"The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople" reprinted in the anthology The Apparatus Almanac Ed. Jessica Augustsson; bit on a Goodreads Dilemma, and other writers' on stories

 "The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople"in The Apparatus Almanac: Gizmology and Technomancy Ed. Jessica Augustsson 

It's always a thrill when stories reemerge from the thickets to find new homes. Although a relatively dark story in a deliberately richer vein, "The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople" was originally published in the Aurealis Award finalist anthology Kisses by Clockwork Ed. Liz Grzyb. It was then mentioned by both editors in the introduction to The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror Vol. 5 and was also included in the Recommended Reading List at the volume's end (sadly this anthology with its yearly list of recommended reads is no longer around). 

I thought that was it for the story, although it did get a mention in a captivating essay on steampunk on the Auslit website. But then last year The Conversation had a beautiful article, "Australian writers have been envisioning AI for a century. Here are 5 stories to read as we grapple with rapid change" which included "The Tic-Toc Boy of..." among the five mentioned. I messaged James Bradley about the article as his novel Clade was also one of the five mentioned. 

And while I added Clade to my TBR list (I have also praised his retelling of 'Rapunzel', Beauty's Sister, numerous times on this blog) James, despite the fact that he was on a hectic tour with his latest book (a natural history/memoir/homage to the ocean, titled Deep Water: The World in the Ocean) went one step further and read my own story almost on the dot and emailed me this thoughtful message:

Spoiler alert: I've just read the story and I loved it. It's very emotional and the world-building is very intricate, but I think the thing I like the best is the way it manages to weave echoes of other stories into itself – I loved the flashes of Frankenstein in things like the flight into the forest – because it enacts the ideas of assemblage that are at the centre of the story. And he's such a great protagonist – innocent but also alarming. And the questions about bodies and identity it's trying to think about are so important (and questions that often get ignored in SF, which is usually so transfixed by tech and the idea of transcending the physicality of our bodies). I suspect the steampunk elements reinforce that a bit, because it situates it in a more physical and non-virtual universe - I assume that was deliberate! 

As a lover of the natural world, and someone passionate about conservation, I'll definitely be tracking Deep Water down too. 

And now 'The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople" has found another home in what looks like a wonderful table of contents in the The Apparatus Almanac: Gizmology and Technomancy Ed. Jessica Augustsson. It's the first story off the ranks, which is always an additional honour, but I'm really keen to devour all the stories. I've had a squiz at the author bios and I think that we are all in for a real reading treat. 

Congratulations to Jessica and the team at JayHenge and to all of the contributors in the ToC listed below:

The Tic-Toc Boy of Constantinople / Anthony Panegyres 

A Place for Broken Parts / Matt Bliss 

The Golden Age of Science Fiction / David Stevens 

 East Wind in Carrall Street / Holly Schofield 

Hubris in Retrograde / Mike Adamson 

To Them We Are Merely Clay / L.D. Colter 

What Washes Ashore / Eric Farrell 

The Needy Needle / Owen Townend

 Veiled Threats / C.J. Peterson 

Thought I Saw Something / Jude Atwood 

Inktomi and the Skyship / Robert Bagnall 

GENIUS Act Response / Pauline Barmby 

The Machine That Makes Things / William Kitcher 

The Clock and the Copernicus / Jay McKenzie 

The Going Price / J.S. Rogers 

The Ethics of Elemental Servitude / J. Scott King 

 One Unchecked Box / Stephen A. Roddewig 

The Case of the Vanishing Pennyweight / Don Norum 

The Breath of Birds / Devan Barlow 

Pulling for Victory / Stefan Markos 

Tigers in the Sun / Gabriel Mara 

Dreams Of Flight / Sarah Darbee 

The Business of Ashes and Dust / J. Aaron Parish 

First Day on Night Shift / Robert Runté 

An Engine with a Difference / Gustavo Bondoni 

The Important Button / Mike Murphy 

Oubliette / Tom Howard 

A Walk in Time / J. David Liss 

Ancient Computer / Susanne Hülsmann 

Working Their Magic / Soramimi Hanarejima 

Thermodemonics / Robert Dawson 

This Far and No Farther / Mike Morgan 

The ebook can be found on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F29JL6BH

Amazon UK here: https://www.amazon.co.ik/dp/B0F2J9L6BH

And the other international Amazon stores apparently use the same end number. Paperback and hard cover copies are available too. 

Other writers on stories

There is quite a nice behind-the-scene commentary on stories from other writers who read your work. I suppose we are all governed by our own principles to a degree, and one of my own self-imposed rules is that I read each and every story in anthologies and journals that I have works in. After all, if it's good enough to house your own story, plus the editor and publisher have gone to all that effort to make the publication eventuate, then surely at the very least, it warrants a read of the complete final product. I've never regretted that decision, and in every anthology and journal I've been in, I've discovered some unforgettably great works. 

