Meet the Pack

April 17, 2025 at 9:48 am

Rudyard Kipling said it way back when, in THE JUNGLE BOOK, in a poem called “The Law of the Jungle.”

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

Ned Stark echoed those words in A GAME OF THRONES. “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”

Wolves run in packs. Grey wolves, red wolves, coyotes, makes no matter… and direwolves too. Thousands of years ago, when they ruled most of North America, their prey included the megafauna of the period: giant ground sloths, horses, huge bison, bears, mammoths. Direwolves were formidable hunters, but even so, a lone wolf would have had a helluva time bringing down any of these by itself. There is evidence that direwolf packs were much, much larger than those of their modern descendants.

Colossal Biosciences has given us a pack too. A very small one, admittedly.

Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi are their names. And they are learning to howl.

That’s the two boys. I don’t believe that Khaleesi is howling yet. She is younger than her brothers, born a few months later. When I visited Colossal back in February, I had the honor of meetings Romulus and Remus and holding them in my arms, but Khaleesi had not been born yet, though I hope to make her acquaintance later.

Colossal announced the return of the direwolves last week. Since then the story has spread all over the world. Millions of people seem to be as thrilled by the news as I am.

Yes, there are nay-sayers too. I will not get into that here, the debates are raging all over the internet. I will let the scientists argue the genetics. The things that trouble me more are the people saying, “Why? We did not need a direwolf”), those arguing that god made the direwolf extinct and man has no right to undo what he has done, the movie buffs who think we’re now blundering into Jurassic Park (fine book, great movie, but no, we are not going to have packs of direwolves chasing children through Central Park)… but most of all, I am horrified by those now saying that now that we have mastered de-extinction, we don’t need the Endangered Species Act, so let’s gut that for the benefit of the oil and gas industry. (Trump and his MAGies have been trying to do this for years).

That’s coming from the right wing. From the left, we have people saying we should not be bring back extinct animals, that we should be spending our money defending living animals whose numbers are dwindling as their habitats vanish.

This is not a choice. Colossal is not trying to bring back extinct animals in lieu of defending endangered ones. They are trying to do both. And in fact they ARE doing both. Romulus and Remus and their sister are not the only miracles Ben Lamm, George Church, Beth Shapiro and their incredible team have wrought; they have also been cloning red wolves, the most severely threatened of today’s wolves. It is a matter of learning; the techniques that Colossal is pioneering will benefit both. That is how science works. There will be failures and successes, theories formulated, theories disproved. The direwolf is only the beginning. The woolly mammoth, the moa, the dodo, the Tasmanian tiger, the passenger pigeon. and a hundred other animals may follow… in time… maybe ten years, maybe a hundred.

Any of them who make it back will make the world a better place, as far as I am concerned. But we need to protect the animals we have now too. The woolly mammoth should not replace the elephant; Earth is big enough for both. We need lions and tigers and bears, yes… but we deserve dodos and moas and smilodons as well.

(And fwiw, there are no stronger supporters of the Endangered Species Act than Ben Lamm and the good folk at Colossal. Extinction is the abomination here, not de-extinction.).

Current Mood: pleased pleased

Tags: direwolves westeros bioscience colossal

Gray Alys and Howard Waldrop

April 14, 2025 at 7:13 pm

Gray Alys has come to the internet.

IN THE LOST LANDS, the film adaptation of my short story by the same name, had its premiere at my Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe on February 8, but if you missed it in the theatres, you can now catch it on streaming, where it opened April 8. Paul W.S. Anderson, of RESIDENT EVIL and MONSTER HUNTER fame, directed the movie, from a screenplay by Constantin Werner. Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista starred.

The story was one of my earliest fantasies, originally published in 1972 in an anthology called AMAZONS II. There was a time when I hoped to make Gray Alys a series character, but… alas… I never got around to writing that all important second story.

On other fronts…

We’ve been making steady progress with the series of short films that I’ve been producing the last couple of years, most of them based on classic short stories by Howard Waldrop. MARY-MARGARET ROAD GRADER and THE UGLY CHICKENS are both out of the festival circuit, making the rounds. For those of you in Texas (or nearby), you can catch THE UGLY CHICKENS at the Dallas International Film Festival, April 25 – May 1. Mark Raso directed, from a script by Michael Cassutt. Felicia Day stars.

