I’ve been writing about robots this past year or so. While I was preparing for a speech and looking deeply at robotics, story ideas fell out the air around me as I realized how much good work is happening in robotics.
One of those stories is “The Robot’s Girl” which was published in Analog last year.  I have a story about robots helping in a quake zone coming out soon in a benefit anthology called “Tales for Canterbury.”  The anthology is devoted to victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
In that story, “Phoenix Dogs,” a few of my characters are robots working rescue in a quake zone. Well, in a rather nice synchronous bit of magic, I read a story today in CNN about robots being used in the quake zone in Japan to help clear rubble.  American robots, no less (my story in Analog was sparked by an article about Japanese robotics being designed to provide child care).
Anyway, in honor of that synchronicity, and of disaster victims everywhere, here is the information that was provided to me about the benefit anthology by Lynn Jamneck:
As you may know, New Zealand’s Christchurch experienced a debilitating earthquake on February 22, 2011.
In response, both New Zealand and international writers have come together to produce “Tales For Canterbury”, a relief anthology, with all proceeds to be donated to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal to assist those affected by the recent events. The line up contains a variety of authors and a fantastic blend of stories, all of which focus primarily on the themes of survival and hope. Authors include myself, Jeff Vandermeer, Brenda Cooper, Neil Gaiman, Jay Lake, Jessie Bullington, Sean Williams, Grant Stone and Gwyneth Jones.
Pre-orders for “Tales For Canterbury” is now available, both for electronic (various formats) and print editions. If you would like to offer your support to Christchurch, please take a moment to follow the link below. And please feel free to pass this email along to friends and colleagues.
http://talesforcanterbury.wordpress.com/get-your-copy
http://talesforcanterbury.wordpress.com/list-of-contributrs/
I will post again when the anthology is actually available to download, but it will get help to New Zealand sooner to pre-order.