Pyr Author Appearances at Dragon*Con

Dragon*Con is next weekend, August 31 to September 3rd, in Atlanta, Georgia. We will be exhibiting in booth 709 in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom. On hand will be our authors Philippa Ballantine, Clay & Susan Griffith, Andrew P. Mayer, K.D. McEntire, E.C. Myers, Jon Sprunk, and Sam Sykes. Additionally, artist John Picacio will be around on Friday.

They'll be authors in and around the booth throughout the convention, but here is our signing schedule so you can be sure to get your books autographed at these times. Additionally, be sure to check out the "Pyr Rising" from 2:30 to 3:30 in the Hyatt Regency V room. We'll be showing lots of debut artwork and talking about our recent and forthcoming books.

Friday, August 31

2:30 – 3:30       Pyr Rising panel w/Lou Anders, Philippa Ballantine, K.D. McEntire, Sam Sykes, Jon Sprunk, and Andrew Mayer.  Location: Regency V – Hyatt

(LIZ- to fit master schedule signs you can cut all the participant names and just have time, panel name and location.)

4:00 pm – 4:45 pm        Artist JOHN PICACIO

4:00 – 5:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

5:00 – 6:00 pm             K.D. McENTIRE

5:00 – 6:00 pm              SAM SYKES

Saturday, September 1

11:00 am - Noon           K.D. McENTIRE

11:00 am - Noon           JON SPRUNK

Noon – 1:00 pm            SAM SYKES

           

Noon – 1:00 pm            PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

1:00 – 2:00 pm             ANDREW MAYER

2:00 – 3:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

                       

3:00 – 4:00 pm              JON SPRUNK

           

4:00 – 5:00 pm              E.C. MYERS

5:00 – 6:00 pm  ANDREW MAYER

Sunday, September 2

11:00 am - Noon           SAM SYKES

11:00 am - Noon           JON SPRUNK

Noon – 1:00 pm            ANDREW MAYER

1:00 – 2:00 pm              K.D. McENTIRE

           

1:00 – 2:00 pm              E.C. MYERS

2:00 – 3:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

4:00 – 5:00 pm             PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

Update: On Saturday from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, E.C. Myers is signing at the SFWA table and so will not be appearing in the Pyr booth at that time.

Tales of the Emerald Serpent

Tales of the Emerald Serpent (Ghosts of Taux)is a shared world anthology, very much in the tradition of Robert Lynn Asprin's  Thieves' Worldseries. It's the brainchild of Scott Taylor, a blogger and senior editor at Black Gate magazine. And it's a Kickstarter funded project, raising an impressive $13,418.

The book features stories from authors Lynn Flewelling, Harry Connolly, Todd Lockwood, Juliet E. McKenna, Michael Tousignant, Martha Wells, Julie Czerneda, Scott Taylor himself, and Rob Mancebo. The cover art is by Todd Lockwood, with interior art by Jeff Laubenstein and Todd Lockwood.

I confess to funding it out of curiosity to see just what was possible on Kickstarter, more an act of research than one of pleasure. However, I finished reading Tales of the Emerald Serpent this past Saturday, and my verdict is that I'm very impressed.

It's worth noting that I funded a second book project around the same time. That one achieved ten times its funding goal this past April, and two months past its estimated delivery goal, has yet to materialize.

By contrast, Tales of the Emerald Serpent made its funding on April 18th and had shipped out all copies of it's digital edition by June 26th. The delivery process was professional and efficient, with daily updates explaining which reward levels were being delivered when.

The book itself (and I've seen the physical edition though I speak here of the ebook edition) is a thing of beauty. Todd Lockwood's cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the cover is reproduced inside the ebook and - most importantly - at a decent resolution. The ebook also includes all the interior art, also at a high level of resolution, and has an embedded back cover. It's a good deal better packaged and presented than a good many books coming out of professional houses.

Also, note the medallions in the corners of the front cover. You'll see that three are in sepia tones, while the fourth, in the upper right corner, is in color. These medallions indicate what era of Scott's enormous history these stories occur in. This is similar to what the Star Wars books do, with the icons on the novels telling you where a story takes place in the Old Republic or the New Jedi Order, etc... It's a device that I've been kicking around in my own head for a while now, considering for a project I'm working on, and frankly I'm jealous Scott's beat me to it.

I would like it if there was some sort of introduction that placed this city in context. Perhaps some notes on how the idea came about (I've heard that it was the setting for a RPG campaign but nothing in the book confirms or denies this) or some background on the world in which the city of Taux resides. A glossary would also have been nice. More importantly, the book has a lot of invented races, the Aspara, the Jai-Ruk, the Kin. Wonderful pencil illustrations of these creatures were included in email updates sent out to the Kickstarter backers, but the book itself would really have been served by including them. I found myself logging on to Kickstarter throughout the reading experience to see who was what, and I imagine someone who wasn't a backer, and thus couldn't access the posted art, might have been even more confused. But given that few "traditionally published" anthologies even have interior art, Tales of the Emerald Serpent still comes out at the head of the pack.

Are there nitpicks? Sure. But speaking just in terms of the professionalism of the product, from its "customer service" to its presentation, I give this one an A-. And that's a very high grade.