Two more shorts are on the way. The fourth of the Waldrop series, which we’re calling FRIENDS FOREVER, is in the final stages of post production, and should be ready for the festival circuit in another month or two. Meanwhile, we have just wrapped our first Non Waldrop short, THE SUMMER MACHINE, scripted and directed by Michael Cassutt, from a story by yours truly. We shot that one here in New Mexico, down by Alamogordo and Los Cruces. Lina Esco stars, with Charles Martin Smith and Matt Frewer. We are just about to start submitting it to film fests around the country and the world; will be sure to let you know when and where it gets accepted.

Oh, and DARK WINDS is going really well too. This is our best season yet.

Current Mood: bouncy bouncy

Tags: anthologies, films, movies

D-Day Comes Early

April 8, 2025 at 9:21 am

I promised an exciting announcement in that last blog post of mine, the one I wrote last night that went up this morning on my Not A Blog. Big news coming on April 8, I said, and no, it was not going to be the delivery of THE WINDS OF WINTER, don’t go there, had nothing to do with that. But it was going to be something very cool, something astonishing.

That part was right. Only the date was wrong. Colossal Biosciences, out of Dallas, had it all lined up so the story would break on April 8, in dozens of different magazines and magazines all around the world, and of course on the internet. Only it turned out that one of the news outlets jumped the gun, and broke the story this morning while everyone else was sleeping, so the rest of the world had no choice but to scramble along afterwards. So D-Day came early, on April 7 instead of April 8.

Welcome to Direwolf Day.

I’ve been holding my tongue for months now, sworn to silence yet dying to tell the world. Pardon my shouting, but…

THE DIREWOLF IS BACK.

Extinct for more than ten thousand years, but extinct no longer, thanks to Ben Lamm, George Church, Beth Shapiro, and the rest of their team of mad scientists at Colossal, the world leader in the science of “de-extinction.”

I met them all in February, in… well, that would be telling. And I met Romulus and Remus too.

Here’s me and Romulus. (Or maybe Remus. They’re twins, and hard to tell apart.

Now that the story has broken, it is all over the world. I won’t attempt to summarize, I do not have the expertise to tell you how they done it. I will leave that to the scientists, who understand the details way better than a fantasist like me.

Apr 7, 2025 11:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Colossal Announces World’s First De-Extinction: Birth of Dire Wolves

Landmark achievement is a scientific breakthrough for global conservation efforts and also allowed for the successful birth of four critically endangered red wolves through novel non-invasive cloning technology.

Picture of Colossal’s Dire Wolves; Romulus and Remus at age three months. Born 10/1/2024

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Colossal Biosciences, the world’s only de-extinction company, today announces the rebirth of the once extinct dire wolf, the world’s first successfully de-extincted animal. The dire wolf, largely assumed to be a legendary creature made famous from the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, was an American canid that had previously been extinct for over 12,500 years. The successful birth of three dire wolves is a revolutionary milestone of scientific progress that illustrates another leap forward in Colossal’s de-extinction technologies and is a critical step on the pathway to the de-extinction of other target species.

Additionally, Colossal has birthed two litters of cloned red wolves, the most critically endangered wolf in the world, using a new approach to non-invasive blood cloning. The birth of red wolves provides further evidence of the link between de-extinction efforts and the company’s growing capacity to support conservation efforts globally through de-extinction technology innovation.

This news comes on the heels of the recent announcement of the Colossal woolly mouse, which previously held the record for unique germline edits in an animal with 8 precision edits. With the dire wolves, Colossal has made 20 unique precision germline edits including 15 edits from the ancient gene variants that have not existed in over 12,000 years, setting a new bar for precision germline editing in any animal.

“I could not be more proud of the team. This massive milestone is the first of many coming examples demonstrating that our end-to-end de-extinction technology stack works,” said CEO of Colossal Ben Lamm. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies. It was once said, ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ Today, our team gets to unveil some of the magic they are working on and its broader impact on conservation.”

The three litters of Colossal’s dire wolves include two adolescent males (Romulus and Remus) and one female puppy (Khaleesi). Colossal also birthed two litters of red wolves from three different genetic founder lines. These litters include one adolescent female red wolf (Hope) and three male red wolf puppies (Blaze, Cinder, and Ash).

