“And Not Spare the Flock” in Realms of Fantasy

A few nights ago, I received my contributor’s copies of the February 2008 Realms of Fantasy, which has my short story “And Not Spare the Flock.” It looks pretty awesome. There’s a gorgeous image of Lyra and Iorek Byrnison from The Golden Compass on the cover. And my name’s on the cover, too, but it’s not nearly as cool — well, how do you compete with a panzerbjorn, anyway?

I’m guessing this won’t hit newsstands for a few more weeks, but it feels fantastic to have these copies in my hands. My story is illustrated by Kiriko Moth, and she got the scene just right. Maybe I can get a copy of the illustration.

So far, I’ve only read one of the stories: “Hobnoblin,” by Elizabeth Bear. It rocked, in more ways than one. I’ll probably curl up with the magazine some evening when I have time (which limits the possibilities somewhat) and go through each story slowly. Except for my own; I tend to cringe when rereading my work, even if it’s good.