Now on to the fiction...

The stories in Tales of the Emerald Serpent don't just share a location, they sometimes share characters. The various events described weave together in much the same way that the tales of Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels do. They weave and wind through the Emerald Serpent tavern, the Silk Purse brothel, and the Raised Market, and events in one story are often alluded to in another. This adds a level of reality and credibility to the setting that makes me long for a detailed map of the city and another of the continent it's set on. What we do know of Taux we have to glean from the stories themselves. Taux is a sort of faux-Aztec or Mayan style city, whose original inhabitants suddenly vanished one day under mysterious, and presumably horrendous, circumstances. The city has been repopulated by immigrants from other cultures, though one wonders about the intelligence of anyone willing to live in a city where the stones whisper. To live in Taux is to convince yourself that whatever happened to them couldn't possibly happen to you. Having spent six years living above a fault line, I don't have any problem buying into this. Meanwhile, the way the book hints at something under the city and the very real possibility that something dire could be coming to a head is just delicious.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the best stories are by the most experienced contributors. Lynn Flewelling, Juliet E. McKenna, Martha Wells, and Julie Czerneda's tales are all excellent--Czerneda's in particular--while Harry Connolly's "The One Thing You Can Never Trust" is worth the price of the whole anthology by itself. His is the tale of Emil Lacosta, a merchant who deals in love potions (and whose best customer is the madame of the aforementioned Silk Purse), who is approached by a client with a very unusual request. I won't spoil it, but this was the story that made me sit up and take notice.

The big surprise for me was artist Todd Lockwood, who contributes the story "Between." Todd labored under the constraints of having to tie his tale directly into two other stories, but he does an admirable job. More importantly, his character of Torrent (the woman pictured center on the cover above) is marvelous--he can really write character--and I hope he gets to write about her again. Lockwood has long been regarded as one of the top illustrators of our genre, but I suspect, with his recent novel sale to DAW, that he will soon have a reputation as a writer as well.

There was only one story that I felt was below professional quality, though I won't say which one. Finally, Rob Mancebo's story suffers from essentially ending with a big "To Be Continued". It's a set up with no pay off, and I wish the book didn't end that way. But I liked eight out of nine stories in the volume, and that's an amazing average.

I'd highly recommend Tales of the Emerald Serpent. I like what it does and how it goes about it. It's a smart, good looking package with some real gems of fiction inside. I have no knowledge of a sequel in the works, but I'd certainly fund a Tales of the Emerald Serpent 2.

Just a thought...

When I look backwards at my accomplishments, I feel old. When I look forward towards my plans, I feel young.

Hungry for SF

The Library Journal has a big article on SF&F today called, "Hungry for SF: Genre Crossovers Retain Fans and Attract New Readers."

I'm quoted along with Tim Holman (Orbit), Paula Guran (Prime), Daren Turpin (Angry Robot), Diana Gill (Harper), Susan Allison (Berkley). But I get the last word.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Just a thought...

I'm all for change that benefits the consumer--after all I'm a big consumer myself--but only to the degree that it doesn't impact the creator. Tor's move to remove DRM is laudable and, more to the point, probably inevitable. Hachette's attempt to pressure authors to demand it be restored isn't great PR. But Hachette is correct that they will see sales erode in their territory from Tor books sold into non-US countries. This will increase pressure on other publishers to dispense with DRM. But another side effect will be pressure on publishers to only acquire World English rights to a title. This will be good for publishers and good for readers. But it will be bad for authors and agents, who will see an additional revenue stream go away. In an age of shrinking advances, our creators will be paid less. Of course, the ability to sell the ebooks unrestricted across multiple territories may see higher royalties. Or will it? See yesterday's thoughts about book sales. I'm frequently told, by pirates, that they *had to steal* the book because it wasn't being offered in their territory. Now that it is, will they pay for it? We need to make sure we support our creators adequately if we want them to go on creating.

Just a thought....

Something that bothers me in the endless debate about the pricing of ebooks: It is a fallacy to assume that just because something can be *sold* indefinitely that it will automatically be *bought* indefinitely. The vast majority of books published will never break 10,000 sales. And the majority of most books sales occur in the first six weeks of its release. So let's remove the phrase "you can sell it forever" from the discussion.

Video read-through of the Pyr Fall-Winter 2012-2013 catalog

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, of the wonderful Bull Spec magazine, does a video read-through of the latest Pyr catalog. He gets excited about quite a few things, admits to needing to read a lot more, and bags on one cover. But we appreciate the love, the attention, and the opinions! Thanks, Sam.

A Guile of Dragons featured in Kirkus "Not-to-miss" list!

Kirkus Reviews has posted their "11 Not-to-miss Science Fiction and Fantasy books for August." Of some 150 books out this month, James Enge's A GUILE OF DRAGONS makes -- and tops -- this list. They say:
"Enge is not only a writer of fantasy, he's a devoted fan educated in its history and evolution. That's no more apparent than in his adventures of Morlock Ambrosius, a swordsman wandering a world rife with various magical disciplines. In A Guile of Dragons, Enge takes us back to show us the origins of his hero, as the Longest War—the war between dwarves and dragons presumed to have been over and done with—reignites with the return of the dragons."