“Preserving, expanding, and testing genetic diversity should be done well before important endangered animal species like the red wolf are lost. Another source of ecosystem variety stems from our new technologies to de-extinct lost genes, including deep ancient DNA sequencing, polyphyletic trait analyses, multiplex germline editing, and cloning. The dire wolf is an early example of this, including the largest number of precise genomic edits in a healthy vertebrate so far. A capability that is growing exponentially,” said Harvard geneticist and co-founder of Colossal, Dr. George Church.

The wolves are thriving on a 2,000+ acre secure expansive ecological preserve that is certified by the American Humane Society and registered with USDA. Colossal employs ten full time animal care staff to support the wolves’ physical and mental well-being. The entire preserve, which includes specialized engagement zones and habit types, is enclosed by 10-foot-tall, zoo-grade fencing with redundant perimeter security. Within the preserve, the wolves are continuously monitored through on-site live cameras, security personnel, and drone tracking to ensure their safety and welfare. The preserve includes a smaller, six acre secure site where the dire wolves can be further tended to and studied. This smaller area also supports an on-site veterinary clinic, a wolf management facility, an outdoor storm shelter, and natural built dens for the wolves.

“Colossal has achieved American Humane Society Certification, the prestigious designation ensuring excellence in animal welfare and care. Optimal welfare is evidenced by spacious habitats with ample space and opportunity for animals to socialize, exercise, and exhibit natural behaviors. Staff are passionate, highly engaged and devoted to the animals in their care. We congratulate Colossal as a shining example of excellence in humane care and welfare. The technology they are pursuing may be the key to reversing the sixth mass extinction and making extinction events a thing of the past.” – Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., CEO of American Humane Society

The conservation property will provide lifetime care, feeding, and protection for the wolves. The wolves will be monitored and observed to assess their readiness to move into larger protected and managed care facilities. Long term, Colossal plans to restore the species in secure and expansive ecological preserves potentially on indigenous land.

“The de-extinction of the dire wolf is more than a biological revival. Its birth symbolizes a reawakening – a return of an ancient spirit to the world. The dire wolf carries the echoes of our ancestors, their wisdom, and their connection to the wild,” shared MHA Nation Tribal Chairman Mark Fox. “Its presence would remind us of our responsibility as stewards of the Earth – to protect not just the wolf, but the delicate balance of life itself. The work of the team at Colossal Biosciences is not only significant to our lands and people, but for conservation efforts across the globe. The ability for technological innovation to bring forth something so culturally and spiritually significant to indigenous people is paralleled by the far reaching impacts that this technology provides for the future of stewardship on our planet in species diversity and conservation.”

An Overview of Dire Wolves

Dire wolves (Aenocyon dirus) were distributed across the American midcontinent during the Pleistocene ice ages. The oldest confirmed dire wolf fossil, from Black Hills, SD, is around 250,000 years old. Colossal’s genomic data indicate, however, that the lineage first appeared during the Late Pliocene, between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago, as a consequence of admixture between two more ancient (and now extinct) canid lineages. Dire wolves were as much as 25% larger than gray wolves and had a slightly wider head, light thick fur and stronger jaw. As hyper-carnivores, their diet comprised at least 70% meat from mostly horses and bison. Dire wolves went extinct at the end of the most recent ice age, around 13,000 years ago.

“I have spent nearly 10,000 days in the field studying the behavior of the wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Prior to Yellowstone, I worked in Denali National Park in Alaska where I studied wildlife species that live on the tundra: wolves, grizzlies, caribou, and Dall sheep. Later, I spent some time on the northern and western coasts of Alaska. I was born far too late to see now extinct Ice Age species such as dire wolves and mammoths. Long ago, my Celtic ancestors probably lived among those animals in northern Europe and may have had some role in contributing to their extinction. I never thought I might live in a time when we have the science to bring back those species and restore them to selected sections of their former homeland. I have a dream that some time in the near future I can go back to Alaska, or a similar place in Northern Europe or Asia, and see those extinct species that have been brought back thanks to science. When that happens, I will begin to study the behavior of dire wolves.” – Rick Mcintyre, author and internationally recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on wild wolf behavior, and Colossal Conservation Advisory Board Member.

