Demise… the Wild Cards baddie you all love to hate, or maybe hate to love… is back in a new short story on Tor.com from the pen (well, computer) of Walton “Bud” Simons.
https://www.tor.com/author/walton-simons/
No, Demise hasn’t returned from the dead (again). We don’t do that in Wild Cards. It’s a period piece.
Old fans will love it, and new fans have a treat in store.
It’s free. Go and enjoy.
Current Mood: 
bouncy
The British are coming, the British are coming, the British are..
Oh, wait. The British are HERE.
Today’s the official publication day for the release of the first American edition of KNAVES OVER QUEENS, in hardcovers from our friends at Tor Books. ((The British edition came out a year ago, in June 2018)). Look for it at your favorite local bookshop, or order it from your favorite online bookseller.
KNAVES OVER QUEENS is the twenty-sixth volume in the Wild Cards series… and the first to be set (mostly) in the British Isles. Like our very first volume, the action begins in 1946, when the wild card virus was first unleashed upon the world by Dr. Tod and those dastardly Takisians. WILD CARDS spanned forty years, from 1946 to 1986, but the focus was on the U.S., and New York City in particular. KNAVES OVER QUEENS covers an even longer time-span, right up to (almost) the present, but the view is from the other side of the Pond this time.
Our writers are a mix of English and Irish authors, many joining Wild Cards for the first time, and several American Anglophiles. The lineup:
KEVIN ANDREW MURPHY: “A Flint Lies in the Mud” and “But a Flint Holds Fire,”
PEADAR O GUILIN: “The Coming of the Crow,” “Cracks in the City,” and “Feeding on the Entrails,”
CAROLINE SPECTOR: “Needles and Pins,”
PAUL CORNELL: “Night Orders,”
CHARLES STROSS: “Police On My Back,”
MARKO KLOOS: “Probationary,”
PETER NEWMAN: “Twisted Logic,”
MELINDA M. SNODGRASS: “Ceremony of Innocence,”
EMMA NEWMAN: “How to Turn a Girl to Stone,”
MARK LAWRENCE: “The Visitor.”
Long- time fan favorites Captain Flint and Double Helix return in KNAVES, but you’ll also be meeting some terrific new aces, jokers, and (yes) knaves, including the Seamstress, the blood-thirsty Badh, the Green Man, Stonemaiden, and the Visitor.
Come on in and make their acquaintance.
Current Mood: bouncy
Hey, Wild Cards fans — did you miss LOW CHICAGO when it came out in hardcover last year?
No problem, you’ve got another chance. Our friends at Tor are releasing LOW CHCAGO today in paperback. You should be able to snag a copy at your favorite local bookstore (and if they don’t stock Wild Cards, find another favorite) or online bookseller.
An editor, like a parent, is supposed to love all his children equally… but c’mon, truth be told, parents have favorites and so do editors. LOW CHICAGO is one of mine. Maybe because I lived in the Windy City for several years when I was a starving young writer. Whatever the reason, this one was a delight to edit, and (I think) a ton of fun to read. Shared world books are the Rodney Dangerfield of anthologies; they get no respect at awards time (like shared world editors, though imnsho they are way harder to put together than an ordinary anthology). Which is a pity, because I think there are several stories in LOW CHICAGO that were worthy of Hugo and Nebula nominations. But hey, I’m hardly objective. You are all invited to read the book and decide for yourself. In the end it doesn’t matter. The awards are done, but the work remains, and it’s work that I am proud of… as are my contributors.
The lineup for LOW CHICAGO:
“A Long Night at the Palmer House” by John Jos. Miller
“Down the Rabbit Hole” by Kevin Andrew Murphy
“The Motherfucking Apotheosis of Todd Motherfucking Taszycki” by Christopher Rowe
“A Bit of a Dinosaur” by Paul Cornell
“‘Stripes” by Marko Kloos
“The Sister in the Streets” by Melinda M. Snodgrass
“A Beautiful Facade” by Mary Anne Mohanraj
“Meathooks on Ice” by Saladin Ahmed
Oh, and if you’re one of those who prefers hardcovers to paperbacks, have no fear. We have plenty of copies of the LOW CHICAGO hardback in stock at the bookstore at the Jean Cocteau Cinema, most of them AUTOGRAPHED… not just by me, but by many of the contributing authors.
