Behind the Scenes: Mike Allen's Hot New Anthology Series Clockwork Phoenix
The last couple of years, Clockwork Phoenix edited by Mike Allen has emerged as a fine example of the general, original anthology series. Not only is there undeniable energy and verve in the selections, Clockwork Phoenix also features an open reading period, which helps new voices get a foothold in a competitive market often dominated by more established writers. The result is a heady mix of the new and the familiar, and an anthology willing to take chances. Stories from Clockwork Phoenix have been nominated for the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award, and reprinted in Year's Best SF 14, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, The Best Horror of the Year 2, edited by Ellen Datlow, and The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2010, edited by Rich Horton.
After the success of volume one and volume two, Mike Allen is back with Clockwork Phoenix 3. I invited him to give Omnivoracious readers a behind-the-scenes look at creating an original anthology. Also check out the website for momre information...
Behind-the-Scenes at Clockwork Phoenix
by Mike Allen
When Jeff invited me to talk a bit about what went into the making of Clockwork Phoenix 3, I did a fair amount of waffling, because it's a complex process. I try to pick standout stories that also work together to form a cohesive whole, not unlike squares in a quilt. Sometimes the stories arrive ready to be sewn right in, and with others I spend some time adjusting the stitches.
What I tell writers when I want to work with them on a rewrite is that I can't promise the changes I want will be the things that are best for their story -- all I can tell them is how to fix the story so it's something I want to publish. Hopefully achieving the latter goal does something for the former.
Like its immediate predecessor, Clockwork Phoenix 2, this new book's assembly unfolded in stages. First there was stories that narrowly missed being in the second volume, that I asked for rewrites of with an eye toward putting them in the third. Those were newcomer Stacey Hirons' "Dragons of America" and reviewer/editor Mike Jones' "Your Name Is Eve." The revision I asked for from Stacey involved an extensive re-imagining of several of his main characters, which he nailed, while Mike's involved finessing the ending until we both agreed on it.
Overlapping this was a period prior to the official opening of the submission window when I was willing to look at work by writers I knew or writers known to me. First came Tor novelist John C. Wright's mind-blowing "Murder in Metachronopolis" -- which could just about serve as the final word on time travel stories -- followed by Marie Brennan's "The Gospel of Nachash," Tanith Lee's "Fold," horror writer Gemma Files' "Hell Friend" and poet Claire Cooney's novelette "Braiding the Ghosts," which I accepted after asking for a few minor tweaks.
I also got my first look at 2007 Clarion grad Shweta Narayan's "Eyes of Carven Emerald," which I wanted to showcase out of sheer admiration for its scope and complexity, but which didn't quite speak to me yet on an emotional level. I made suggestions for what would have been a drastic change to the story's structure, which Shweta immediately and rightly rebuffed, pledging instead to retool what was already there to bring out the elements I was missing. And did so quite successfully, I might add.
Then we had the actual unsolicited submission period. I'd shortened it from previous years to an month and a half, and still received 750+ manuscripts. I looked at nearly every ms. myself, and out of the e-pile accepted ... four stories. Tori Truslow's "Tomorrow Is Saint Valentine's Day," Georgina Bruce's "Crow Voodoo," Ken Schneyer's "Lineage" and World Fantasy Award nominee and Clarion teacher Gregory Frost's "Lucyna's Gaze," a tale I think is certain to vex a few reviewers. (And, yes, I know, four out of 750 is a brutal ratio.)
As I was finalizing my picks, although the window was technically closed, John Grant mentioned to me he had a story he'd really love for me to look at. John's a Hugo winner, and his "All the Little Gods We Are" from the first Clockwork Phoenix was one of the book's most talked about works, so of course I had a look. "Where Shadows Go at Low Midnight" had elements that fit the new book's overall darkness but also a dash of lightheartedness the book desperately needed more of. So I took.
Then Anita and I did our thing where we assemble the stories in a way that's meant to give readers extra payoff if you read them in order. It's worth noting that with the first two books, the first stories we had in hand were from Tanith, and so it's fair to say both volumes got built around what she'd written, thus her stories ended up smack in the middle. This time, though, her story struck me as a grace note, so I insisted that "Fold" have the final slot.
We finished, and -- just as with the second book -- felt there was still something missing. With CP2, I wound up asking Barbara Krasnoff to write a short sci-fi tale to round out the book. With CP3, no obvious solution had clearly presented itself, but I got doubly lucky. For starters, Cat Rambo had another story she wanted to show me. I asked to see it, and on reading the surreal sf story "Surrogates" I knew it was a keeper.
At the same time, I learned that Nicole Kornher-Stace, a new writer I've gotten to know, was working on a rewrite of a strange steampunk fantasy called "To Seek Her Fortune" that I'd initially turned down. I told her I was willing to give it another look, and found it was now a story that almost worked for me but skewed slightly left or right of what I wanted in different spots throughout. She and I "sat down" together in an epic Gchat session and ironed out all the kinks front to back. All that remained was for publisher Vera Nazarian to approve the additional purchase of both stories, which she generously did.
And there you have more inside baseball information than you could ever want about the assembly of Clockwork Phoenix 3.
As well as editing the Clockwork Phoenix series for Norilana Books, Mike Allen edits and publishes the biannual poetry journal Mythic Delirium. He also writes poetry and fiction. Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a ten-year retrospective of his verse and strange prose, was a Philadelphia Inquirer Editor's Choice selection in 2006, while his horror story "The Button Bin" was a 2008 Nebula Award nominee. With his wife Anita he lives in Roanoke, Va., with his wife Anita, where he works as the arts columnist for the daily newspaper.
C.S.E. Cooney on July 07, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Well, look at that.
The things you learn about CP3 after the fact.
:D
COOL!
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