
Just got my copy of Adventure, a collection of new pulp and genre fiction by Chris Roberson, Kim Newman, Michael Moorcock, Paul Di Filippo, Matt Rossi, and many others, including my first published short story.
Regular readers of this blog won't be surprised to learn that my contribution takes a look at the conventions and tradition of one particular set of superheroes. I'm not sure whether the recent return of Hal Jordan makes it very timely or very out of date; in any case it's not about him. It's about the last in a long line of heroes, thrust into a role he was never prepared for and despised because he's not his predecessor. The genre, of course, is feel-good comedy.
Acknowledgments are due to Matt Rossi, who besides being a longtime collaborator and sounding board got me involved in this project; Chris Roberson, who provided some expert editing; and Abhay Khosla, who presented a much earlier, cruder version of this story to the world back in the dimly lit mists of prehistory, or at least grad school. Thanks to all.
Oh, and for anyone keeping track: fiction is a hell of a lot faster than most academic publishing.