Check out all the signed books at:
https://jeancocteaucinema.com/product-category/signed-books/
Current Mood: 
pleased
Hey, Wild Carders… we’ve got a brand new original Wild Cards novelette up this morning over at Tor.com.
The title is “Long Is the Way,” and its from the gifted pens of Sage Walker and Carrie Vaughn.
Best of all, it’s FREE.
So head over to Tor.com and enjoy.
The artwork once again is by the one-and-only John Picacio, winner of the Hugo and Alfie Awards.
Current Mood: pleased
A heads up for all you Wild Carders out there — another publication day has rolled around.
Check out your favorite local bookstore or on-line bookseller. Today’s the day Tor releases its long-awaited reissue of JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE, volume nine of the overall series and the second book in the Rox/ jumper sequence. Originally published in August, 1991, this one has been out of print for the more than two decades, available only from used book stores and auction sites at inflated prices… and that for a mass market. The new Tor edition will be a trade paperback, featuring a lovely new cover paining of Lady Black by David Palumbo.
The original lineup of JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE (1991 edition) was:
STEPHEN LEIGH “The Temptation of Hieronymous Bloat”
JOHN JOS. MILLER “And Hope to Die”
MELINDA M. SNODGRASS “Lovers”
VICTOR MILAN “Madman Across the Water”
WALTER JON WILLIAMS “Whilst Night’s Black Agents To Their Preys Do Rouse”
LEWIS SHINER “Riders”
WALTON (BUD) SIMONS “Nobody Does It Alone”
Featured characters include Bloat, Yeoman, Dr. Tachyon, Cap’n Trips, Black Shadow, Veronica, and Mr. Nobody.
But that’s not all. Just as we did with volumes one, four, and eight, we’ve added some brand new original content to JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE in the form of two original stories from CARRIE VAUGHN and CHERIE PRIEST, starring Fort Freak’s joker detective Leo Storgman (Ramshead) and SCARE agent Joanne Jefferson (Lady Black). So even if you’ve read the book in the mists of time, you haven’t read it all. The new tales are entitled “The Unintended” (by Cherie) and “Unraveling” (by Carrie). You won’t want to miss them.
[[Times have changed since 1991, so I had best mention here that JOKERTOWN SHUFFLE is probably the darkest volume of the original series and includes some very strong stuff, including sexual violence. So consider this a trigger warning for those who prefer not to go there]].
So here’s your chance to complete your Wild Cards collection by filling in a long-missing volume… or maybe to start a Wild Cards collection.
And once you’ve read it, head over to Tor.com and join the discussion with Katy Rask and the Wild Cards reread:
Stolen Bodies, Warped Minds—Wild Cards IX: Jokertown Shuffle
The mean streets of Jokertown and the madness of the Rox await…
Current Mood: pleased
Hey, Wild Cards fans, we’ve got another brand new original story for you.
It’s by Marko Kloos, and it’s FREE on Tor.com. The title is “How to Move Spheres and Influence People.” Marko is introducing a brand new ace this time, and I think you guys are going to love her.
You can check it out at
Enjoy… and be sure to leave a comment.
And speaking of Wild Cards, there also some great new stuff on the Wild Cards website.
On our blog, check out William F. Wu’s post, “From Iron Fist to Wild Cards,” at https://www.wildcardsworld.com/from-iron-fistto-wild-cards/
And Ti Mikkel has another victim… ahem, subject, in Talking With Ti. This time she’s interviewing Caroline Spector, mother of Bubbles. You can read what they have to say at https://www.wildcardsworld.com/qa/caroline-spector/
Current Mood: 
cheerful
I have seen here and there that some people are suggesting A SONG OF ICE & FIRE (by that name, or as GAME OF THRONES) as a possible nominee for the new(ish) Best Series category of the Hugo Awards. It fits worldcon’s very broad definition of a series, I agree… but as I said below in my post about FIRE & BLOOD, I don’t consider A SONG OF ICE & FIRE a series, and even it was, FIRE & BLOOD is not really part of it. More a Related Work, the category where it fits best.
