As an editor and anthologist Jonathan Strahan is recidivist*. He is compulsively nominated for Hugos and World Fantasy Awards – he’s on the World Fantasy shortlist again this year for Eclipse 3. For a fullsome bibliography, you must go here – it reads like The King’s Library. There are various Year’s Bests, Starry Rifts, Eclipses, etc, under his belt and he’s midwifed more books than you can poke a stick at. He is also Reviews Editor and an occasional reviewer for Locus magazine. He co-founded the seminal Eidolon.
1. The greatest joy I find in being an editor is …
… the moment when a new story, one you’re excited about and have been waiting for, that fell through your email inbox 5 minutes ago, which you opened breathless and desperate for, hits that sweet spot where you know it’s not only good, it’s better than you thought, and you’re about to find out by just how much. That’s the best moment of being an editor for me.
2. Have you ever selected a story for an anthology that you’ve regretted later?
Ohhhhh. Yes. I have selected stories and later regretted them, though for a wide range of reasons. I might tell you about the worst one over drinks at WorldCon**.
3. Wonder Woman -v- Storm from X-Men: discuss.
I grew up in the 70s. Wonder Woman! I mean there was all that slow motion jogging, and I was barely in my teens. As to Storm – who?
4. What makes a story irresistible?
The X factor. A story that makes you forget you’re reading a submission and turns you from an editor back into a reader is irresistible. What makes that happen? You should know that. You’re a writer. Magic.
5. Donuts (or doughnuts) or danishes?
Donuts. But not the holes.
Follow his advetnures here.
* On a side note: I once had a boyfriend who kept asking what a recidivist was. The first three times I thought it was a joke. Uh oh.
**I hereby undertake to buy him drinks until he tells me what story that was – everyone can make donations via PayPal.