North of Infinity

NOI 3 - Selection Update

2006-10-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

After some long and hard deliberation, I'm going to be finishing off the final selection for North of Infinity 3. I'd been toying for a few months now with the idea of holding some of the final selection stories that won't make it into NOI 3 for NOI 4. But there were too issues with that. One, the theme would have been too close to the theme for NOI 3, which, although I love the theme, I'm not comfortable with. Two, at the rate these books are actually getting published, NOI 4 might not be out until 2009, and that's working way too far into the future for my preferences.

At this point, if Mosaic Press is interested in doing a North of Infinity 4, I'll certainly edit it with an open submission reading and selection period (ideally, a much shorter delay between the submission and the selection), but I'll wait until North of Infinity 3 is actually out and on bookstore shelves or at the very least, the final galley edit is off my plate. And then, unlike the conflict of time that working on NOI 2 and NOI 3 simultaneously caused on my projected time lines for NOI 3, I'd be much more comfortable with a clean break between them.

So, in a nutshell, if you're one of the shortlisted contributors and you haven't heard from me, you will by the end of October.

North of Infinity III - Still Working On Subs

2006-07-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for the many talented and frustrated writers whose stories are sitting in the final selection for North of Infinity III.

I'm still working on paring the final selection down. I'll come right out and explain what's taking me so long (and it's not all laziness on my part) -- it's damn hard to reject any of the short-listed tales. They're all wonderful. What a great dilemna to be in, and it's taking far longer than I could ever imagine.

If you haven't heard from me, that's a good thing so far. But I am working on it, very slowly. Very, very slowly.

NOI Contributor Wins World's Top Juried Award For Sci-Fi

2006-07-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

North of Infinity contributor Robert J. Sawyer has just won the world's top juried award for science fiction, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Novel of the Year.

The award, which Sawyer won for his latest novel, MINDSCAN, was presented Friday night, July 7, 2006, at a banquet at the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas.

With this award win -- his 38th for his fiction -- Robert J. Sawyer now joins the most-select club in all of science fiction: the seven writers who have won all three of the field's top awards for best novel of the year:

the World Science Fiction Society's Hugo Award, which he won in 2003 for his novel HOMINIDS;
the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Award, which he won in 1996 for his novel THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT;
and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, which he has now won for MINDSCAN.

(The full list of winners of all three awards: David Brin, Arthur C. Clarke, Joe Haldeman, Frederik Pohl, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Connie Willis; Sawyer is the only Canadian to win all three.)

Rob's story "Forever" appears in North of Infinity II
Rob's story "Where The Heart Is" appears in North of Infinity

Congratulations, Rob!

Pictures From NOI 2 Launch

2006-06-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the launch for North of Infinity II which took place at BakkaPhoenix on June 24, 2006.

(These are the ones that turned out, anyways - most of the others were too blurry either because my hand was shaking or I had the camera settings on "glacier movement" -- haven't figured that out) -- So if anyone was there and has non-blurry pictures of the event to share, by all means, please email them over to me and I'd be happy to post them.

Karen Danylak, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Robert J. Sawyer, A.M. Matte, Douglas Smith, Kimberly Foottit, Stephen Graham King

Karen Danylak, Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, A.M. Matte, Robert J. Sawyer, Mark Leslie, Douglas Smith, Kimberly Foottit, Stephen Graham King

Kimberly Foottit signing a copy of North of Infinity II

BakkaPhoenix Manager Chris Szego, friend of A.M. Matte, A.M. Matte & Stephen Graham King signing copies, Karen Danylak capping her pen and in the background, Robert J. Sawyer signing a copy for Derwin Mak.

Stephen Graham King and BakkaPhoenix Manager Chris Szego

A special thank-you to everyone at BakkaPhoenix, Canada's premiere bookstore specializing in science fiction and fantasy books and magazines for hosting this wonderful event and of course to the contributors of North of Infinity II for their spectacular imaginative tales.