Of course they'll be giant robots...

When I was in college, I saw a debate between Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and a prominent scientist on the subject of whether or not we would ever create an android as sophisticated as Commander Data. Or at least that's what the debate was supposed to be about. Roddenberry spent the whole time reminiscing about how great he was for creating the original Trek, and the scientist, whose name I forget, was completely closed to the idea of humanoid robots. He said that the currently-existing robots were all single purpose devices -- like the arms used in automobile assembly plants -- and thus there was no need to ever create something that aped the human body.

Years later, when I would actually stand on the sets of Deep Space Nine and Voyager interacting with the casts and crews of those shows, I was glad to have at least been in the room with Roddenberry once.  But at the time, I came away extremely disappointed. I was disappointed in Roddenberry for refraining from saying anything of substance whatsoever, and I was disappointed in the scientist for having no grasp whatsoever of human nature.

Sure, he couldn't see utilitarian reason for building a robot.  But what the hell do we have pyramids and videogames and water slides for? I knew then, and this was a long time ago, that of course there would be robots and starships and ray guns and holodecks and everything else. Not because it was necessary, but because some fan would be in the driver's seat of the technical development. Is anyone surprised that every dot com billionaire is busy funding their own space ship? Come on.

So, in that spirit, here's why it will all be real one day:

Exhibit A: The real life Batcave home theatre. This article in the Daily Mail is confusing, as it shows two different designs, and claims to be an actual home theater designed by Elite Home Theater Systems, stating that it's been built by a rich fan in Greenwich, Connecticut for a cost of $2 million.

The Daily Mail article then shows two different theater set ups: one that fuses the Batcave with gothic architecture from Gotham City and aspects of Wayne Manor, and one that is all cave, sans bookshelves, fireplace and computers.

Elite Home Theatre's own page only shows the first cave, says they only did the design, and that the actual construction is being done by another firm for a resident in California. So the article may have conflated two different Batcave style home theaters.

My guess is that they provided two different concepts and one of them was chosen, or these were two different designs for two different clients, one in Connecticut and one in California.  Elite's page also indicates that while they only provided the design, construction is under way. Okay, so this thing does/will exist and there are possibly two of them. I seriously want there to be a third, and I know right where it goes.


Meanwhile, here's why Voltron: Defender of the Universe will fly in our skies one day.  Japanese robotics expert Wataru Yoshizaki and artist Kogoru Kurata have created a robot that you can ride and battle in. The Kuratas costs a mere $2.37 million dollars and shoots rubber BB pellets (for now), runs on diesel fuel and goes up to 10 mph. You can ride inside it or control it from your smart phone. How long until Japanese girls in crash helmets and shorts are policing the streets of Tokyo in these babies?



So yeah, the Enterprise, from NCC-1701, through every A, B, C, D, and E, will absolutely exist one day. Not because it's the best design for a space ship, but just because some fan somewhere in the position to do so will make the call.

The Politics of Fantasy

Cover art by Steve Stone

The latest Pyr newsletter, the Pyr-A-Zine, has an amazing Q&A with James Enge, discussing his just released novel, A Guile of Dragons (A Tournament of Shadows, Book 1), that is very worth checking out.

One of the interesting questions concerns the anarchic politic system of the Graith of Guardians, which lead to a discussion of why so many fantasy novels operate in monarchies. James answer is very interesting. You'll have to go to the newsletter for the full response, but he begins by saying, "There's a complaint about imaginary-world fantasy which is partly valid and partly nonsense. The complaint runs something like this: Always with the kings, and the dukes, and the princesses. Where's the pluralistic democracy? Do you fantasy people HATE FREEDOM? Personally, I love political freedom so much that someday I'm going to buy some for myself."

Meanwhile, an excerpt from the Q&A has sparked a very interesting debate in the comments section on io9, when they used the interview as a springboard to ask, "Why do epic fantasies always take place in monarchies, instead of democracies?"

So the newsletter, the io9 debate, and, of course, the book itself, are all well worth checking out! 

A GUILE OF DRAGONS hits shelves!

It's here!! James Enge's A GUILE OF DRAGONS is on shelves now!! "Excellent epic fantasy"--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review. Cover art by Steve Stone.




It's dwarves versus dragons in this origin story for Enge's signature character, Morlock Ambrosius!

Before history began, the dwarves of Thrymhaiam fought against the dragons as the Longest War raged in the deep roads beneath the Northhold. Now the dragons have returned, allied with the dead kings of Cor and backed by the masked gods of Fate and Chaos.

The dwarves are cut off from the Graith of Guardians in the south. Their defenders are taken prisoner or corrupted by dragonspells. The weight of guarding the Northhold now rests on the crooked shoulders of a traitor's son, Morlock syr Theorn (also called Ambrosius).

But his wounded mind has learned a dark secret in the hidden ways under the mountains. Regin and Fafnir were brothers, and the Longest War can never be over. . . .

BISG Report Finds More E-book Buyers Buying Print Books

An article in Publishers Weekly entitled "BISG Report Finds More E-book Buyers Buying Print Books," has this interesting statistic:

"...the percentage of e-book consumers who exclusively or mostly purchase e-books fell from nearly 70% in August 2011 to 60% in May 2012. Over the same period, the percentage of survey respondents who have no preference for either e-book or print formats, or who buy some genres in e-book format and others in print, rose from 25% percent to 34%."