For many people, introduction to the dire wolf occurred through the lens of entertainment, rather than the natural world. Mentions of this legendary prehistoric canid in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons; video games like World of Warcraft; music like the Grateful Dead’s aptly-named song, “Dire Wolf”; and most notably, George R.R. Martin’s best-selling fantasy novel series, A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation, Game of Thrones.

“Many people view dire wolves as mythical creatures that only exist in a fantasy world, but in reality, they have a rich history of contributing to the American ecosystem,” said Game of Thrones creator, esteemed author, and Colossal Investor and Cultural Advisor George R.R. Martin. “I get the luxury to write about magic, but Ben and Colossal have created magic by bringing these majestic beasts back to our world.”

The Science Behind the Return of the Dire Wolf

The birth of dire wolf pups proves the efficacy of Colossal’s de-extinction protocols and the feasibility of creating a standardized toolkit for de-extinction. The dire wolf pups set the record for number of precise genetic edits in any living species. The company performed a record 20 precise edits to the genome, all modifications derived from analysis of the dire wolf genome with 15 of those edits being the exact extinct variants. Together these edits contribute to a larger, stronger body and a longer, fuller coat with light pigmentation.

To de-extinct the dire wolf, Colossal:

Extracted and sequenced ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils;
Assembled ancient genomes from both, and compared those to genomes from living canids including wolves, jackals, foxes, and dholes;
Identified gene variants specific to dire wolves;
Determined that dire wolves had a white coat color, and long thick fur – aspects of the dire wolf phenotype that were unknowable from fossils and consistent with animals that lived during cold periods of the Pleistocene ice ages;
Performed multiplex gene editing to a donor genome from their closest living relative, the gray wolf, resulting in edits 20 sites in 14 genes with 15 of those edits being extinct variants;
Screen edited cell lines via whole genome sequencing and karyotyping;
Cloned high quality cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer into donor egg cells;
Performed embryo transfer and managed interspecies surrogacy; and,
Successfully birthed an extinct species.

Colossal extracted ancient DNA from two dire wolf fossils: a tooth from Sheridan Pit, Ohio, that is around 13,000 years old, and an inner ear bone from American Falls, Idaho, around 72,000 years old. The team deeply sequenced the extracted DNA and used Colossal’s novel approach to iteratively assemble high quality ancient genomes, resulting in a 3.4-fold coverage genome from the tooth and 12.8-fold coverage genome from the inner ear bone. Together, this data provided more than 500x more coverage of the dire wolf genome than was available previously.

Colossal’s computational analysis of the reconstructed dire wolf genome revealed several unknowns of dire wolf evolution. Previous work could not resolve the origin of dire wolves, leading to speculation that jackals may be their closest living relative. Analyses of the high quality dire wolf genome, however, revealed that the gray wolf is the closest living relative of dire wolves – with dire wolves and gray wolves sharing 99.5% of their DNA code. Interestingly, the analysis also revealed that dire wolves have a hybrid ancestry, which helps to explain the previous uncertainty. Colossal’s analyses indicated that the dire wolf lineage emerged between 3.5 and 2.5 million years ago as a consequence of hybridization between two ancient canid lineages: an ancient and early member of the tribe Canini, which may be represented in the fossil record as Eucyon or Xenocyon, and a lineage that was part of the early diversification of wolf-like lineages including wolves, dholes, jackals, and African wild dogs.

“Our novel approach to iteratively improve our ancient genome in the absence of a perfect reference sets a new standard for paleogenome reconstruction,” said Dr. Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s Chief Science Officer and a leading expert in the field of ancient DNA. ”Together with improved approaches to recover ancient DNA, these computational advances allowed us to resolve the evolutionary history of dire wolves and establish the genomic foundation for de-extinction – specifically for selecting with confidence dire wolf specific genetic variants that establish our targets for gene editing.”