For instance, I loved "Appearing Nightly", Greg Bossert's story in Bourbon Penn 25. Bossert is a short story machine...well really more of an artisan jeweller... and a World Fantasy Award Winning author, and he posted the following while we were both commenting on a Facebook post by Jonathan Strahan: Hey Anthony, "Anthropophages Anonymous" was fantastic. Best bear story since Bisson!, which meant a lot, both due to the source of the comment and the fact that Bisson did write the canonical bear story with "Bears Discover Fire". 

Goodreads Dilemma and apologies for lack of communication on that platform

I confess to being lazy with regards to the internet and social media world. In fact, the only reason this blog with its slapdash posts exists is that the publisher of my second-ever story demanded a web presence of some kind, and a blog was far easier to create than a website. 

Yet, despite my apathy, I did find Goodreads of interest. As a reader, I was fairly active on Goodreads, and I used to access it via a Facebook link, which was quite easy to do. But when that link vanished, I could no longer access my own account as the old original email linked to Goodreads was closed years ago due to spam along with the fact that my Gmail account worked far better.

Believe me, I have wasted plenty of time striving to get myself back on to my Goodreads' author account with my current email address. I'll admit to hounding Goodreads on Facebook, via emails, and also the website contact link. To be fair, the Goodreads Team was apologetic, but despite giving them pre-published blogposts as proof, along with ID and other evidence, they cannot update and change my account's long lost and defunct email address. 

So apologies if I have appeared rude on the site. Any messages and communication that have been sent to me on Goodreads will never find me. The Goodreads blogposts, fortunately, remain linked to this blog and will continue to be so as that link remains the same. But I cannot accept friends, nor reply to any messages sent, nor add books read etc. Some kind Goodreads reps said that they can add books I'm involved in and also edit my profile, but due to security reasons, I will not have access, both now and in the future, to the Goodreads community along with my friends on there. 

But who knows? I hold hope that Goodreads administrators will one day reach out to me at my Gmail address... the one I've harried them on. 

New Story 

I'll also have a new story out later this year, but I'll save that news for another post. 

Currently Reading

The Book of Magic Ed. Gardner Dozois. This was Dozois' final anthology in a celebrated career. As you'd expect, there are plenty of high quality stories within. 

Talking it Over by Julian Barnes. Really amused by this novel so far in, although it's rapidly turning uncomfortably dark. 

The Arkansas International 07.  Two superb stories well worth tracking down: "Lenin’s Mausoleum" by Ivan Shipnigov and "Acacia" by JoAnna Novak.

A Traveler's History of Greece by Timothy Boatswain & Colin Nicolson. An impressive overview of the history of Greece in its entirety. What's more they include the often overlooked Venetian era. 

Books Read 2024

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (novella)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Special Providence by Richard Yates

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird by Gisela Kaplan (natural history)

The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans by David M. Nicol (history)

The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle

Hrolf Kraki’s Saga by Poul Anderson

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow (novella)

Nation of the Night by Sue Isle (novella from the collection Nightsiders)

The Snake Stone by James Goodwin

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris

Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier

Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro (collection)

Warriors 2 Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois (anthology)

Black Light by K.A. Bedford

Meanjin Quarterly Vol.79, Issue 3 Ed. Jonathan Green (literary journal)

Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle (novella)

Sultans in Splendour: Monarchs of the Middle East, 1869-1945 by Philip Mansel (history)

The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson (novella)

Nightsiders by Sue Isle (interlinked collection)

Bull: A Farce by Will Self (novella from Cock and Bull)

Overland 203 (lit. journal)

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

The Heirs of Locksley by Carrie Vaughn (novella)

Cock and Bull by Will Self (collection of two novellas)

White Time by Margo Lanagan (collection)

Labels and Other Stories by Louis de Bernieres (collection)

Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan (collection)

Cock by Will Self (novella from Cock and Bull)

Dark Harvest by Cat Sparks (collection)

Overland Issue 238 (literary journal)

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (novella)

Out of the Dark by David Weber (novella in Warriors 2)

5 Faves

I could have easily waxed lyrical on plenty more wonderful books, but I’m keeping things to my favourite five due to time parameters.

No plot synopses here, just a few general comments.

                                         A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (novella)

A playful take on ‘Sleeping Beauty’. This was a refreshing delight and my favourite read of the year. I’ve really been drawn to meta elements being used in a playful manner over the last few years and this falls right into that alley. Fun, humorous, clever, inventive, touching and beautiful.