The article also notes that the Kindle Fire has overtaken the iPad among ebook consumers. No surprise there, though iBooks remains my personal preferred reader.  I am hopeful that iTunes will eventually include ebooks in their iMatch service so I have Cloud storage for my non-iBookstore purchased epub titles.

Under Pressure (Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert)

Bowie and Annie Lennox!

Even Pissed, Bowie is cool...

Having watched a number of interviews with classic rock stars, it does seem like UK journalists of the 60s and 70s were jerks. And Bowie, even when insulted and irritated, is never less than poised and in control:

On Writing

You don't get to be a master thief by walking through a succession of open doors. You get to be a master thief by learning to pick a succession of locks.

San Diego Comic Con

Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, leaving me in a state of post-con withdrawal and well-earned exhaustion. This was probably my most enjoyable comic con to date, made so entirely by the people that I spent it with.

I roomed, as has become the tradition, with good friends John Picacio and Paul Cornell, two guys I can never see enough of. My plane Wednesday was late, but I got in just in time to make my dinner with editors Ann Sowards, Diana Gill and Ann Groell, illustrator John Picacio, and (unexpected arrival) author Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities). io9's Charlie Jane Anders (no relation but one of my favorite people) and Annalee Newitz (also fav) dropped in at the end, making for a great night at Rocking Baja Lobster. Then it was off to the Grand Lobby Bar at the Hyatt, where I bumped into my friend Bill Willingham (Fables, Down the Mysterly River) and had drinks until late with Picacio and Paolo.

Thursday my dear friend Stephenson Crossley took the train down from LA, just for four hours, to hang. We paled around the con, the met up with Pierce Watters (Paizo), Michael Rowley (Ebury), and James Parker (Hastings) for dinner at JSix.  Great meal with great conversation with great people. Afterwards, we walked to Bootlegger for the Random House Party, which was the most comfortable location for a publishing party I've thus far attended in San Diego. Then back to the Grand Lobby Bar at the Hyatt, where Paul Cornell was nice enough to introduce John Picacio and I to some of the organizers from Convergence, a convention at which Picacio and I will both sit as Guest of Honor next year.

Friday started off with a breakfast with my buddy filmmaker Kenny Golde,  then a lunch with John Picacio and Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios. Matt and I share some authors in common and our jobs are remarkable similar across our related fields, so it's always fun to catch up with him. Afterwards I met up with Joseph Mallozzi (of Stargate fame, in town to sign his comic book, Dark Matter) and the lovely Akemi, then had drinks with Michael Alan Nelson (HEXED, Fall of Cthulhu). Midway through drinks, my friend James Waugh of Blizzard Entertainment showed up.

Then it was off to dinner at Searsucker with Joseph Mallozzi, Akemi, John Picacio and Marjorie M. Liu (Dirk & Steele, Astonishing X-Men), where Mallozzi had prairie oysters. I wasn't *afraid* to join him, as he implies on his blog; I just don't eat beef ! I was all set to dig in when I realized that a bull's testicles are still technically red meat.

Afterwards we all went to the Hilton where we met up with Night Shade Books’ Jeremy Lassen and others. But it was at the Hilton that I got to see the true and ugly cost of fame. Picacio and I were talking to George RR Martin, and I glanced down to look at my cell phone. I glanced back up, to find someone standing in front of me and moving their lips without making a sound. I wasn't sure what they were doing, and when I leaned forward, thinking I just couldn't hear them in all the ambient noise, they explained that "I'm just moving my lips so it will look like I am in the same conversation as George Martin." O-kaaaaay.

Saturday was a lunch with Marjorie M. Liu, more walking the floor with Mallozzi and Akemi, and then afternoon drinks with my good friends Miles Homes (lead designer with Gameloft) and Matt Wilson (Creative Director, Privateer Press). Drinks with Miles & Matt is an annual Comic Con tradition, now in its third year, and frankly, has come to be the cornerstone of my whole SDCC experience. Great guys who've become good friends. Oh, and Matt just wrote and directed his first short film, called Level 7.

Then it was dinner at Fleming's with some of my favorite artists: Todd Lockwood (and his wife), Stephan Martiniere (and his daughter and friend), John Picacio, and Dave Seeley (and his son), as well as with my friend Mike Colbert, who is releasing his first graphic novel soon. (It's called Crazy Mary - check it out!) Comic illustrator J.K. Woodward joined us later. Then it was off to the Westin for a last drink and then to bed.

If it sounds like San Diego Comic Con was just four days spent with a slew of people that I think are all great folk, that's because it was. 

Red Letter Media talks about Prometheus - SPOILERS

Proof that Prometheus does make you question:

2012 Sunburst Award nominees

Cover art by Raymond Swanland

The nominees for the 2012 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic have been announced. We are very excited to see that K.V. Johansen's Blackdog is a nominee in the adult category.