NOI 2 Launch Party - You're Invited

2006-06-18T23:28:00.000-07:00

North of Infinity II is currently at the printers, and so it will be HOT off the press when Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore (697 Queen Street West, Toronto) hosts the launch party for North of Infinity II on Saturday June 24th at 3:00 PM.

This is a great opportunity to get a signed copy of this wonderful anthology. Onhand will be Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Karen Danylak, Kimberly Foottit, Stephen Graham King, A.M. Matte, Douglas Smith and Robert J. Sawyer.

If you can't make it to the event, don't despair -- simply call 416-963-9993 and reserve a signed copy for yourself today.

Contributor Aurora Nominations

2006-06-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

It's always exciting for an editor whenever contributors are recognized and nominated for awards. Such is the case for two contributors to North of Infinity II, Robert J. Sawyer and Douglas Smith who are nominees for a 2006 Prix Aurora Award.

Robert J. Sawyer is nominated for: Mindscan for Best Long-Form English. Identity Theft for Best Short-Form English. And the radio drama "Birth," scripted by Sawyer and Michael Lennick and produced by Joe Mahoney for CBC Radio One, for Best English Other

Douglas Smith is nominated for: Going Harvey in the Big House for Best Short-Form English.

You can read the full nominated short stories following the links above, and can find the full 2006 Aurora ballot as well as the full list of nominees in all categories by clicking here.

North of Infinity II - Launch Party

2006-05-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

A North of Infinity II Canadian Release Launch Party has been planned for Saturday June 24th starting at 3:00 PM at Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction Bookstore at 697 Queen Street West in Toronto. So far, 6 contributors are planning on attending, with more to confirm. More news on this and an official list of attendees to come. Stay tuned.

NOI 3 Selection

2006-05-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

The end of May is upon us and I've yet to complete my final selection from the short-listed stories for NOI 3. I could blame the tremendous amount of overtime I'm putting in at work, the fact that I'm spending more time focusing on the activities surrounding launching NOI 2 in June or even my own personal writing projects, which are all competing for time.

But I won't. I have only myself to blame for setting such an unrealistic expectation. And I will continue to work at paring down the selection. Getting there . . .

North of Infinity II - Pub Date Announced

2006-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

We have secured both Canadian and U.S. release dates for North of Infinity II, and a cover image is in progress (current "draft" of cover image appears to the left).

ISBN: 0889628645
ISBN-13: 9780889628649

Canadian Release:
June 2006

U.S.A Release:
Sept 2006

I have just sent an important email out to all NOI 2 contributors. If you are a contributor and have not received it, please contact me ASAP. Thanks.

North of Infinity III - Status Update

2006-04-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

When I was at Mosaic on Friday, I found a small pile of hard-copy submissions for NOI III waiting for me there. Once I finish going through those submissions I should be in good shape for the final selection round (which is still on track to be done by the end of May).

North of Infinity II - In Layout

2006-04-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderfully productive meeting Friday evening with Howard at Mosaic Press, sorting out the publication schedule for it. The book should be back from the printer by late spring/early summer. Sam at Mosaic is currently hard at work on the layout of the book, and cover image designs are also being developed. (As soon as a cover is landed on, I'll be posting that here)

North of Infinity III - Update

2006-03-06T23:15:00.000-08:00

I've just sent a note out to the short-listed contributors to NOI 3: Parnassus Unbound.

Due to a combination of the delay in publication for NOI 2 as well as various other writing and editing projects that I have on my plate, I am pushing back my self-imposed deadline to make a final selection for stories for NOI 3.

I want to allow myself the proper time to make the final selection and not make hasty decisions. There is a wonderful collection of short-listed stories by some brilliant writers, and I want to give NOI 3 the proper respect and attention it deserves to pick the best possible combination of tales to be featured together.

If you have previously been identified as a contributor who made the "final selection" round of NOI 3 and didn't get my email, please contact me at mark@markleslie.ca

North of Infinity II - UPDATE

2006-03-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

I've sent out a notification to the contributors to NOI 2 that while the publication date for NOI 2 has slipped, I have not yet confirmed 100% what the current expected publication date it.

