It's a Small World After All & the Future of Short Fiction

The wonderful Small World Podcast, which features "interviews with people from all walks of life from all over the planet," has just uploaded an interview with yours truly. We cover a host of subjects, including:

• how Pyr began and how Pyr is different from other science fiction/fantasy imprints;
• Pyr books like Keeping It Real, Crossover, Brasil, and Fast Forward 1
  
• publishers that have a following;
• where the name Pyr came from;
• the artwork that appears on the covers of Pyr books;
• the emerging themes in science fiction in the 21st century;
  
• how the SciFi channel almost missed the boat with Doctor Who;
• the escapsim/literature debate;
• and the subversive nature of science fiction, including how Star Trek addressed racism

You can follow the link above or download an mp3 directly here. I promise I tried to keep this one work safe, but apparently I failed once again.

Also recommended, their previous podcast with the band The Good Listeners, which turned me on to a new band.

Meanwhile, Ryun Patterson has just posted his thoughts on my own Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge over on Bookgasm:

“…so good that I suggest Pyr wait a year and republish it with the title BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF 2007. This is an important book that can move science fiction one step closer to the “literature” shelf, if it so desires…Anders has coaxed such incredible goodness out of these writers that if you only read one or two stories a month, it’s better than a year’s subscription to most of the genre magazines out there...With a deep bench of talent and a perfectly paced setlist, Lou Anders has made made a book that truly represents its own theme. Fast Forward has the potential to be the future of short-form science fiction.”