The Sunburst jury says this about the book: "Blackdog is everything high fantasy should be: a tale of wars among gods, demons and wizards that also works as an oddly compelling social-cultural coming-of-age novel. The Blackdog has, through a multitude of incarnations, protected the living goddess, Attalissa, who manifests in the world as a human. This time, over many years, she is driven away from her power-giving lake and grows up among the caravanserai of her new Blackdog, the caravan guard Holla-Sayan, and learns to be a more moral human/god. The characterizations of the young girl and her anguished, shape-shifting protector, as well as other gods, friends, and a demonic enemy, are profound & moving. This is a strongly imagined fantasy world, its peoples rendered with both wit and insight."


The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award to recognize stellar writing in two categories: adult and young adult. The awards are presented annually to Canadian writers with a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection of speculative fiction published any time during the previous calendar year. Named after the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb (1926–2009), one of the first published authors of contemporary Canadian science fiction, the awards consist of a cash award of Cdn$1,000 and a medallion which incorporates a specially designed "Sunburst" logo. The winners receive their awards in the fall of every year.

Winter Witch

Winter Witch by Elaine Cunningham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. Winter Witch is a collaboration between Elaine Cunningham and Dave Gross,I found it had a depth of world-building and a sense of fun to rival any non-tie in fantasy novel. I was surprised that one of the inaugural titles for Pathfinder's tie-in line would open with such a graphic and gruesome description of childbirth. From the start, that opening established that this wasn't by-the-numbers fantasy. The northern cultures described were fascinating, the characters were great, the plot well-divided between humor, action, and pathos. I was very, very impressed. I plan to both read Dave Gross's other works and to read more Pathfinder Tales. Bravo!.
View all my reviews

Deep South Con 50

Last weekend, I was privileged to be a guest of Deep South Con 50, held at the Embassy Suites in Huntsville, Alabama. The guests of honor were Lois McMaster Bujold, Howard Tayler, Larry Montgomery,  David Hulan and Dr. Demento, with Travis "Doc" Taylor as Toastmaster. But also on hand were Gregory Benford, John Picacio, Jim Minz, and Gene Wolfe. Quite a con.

I came in early to teach the writing workshop with Toni Weisskopf, she of Baen books. We kicked off the writing workshop with my "screenplay writing for novelists" talk, then went across the street to the adjacent library where Gregory Benford was speaking (his new book with Larry Niven sounds fascinating, and may actual one-up Ringworld for the next really cool Big Dumb Objecs). Then it was out to dinner for great German food -- thank you Julie-- and back to the bar.

Friday was the workshop. These are always labor-intensive but very rewarding for me, and I hope my students got as much out of it as I did. Good luck all of you! You'll do fine if you just ignore everything I said.

Meanwhile, it was an interesting feeling to be done with the bulk of my responsibilities before the con-proper started. My family joined me on Friday and we took John Picacio out to dinner at Huntsville's best restaurant, Grille 29.

Saturday kicked off by leading a Saturday 9 am walk around Big Spring Park with Toni Weisskopf. Then I did my usual Pyr presentation, only we couldn't seem to bring the lights in the room down to show off the cover art slide show. Every time we turned the lights down, they immediately bounced back up. "It seems to be on some kind of timer," someone said. We turned them down maybe 40 times and each time they came immediately back on, like clockwork. Or like the people in the dealers' room and art show who were really pissed that we kept turning their lights off! Oh well. Sorry guys. We didn't know. And it was (for us at least) good comedy. That afternoon I sat on a Hard Fantasy panel next to Gene Wolfe, and that was probably my programming-fav of the weekend.

Other highlights of the con were spending time with my friend John Picacio, getting to know Howard Tayler and his wife Sandra better, getting to know John's friends Will and Tara (pictures above with Picacio and Minz), catching up with my friends Tom and Pam Kanik, and hearing Travis Taylor tell stories about Rocket City Rednecks.

A wonderful con overall. Thanks very much to the organizers, who did a great job, and all the fans!

2012 Chesley Award Nominations

ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, have released the finalists for the Chesley Awards. The cover artists for three Pyr novels are finalists in the category of Paperback Books:

Justin Gerard for Hearts of Smoke and Steamby Andrew P. Mayer
Lucas Graciano for The Goblin Corpsby Ari Marmell
Jon Sullivan for The Curious Case of the Clockwork Manby Mark Hodder

I'm also thrilled at the news (which I got at 1 am Saturday night) that I've just received my fifth Chesley Award nomination in the category of Best Art Director. I'm tremendously humbled to be sharing this honor with fellow nominees Matt Adelsperger (WotC), Irene Gallo (Tor), David Palumbo (Night Shade Books), and Jon Schindehette (WotC).

The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later renamed to honor famed astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell following his death in 1986. The awards are presented annually at the World Science Fiction Convention.

Congratulations to all the nominees! 

Planesrunner nominated for Sidewise Awards

This year's nominees for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History have just been announced. I'm thrilled to find Ian McDonald's Planesrunner, one of our first young adult offerings, nominated in the category of Alternate History, Long Form.   The winners will be announced at Chicon 7, this year's Worldcon, in Chicago, Illinois during the weekend of August 30.  This year's panel of judges was made up of Stephen Baxter, Evelyn Leeper, Jim Rittenhouse, Stu Shiffman, Kurt Sidaway, and Steven H Silver.

