Josh Roseman
(not the trombonist; the other one)
PS: I'm now a member of the SFWA. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.
My novella/novelette/long-short-story “Secret Santa” has been published by the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine. I’d say it’s rated PG — no sex, a little violence, some bad language but nothing extreme. Listen here.
Escape Pod is running a flash fiction contest. The entry period has ended, and we’ve moved onto voting. I have two stories in the running, out of the 92 total entries. The contest is completely anonymized — you won’t know who wrote the stories you’re voting on until they either win or lose.
Here’s how to read and vote:
- Go to http://forum.escapeartists.net and sign up. It’s a free forum, and they don’t collect personal information, but you do have to use a valid e-mail address for verification purposes.
- Go to the Flash Contest III sub-forum, which I believe you can only see if you’re a member.
- Post a comment in the “IMPORTANT” thread, so that the nightly bot-sweep doesn’t delete your account. (Anyone who hasn’t posted at least one time by the end of the day they register is considered a bot.)
- Read the stories in the available groups. Comment on any (or none) of them and vote for the one(s) you like best. Each group is open to be voted on for four days.
- Visit the site every even-numbered day for the next two-and-a-half weeks to get a look at some new free flash fiction.
The stories are 750 words or less apiece, so it shouldn’t take you long to read them.
A hint: my stories are both between 740 and 750 words. If you’ve read my other works, you should be able to figure out from the writing style which ones they are. They may or may not be posted already.
Anyway, I encourage you to read the stories and vote on them — even if you don’t vote for me.
Enjoy.
Roseman looks at some current trends to explore love, sex and relationships in the near future, through the eyes of a young man who regrets his decision not to renew his relationship contract with his partner after eight years and one child.
Roseman’s first story in Asimovs (‘Bring on the Rain’) was an action-packed drama, and he attempts a much more difficult story here, in looking at relationships and getting into the mind of the protagonist, and it just feels a little less subtle than it needs to be.
Mark Watson at Best SF said the above about “Greener” and “Bring on the Rain”.
I agree that “Greener” was a more difficult story in some ways, although I actually have more difficulty with action sequences, as I worry about them going by too quickly. I just wrote a Boss Fight in my novel and I found myself having to pad it out a little to reach 2000 words in the chapter.
My story “Belief”, which first appeared in Fusion Fragment, has been republished in the latest Dunesteef, Episode 132. It’s in audio form, so grab a pair of headphones and tune in.
Soundproof Digest #2 collects most of my reviews from April, May, and June, along with my short-story “113 Feet”, in one handy PDF or MOBI document for your reading enjoyment. It also contains several Hugo-nominated short-stories.
My short-story “113 Feet” has been published by Escape Pod. Read it or listen to it here. If you choose the latter, enjoy editor Mur Lafferty’s performance.
“113 Feet” is the first short-story I wrote when I started calling myself a writer. It took several years and a lot of revisions to get it to the point of being published. It used to be 5000 words longer, for starters. And on top of that, it was actually inspired by Escape Pod — specifically, episode 147, “Pressure”, in which former editor Steve Eley said he wanted to read more underwater SF. I wrote this story in the month following that episode.
If you want to give feedback on the story, Escape Pod maintains forums for you to do so. You’ll find them here.
My short-story “The Plumbers and the Princess” is now available in Aoife’s Kiss #41 — their 11th anniversary issue. Click here to purchase a copy.
(It’s pronounced “EE-faw”, if you were wondering.)
Tangent Online had the above to say about “Greener”.
He’s right. It’s not a particularly pleasant story. I don’t think any of the characters (except perhaps the kids and the escort) are ones you can really root for. But then, I wrote it that way on purpose.
Mark Watson of Best SF had the above to say on “Bring on the Rain”.
Josh Roseman. Bring on the Rain. (Asimovs July 2011) | Best SF
I recently found this review of my story “Survivor”. Thanks, closetpuritan, for your kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
My short-story “Greener”, which I’m very proud of, is in the April/May 2012 issue of Asimov’s. Click here to put it in your eyeballs.
My story “Survivor” — my first anthology sale — is available today from Crossed Genres publications. It’s only $5 on the e-reader of your choice.