If you are a contributor to NOI 2 and you didn't receive my email, please contact me at mark@markleslie.ca. Thanks.

Status Update NOI 2 & 3

2006-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

I realize that it's been over a month since I've posted a status update for North of Infinity.

North of Infinity 2
Status: Manuscript complete, currently going through final layout/production process at Mosaic Press. No new updates.

North of Infinity 3
Status: Responses to the initial submissions have been completed as of about a week or so ago, and approximately 50 stories have been held back for final consideration. (This does not count any "snail mail" manuscripts that might be sitting at the Mosaic Press offices -- I would ask that if there are any contributors who did mail in a submission to the postal address, or if you did not receive an email response from your email submission that you please send me a quick email - mark (at) markleslie (dot) ca. so we can sync up)

I have not yet begin the final consideration phase. I wanted to take a few weeks off, clear my mind, and approach the short-listed stories with a fresh perspective.

I do have THIS to say about all of the submissions that were received for NOI 3. I used to edit and read unsolicited submissions for NorthWords and Northern Fusion magazines (back in the 90's). I became used to the fact that the quality of the submissions was extremely varied -- from the spectacular to the horrid. Sorry, there's no better way to say that, but opening up an unsolicited submission was the equivalent of Forrest Gump's box of chocolates (or, to use a more recent literary reference, maybe Bertie Bott's every flavoured jelly beans) -- you never knew what you might find.

However, this is the first time I can ever remember going through an open submission reading phase and not receiving a single submission that wasn't good in some way. There wasn't a single story sent in to me that wasn't a good piece of writing, or a good story, or an idea that I found fascinating.

That, in and of itself, made the reading of unsolicited submissions extremely satisfying. It did make the process much harder than before, though, because there were many fine stories that I had to turn down. As it stands, I didn't think I would end up with 50 stories in my short-list, but I wanted to hold back the best of the best, and ensure that the stories I was hanging onto also covered as many different aspects of the arts as possible.

I know that the final selection phase is going to be even more difficult, but the end product should, of course, be a blockbuster anthology, and definitely the type of sci-fi anthology that I, as a reader, have wanted to read for a long time.

I'd like to thank each and every person who submitted a tale to North of Infinity III -- I was truly overwhelmed, both with the number of submissions that came in as well as with the quality of the writing and imagination.

Getting Caught Up

2005-12-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

I've finally finished going through the very first read-through of all of the submissions for NOI 3. Whew. Now, using the notes I made while plowing through the submissions, I need to send out responses to contributors letting them know if they've either made it to the "short-list" for final consideration, or if, unfortunately, I had to pass on their story.

I should be able to get some time within the next week to complete sending responses out to all contributors.

North of Infinity II is currently at Mosaic, and here's the first peek at the lineup of excellent stories you'll soon be able to read in it.

State of Disorder (Douglas Smith)
Pas de deux (Stephen Graham King)
Identity Factory (Andrew Weiner)
Shadows (Karen Danylak)
I Found Love on Channel 3 (Bruce Golden)
Metal Fatigue (Nancy Kilpatrick)
Son of Sun (A.M. Matte)
Lump (Robert H. Beer)
Confessions of Me: Betrayer of Humanity (Zohar A Goodman)
Forever (Robert J. Sawyer)
Sum of their Parts (Stephanie Bedwell-Grime)
Walter's Brain (Kimberly Foottit)

Behind Was Like Three Weeks Ago

2005-12-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

I can no longer call where I am with the original submission pile to NOI 3 being behind. "Behind" was where I was when I made my last post on November 18th. At this point in time I have just over a dozen stories to still read before I've read every tale.

It's tough, because there are so many good submissions, and sometimes I'm re-reading a story before making a decision to either pass on it or keep it for final selection. Who would've thought that getting so many great submissions would be a curse?

I'm estimating that I should be through the original round of submissions and getting back to contributors with either a "sorry" or a "final round" response. I'm still estimating that for those folks who've I've already notified (or will notify soon) that their story is in the final selection round, I hope to be able to make the final decision of stories by the end of Feb 2006.

