Kurt Pankau Dot Com

✒️ But I Want to be a Paperback Writer... Hey all, couple of things coming up that I wanted to throw at y'all. A.I., M.D. has been reprinted in the Spring 2024 Dragon Gems Anthology . This story about a misanthropic medical robot originally ran in Unidentified Funny Objects Vol. 8 . Next weekend I will be attending 4th Street Fantasy  and will be appearing on the 10:00am Sunday panel Dwelling on Redemption  alongside Aja McCullough, Aimee Kuzenski, Vivian Shaw, and John Wiswell. If you're there, come say hi! A new story called A Pin Drops is in the June issue of  Flash Fiction Online . It can purchased through their website, and it will appear for free online later this month. It is--hands down--the strangest story I have ever sold. Is it funny? Yes. Is it traumatizing? Also yes. Which is more prominent? I will leave that as an exercise for the reader. Thanks, ]{p

🐉 Oh No, They Say He's Got to Go... Hey, everybody. I already mentioned that I'm going to be at Archon this weekend. Well, this will also be the launch of a book that I co-authored with my very good friend Kathy Bailey. It's got science, feminism, laughs, and at least one vehicular explosion, and it can be pre-ordered on Amazon . ]{p

👑 "Once I Was the King of Spain..." Hey everybody, I'm going to be at Archon this weekend. Here's my schedule: Opening Sentences and What They Tell the Reader Friday 19:00, Marquette A Panelists read first sentences from a variety of published books and stories, and discuss the variety of approaches they represent, such as "the hook" vs. world-building vs. setting the mood, etc. What makes us want to read on? Dammit Jim! I'm a Fan, Not a Nuclear Scientist! (moderator) Saturday 12:00, Marquette B Horror stories of completely unqualified convention panelists. The Ultimate MCU Movie and TV Show Ranking Extravaganza! Saturday 13:00, Salon 6 Argue and defend your choices of the best, worst, and middling selections of the movies and shows that make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Concert: Uncle Fluffy's Post-Apocalyptic Sing-Along Saturday 17:00, Mississippian Teaching children survival skills after the apocalypse. Holy Rotten Eggs, Batman!: A Retrospec...

🤖 Domo Arigato... Hey everybody, I've got a couple of book announcements to make. So lately when people ask me what I write, I've just been saying that I write "mostly silly stories about robots". Which is more or less true. And I've come to realize that a lot of my stories just aren't readily available. They're paywalled, or they're in an anthology that's out of print, or they've succumbed to link rot, etc. I tried the reprint markets without much success (read: any  success) and it occurred to me that I have enough of them that I could just package them up in an ebook and make them available that way--especially if I could come up with a witty title and find an adequately adorable cover at a reasonable price. So with all of that said, I'm putting out an ebook of short stories with an adorable cover and a witty title. This will be coming out... soon. I need to make sure everything in there is out of exclusivity, and I want to put a few no...

Hey everybody, Quick round-up of the stuff. I turned 40 today, and as a way of minorly celebrating I've removed the paywall from all of my Curious Fictions posts . Everything that's up there now will remain free. New stuff will be subscriber-walled (or whatever), at least until the next time I decide to make everything free again. And, as usual, new posts to CF will first appear in my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here . Second, I've got a piece called A.I., M.D.  that will be appearing in the forthcoming Unidentified Funny Objects 8 anthology , due out this fall. I've wanted to be in this anthology since I learned of its existence, so I'm super stoked to have a story picked up. Finally, one of my alter-egos has a project that's just about ready. If you're the type of person who thinks schlocky space westerns might be fun, then let me direct your attention to this link . Thanks for reading, ]{p

I have a new story out! "Ah-Nee-May-Tron-Ick" is out today in Nature: Futures  this morning. Alas, Futures  stories are no longer included in the print edition, only online. Regardless! It's free to read on the interwebs, and if you enjoy silliness, dinosaurs, aliens, or various combinations thereof, then take five minutes to read it. ]{p

Just a quick note to say... A Punk Rock Future , which includes my story Wailsong , is now available to purchase on Amazon. ]{p

Hey everybody! DreamForge Magazine have purchased my story Autoimmune  for an upcoming issue. They are a print and online magazine, and it's likely the story will be paywalled to anyone without a subscription. This is one of my favorite of my own stories, as well as being the second-longest one I've sold, so I'm very excited to be able to make this announcement. I don't know when it's going to be running, but expect me to post more details when they are available. Because I'm nothing if not a ferocious braggart! In other news about things I don't know, I also don't know when Carpools & Coworkers  is going to run at Daily Science Fiction , other than "soonish." However, A Punk Rock Future  (with my story Wailsong ) has been sent out to Kickstarter backers, so a number of people (myself included) already have their copies. Print and ebook copies are available for pre-order on Amazon and should be out in early October. ]{p