James Beamon, Amazing Select’s editor for its No Police = No Future anthology that gathered stories about the future of policing and justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, discusses his work as editor and associate editor, beginning with Alex Shvartsman’s Unidentified Funny Objects series, an effort to focus on humor in science fiction, and then a bit later working on the Amazing Select’s project.
In his post, James notes –
My perspective, unapologetically Black, informed and steeped in the culture, is what the mainstream (i.e., white) editors needed to get out of their own heads to see how someone not of the dominant culture found a thing funny.
and
This collection (No Police) was designed to showcase SF stories envisioning societies functioning without police, as well as alternative systems of justice. This was in 2020, in the wake of George Floyd, the whole world reeling from a system that was built by design to devour my people. I have no illusion Amazing Stories sought me out for any reason other than me being a Black editor. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
and further goes on to discuss how his evolution as an editor informed his work – and how other editors can use and embrace their own personal experiences.
We’re very glad James joined us for this project and look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.
You can read his entire piece here on the SFWA website.
James writes that he never met an author’s Bio that he didn’t like, so here are two of his:
James Beamon never met a bio about himself that he didn’t like. That’s because they often talk of his adventurous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan or the wild ride he and his wife have shared for over twenty five years. It has nothing to do with the fact that he’s written all those bios himself and they should really be called “auto-bios” instead of plain “bios”.
Speaking of writing, James has written four novels of a fantasy adventure series, over forty SFF short stories and one game. He has been an associate editor for the Unidentified Funny Objects series, Escape Pod and is currently lending a hand over at Beneath Ceaseless Skies. He was the Editor-in-Chief for Amazing Stories’ No Police = Know Future. James has served as a Director-at-Large for SFWA and is living in Virginia with his wife, son and attack cat.
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James Beamon is a science fiction and fantasy author whose short stories have appeared in places such as Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine, Apex, Lightspeed and Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. He spent twelve years in the Air Force, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and is in possession of the perfect buffalo wings recipe that he learned from carnies. He lives in Virginia with his wife, son and attack cat. Currently he’s cutting back on the addictive habit of penning short stories to focus on writing books. Pendulum Heroes is his debut novel.
James is serious about the attack cat… do not point at it. He invites you to check out what he’s up to at http://fictigristle.wordpress.com
James’ latest work is The Pendulum Breaks, the fourth and concluding novel in his Pendulum Heroes series –
