Fantastic Texas

"Good News for the Dead"

2011-11-01T21:26:00.003-05:00

Lou Antonelli's Christian zombie story, "Good News for the Dead" - originally published in M-Brane SF in April 2009 - is included in the anthology "Zombified: An Anthology of All Things Zombie".

"Zombified" is Ebook By Carol Hightshoe, Published By Sky Warrior Publishing. Price $3.99. Released Sept. 21, 2011.

"Zombie crime fighters, politicians, soldiers, rescuers—but a Zombie prom date or bowler? If you’re looking for Zombies, prepare to be ZOMBIEFIED! Two dozen amazing zombie stories sure to breathe life back into the Undead. If you’re looking for stories that shamble, groan, and eat brains, you’re sure to become ZOMBIEFIED."

Praise for "Texas & Other Planets"

2011-10-31T20:29:00.001-05:00

FORGOTTEN BOOK: TEXAS AND OTHER PLANETS by Lou Antonelli
By Scott A. Cupp, on June 23rd, 2011
TEXAS AND OTHER PLANETS by Lou Antonelli, 2010, Merry Blacksmith Press
This is the 55th in my series of Forgotten Books.
This is not so much a Forgotten Book as a totally ignored book. Lou Antonelli is a transplanted Yankee of Italian descent. He moved to Texas a long time ago and married a Texas girl. I believe, if I recall Texas law correctly, that makes him a naturalized Texas citizen. He still talks and looks like a Yankee. That cannot be helped. But, he writes like a demon. I’m not sure if it is a heavenly or hellish demon. I just wish I did it as often and as well.
TEXAS AND OTHERPLANETS is Lou’s second collection, following FANTASTIC TEXAS (2009). It contains 20 short stories, half of which received Recommended Reading status in Gardner Dozois’ annual YEARS BEST SF. And, after reading all this collection, let me state, that those honors were earned through hard work and tough writing.Lou began his writing career as a journalist and did not have his first short story published until 2003, and that was online at RevoultionSF.com, a spot that published several of my pieces along the way.
But, that’s enough about Lou, let’s talk about the stories. The collection opens with my favorite “A Rocket For the Republic” which discusses in great detail the history of the Texas space exploration program. It holds the distinction of being the last story purchased by Dozois for ASIMOV’S before he retired. It’s very good, a solid hook and clear voice that grabs you in. The second story is “A Djinn for General Houston”. All about a guy with a magic lamp and the War for Texas Independence. Do you sense a theme here? Two stories with strong ties to Texas. Check out the title of the book. They all have ties.
Texas is as much a character in these stories as it is a part of the nature of all who live here. I cannot write with conviction about New York or Boston, but I can do it about San Antonio and Dallas. Lou Antonelli has those same convictions. He does not beat you over the head with it. The nature of the state and the people are just there. Tangible and alive. Read “Dispatches From the Troubles” about the formation of the American Irish Republic headed by John Kennedy in Londonderry (Harlingen) or “Rome, If You Want To” which features a scenic tour of Dallas or “Good News For the Dead”, an interesting zombie story (a rare thing in my opinion) or “The Silver Dollar Saucer” where two owlhoots find themselves shanghaied on a flying saucer and taken to the other side of the universe.
Each story has an introduction by Lou with some history of how it came about. I found these quite fascinating too. Jayme Blaschke (a good friend of this blog) was the editor at RevolutionSF when Lou first started writing and he provides a thoughtful introduction. I did not find a clunker in the bunch, and that is another rare occurrence. Check it out and visit Texas and Lou. You’ll like the trip.
The book is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble (but not Borders) and ABE. No copies on eBay as I write this. So I believe it to be generally available and well worth your time. You’ll see a newish writer breaking out, stretching his wings and showing his imagination. What more could you want?