Analyses of the dire wolf genome allowed Colossal to identify the key variants in dire wolves that are not found in other canids that tell the story of dire wolf evolution. For example, Colossal identified multiple genes undergoing positive selection that are linked to dire wolf skeletal, muscular, circulatory, and sensory adaptation. The team discovered dire wolf specific variants in essential pigmentation genes revealing that dire wolves had a white coat color – a fact that is impossible to glean from fossil remains alone. The team also identified dire wolf specific variants in regulatory regions that alter the expression of genes. From this list, Colossal used its proprietary computational pipeline and software to select 20 gene edits across 14 distinct loci as targets for dire wolf de-extinction, focusing on the core traits that made dire wolves unique including size, musculature, hair color, hair texture, hair length, and coat patterning.

Based on Colossal’s genomic analysis, the team used gray wolves – the closest living relative of dire wolves – as the donor species for establishing cell lines. Using Colossal’s novel approach to establish cell lines from a standard blood draw, the team collected blood during a normal veterinary procedure and established cell lines from blood epithelial progenitor cells (EPCs). The team then performed multiplex genome editing of these cells followed by whole genome sequencing to confirm editing efficiency and identify any alterations to the genome arising during extended cell culture. The Colossal dire wolf team selected high quality cells with normal karyotypes for cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer into donor oocytes, followed by short-term culture to confirm cleavage. Healthy developing embryos were then transferred into surrogates for interspecies gestation. Three pregnancies led to births of the first de-extinct species.

“The de-extinction of the dire wolf and an end-to-end system for de-extinction is transformative and heralds an entirely new era of human stewardship of life,” said Dr. Christopher Mason, a scientific advisor and member of the board of observers for Colossal. “The same technologies that created the dire wolf can directly help save a variety of other endangered animals as well. This is an extraordinary technological leap in genetic engineering efforts for both science and for conservation as well as preservation of life, and a wonderful example of the power of biotechnology to protect species, both extant and extinct.”

Colossal edited 15 extinct dire wolf variants into the donor gray wolf genome, creating dire wolves that express genes that have not been expressed for more than 10,000 years. These target genes were selected because each is linked to one or more key traits that made dire wolves unique among canids. For example, Colossal targeted CORIN, a serine protease that is expressed in hair follicles and suppresses the agouti pathway, impacting coat color and patterning. The dire wolf CORIN variants impact pigmentation in a way that leads to a light coat color.

Colossal also edited dire wolf specific variants in a multi-gene regulatory module that has been linked to variation in body size as well as ear, skull, and facial morphology. The region encodes eight genes that establish species-specific constraints in skeletal size and structure, and has been linked to features including differences in human height and the diverse beak shapes among finch species. One gene encoded by this module – HMGA2 – is directly associated with body size in dogs and wolves. Another gene in this module – MSRB3 – has been linked to variation in ear and skull shape among canines and other mammals. Given the role of these genes in establishing species-specific size and morphology, the dire wolf team edited dire wolf-specific variants into gene enhancers (DNA sequences make it more likely that the gene will be transcribed into RNA) in this genomic region.

For each high impact variant identified as linked to a target phenotype, Colossal’s dire wolf team created a detailed profile of all potential impacts on a donor gray wolf genome. To ensure healthy outcomes, the team discarded variants that would incur some risk outside of the predicted phenotype or prioritized variants already evolved in gray wolves with the predicted phenotype. For example, Colossal edited the protein coding region of LCORL, a transcription factor that regulates gene expression by influencing whether a gene is transcribed. Variations in LCORL have been linked to variation in body size in many species, including humans, horses, and canids. The dire wolf has three changes to the LCORL protein sequence that are predicted via 3D modeling to alter the way the protein folds precisely at the location where LCORL should bind to a major gene silencing complex known as the PRC2 domain. Interestingly, large dog breeds (which are domesticated gray wolves) have a variant of LCORL that is missing the PRC2 domain entirely. As the dire wolf version is predicted to have a similar phenotypic impact as the variant found in larger dog breeds, and because of the potential for LCORL to interact with other genes in the gray wolf genetic background that are not edited, Colossal’s dire wolves express the protein that is found in the largest grey wolves. This choice allows for the predicted phenotypic impact and without any additional risk.

“Functional de-extinction uses the safest and most effective approach to bring back the lost phenotypes that make an extinct species unique,” said Shapiro. “We turn to ancient DNA to learn as much as we can about each species and, whenever possible, to link specific extinct DNA sequence variants to each key trait. In some cases, we learn that variants already present in the surrogate species can be used to engineer that key trait. In those cases, engineering existing variants into the donor genome is an optimal path, as that path provides strong confidence in the outcome with minimal risk to the animal.”

