[Editor's Note: Here you will find the other Dispatches From Smaragdine columns.]

Installment #3

Smaragdine Fish Holidays
Editor Fantastique: An Interview with Ellen Datlow
Fiction Reviews: Grey by Jon Armstrong
Next Time
Contact Information

Smaragdine Fish Holidays

December in Smaragdine exposed me to several unusual holidays. Most of which revolve around the giant Logorrheic Coelacanth, an ancient freshwater fish that lives in Lake Baikal, but which labors its way like the walking catfish down to Smaragdine once every few years to spawn. The bellowing can be heard for miles and the local children make a game of going into the old-growth forests in the surrounding hills to catch them. It's a race against time, as the Logorrheic Coelacanths are headed for the river. Once there, they cannot be caught. They have an almost supernatural ability to avoid the fishermen's nets.

© Eric Schaller A tourist's conception of the Logorrheic Coelacanth

I went with Big Bad Bear to see the hunt for these fish one afternoon, the sun a weak beacon behind gray skies. The city's domes and skyscrapers were a shadow at our backs and to our left the rich green hills, to our right, the river, slow and sad. It was not long before we heard the rhythmic bellowing of the fish (which is the sound of the complex interchange of water and air that allows them, using their gills as lungs, to remain on land for so long). Soon, we heard the shouts of the children chasing them, and then over the rise of the nearest hill came the fish! They were enormous and battle-scarred from their journey. They looked more like living tanks than fish. Barreling and shoving, river-ward they came, while the children with their nets swarmed over them, consigning some of them to the dinner pot.

I've really never seen anything like it, to be honest. We stood there until early dusk, watching. Once the fish made it to the water, they seemed to disappear in it -- not even the hint of a fin cutting into air. The water didn't churn with their passage. They simply became part of the water. The only change: a slight scent of lime, which the locals told me had to do with the chemical changes the fish undergo during their journey.

That night, we ate fish until we were stuffed, the bellows of those around the dinner table kin to those of the fish dashing down the hill.

As we sat around an open fire, Big Bad Bear said, "This is the life." He was as relaxed as I've seen him in a long time.

Of course, he had good reason to be happy. He'd finally cleared up his misunderstanding with the police. Which means I can finally reveal that he is Horia Ursu, a Romanian editor who ducks down to Smaragdine from time to time for reasons that are still unclear to me.

Anyway, that was one of many fish festivals celebrated in these parts, under these foreign stars. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it, and hope your holiday season has been even half as festive.

Editor Fantastique: Ellen Datlow

I would find it hard to believe that anyone hasn't heard of Ellen Datlow by now, but if you haven't, she's the award-winning former editor of Omni and Sci Fiction, in addition to one of the editors of The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror. She has also edited a number of original anthologies. Since her latest, Salon Fantastique, is now available and she has others out in 2007, I thought it would be a good time to catch up with her and ask a few questions about her most recent projects.

How did you come up with the idea for Salon Fantastique?

Book publisher/editor John Oakes and I had wanted to work together for several years -- while he was still publisher of Four Walls, Eight Windows. But he never had the resources for an original anthology. Once he sold his company to Avalon and became publisher of Thunder's Mouth, we had lunch and talked about me editing an all original anthology for him. I knew he wasn't all that interested in horror and I felt that while working at Sci Fiction that I couldn't really do a science fiction anthology, but suggested a non-theme fantasy anthology. He was interested, I told him I'd like to collaborate with Terri Windling, he said yes, and that was that. Terri Windling came up with the title.

We split up the list of whom we're going to ask and ask for a submission to be sent to both of us. We have to agree on buying each story. Occasionally, one of us may love a story and the other only likes it. In that case, we'll take the story. If one of us loathes the story though, we won't. I do most of the line editing, collect and write up the bios and afterwords (when there are afterwords). Terri writes the intro and the preface. Depending upon timing and other factors, one of the other will go over the copy edit. For SF, I think I was traveling when it came in, so Terri went over it. With [a new anthology] The Coyote Road, I'm going to get the copy edit to go over. I do the administrative work (contracts/payments).

By switching between science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and by reading submissions and switching to already published work for the horror half of Year's Best Fantasy & Horror I keep myself interested. There are so many aspects of editing that I have plenty of varied jobs to do at any given time.

Story order is pretty important -- at least the first and last story. I usually consider the order as I do the final line editing of each story for an anthology. The first story needs to be something accessible: not too dense, not too weird. Something that will "invite" the reader into the multiple worlds of the anthology. The last story should be a very strong one. Sometimes the strongest, but sometimes, I'll have a very powerful story then a "grace note" story to finish off the anthology. Other than that, I try to vary length, narrative point of view, thematic twinnings, etc. I'm always willing to listen to my in-house editor for a difference in opinion as to what should go in what order.

Nagging writers for their best stories and then working with them to make them even better (if necessary). Reading a brilliant story for the first time and being blown away by it. Introducing readers to wonderful writers and stories they might not otherwise read.

Waiting for reviews. For the The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror? Everything. I'm burned out most of the year because I'm reading for it most of the year.

The Young Adult anthology market seems to be pretty strong. I actually am seeing publishers more willing to take chances -- SF Book Club and Barnes & Noble have been generating original anthologies.