Fantastic Texas

2009-05-25T10:51:00.007-05:00

"Fantastic Texas" has been published by Fantastic Books, an imprint of Wilder Publications. From ancient nuclear wars, to the secret of sexual attraction, with stops along the way for Bigfoot, ancient demons, and the truth behind alchemy, the stories in this book will take you on a truly fantastic journey through versions of Texas that were, could never be, and might have been. Steam played a big part in the first rocket launch from Texas, which was about a century earlier than we thought ("A Rocket for the Republic"). An unexpected experiment still running in the abandoned Superconducting Supercollider will introduce you to "The Witch of Waxahachie". And where would you go if global warming forced you out of Dallas? Maybe "Rome, If You Want To"? After that, ask yourself if a flying saucer is worth a silver dollar ("The Silver Dollar Saucer"). The possibilities are limitless in Lou Antonelli's new collection, Fantastic Texas. Born in Massachusetts, Antonelli is a newspaper editor and up-and-coming author of speculative fiction.

A Rocket for the Republic

2009-05-25T10:47:00.008-05:00

A newspaper editor interviews a centenarian on his 100th birthday and the old man opens up with a fantastic tale of a trip in a rocket ship during the days of the Texas frontier.

Originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2005

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 23rd Annual Collection (2006)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

Third Place, Short Stories, Asimov's Science Fiction Annual Readers' Poll (2006).

The Witch of Waxahachie

2009-05-25T10:24:00.003-05:00

A small group of scientists use left over equipment from the Superconducting Super Collider for an experiment - that goes astray - and find themselves in a world where Texas remains an independent republic, Buddy Holly is its president - and that's only the beginning of the strangeness.

Originally published in Jim Baen's Universe, April 2008.

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 26rd Annual Collection (2009)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

The Cast Iron Dybbuk

2009-05-25T10:19:00.004-05:00

A group of miners at an open-pit coal mine in East Texas discover and accidentally break open a very ancient artifact from a long-lost race of reptiles - and Bad Things Happen...

Originally published in Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine (Australia), June 2005.

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 23rd Annual Collection (2006)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

Avatar

2009-05-25T10:05:00.008-05:00

A scientist working in genetics at a university in Texarkana decades after World War III devastated the United States stumbles upon an unexpected revelation while studying the effects of radiation on a man descended from Aztec priests.

Originally published in Darker Matter (U.K.), April 2007

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 25th Annual Collection (2008)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

Silence is Golden

2009-05-25T09:56:00.005-05:00

A wise-cracking recent college grad working in the chemical department of an industrial clean up company battles a contamination puzzle at a mine in East Texas - and solves an age old secret in the process.

Originally published in Revolution SF, August 2003

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 21st Annual Collection (2004)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

The Rocket-Powered Cat

2009-05-25T00:51:00.006-05:00

A tabloid reporter investigates a very successful matchmaking service in Dallas - that uses the latest in marketing and data mining technology - and learns more than he wanted to know.

Originally published in Revolution SF, December 2004

Honorable Mention, "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 22nd Annual Collection (2005)", St. Martin's Press - Gardner Dozois, editor.

Rome, If You Want To

2009-05-25T00:46:00.002-05:00

A lonely middle-aged man running a limo service single-handedly - during a very hot summer in Dallas - drives a pair of strange tourists around the Big D.

Originally published in Surprising Stories, May 2004

Big Girl

2009-05-25T00:24:00.003-05:00

An old man consoles his granddaughter - who gets teased all the time about her size - by telling her an old family secret.

Originally published in Ultraverse, June 2005

The Silver Dollar Saucer

2009-05-24T23:42:00.006-05:00

Two desperadoes in the Old West on the run from robbing a stagecoach run into the desert and into the arms of vistors from another world - and that's just the start of their troubles!

Originally published in Ray Gun Revival, January 2009

Body by Fisher

2009-05-24T23:37:00.005-05:00

A newspaper editor and his colleagues help a small town get through the harrowing devastation caused by an EMP accident - with the help of an old jalopy that (thankfully) doesn't have any electronics.

Originally published in the Fencon IV (2007) Souvenir book

Video Killed the Radio Star

2009-05-24T23:31:00.008-05:00

A recent college grad who's career is ruined before it starts because of a drug conviction falls in with some rather strange characters who have a really big secret buried under an even bigger rock in Central Texas.

Originally published in Aphelion, December 2008

Professor Malakoff's Amazing Ethereal Telegraph

2009-05-24T23:26:00.003-05:00

A Yankee showman trying to make a living in Post-Reconstruction Texas runs afoul of some cattle rustlers after accidentally inventing radio broadcasting - in 1875!

Originally published in Science Fiction Trails No. 4