A Special Providence by Richard Yates

Yates’ characters are so absorbing. This is a WWII novel that concentrates on the prewar era, along with the aftermath, as much as the battle itself. An intelligent, tender, ironic and insightful work, especially with regards to the intricacies of the mother-son relationship

                                     All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Another WII novel... but I swear I'm not some world war history buff. This was a gift from a friend and former colleague, Tania Hicks. Although the oncoming tragic elements are inevitable, the narrative journey has  rays of light as it celebrates both humanity and the humanities. I have been keen on reading this ever since I read Doerr's incredible short story ‘The Deep’.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

 

I was wrong before when I claimed Tsiolkas tends to slap you over and again and that he focuses solely on disconnection. I may have been too young when I initially read some of his work and formed a somewhat naïve opinion that was further reinforced when I read Dead Europe, which to me, as an Australian Greek who has experienced life in both countries, was far too repetitively hard hitting. 

A couple of years ago, however, I read Barracuda, which was excellent. And The Slap is arguably even better. Despite exploring some dark themes, the character arcs in The Slap are intriguing and there is also, ultimately, plenty of optimism. The Slap explores what it means to be truly human; not only in terms of our flaws, but also in terms of our strengths and potential. 

Australian Magpie: Biology and Behaviour of an Unusual Songbird by Gisela Kaplan (natural history)

I’m a bird lover who has been observing maggies since a kid. Rightly or wrongly, my dad had one in his pet menagerie growing up, and my Pappou on the other side used to talk and feed a mob in his front yard. We lived with my Pappou and Yiayia on my mum’s side for a while, and then, being one of those stereotypical Greek Australian families, we moved one house over afterwards. The side of their home neighboured our backyard, so there were plenty of backyard convos, and, of course, visits both ways.

To put it in a nutshell, I enjoyed spending plenty of time with these highly intelligent and complex birds while growing up. 

Kaplan, as you’d expect from the world’s leading magpie guru, delivers a thorough exploration on almost everything you’d like to know about our great carollers. I did want a little more on the neurological aspects and cognition, but Kaplan, as stated, covers plenty of ground, especially with regards to magpies' fascinating social aspects and behaviour. A must-read for both bird and maggie lovers. 

Without doubt, these birds deserve to be on a better team flag than Collingwood's! 

Happy 2025

Better late than never...Hope you all have a happy, healthy and meaningful 2025! 

 

Top 25 Short Story Reads of 2024

This is my annual list of favourite short stories read over the year. It's the usual unapologetic mix of spec-fic and realism, along with the 'newish' and old. Some stories from Dance of the Happy Shades are on previous lists rather than this one as I'd already read a number of stories in other anthologies. I am also still reading The Book of Magic. This year, I managed 102 reads. As always, many fabulous stories were just off being listed, but I'm committed to the yearly cold cutoff at 25.

‘Dirae’ by Peter S. Beagle (from Warriors 2 Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)

‘Smart Ovens for Lonely People’ by Elizabeth Tan (from Smart Ovens for Lonely People)

‘Day of the Butterfly’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in Chatelaine)

‘An Ounce of Cure’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in The Moitrealer)

‘Red Dress–1946’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades)

‘Thanks for the Ride’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in Tamarack Review)

‘Recidivist’ by Gardner Dozois (from Warriors 2 Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)

‘Gunter Weber’s Confession’ by Louis de Bernieres (from Labels and Other Stories by Louis de Bernieres)

‘Andouil and Andouilette Begin Their Holiday’ by Louis de Bernieres (from Labels and Other Stories by Louis de Bernieres) Not overly deep nor profound but a warm comical tale featuring a loving elderly couple.

‘The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable’ by Matthew Hughes (from The Book of Magic Ed. Gardner Dozois)

‘Ancient Ways’ by S.M. Stirling (from Warriors 2 Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois) Old school swashbuckling fun.

‘The Boy Who Didn’t Yearn’ by Margo Lanagan (from White Time)

‘Pang & Co. Genuine Scribe Era Stationery Pty Ltd’ by Elizabeth Tan (from Smart Ovens for Lonely People. First published in dotdotdash 2010)

‘Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror: Chapter II: Jumping Jack in Love’ by Ysbeau S. Wilce (from The Book of Magic Ed. Gardner Dozois)

‘Community Service’ by Megan Lindholm (from The Book of Magic Ed. Gardner Dozois)

‘Seven Years from Home’ by Naomi Novik (from Warriors 2 Ed. George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois)

‘Veterans Day’ by Cat Sparks (from Dark Harvest, originally published in Hear me Roar)

‘The Painted Girl’ by Sue Isle (from Nightsiders by Sue Isle)

‘The Shining Houses’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in the CBC programme Anthology)

‘Boys and Girls’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in The Moitirealer)

‘The Time of Death’ by Alice Munro (from Dance of the Happy Shades, originally published in The Canadian Forum)

‘Fata Morgana’ by Cat Sparks (from Dark Harvest, originally published in Mother of Invention) It was a privilege to provide feedback on this story prior to publication.

‘Song of Fire’ by Rachel Pollack (from The Book of Magic Ed. Gardner Dozois)

‘Wealth’ by Margo Lanagan (from White Time)

‘Washing Day’ by Elizabeth Tan (from Smart Ovens for Lonely People, first published in Mascara Literary Review)