Three stories for the beginning of April

This is apparently a good month for my Clarion class. Ok, it’s a coincidence but it’s still really cool that three members of the Clarion class of 2010 (including me) have stories that went live in at the beginning of the month.

My story, “Repairing the World” is live in issue #59 (April 2014) of Apex Magazine. I’ve been describing it with the tags “Intruding savannah!” and “Bodyguard linguists!” The opening premise is that pieces of other worlds are systematically replacing the world and visa versa. As other worlds intrude into Lila’s ever more quickly, can she figure out how to preserve the world she knows?

Kali Wallace’s story, “Water in Springtime” is live in issue #91 (April 2014) of Clarkesworld Magazine. It’s a lush, beautifully written, inventive story about a girl on a journey and (among other things) her attempts to master her mother’s lessons. Kali’s work is never less than masterful. Have I mentioned that she has a novel coming out in 2016?

Kai Ashante Wilson’s story, “The Devil in America” is live at Tor.com. It is a blistering portrayal of the intersection of race and violence and the repercussions of an action that reverberates both backwards and forwards in time. As Kai, himself, says, “I wrote it haunted by the ghosts of the murdered, and the only way I knew to lay them was with a story. It turns out the murdered dead enjoy a story full of love and wonders as much as we do, but they’re much less keen on happy endings.”

“The Devil in America” may be the best novelette published this year. (Note: The story comes with a content warning. Of course, read that first then decide based on your own tastes. However, the story is a audacious work that, IMHO, succeeds brilliantly with a rich, immersive voice that amplifies this emotionally gripping subject matter. Absolutely worth the time.)