Congratulations to Ian McDonald and all of the nominees.

Short Form

* Michael F. Flynn, The Iron Shirts (Tor.com)

* Lisa Goldstein, Paradise Is a Walled Garden (Asimov’s, 8/11)

* Jason Stoddard, Orion Rising (Panverse 3, edited by Dario Ciriello, Panverse Publishing)

* Harry Turtledove, Lee at the Alamo (Tor.com)

Long Form

* Robert Conroy, Castro's Bomb (Kindle)

* Robert Conroy, Himmler's War (Baen Books)

* Jeff Greenfield, Then Everything Changed (Putnam)

* Ian R MacLeod, Wake Up and Dream (PS Publishing)

* Ian McDonald, Planesrunner (Pyr)

* Ekaterina Sedia, Heart of Iron (Prime)

* Lavie Tidhar, Camera Obscura (Angry Robot)

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time," in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.

           

For more information, contact Steven H Silver at shsilver@sfsite.com or go to http://www.uchronia.net/sidewise.

Skyrim: Dawnguard

Oh boy oh boy oh boy...

Nick McKaig: Star Wars Main Theme (Vocal Cover)

Very very interesting.

This looks amazing.



I still mourn SGU, but I understand why the Syfy network wanted to replace expensive properties they didn't own with ones they do.

The Dark Knight Rises - Official Trailer #3 [HD]

Skyrim Badass

Hardware Wars

So glad to find this. I've never gotten over it. Chewchilla the Wookie Monster was such a formative influence on me.

Part One

Part Two

Jon Steward on The War on The War on Women

 

  Stewart: The GOP War on Women
- Watch more Politics Videos at Vodpod.

Looper

Oh yeah...

The 2012 Hugo Award Nominations

The finalists for the 2012 Hugo Award have been announced. I'm delighted to be nominated a sixth time in the category of Best Professional Editor - Long Form. I'm thrilled to have made the ballot again, and also thrilled to see so many other deserving people (many of them friends) all over the list. The awards will be presented at Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, which is to be held on August 30 to September 3, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601. Good luck to us all!

Chiseled in Rock

Today, I am interviewed by Chiseled in Rock, the Official Blog of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. We talk about science fiction and fantasy publishing, but also about film and television, and answer the all important question Star Trek or Star Wars. Here's a taste, but please check out the whole interview:

CIR: Is there a type or style of science fiction and fantasy that you would recommend aspiring writers pursue or avoid? For example, are there topics that are overdone or ones that you think need greater exploration?

LA: That’s a dangerous question. You can’t really write for what you perceive the market to be, because by the time you’ve put the year or two in that it takes to write a novel, spent the year or more it takes to sell it, and then gone through the year it takes to publish it, whatever you thought was the hot category is half a decade out of date. We have a husband-wife author team, Clay and Susan Griffith, who have a very hot vampire-steampunk novel. You’d think they were capitalizing on a trend, but the truth is that steampunk wasn’t hot when they started and they joke that they saw vampires fall in and out of fashion twice while they were working on the first manuscript. That being said, as long as Game of Thrones is on HBO, the industry will be looking for another gritty, epic fantasy, and I personally am curious to see someone bridge the gap between urban fantasy’s core female readership and classic sword & sorcery fiction. But don’t write to someone else’s expectation. Write what you are moved to write. If it doesn’t excite you, how can it excite anyone else?

Starship Troopers - Invasion

Sure, why not?

High Praise Indeed

Jon Sprunk's Shadow's Master is getting some very high praise:

"Sprunk sets old-fashioned sword and sorcery in a noir fantasy that should appeal to fans of Michael Moorcock's Elric novels and the 'Thieves' World' stories by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey." - Library Journal

"As good as we're likely to get until the next Fritz Lieber shows up" - Critical Mass

Superman vs Batman

Smart Pop Books has made my essay, "A Tale of Two Orphans: The Man of Steel vs The Caped Crusader," available for free this week only. The essay comes from The Man from Krypton: A Closer Look at Superman, edited by Glenn Yeffeth.

Functioning Fine Thank You

In episode 93 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Lou Anders back to the show to chat with E.C. Meyers about Young Adult Fiction.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Skyrim

Last month, I broke a six year game hiatus and bought Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I've been playing for about a month now. And I am finding the playing of it to be incredible. Without being spoilery - The basic set up is that a Roman like power has taken a sudden and increased interest in policing the northernmost edge of their territories, Skyrim, home to a Norse type people called the Nords. This is building towards a civil war, and apparently I'll have to pick a side at some point.

My character started off avoiding both favors and conflicts, just exploring and staying out of the way of big events,  but because of mistreatment at the hands of the "Imperials," I found I didn't mind stealing from them or local Jarls who were obviously in their pocket. Gradually, my character is coming to sympathize with the Nords and tries not to steal from Nords or harm Nords. I say "tries," because I did steal some coins from a table in an inn, only to hear the innkeeper tell a maid that she wishes she could afford to keep her on full time. I felt guilty and spent the a good deal on breakfast there the next morning.

