Michael H. Payne (born February 10, 1965) is an American
science fiction and
fantasy writer, cartoonist, and reviewer. He holds an M.A. in
Classics from the
University of California, Irvine, and has hosted the Darkling Eclectica, a radio program originally on Saturday mornings, now on Sunday afternoons, on
KUCI for 40 years.
Payne's novel The Blood Jaguar (
Tor Books, 1998) and most of his short stories utilize
talking animal characters: his novelette "Crow's Curse" won third place in the
Writers of the Future contest in 1991 and his short story "Familiars" won the
Ursa Major Award in 2002. His cartoons as well, published in the New Horizons anthology from
Shanda Fantasy Arts and on his websites, take animals, give them intelligence, and examine what sorts of multi-cultural societies they might form.
As a reviewer, Payne is a past contributor to Tangent magazine, both in its original print edition and in its early online form, and his capsule book reviews began appearing in 1999 on the website of the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America before being moved in August 2009 to the "members only" section of the site's discussion forum. Payne is the head co-ordinator for SFWA's Circulating Book Plan and was named the 2013 recipient of the Kevin O'Donnell Jr. Service to SFWA award for his work on the Plan. He was the Registrar for the
Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards and came in second in the
Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge with his
webcomicDaily Grind after 15 years of daily updates. He lives on the
Balboa Peninsula in
Newport Beach,
California, where he works for the public library and is a cantor and guitar player at the local Catholic church.
Bibliography
"Rat's Reputation," short story, FurVersion #16, 05/89; reprinted on the tomorrowsf web site, 04/97; reprinted again in the Best of Show anthology from Sofawolf Press, 07/03
"Crow's Curse," novelette, third prize winner,
Writers of the Future contest, printed in volume VII of their anthology, 08/91; reprinted in volume I of the Best of the Writers of the Future, 09/00
"River Man," short story, Asimov's Science Fiction, 08/93; tied for third place, Asimov's Readers’ Award; honorable mention, Year's Best SF; translated into Russian in
Esli, 08/07; reprinted in the Already Among Us anthology from Legion Printing, 07/12
"A Bag of Custard," short story, Asimov's Science Fiction, 02/94; honorable mention, Year's Best SF
"One Thin Dime," short story, Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, 10/94; honorable mention, Year's Best SF; reprinted in the anthology Dragons, 12/95
"My Vampire Cat, or Whatever", short story, Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, 06/95; preliminary nominee, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, 1996; honorable mention, Year's Best SF
"Painting the Roses Red," short story, Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, 08/95; honorable mention, Year's Best SF
"How the First Question Mark was Built," short story, Tomorrow Speculative Fiction, 08/96
"Rat's Reckoning," novelette, on the tomorrowsf web site, 06/97
"The Language of Ghosts," short story, Asimov's Science Fiction, 08/97; tied for 6th place, Asimov's Readers’ Award; honorable mention, Year's Best SF
"Kily's Kindling," novelette, on the tomorrowsf web site, 08/97
"Cold, Cold Ground," short story, Mythagoras, Summer 1997
The Blood Jaguar, serialized novel on the tomorrowsf web site;
Tor Books 12/98; honorable mention, 1999
William L. Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel; preliminary ballot, 1999
Nebula Awards; reprinted in an illustrated edition from Sofawolf Press, 06/12
Terebinth, serialized graphic novel in 1930s black and white Sunday comics style, beginning in YARF! #57, 06/99; reprinted on the Chimerical Comics web site, 05/01 through 07/02; now appearing once a week;
"A Hop, a Skip, and a Jump," short story, Morphic Tales, Cornwuff Press, 01/00
"Mange," short story, Anthrolations #2, 05/00
"Fame? Fortune? Chocolate?", non-fiction article,
Writers of the Future anthology, volume XVI, 09/00
"Canis Major", short story, Anthrolations #4, 08/01; reprinted in the Best of Show anthology from Sofawolf Press
"St. Georgie and the Dragonfly", comic book story, Part 1 in New Horizons #11, anthology series published by
Shanda Fantasy Arts, 10/01; Part 2 in New Horizons #12, 04/02
"Familiars," short story,
Sword and Sorceress series #19, 01/02; winner of the 2003
Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Short Story; reprinted in the Ursa Major Awards anthology from Furplanet, 06/12
"The Moon Rabbit," short story, Artemis magazine, Spring 2002
"The Celery Stalks at Midnight," comic book story, Part 1 in New Horizons #13, anthology series published by
Shanda Fantasy Arts, 07/02
"Oh, Won't You Come Over," short-short,
Anthrocon 2002 program book, 07/02
"Law and Justice," short story, Blackgate #5, Spring 2003
"Three Ladies," short story, Claw and Quill, 10/04