More News

2005-11-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Just a note to any NOI 3 contributors wondering if and why I haven't gotten back to them. While the reading period closed on Oct 31, 2005, I'm still working my way through the initial submissions.

If you haven't heard from me yet, you should within the next 3-4 weeks.

And for those contributors who have made it past the first selection round, I'm far from looking at the "final short list" of stories at this point -- final decisions on inclusion in the anthology likely won't happen until Jan/Feb 2006.

Thanks for your continued patience and your interest in North of Infinity.

News & Stuff

2005-11-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

North of Infinity III

The reading period for NOI 3 closed on October 31, 2005

There's certainly no shortage of high quality and wonderful submissions to North of Infinity III: Parnassus Unbound. I did a bit of a marathon session of readings, making notes for each tale, and am now starting to play catch-up on getting back to contributors. But I still am several weeks away from getting through the first read-through of submissions.

I've broken down and started using a basic "form letter" for both rejections as well as "further consideration" pieces (I'm holding the best submissions until after the reading period closes and making the final selection from the short-listed tales, picking stories not just based on their own merit, but also on how they fit together as a whole). While I'm not a fan of form letters, it's certainly helping me get caught up, and I hate keeping contributors waiting.

North of Infinity II

I'm in the process of doing the final read-through and edit for North of Infinity II: Plus ca Change. It's going well, I've received some up-to-date biographical sketches from contributors, but I still have a few to gather.

The timelines are that I should have the final ms over to Mosaic Press for mid-November, and the planned publication date within Canada for this antholgy should be early Winter 2006, with a U.S. release date of mid-summer 2006.

Guidelines For North of Infinity III: Parnassus Unbound

2005-11-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

Reading period closed on October 31, 2005

Mosaic Press will be publishing the third installment in the North of Infinity anthology series in 2007.

Looking for science fiction that includes elements of or makes references to literature, music and the arts. Your story can focus on one of these elements in detail, or explore wider generalized concepts. For example, one story that has already been accepted is a tale that explores a theme William S. Burroughs made popular, the concept of language as a living entity.

Feel free to include elements of horror or fantasy in your story, just ensure the story is good and that it is science fiction. The intended result is an anthology that celebrates a passion for the arts with speculative fiction.

Some book length examples include: Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Rand’s Anthem, McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer, Bear’s Songs of Earth and Power, Fforde’s The Eyre Affair, Shinn’s Archangel, Weiner’s Getting Near The End.

Preference will be given to stories written by Canadians or stories with some sort of connection to Canada (go ahead and be creative in stretching your association with Canada, I’d love to follow the “Six Degrees” you use if you’re a writer from elsewhere in the world). However, the key determination for acceptance will be good stories.

Include a cover letter that tells a little about yourself, and a bit about the story, perhaps your connection or the story’s connection to the theme. But please don’t give the story away – let me read and enjoy it on its own merits.

Word Count: 1000 - 6,000 words.
Query first for longer or shorter works please.

Reprints: No. Looking for original stories.
Reprints will be considered for exceptional stories that have been in limited circulation, but preference will be given to original works. Please provide publication history for any reprints.

Payment: 1 – 3 cents per word Canadian, up to $100 Cdn

Submissions: Submissions are accepted via email – RTF, Word or WordPerfect attached files in standard manuscript format will do. Email: mark@markleslie.ca

Submissions also can be sent via regular post. Include a #10 envelope SASE or International Reply Coupon with your disposable manuscript and send stories to:

Mark Leslie, Editor
NORTH OF INFINITY III
MOSAIC PRESS
1252 Speers Rd, Units 1 & 2
Oakville, Ontario L6L 5N9

Mailed submissions without sufficient return postage will be disposed of unread.

Reading Period: April 2005 – Oct 2005 Inclusive

Response Time: Will respond to submissions within 4-8 weeks. Email submissions will likely be responded to more quickly.If your story falls into the “maybe” category for acceptance, it’s likely to be held until the reading period closes, but you will be notified.