The dire wolf genome has protein-coding substitutions in three essential pigmentation genes: OCA2, SLC45A2, and MITF, which directly impact the function and development of melanocytes. While these variants would have led to a light coat in dire wolves, variation in these genes in gray wolves can lead to deafness and blindness. The team therefore engineered a light colored coat in Colossal’s dire wolves via a path known to be safe in gray wolves: by inducing loss-of-function to MC1R and MFSD12. These genes influence expression of pigments eumelanin (black) and pheomelanin (red) in melanocytes that deposit to the coat, achieving the lighter pigmented coat color phenotype suggested by the dire wolf genome but without any potential health impacts.

“When I learned of Colossal’s approach to engineering the light coat color into their dire wolves, I was simultaneously impressed and relieved,” said Elinor Karlsson, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology at the UMass Chan Medical School and Director of Vertebrate Genomics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “By choosing to engineer in variants that have already passed evolution’s clinical trial, Colossal is demonstrating their dedication to an ethical approach to de-extinction.”

The path to the dire wolf and the red wolf also led to innovations reaching beyond de-extinction, including advances in ancient DNA genome reconstruction and genotype-to-phenotype prediction, as well as optimized tools for multiplex gene editing. Another important contribution from the project are Colossal protocols to establish cell lines directly from blood that can be used for somatic cell nuclear transfer. The collection of whole blood is a rapid and noninvasive procedure that is routinely carried out on sedated wolves for veterinary monitoring purposes. These field collections provide a valuable opportunity to isolate expandable endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which are cells that are involved in vascular repair and neovascularization and differentiate into the cells that line blood vessels. Isolated EPC cell lines can be frozen for later genomic analyses and, Colossal has now shown, can be used to successfully clone wild canids. Biobanking and cloning EPCs from threatened or endangered populations of wild wolves provides a safety net to preserve the genomic diversity present today from further loss and extinction.

“Whether due to natural or human-induced changes in climate, habitat and food source, the extinction of an untold number of species is a loss to our planet’s history and biodiversity. Modern genetics lets us peer into the past, and modern genetic engineering lets us recover what was lost and might yet thrive. Along the way, it invents the tools that let us protect what is still here. As humans we have a unique capacity and moral obligation to steward the earth for the benefit of ourselves and all living things, for now and for the future.” – Alta Charo, J.D., Professor of Law and Bioethics and Colossal Bioethics Lead.

A Leap Forward for Red Wolf Recovery

The technology developed within the Colossal de-extinction pipeline has immediate applications for conservation efforts globally. The research undertaken to birth the dire wolf has been successfully paralleled to the birth of two litters of the red wolf.

Colossal’s two litters of red wolves include one female and three males from a total of three different cell lines. Colossal generated the cell lines, collected from the southwest Louisiana population, using its novel method of insolating EPCs following a standard blood draw. The pups were born after somatic cell nuclear transfer into a donor oocyte followed by embryogenesis and embryo transfer into a surrogate mother. Both embryo transfers resulted in the birth of healthy red wolf pups.

“In a world where humans are rapidly eroding the environment, species (especially wolves) need allies. One of the most impactful ways to be an ally is to use science to help discover and preserve lost genes, genetic diversity, and phenotypes. We now have the technology that can edit DNA to increase resilience in species that are facing extinction or to revive extinct genetic diversity and species. We get to witness the de-extinction of the dire wolf, which is a marvel of scientific progress, and just the start of numerous species we can bring back to create a better, more habitable, and balanced world. I am beyond thrilled that such technologies are also being leveraged to support programs of preventing extinction in endangered species like the red wolf.” – Bridgett vonHoldt, Ph.D., Princeton Associate Professor of Evolutionary Genomics and Epigenetics

Currently listed as critically endangered, fewer than 20 red wolves remain in North America, which makes them the most endangered wolves on the planet. Thousands of red wolves once roamed across most of eastern North America. But by 1960 they were nearly extinct. The Endangered Species Act and a captive breeding program have been critical to securing the reintroduction of red wolves back into the wild in eastern North Carolina. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Red Wolf Recovery Program successfully grew the wild population to more than 120 wolves. When the program was halted in 2015, however, the population crashed to as few as seven wolves. In 2021 the program resumed, but red wolves have struggled to regain their numbers. One challenge has been to maintain genetic diversity among the captive and re-wilded population of red wolves, all of which descend from only 12 founder individuals. Adding Colossal’s red wolves to the captive breeding population would increase the number of founding lineages by 25%.