Then, I needed to practice lockpicking. It was night, I was outdoors, and figured I'd pick a stable door. I had no interest in thievery, just saw it as a low risk chance to bone up on my skills. I was spotted, panicked, and stole a horse. I felt guilty, tried to take it back, panicked again, then rode off on it. I stumbled on a bridge and fell in a swift current, was knocked unconscious and the horse was killed, smashed on a rock. Man, I felt bad about that horse.

I've decided I won't back up to the last save. My character lives with their mistakes. So I felt terrible that I'd stolen a horse and killed it a half mile later. But that's what I did.

Then two weeks ago, I entered someone's house, sat at their table, and tried to talk. I accidentally hit the wrong button and stole some food off their table in their view. I put it back, then put back more than I intended, so took my food back again. The woman cried thief and attacked me with a dagger. I ran back, trying to get away and very deliberately not drawing my weapon. But my trigger happy hireling, obviously defending me, whipped out her sword and cut the woman down. At which point a blood curdling shriek to my left made me aware that we had murdered an innocent woman in view of her little boy. He cried "oh my gods know" and ran out into the street. And we rode out of town fast.

So, my "basically good" character has stolen from a poor innkeeper, stolen and killed a horse, and cut down a woman in front of her son. And feels terrible about it.

And yesterday I got my housecarl Lydia killed. The fact that I didn't like her (and she doesn't seem to have liked me) makes the guilt worse.

This is so different from all the sick things you can do in GTA or something. You could play Skyrim as a psychopath and kill everyone (though I suspect you'd be cut down by bounty hunters before you got very far) or you can play it as a white knight and help everyone. But what amazes me is the way I'm playing as someone who is trying, but not always succeeding, in being good, and has done some terrible things. I'm amazed at the way that my intentions combined with the game environment is creating a moral character personal beyond what just I, or just the game, wants for her to have. I've never played a game this nuanced before in my life.

I'm going to be playing it for a long time.

The SF Signal Podcast: 2012 Sword & Sorcery Mega Panel (Pt 1)

Today, SF Signal has posted the first of their new series of sword & sorcery themed podcasts with a focus on contemporary works and authors. Episode 108 features a panel of such S&S notables as Scott H. Andrews, editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Violette Malan, of the Dhulyn and Parno novels, and James L. Sutter, co-creator of the Pathfinder RPG, fiction editor of the Pathfinder Tales line, and author of the B&N Top Ten fantasy novel, Death's Heretic. And then there's me, relevant to this discussion as editor of many fine S&S novels, as well as co-editor of the WFC, Locus, and Shirley Jackson-nominated anthology, Swords & Dark Magic. S&S is a subgenre near and dear to my heart, and this podcast was a tremendous pleasure. Do check it out, and thanks to Patrick Hester and Jaym Gates for making it happen.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Enhanced Game of Thrones (UK Only)

Oh, I hope the US publisher is looking into this. Also, I'd love it if iBooks had a feature that allowed you to "upgrade to the enhanced version" if you've already bought the non-enhanced.

Fan Made John Carter Trailer

This fan - cut trailer for John Carter is better than anything the studios have put out. So much so that's it's pumped my excitement for the movie up a notch.

DC ENTERTAINMENT OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES “BEFORE WATCHMEN”

I, for one, am very curious to hear the backstory on how this came about...

DC ENTERTAINMENT OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES “BEFORE WATCHMEN”

This summer, DC Entertainment will publish all-new stories expanding on the acclaimed WATCHMEN universe. As highly anticipated as they are controversial, the seven inter-connected prequel mini-series will build on the foundation of the original WATCHMEN, the bestselling graphic novel of all time. BEFORE WATCHMEN will be the collective banner for all seven titles, from DC Comics.

“It’s our responsibility as publishers to find new ways to keep all of our characters relevant,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee. “After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original.”

Stepping up to the challenge is a group of the comic book industry’s most iconoclastic writers and artists – including Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL), Darwyn Cooke (JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER), John Higgins (WATCHMEN), Adam Hughes (CATWOMAN), J.G. Jones (FINAL CRISIS), Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK), Jae Lee (BATMAN: JEKYLL AND HYDE), J. Michael Straczynski (SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE) and Len Wein (SWAMP THING).

BEFORE WATCHMEN includes:

-       RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo

-       MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke

-       COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones

-       DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist:  Adam Hughes

-       NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert

-       OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee

-       SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner

Each week, a new issue will be released, and will feature a two-page back-up story called CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR, written by original series editor Len Wein and with art by original series colorist John Higgins. There will also be a single issue, BEFORE WATCHMEN: EPILOGUE, featuring the work of various writers and artists, and a CRIMSON CORSAIR story by Wein and Higgins.

“The original series of WATCHMEN is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC's reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire,” said Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN co-creator and original series artist.

“Comic books are perhaps the largest and longest running form of collaborative fiction,” said DiDio and Lee. “Collaborative storytelling is what keeps these fictional universes current and relevant.”

