Mercurio D. Rivera’s science fiction stories have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous print and online magazines and anthologies, including the upcoming Unplugged: The Year’s Best Online Fiction, edited by Rich Horton, Interzone, Abyss and Apex, Electric Velocipede, Sybil’s Garage, Aoife’s Kiss, Otherworlds Anthology and Northwest Passages: A Cascadian Anthology (published by Windstorm Creative Press). His story about unrequited alien love, “Longing for Langalana,” won the annual reader’s poll conducted by the acclaimed British SF magazine Interzone for favorite story of 2006 and can be heard at the new podcast website, Transmissions from Beyond. His SF/horror tale, “The Scent of Their Arrival,” which appeared earlier this year in Interzone #214, explores the themes of science and faith in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by interdimensional creatures. And his story “Snatch Me Another,” was included on the Locus Recommended Reading List for 2008 and the storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories for 2008.

Mercurio has appeared on the radio show Hour of the Wolf on WBAI, where he read a first draft of his story “The Fifth Daniel” and subjected it to a live, on-air critique from his writing group, Altered Fluid. The revised story, re-titled “The Fifth Zhi,” later became his third sale to Interzone and was recently accepted by Escape Pod for its podcast.

Mercurio has been a member of the highly regarded Manhattan writing group Altered Fluid since 2002. He is proud to call this talented team of the brightest, up-and-coming genre writers in the SF/fantasy/horror community his friends. He serves as an Associate Editor with Sybil’s Garage magazine where he enjoys searching for gems in the slush and collaborating on the direction and look of the magazine.