THE MARKET

• Mag: Redstone Science Fiction
• Editor(s): Michael Ray and Co-Editor Paul Clemmons
• Pay Rate: 5¢ / word
• Response Time: expect 1 month, query after two
• Deadline: Temp closed since 4/4/10, will reopen in a few weeks
• Description: Redstone Science Fiction will publish quality stories from across the science fiction spectrum. We are interested in everything from post-cyberpunk to new space opera.
• Submission Guidelines: redstonesciencefiction.com

NOTE: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.

THE SCOOP
1) What authors do you enjoy, and why does their writing captivate you?
MICHAEL RAY: Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, which I only read five years ago, makes my head swim.  Neal Stephenson is, of course, a genius. Although, sometimes I think I’m the only person who actually read and loved every page of the The Baroque Cycle. Among newer authors I like Charlie Stross, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. They have grown up with the current technologies and their extrapolations fit into what I think of as the “new science fiction future”.

PAUL CLEMMONS: Too numerous for a short list.  Some of my all-time favorites are by Zelazny, Haldeman, Pohl, Card and Niven, but there is so much good stuff over the last few years by guys like Stross, Doctorow, Wilson, and others that it is all but impossible to pin down a hard and fast favorites list.  These guys, among so many others, have captivated me with well-written stories that are built around speculations on changes in technology/society which are followed to rational ends.

2) What are your favorite genres? Which of these genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
RAY: I like near future extrapolations about pervasive computing & technology and I like Space Opera grounded in science. That’s what I’d like to see more in our submissions. (I also love epic fantasy, like Wolfe & Martin and Jordan, but those are for our next online magazine.)

CLEMMONS: Our thrust with RSF is Science Fiction, though we are both also big fans of well-written and rational heroic fantasy.

3) What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
RAY: I don’t think which setting is important. Stories are always a better read when you feel like the characters are somewhere specific, wherever it is, and that it is part of the characters’ lives, not just an empty stage for a read-through of the writer’s pet ideas.  But, simple details as we go along can tell me what I need to know.  I’m not a travel reader.

Read the complete interview at D.L. Snell’s Market Scoops!

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