My latest story in Analog Science Fiction & Fact is now available in the April 2012 issue. It’s a Probability Zero short story titled “To Serve Aliens (Yes, It’s a Cookbook.)” It’s my little tribute to Damon Knight’s short story “To Serve Man” (which was made into a Twilight Zone episode by the same name, and has been parodied on The Simpsons.) The issue may be available on newsstands at bookstores. You can also get it by subscribing (or buying the single issue) for Kindle or Nook.

You might as well just subscribe, because I’ve got a story coming out in the next issue, too.

I’m taking up Mary Robinette Kowal’s challenge of a Month of Letters.  Basically, the idea is that you mail a letter (or postcard) every day there’s mail service in February.

I wrote a letter last night that will go out in today’s mail. It was kind of fun to put pen to paper and write — it’s been a few years since I wrote a full page of something (other than notes) by hand.

Here’s a list of what will be free this week:

• January 30: “The Ashes of His Fathers“
• January 31: “Tabloid Reporter to the Stars“
• February 1: “Betrayer of Trees“
• February 2: “In Memory“
• February 3: “Like Diamond Tears from Emerald Eyes“

Each story will be available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time on its promotional day, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.

Here’s a list of what will be free this week:

• January 23: “The Robot Sorcerer“
• January 24: “P.R. Problems“
• January 25: “Bird-Dropping and Sunday“
• January 26: “An Early Ford Mustang“
• January 27: “Resonance“

Each story will be available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time on its promotional day, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.

Congress is considering two ill-conceived bills, SOPA in the House and PIPA in the Senate, that would cause problems for the security of the Internet. As part of a “strike” to protest these bills, my website will be be gone tomorrow for twelve hours, and will instead forward to a site about stopping these bills. Mine will not be the only site on strike tomorrow: the English portion of Wikipedia will black out for 24 hours.

(I’m using the SOPA Strike plugin for WordPress to automatically black out my site and then restore it afterwards.)

Here’s a list of what will be free this week:

• January 16: “Like Diamond Tears from Emerald Eyes“
• January 17: “Attitude Adjustment“
• January 18: “The Final Element“
• January 19: “The Man Who Moved the Moon“
• January 20: “Salt of Judas“

Each story will be available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time on its promotional day, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.

Now that my free Kindle ebook promotions are repeating, I don’t want to blog each one, because that would be so repetitive for many of my readers. So here’s a list of what will be free this week:

• January 9: “Resonance“
• January 10: “The Ashes of His Fathers“
• January 11: “Tabloid Reporter to the Stars“
• January 12: “Betrayer of Trees“
• January 13: “In Memory“

Each story will be available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time on its promotional day, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.

Once upon a time there was a king who had a very difficult problem. A mathematician was able to solve the problem, and the king told him to name his reward.

“I don’t ask for much,” said the clever mathematician. “A single gold coin today, and that each day for the next thirty days you double the amount you give me.”

“So it shall be done,” said the king, who was not very clever at math.

On the tenth day, when his treasurer sent the payment of 512 gold pieces, the king began to be concerned.  On the twelfth day, when the payment reached 2048 gold pieces, he became alarmed.  And when the treasurer told him that the kingdom would need to borrow in order to pay out 16,384 gold pieces on the 15th day, the king could take no more.

So he sent out one of his trusted spies, who killed the mathematician and brought back the unspent gold.

The moral of the story is: Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be too clever.

Today’s free Kindle ebook is “An Early Ford Mustang.” It’s a short story originally published in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show.

When perpetually late Brad inherits an old Ford Mustang convertible from his punctual uncle, his life is changed forever.

The story is available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time tonight, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.

Today’s free short story is a fairy tale: “Bird-Dropping and Sunday.” It was originally published in the The Immersion Book of SF.

When his older sister is kidnapped by thieves, Bird-Dropping must rescue her.

The story is available free from Amazon’s Kindle store until about midnight Pacific Time tonight, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. You can use the free Kindle app on your computer or smartphone.