David Hyde | Vice President of Publicity

DC Entertainment | A Warner Bros. Entertainment Group

1700 Broadway | New York, NY 10019

T: 212-636-5450 | F: 212-636-5756

david.hyde@dccomics.com | visit us: http://www.dccomics.com

DC fights Hunger in Horn of Africa

Worth passing on:

DC ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES “WE CAN BE HEROES,”

 AN UNPRECEDENTED GIVING CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT

THE HUNGER CRISIS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA

Featuring Iconic Justice League Characters, Multilayered Campaign

To Leverage All Time Warner Advertising Platforms

Generating Significant Awareness of the Crisis

Multi-Million-Dollar Commitment Will Support

Three Aid Groups Working in Africa:

Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps

        (January 23, 2012 – New York, NY)  DC Entertainment, home of the world’s greatest super heroes, today unveiled an unprecedented giving campaign to fight the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.  This multi-million-dollar commitment over the next two years will be supported across all Warner Bros. Entertainment’s and Time Warner’s businesses and feature DC Entertainment’s iconic Justice League characters, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg, issuing the call to action, “We Can Be Heroes.”  The announcements were made at a press conference today in New York by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros.; Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group; and Diane Nelson, President, DC Entertainment.

        We Can Be Heroes will support the efforts of three humanitarian aid organizations working in Africa—Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps—as part of the global effort to fight the current hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.  The region is suffering its worst drought and famine in over 60 years, with 13 million in need of critical assistance and 250,000 facing starvation in Somalia alone.  Each partner organization was chosen for its track record of effective and expeditious humanitarian aid efforts in Africa.

        We Can Be Heroes will be supported via promotional exposure across all of Time Warner’s divisional advertising platforms (Warner Bros., Turner Broadcasting, Time Inc., HBO), generating millions of consumer impressions and creating crucially needed awareness of this crisis worldwide.  Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps will equally share a corporate donation of at least $2 million over the next two years comprised of cash donations, employee matching funds and consumer matching funds. 

        “Warner Bros. has a long history of corporate philanthropy and outreach, and this campaign proudly continues that tradition,” said Meyer.  “We are a global company, and this is a global issue.  By marshalling our expertise in consumer and fan engagement and creating global awareness, we hope we’re able to inspire others to join us in becoming ‘heroes’ and make a difference in the Horn of Africa.”

        The Justice League characters were chosen by DC Entertainment both for their global recognition as well as their demonstration of strength in unity and numbers.  The campaign’s graphic identifier features the iconic Justice League characters—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg—outlined in silhouette against the African continent.  Each of these characters is a super hero in his or her own right, but when they band together as the Justice League, they become an unstoppable force for good and right in the universe—a key message of the We Can Be Heroes campaign. While many individuals may feel powerless to effect change on their own, as part of a global campaign such as this, their efforts, combined with those of other donors, can create a world of change.

        A key launch element of We Can Be Heroes is the campaign’s website, www.WeCanBeHeroes.org.  Here, consumers can make donations which DC Entertainment will match 100 percent (up to $1 million in donations), purchase specially branded merchandise, with 50 percent of the purchase price going to fight the hunger crisis via We Can Be Heroes,  sign up for newsletters and updates, and join the We Can Be Heroes online community.  The site will also feature information on each of the partner organizations and updates on current conditions in the Horn of Africa. 

        “This campaign goes straight to the heart of our core competency, as Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment both have a rich legacy of telling socially relevant, compelling stories with characters embraced by global audiences,” said Robinov.  “The fact that we’re able to take what we do and use it to raise awareness—and inspire action—around a cause as important as this is gratifying.  With the support of the entire Studio and our Time Warner sister companies, this campaign, like the DC Comics super heroes, will make a great impact on an important issue.”

        “The members of the Justice League are an international team of super heroes beloved by a broad range of fans, including men and women, young and old.  This makes them the perfect ‘spokescharacters’ for this campaign,” said Nelson.  “Their dedication to social justice and commitment to band together to defend the helpless brilliantly supports the ideals of the We Can Be Heroes campaign.  The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa is something we can reverse if we all work together.  I’m proud and grateful we’re able to harness the power and standing of the DC Comics brand and iconic characters as well as for the support from both Warner Bros. and Time Warner that has allowed us to pursue this unprecedented initiative.”

        “This is a tragic situation affecting millions and millions of people.  Everyone has the ability to be a part of the solution and efforts such as We Can Be Heroes help bring us closer to that goal,” said Dr. Jill Biden, who visited refugees in Kenya in August and has worked to raise awareness of the crisis.  “I commend the efforts of DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. and other organizations who are using their global reach to help raise awareness of the crisis.”

        For more information on We Can Be Heroes, visit www.WeCanBeHeroes.org.  For more information on the campaign’s partner organizations, visit their websites: www.savethechildren.org (Save the Children); www.rescue.org (International Rescue Committee) and www.mercycorps.org (Mercy Corps).

# # #

About DC Entertainment: 

DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner.  DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.  In January 2012, DC Entertainment, in collaboration with Warner Bros. and Time Warner divisions, launched We Can Be Heroes—a giving campaign featuring the iconic Justice League super heroes—to raise awareness and funds to fight the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Contact:

Nicole Stipp/Fenton                             Courtney Simmons/DC Entertainment

nstipp@fenton.com                               Courtney.Simmons@warnerbros.com

212/584-5000                                    818/977-7764

Kelly Osmundson                         Paul McGuire

kosmundson@fenton.com                   Paul.McGuire@warnerbros.com

415/901-0111                                    818/954-6152