…is suddenly finding out you’ve been mentioned in a Michael Moorcock article
Indeed, we’ve recently been through a period of restoration and reconsideration rather than a period of experiment and I think there are real economic and social reasons why this is so. While mainstream publishers have become more open to publishing synthetic work, including fantasy and science fiction, they have become less interested in encouraging or supporting experiment. Always somewhat cautious, not to say feeble, about publishing new work, they are further discouraged by booksellers’ increasing reluctance to put genuinely idiosyncratic fiction on their shelves. They are perfectly happy to stock hundreds of copies of bestsellers, like Susannah Clarke or Michael Chabon (both of whom are admittedly of a very high quality) but offer no space at all to writers like Steve Aylett, Stuart Hall, Samit Basu, Sebastian Doubinsky, Zoran Zivkovic and scores of others who are not using so many familiar tropes from either sf or literary fiction. What’s more, these corporate booksellers dictate increasingly to publishers what they can and can’t publish if they wish to stay in business.
Thanks very much Vibhor, who let me know about this, and Sarnath, who was the reason Mr. Moorcock found out I existed. I’m really thrilled. And glad I’m home alone, because I’m going to be horribly smug for the next two hours.
Samit Basu 
This is indeed utterly cool. Good on you, man.
So, did you get to read any Moorcock?
Posted by Aditya Bidikar | November 8, 2007, 1:33 pmGah. Of course.
Your book done yet?
Posted by samit | November 8, 2007, 1:56 pmI’ve … had to abandon it. Wasn’t working. Too slapdash for full-length. I’m concentrating on shorts for now.
I will be sending you at least one story for your anthology. I hope you like it enough to include it. 🙂
PS: Waiting very impatiently for The Unwaba Revelations. I hope you’ll be coming to Pune (or at least to Mumbai) to promote it. I want a complete set of signed books!
Posted by Aditya Bidikar | November 8, 2007, 2:05 pmGood on you Samit! May your fine works be mentioned in a million magazines and ezines mate.
I am working on an anthology of fantasy fiction with my writers group at the moment. I am going to sit down tommorrow and see if I can cook up something delightful or your reading pleasure that will hopefully find its way into the anthology.
Thanks for posting the call for submissions. Appreciate it!
Posted by Nikesh Murali | November 9, 2007, 3:25 pmcongrats, this is very cool, and deserved if you ask me.
Posted by Mark Stavnicky | November 10, 2007, 11:42 pmI read the helioptrope article – and jumped like three feet straight up.
Checked, rechecked, spammed all my gtalk contacts – and then ambled to your website to tell you about this.
Too late again.
Aah well, anyways, to use genteel language – fookin ownage. Michael Moorcock, the grandmaster himself.
Now all you need is a collaboration with Pratchett and you can die a happy man.
Posted by zBard | November 16, 2007, 3:21 pmActually,thanks to your blog I found out that I was on Moorcock’s list too – so I know how you feel! Cheers!
Posted by sebastien doubinsky | November 21, 2007, 9:07 pmyay, exciting! i just got “the manticore’s secret” and am about three-fourths done with it…have family going to india soon so i’ll have them pick up ‘the unwaba revelation.’
Posted by harini | January 9, 2008, 7:48 am