SF Signal Podcast: The Borders Bankruptcy

First, everyone needs to listen to this podcast from SF Signal, featuring a round table discussion with Alan Beatts (owner of independent bookstore Borderlands Books), Chris Roberson and Alison Baker (owners of publisher Monkeybrain Books) and author Cat Valente. The subject is "What the Borders Bankruptcy Means for Brick and Mortar Bookstores" and the discussion is something everyone concerned about the health, quality, and diversity of literature should hear.

Then you need to go to this post on the blog Reluctant Habits, where Edward Champion has posted an invaluable List of Independent Alternatives to Closed Borders Bookstores. This is a list of all the Borders stores being closed and independent stores nearby (with their proximity in miles).

Then put 2 and 2 together.

Game of Thrones

I Shoud Be Writing

I'm interviewed by the wonderful Mur Lafferty on episode 185 of her I Should Be Writing podcast. We talk about steampunk, piracy, forthcoming Pyr releases, and whether or not "write what you know" makes any sense. You can listen at the link above or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.

Super Harmony - The Super Hero Dating Service

Via SF Signal:

Star Wars Talk to Your Kids PSA

Via SF Signal:

Swords & Dark Magic - Best Heroic Fantasy of 2010

Larry Nolen has posted his list of the Best Heroic Fantasy of 2010, a list of seven novels and two anthologies. I'm very proud to see Swords & Dark Magic, which I co-edited with Jonathan Strahan for Eos books, place at #7, while Pyr author Adrian Tchaikovsky's Salute the Dark came in at #8.

Speaking of Swords & Dark Magic, Larry writes:

Caitlín R. Kiernan’s “The Sea-Troll’s Daughter” brilliantly subverts the ugly/evil, handsome/good stereotypes embedded in so many tales, as the hero becomes more the villain and the presumed villain takes on heroic qualities that are the inverse of those presented in more traditional tales. Gene Wolfe’s “Bloodsport” is perhaps one of his better short fictions in recent years, as he still manages to confound and entrap the reader with the metaphysical qualities of the first-person narrator and his possible unreliability. These two stories alone, combined with several solid if not spectacular contributions from the likes of Steven Erikson and Michael Moorcock, help make Swords & Dark Magic a recommended anthology of heroic fantasy.

Of Salute the Dark he says:

The narrative arc that concludes in the fourth volume, Salute the Dark, is sharp, with little sense of extraneous detail thrown in to create a false sense of ponderousness. Tchaikovsky also weaves in elements from other subgenres such as steampunk to create a setting that feels different from traditional heroic fantasies. Combined with his quasi-magical totemic use of insects (beetles, wasps, bees, spiders, moths, mantis, ants, etc.), the atmosphere feels fresh. Tchaikovsky’s characters are complex and yet direct, which allows the author to develop and transform their personalities and actions as necessary. By the time the introductory plot arc concludes with Salute the Dark, the reader will have found herself wondering just where from here Tchaikovsky is heading with his overall series, considering how well he concludes several character and subplot arcs.

Podcast: Comic Book Outsiders Discuss Masked

This week on the podcast Comic Book Outsiders, they are discussing my anthology Masked. I was interviewed on Comic Book Outsiders back in November as a guest, and am eager to hear what the book club has to say now.

Masked: A really good collection!

There's a wonderfully positive review of Masked up at Tales from the Bookworm's Lair. Reviewer J. Andrew Byers goes story by story, but says in summation, "this is a really good collection... I really, really enjoyed this one, and would love to see a follow-up volume, also edited by Lou Anders and featuring many of these authors."

J. Andrew, from your lips to Superman's ears!

Superman Classic: Really Nice Fan Short

Via Chris Roberson

Locus Magazine's 2010 Recommended Reading List

Locus magazine has posted their 2010 Recommended Reading list, and I'm proud to say that works I edited are all over it. Ian McDonald's The Dervish House is in the Novels-Science Fiction category, James Enge's The Wolf Age is in the Novels-Fantasy, and Swords & Dark Magic (co-edited with Jonathan Strahan) is in the Anthologies-Original category. From Swords & Dark Magic, Joe Abercrombie's "The Fool Jobs" is in the Novelettes category, as is Steven Erikson's "Goats of Glory" and Scott Lynch's "In the Stacks" and K.J. Parker's "A Rich Full Week." In the Short Story category, Ian McDonald's "Tonight We Fly," from my anthology Masked, joins another contribution from Swords & Dark Magic, Garth Nix's "A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet." Congratulations to all the authors for their tremendous work, and to everyone on the list.

Japanese Toyota Prius Ad with Superman

While watching White Collar last night, I remarked to my wife that Matthew Bomer would make a good Clark Kent/Superman. She thought he was too small and short, and she's probably right. But this morning, she pointed me to this. Turns out someone else thought so too: