My novelette, “From Wayfield, From Malagasy,” has been accepted by Analog Science Fiction & Fact, publication date to be determined. This novelette is an honest-to-god spaceship on an alien planet story—a little outside the soft-science/hard-fantasy reservation I generally roam. Here’s a snippet:

Wayfield stood in the torrential rain, trying to wall off his feelings of despondency behind a professionally somber expression. He didn’t think he was making a very good job of it. One of his officers read the traditional verse for the departed souls of Greene, Durban and Mansourian, committing them forever to deep space. Though the ship had grounded, the verse was fitting, since the crewmembers’ bones would be forever entombed in the lethally radioactive hull of the Malagasy.

Beginning today you’ll see some new user icons from the home office in rotation. The icons are culled from a series of terrific photographs of Rapa Nui by , who has very generously shared the images with me and given me permission to use them here.

Papa Moai blesses all his little forest friends.

My longtime friend and SF writer William Shunn () has a terrific novella, “Inclination,” in the April/May 2006 issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction. The details are available in Bill’s LiveJournal entry here, but the issue should be on the stands beginning next week.* Go! Run, my little forest friends! Buy it!

* Update: the issue is available now, according to .