Unleash the funny! Unidentified Funny Objects 4, featuring stories by Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Piers Anthony, Esther Freisner and — inexplicably — yours truly, will be available in print and ebook on October 15, wherever fine fiction is sold.
I’m excited that my humble story, “Confessions of an Interplanetary Art Fraud,” is there among so many excellent, hilarious stories from so many fantastic authors. And early reviews are pretty great; Tangent Online had a thorough review of all the stories. Regarding “Confessions,” reviewer C.D. Lewis wrote:
“Confessions of an Interplanetary Fraud” is a comic space opera about a human whose post-abduction life leaves him a weirdo outsider struggling to make it in a galaxy where his nestmates poke fun at his lifelong soft white larval form. Stereotype inversions and ironic reversals provide comic relief, and you probably had no idea how hard it can be on an Ill’illanthan to suffer Twinkie addiction. And, yeah: stuff on Earth has very different value and utility in the rest of the galaxy. The story takes a while to get to the interplanetary fraud, but there’s chuckles all along the way. I particularly enjoyed the lampshade provided for the star that miraculously had the exact same local name as assigned to it on Earth by English-speakers, and whose planet had breathable air. What are the odds? The fourth-wall-breaking comic twist conclusion makes a fine capstone to a fun space fantasy.
That’s a pretty great review for my first turn at comedy — and my third published short story, for that matter. I’m pretty chuffed, as my friends across the Atlantic might say.
UFO4 is available for pre-order at Amazon, with other vendors forthcoming. Go get yourself some funny!
#SFWApro
Hmmm, I’m not a huge fan of anthologies, but a comedy one might not be so bad…
I’ve had a chance to read some of the anthology, and let me tell you, there’s some great stuff in there.
Question is: Can the great stuff carry the not-so-great stuff?
Well, according to the Tangent review, there’s really not a lot of not-so-great to worry about overall. So that helps.
That definitely does help.