 (1.10) RELEASED

From the Editor-in-Chief’s Desk
By Bruce Bethke 

Along with discovering new writing talent, another part of our mission at STUPEFYING STORIES is to find and foster new editorial talent. Therefore for the November edition, we turned the reins over to promising newcomer M. David Blake, who has long been playing several crucial roles behind the scenes here.

The result is our first double-length book, which includes some of Mr. Blake's latest experiments in e-book design. We wanted to call it STUPEFYING STORIES 2.1, but our distribution channel had trouble with that, so we ended up having to give it the parenthetical designation of 1.10. And with that preamble out of the way...


From the (Guest-)Editor’s Desk
By M. David Blake

Welcome to Stupefying Stories 2.1

That's it, really. A dozen syllables tell you all you need to know to enjoy this issue. Those who want to ignore the preface and skip ahead to the stories are entitled to do so.

Still here? Since I am as well, I'll share a secret. Several months ago, when our chief editor asked if I'd be willing to assemble the November issue on my own, I wasn't going to accept. He lured me in by dangling a budget and a deadline in front of my face, with the promise of complete autonomy.

He gave it to me, too. No one else has seen all of the pieces, as they were being assembled... and that includes the regular Stupefying staff.

Autonomy is a nice concept, but it comes with a price. In all likelihood, no other combination of our associate editors would have selected these same stories from the (deep!) slush I processed. My instructions were simply to produce the best issue possible, given the available resources and time. “Best” is a subjective valuation.

While approaching that task, I had the privilege of working with an incredibly creative group of writers. To the extent that you enjoy the result, all the credit goes to them.

On the other hand, if you notice any typographical errors, or if you are unable to suspend your disbelief long enough to get through the next sixty-four thousand words, that’s my fault.

There is no guarantee you will enjoy all of these stories. But here’s another secret: I love each of them. Should you wind up seeing any of the same inscrutably beautiful things I did, I’ll feel pretty good about my selections.

There is one other thing that makes me feel good about this collection: I think my grandfather would have enjoyed reading it. He introduced me to science fiction, and to fantasy, and he loved this world.

Today would have been his ninety-third birthday.

— M. David Blake, 16 November 2012 

STUPEFYING STORIES 2.1 FEATURES:

Beauty & Loss (I)

• “Queen of Sheba” by Samuel M. Johnston
• “Wednesday’s Child” by Damien Walters Grintalis
• “Snatching Baby Delilah” by Travis Daniel Bow

Lore & Speculation

• “Nonsense 101” by Gary Cuba
• “Lucky” by Bill Ferris
• “The Ants Go Marching” by Sarah Pinsker

Folk & Superstition

• “Lover’s Knot” by Ada Milenkovic Brown
• “Girl Without a Name” by Courtney Valdes
• “Toilet Gnomes at War” by Beth Cato

Loss & Beauty (II)

• “Moondust” by Elizabeth Berger
• “Citizen Astronauts” by Holliann R. Kim
• “Heartbreath” by E. Catherine Tobler

Angels & Demons

• “Revolver” by Clarence Young
• “Office Demons” by Christie Yant
• “Number Station” by Alex Shvartsman

NOW AVAILABLE AT THESE LINKS:

For Amazon Kindle: 
US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AAPC1CU
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AAPC1CU
DE: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00AAPC1CU
FR: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00AAPC1CU
ES: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00AAPC1CU
IT: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00AAPC1CU
JP: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00AAPC1CU

For Barnes & Noble Nook:
Worldwide: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stupefying-stories-m-david-blake/1113834598?ean=2940015769166

Apple iTunes iBookstore and other links coming soon!

STUPEFYING STORIES 1.9 RELEASED

STUPEFYING STORIES 1.9, originally scheduled for release on October 15 but delayed for three weeks by Forces Beyond Our Control, is officially released today. We still don't have live links yet, but when we do, we'll post them here. With this edition we add India and Japan to the list of countries where STUPEFYING STORIES is available, so here's hoping Amazon resolves their technical issues soon and Barnes & Noble doesn't follow their usual pattern of taking four times longer than Amazon.

Featuring the awesome cover story, "The Jade Box," by Stephen G. McDonald (and correspondingly awesome original cover art by Aaron Bradford Starr), as well as new stories by fan favorites Chuck Bordell, Jamie Lackey, and Gary Cuba, STUPEFYING STORIES 1.9 presents thirteen original tales of ghosties and ghoulies, spirits and specters, and things that go bump in the night, by an outstanding assemblage of American, Canadian, Irish, and Swedish authors. Including:

• "Between Life and Oblivion," by Samuel R. George
• "The Florence," by Chuck Bordell
• "Door in the Darkness," by David Steffen
• "Streaming," by Sharon Irwin
• "The Flint Indenture," by Tim W. Burke
• "Not Everything Goes Bump," by Robert W. Hobson
• "Ashes to Diamonds," by Jamie Lackey
• "Blood and Saltwater," by Cassandra Rose Clarke
• "A Homeowner's Dilemma," by Mark Hill
• "The Ghost Train," by Fox McGeever
• "The Jade Box," by Stephen G. McDonald
• "Going Out With a Bang," by Gary Cuba
• "The Old-Fashioned Way," by Thomas Pluck

From a haunted hotel room in Seattle to the waiting room of the afterlife; from a quietly chilling meditation in a country cemetery to an ambitious plan to revive entire dying cities with industrial-scale necromancy; from a heart-breaking tale of a love that lives on after death to a side-splitting story about a funeral gone horribly wrong that, as one early reviewer said, "puts the black in black humor," you'll find it in this edition of STUPEFYING STORIES.

Enjoy,
~brb

Now available for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Reader apps at these links!

US  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A1WYKEO
UK  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A1WYKEO
DE  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00A1WYKEO
FR  https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00A1WYKEO
IT  https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00A1WYKEO
ES  https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00A1WYKEO
JP  http://www.amazon.jp/dp/B00A1WYKEO

More links coming soon!

Open Mic Saturday

We haven't done one of these in a long time.

What's on your mind today?

At last, we have a Barnes & Noble NOOK link

Stupefying Stories 1.8 for NOOK

I have no idea why it takes Barnes & Noble four times as long to process a new book upload as it takes Amazon, but it does. Of course, as soon as I start counting on that delay...