Andy Duncan, An Agent of Utopia

Wed 14 Nov 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

An Agent of Utopia cover - click to view full sizeA year or so ago when I scheduled the release date of An Agent of Utopia I didn’t realize it would coincide with one of the most stressful days of the year but now that the mid-term elections are mostly done (ha), here’s something I’ve been looking forward to writing on the release of Andy Duncan’s second North American/third collection:

Andy Duncan is one of those people in the background helping everyone along. He’s the hardest working man in show business! He’s a great teacher. He’s lively on social media and at conventions and conferences. He has been a local news reporter, written for trucking magazines, and has a fun book on Alabama Curiosities. Should you get a chance to hear him read you should take it as he is a fabulous storyteller. One year at the World Fantasy Awards everyone sang him a song. How many people has that happened to? One.

Enough chat? Listen to Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe chat with Andy on Episode 340(!) of the Coode Street Podcast.

Andy Duncan is not, he’ll happily admit, the fastest writer in the world and for a couple of years I kind of thought this book might be the one that got away. 

In March 2012 Kelly was the Guest of Honor at the ICFA conference in Florida and she and I chatted to Andy and Sydney and had a grand old time. (Sydney/ICFA arranged for babysitting so that I could go to the banquet: now that’s looking after people with kids in tow!) A few days later Andy messaged me on Facebook — perhaps the worst way (involving words) that I can be contacted; I’d be happy if FB disappeared completely — and mentions Beluthahatchie and Other Stories is out of print and maybe we could talk . . . so I emailed him and with a click and a zoom, eighteen months fly by and we have a signed contract. 

Eighteen months? I’m slow with contracts (I have to find time to stop and think about every word), but eighteen months is far longer than most of our contracts. Who can say why. Weren’t we all filled with joy and delight all through 2012, 2013, and 2014? Hmm. So at last it was signed, a check delivered, and I added the book to our schedule. Then . . . I pushed it back, and back, and eventually I moved it to the theoretical category until one happy day in August 2016 while we were visiting family in Scotland Andy emailed the title story and with that, suddenly, the book was done. 

An Agent of Utopia is a wide-ranging collection and, as Matthew Keeley notes in his Tor.com review, “The title story of the new collection is, oddly enough, perhaps the least characteristic in the collection.” He goes on to say “An Agent of Utopia must rank as one of this year’s best collections. It’s on bookstore shelves now and deserves to be on your shelves soon” a lovely sentiment I agree with. If you can’t get Andy Duncan to come and spin a dozen tales just for you, pick up the book instead.

Read a story:

Unique Chicken Goes in Reverse
Slow as a Bullet
Close Encounters