Spectra Pulse and SF Signal's Underrated Writers

I just got my spiffy contributor's copy of Spectra Pulse, Bantam Spectra's new biannual magazine. It features an excerpt from the forthcoming George RR Martin novel, original fiction by Cat Valente, and nonfiction from Elizabeth Bear, Scott Lynch, Tim Pratt, Kelley Armstrong, and me, among others. It really is a nice-looking magazine with real content to it--definitely worth checking out. Juliet Ulman at Bantam says, "We are giving out at several cons--for instance, we handed out several thousand at NY Comic Con last weekend. It is also going to several libraries across the country and some select retail accounts. Some of the exclusive content will be released digitally to this site and through our Myspace and Facebook pages. Those who will not be at, say, Comic Con International or the World Science Fiction convention who are eager to get their hands on the physical magazine itself should keep an eye on those pages, as we'll be doing some summer reading offers, including the magazine."My article was on Unsung Heroes. Given the recent SF Signal feature on underrated writers, which included Ann's choice of Kathe Koja, here're my choices from Spectra Pulse. You'll have to read the mag for the actual text.JeffAuthorsStuart Gordon: Victim of the New Age Fad?Rikki Ducornet: Invisible to Genre Readers?Rhys Hughes: Hurt by His Devotion to Short Fiction?L. Timmel Duchamp: Too Daring for Her Own Good?Individual BooksObservatory Mansions by Edward Carey (Vintage, 2000) - weak follow-up booksDr. Black & the Guerrillia by Brendan Connell (Grafitisk, 2005) - small print runMeanwhile by Max Handley (Picador, 1977) - seriously weirdThe Chess Garden by Brooks Hansen (Hodder and Stoughton, 1995) - diminishing returns on later books and somewhat reclusiveImagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton (Bantam, 1987) - once popular, obscured by badly conceived "sequel" and intolerance for non-South American-written magic realism