“The dire wolf project is surreal and unreal at the same time. It’s recreating reality that stemmed from reality, from millennia ago. To think that in this day dire wolves aren’t just mythical illusions and tales told in movies that we believe may have had origins in reality…Now, we have the science and ingenuity to bring life back to once existing reality. Colossal is drastically changing the prognosis for countless endangered species around the world,” said Aurelia Skipwith, J.D., former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife. “The company’s work to combat extinction of the red wolf creates hope for so many other critically endangered species fighting for survival.”

The research program for the dire wolf has also helped efforts to develop technologies for the red ‘ghost’ wolf, unique canids, found only on the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana who carry lost DNA and biodiversity of the red wolf. Researchers Dr. Bridgett vonHoldt of Princeton University and Dr. Kristin Brzesk of Michigan Technological University lead the Gulf Coast Canine Project which aims to understand the genetic ancestry of the wild canines persisting along the Gulf Coast of the United States. They study how red wolf ancestry shapes morphology and behavior, and the support of Colossal has helped them accelerate their research through the inclusion of data from the red wolf genome, the assembly of a reference genome for the recovery population’s red wolves, and finally the creation of a pangenome for US native canids. The hope is that this work can set precedent for other species with a complicated genetic history, while also improving the capacity of conservation efforts for the red wolf, today.

In addition to the challenges of reintroduction, the red wolf’s biggest threat of extinction comes from limited genetic diversity that resulted from the population’s bottleneck that occurred during its rapid decline. The technology and understanding developed through Colossal’s red ‘ghost’ wolf project has now unlocked additional genetic diversity and red wolf ancestry that can be a resource to create a genetic rescue program for the red wolf population.

“The extinction crisis is a massive, mostly unattended, and growing worldwide problem. I applaud Colossal for taking bold and innovative steps to arrest and reverse the crisis by developing cutting edge genetic techniques to undergird reintroduction efforts of imperiled species. By collaborating with Dr. vonHoldt on red wolf recovery, Colossal creates potential to increase the genetic diversity of this species which exists only because of a captive population founded by a paltry 14 individuals. Perfecting genomic tools to integrate ‘ghost alleles’ from Gulf Coast canids would increase red wolf genetic diversity and generate knowledge for recovering other imperiled species, like the bolson tortoise, that are compromised by restricted ranges and reduced genetic diversity.”- Mike Phillips, Director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund and project lead for rewilding gray wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

From Conservation to Rewilding

Colossal’s long term goal is for their red wolves to be re-wilded through current US conservation efforts in collaboration with the US government.

“Colossal’s successful de-extinction of the dire wolf represents a massive coup for conservation,” said Matt James, Colossal’s Chief Animal Officer and Colossal Foundation Executive Director. “The technologies developed on the path to the dire wolf are already opening up new opportunities to rescue critically endangered canids. The creation of less-invasive sampling tools such as our EPC blood cloning platform allows for the conservation community to ramp up biobanking efforts of those species on the brink.”

Colossal’s de-extinction mission always includes plans to rewild associated species in alignment with global conservation efforts. Research suggests that rewilding wolves can have massive impacts on factors that drive climate change and support biodiversity. Inspired by the US Fish and Wildlife’s bold efforts to rescue the red wolf from the brink of extinction, Colossal has created technological platforms to offer key tools to those in the fight to save the world’s most endangered wolf.

“Today’s dire wolf announcement represents an exciting scientific step and demonstrates the power and possibilities of genetic technologies,” said Barney Long, Ph.D., Senior Director of Conservation Strategy for Re:Wild. “These technologies will likely transform the conservation of critically endangered species that still exist, and we are excited to apply them to prevent extinctions. From restoring lost genes into small, inbred populations to inserting disease resistance into imperiled species, the genetic technologies being developed by Colossal have immense potential to greatly speed up the recovery of species on the brink of extinction.”