WILD CARDS, however, IS a series by anyone’s definition, and is definitely eligible for nomination.
And for what it is worth, WILD CARDS had a hell of a year in 2018.
We published not one, not two, but three new original mosaic novels in the series: LOW CHICAGO came out in June and TEXAS HOLD ‘EM in November, both in the US, while KNAVES OVER QUEENS was a June release in the UK. I don’t know any other contending series that put out three new books last year. And while I am admittedly far from objective, those three books rank among the strongest volumes in the history of the series. I am very proud of them, and the fans seemed to love them too.
That’s not all, however. We re-released one of the old books too: ONE-EYED JACKS, volume eight from the original series, was released in August, after decades of being out of print. But it was not a straight reprint. We also added two brand new stories to the original text, a Magpie story by Kevin Andrew Murphy and a tale of Lady Black from Carrie Vaughn.
In addition, we had three brand-new stand-alone Wild Cards stories published over on Tor.com:
— “EverNight,” by Victor Milan, published in February,
— “The Flight of Morpho Girl,” by Caroline Spector and Bradley Denton, published in April,
— “Fitting In,” by Max Gladstone, published in November.
That’s a huge amount of original Wild Cards content. If you haven’t tried any of it, you should. There’s some great stuff there. I am a lucky editor, and I’ve assembled an amazing team of writers in Wild Cards.
And 2018 was our thirty-first year. We now have twenty-seven volumes in print, with three more in the pipeline… and probably a lot more to come, especially if the TV shows take off on Hulu. No other series comes close.
I hope the Hugo nominators will agree.
Current Mood: 
hopeful
Back in the 80s, when Wild Cards was born, shared worlds ruled the racks. THIEVES WORLD, ITHKAR, WAR WORLD, LIAVEK, HEROES IN HELL, GREYSTONE BAY, and on and on. New series were popping up every month. Today, only Wild Cards remains, still going strong after thirty-one years and twenty-seven volumes.
Writing for a shared world has some unique challenges, however. In August 2017, a large group of Wild Carders assembled at my Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe for a mass signing, and we interviewed them about the up and downs of writing other people’s characters, and having other people write yours.
Enjoy.
Current Mood: bouncy
The Jokertown Mob is heading for San Antonio, along with Rubberband, Rustbelt, and the Amazing Bubbles.
And yes, they will be in your favorite bookstore TODAY. It’s publication day for TEXAS HOLD ‘EM.
TEXAS HOLD ‘EM is the final book in the America Triad, and the twenty-seventh volume of the overall series… but no, it’s not necessary to have read the first twenty-six to enjoy this one. It’s a stand-alone, like MISSISSIPPI ROLL and LOW CHICAGO. This one is lighter in tone than most Wild Cards books: a bit of a romp, if truth be told, blending Wild Cards action with a touch of screwball comedy.
The lineup this time:
Caroline Spector “Bubbles and the Band Trip”
Max Gladstone “The Secret Life of Rubberband”
William F. Wu “Jade Blossom’s Brew”
Diana Rowland “Beats, Bugs, and Boys”
Walton Simons “Is Nobody Going to San Antone?”
Victor Milan “Dust and the Darkness”
David Anthony Durham “Drop City”
The spectacular cover is by Michael Komarck.
You can get TEXAS HOLD ‘EM from your favorite local bookstore on online retailer. If you would like to snag an autographed copy, we will have some available from the bookstore at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. (The JCC also has autographed copies of many of the earlier Wild Cards books available, most of the signed not only by myself but by several contributors as well).
Current Mood: pleased
What wild cards character are you?
Tor has a fun new quiz up at
I am supposedly Dr. Tachyon. But that can’t be right. I am obviously the Great and Powerful Turtle.
Current Mood: 
amused
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