PAUL CARLSON'S WRITING
Included here are descriptions of my three science fiction novels, plus links to a growing list of published short stories. They are presented for your enjoyment, and for the benefit
of the commercial publishing industry. Agents and editors are welcome. Book doctors
and vanity presses please look elsewhere.
I've been a science fiction fan my entire life. One of the first things I
can remember reading were my mother's SF paperbacks, and my fascination has only
grown. I began writing decades ago, with a couple of short stories, never published.
Then I began to write long letters and opinion columns, in addition to nonfiction
articles.
After devouring hundreds of SF titles I caught the "Hey, I Could Do This"
bug, and started writing Descending Star. Several authors, most notably Poul
Anderson, were very encouraging. This manuscript began as an 8000 word short story,
and when I realized it could be a novel, it grew to 80,000 words before I'd stopped
for a breather.
After a long and complicated course, which you probably don't want to hear about,
I ended up with a rewritten first novel and a completed second one, titled
Distant Origins.
I'm about three-quarters done with a third manuscript, titled Roshanna.
All three novels are 'hard' SF, and set in the same near-future milieu. I have
plans for several more.
I have stories in three anthologies from the famously quirky Yard Dog Press. Give them a look! (Many of YDP's titles are now available via Smashwords, and for the Kindle.)
Paul's YDP Stories
"Cold Beach" is set in the same 'future history' as my robot-trucker stories in Analog magazine, however it's much darker in tone. Thanks to Title Goes Here for publishing it in the November 2011 issue their new online edition.
(Each issue's stories are presented as one long PDF document, and "Cold Beach" is the first of three.)
David Bartell and I penned a silly flash-fiction piece titled "Science Blitz." (We met via Analog magazine.)
Many thanks to Norm Sperling and the Journal of Irreproducable Results for publishing such an odd sports-meets-science tale.
It was fun to write, and even before going to the printer, became the subject of a strange (and perhaps irreproducable) incident at Westercon in San Jose. As reported by participant Marty Halpern:
Conjuring Norm Sperling at Westercon
I have two stories in Analog magazine, and a third coming in 2012.
They are "Shotgun Seat" and "Rule Book," with "Crooks" on the way. (Hopefully, with several more to follow.)
Paul's Analog Stories
My story "Mirror Girl" appears in the Fourth Quarter 2009 edition of the fine ezine Abyss & Apex. ("Mirror Girl" has received an Honorable Mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction, 27th Edition.)
The popular ezine Bewildering Stories helped launch my career, by posting a lighthearted flash-fic piece titled "Only Human" in their issue #220. Later they followed up with a (somewhat controversial) short story, "Santayana Station," in issue #369.
I've appeared in two issues of Sentinel Science Fiction. Lou Antonelli honored me with a spot in issue #1, with a serious time travel story titled "Cavers." I was also in issue #5, with a humorous flash-fic piece titled "Spin." (Problems with their web host erupted, and they went off line several years ago.)
(If there is enough interest, I am thinking about offering these 'missing' stories directly, via Smashwords and similar 'micropayment' online venues.)
Fall and Rise is an anthology from Whortleberry Press. My story "Journey" shares this collection with offerings from Robert Sawyer, Phillis Gotlieb, Jay Lake, and several other SF professionals.
This story features Claude Dremmel and Doll Box. It's the first of these to appear in print, though the events depicted take place several years later than those in "Shotgun Seat."
This unusual anthology, titled SF Waxes Philosophical, was edited by Ahmed Khan, who also created Fall and Rise. My story reprint "Waveform" shares this collection with offerings from Michael Bishop, Steven Utley, Ted Kosmatka, and several other SF professionals. (Please contact Mr. Khan directly to obtain a copy.)
The May 2006 issue of Surprising Stories featured my flash fiction SF story
"Waveform."
(As the magazine no longer has that issue posted, I have reproduced it here, with
added links.)
Waveform
As a professional truck driver, I've always been interested in the meeting of that realm with science fiction. Few truckers are active as writers, much less as webmasters; and few speculative fiction tales involve trucking.
On a whim I began to list the handful of stories I knew about. Friends on line suggested others, so the list has grown to about thirty titles. Out of tens of thousands of spec-fic titles, that's not many! (If you include all 'blue collar' occupations, they're still rare.)
Several ladies on a Romance forum helped me find a handful of Trucker Romance tales. I also found a very few Mystery and Young Adult books, etc.
Here's my Trucker Themed Fiction list.
Interested? Please email me at, blimbot /at/ aol /dot/ com and be sure to make your subject line distinct
(Sorry, no 'auto click' link, because they attract spam.)
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