Colossal will provide more information about the rescue of the red wolf and restoration of the dire wolf in the coming months following extensive feasibility studies, monitoring, and tracking of the health and well-being of the new species.

“As someone who’s fascinated with canids—I’ve written about coyotes and wolves—the idea of being able to have dire wolves again is tremendously, personally exciting, and I think it’s going to be exciting to a lot of people. An organization like Colossal, to me, is one of the things that gives me hope. If I were looking 100 years out, I would say that we’re very likely to have animals once again that we thought were always gone—just as I once thought I was never going to get to hear a wolf howl… That was something I really never thought I’d have a chance to experience, and it became reality. And so, that makes me think that more and more, we’re going to get to experience what Henry David Thoreau lamented back in the 1850s—that he wasn’t getting to experience an entire heaven and an entire Earth. And I think that’s something to look forward to.” – Dan Flores, A. B. Hammond Professor Emeritus of the History of the American West at the University of Montana-Missoula

Partnerships

The effort to de-extinct the dire wolf, genetic rescue of the red wolf, and innovative gray wolf conservation programs are all made possible through Colossal’s collaborative work with a broad spectrum of Indigenous communities, conservation organizations, and scientific experts. We extend our deepest gratitude to the MHA Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Karankawa Tribe of Texas, INDIGENOUS LED, and the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, whose ancestral knowledge and insights have guided our efforts. Colossal Biosciences and the Colossal Foundation also thank the many conservation organizations whose expertise and passion fuel these initiatives, including the American Wolf Foundation, Re:wild, Conservation Nation, Gulf Coast Canid Project, International Coexistence Network, Wolf Connection, Grizzly Systems and the Yellowstone Wolf Project.

ABOUT COLOSSAL

Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church, Ph.D., and is the first to apply CRISPR technology for the purposes of species de-extinction. Colossal creates innovative technologies for species restoration, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth. Colossal is accepting humanity’s duty to restore Earth to a healthier state, while also solving for the future economies and biological necessities of the human condition through cutting-edge science and technologies. To follow along, please visit: www.colossal.com

There’s so much more to say… and a lot of stories out there are saying it.

For my part… well, let me first thank Peter Jackson, who phoned me up from New Zealand with a mysterious suggestion that I phone this guy named Ben Lamm, who had something huge he wanted to share with me. Peter had taken an oath of silence, so he could not share the secret with me, but I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I made the call. And damn, I am sure glad I did.

Direwolves are special to me. Why? Damned if I know. As a kid, I was not even allowed to have a dog, let alone a wolf. But I visited the La Brea Tar Pits in LA a few decades back, and when I saw their direwolf exhibit, four hundred skull arrayed on a wall, something stirred inside me. Most of my readers will have heard the story of how I writing a science fiction novel in the summer of 1991 when a scene came to me, the first chapter of GAME OF THRONES where they find the direwolf pups in the summer snows. Where did THAT come from? Why did it seize me so powerfully? I have no idea. But it grabbed hold of me so hard that I put the other novel aside and began to write A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. The direwolves were a huge part of it. Without them, Westeros might not exist.

Maybe I was remembering a past life, when I ran with a pack in the Ice Age.

Whatever the reason, I have to say the rebirth of the direwolf has stirred me as no scientific news has since Neil Armstrong waled on the moon.

And Colossal is just beginning. Still to come, the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and… yes, Howard… the dodo.

I can’t wait.

Current Mood: excited excited

Tags: dire wolves

Rolling Rolling Rolling

April 7, 2025 at 10:25 am

I’m glad that I was finally able to blog about worldcon and the Alfies. We got back from Europe in the middle of August, and it was my original hope to have that one up by the end of the month. HOO HA! Too much trip, too little time.

And a lot has been going on since then.

IN THE LOST LANDS, adapted from my 1972 Grey Alys story, was released on March 7. We had a full house at the Jean Cocteau for the premiere. I’ve heard that it will hit streaming on April 8, but I don’t know if that date is locked in yet.

Something else is going to be happening on April 8 as well. (Or maybe on April 9). No, I am not announcing the completion of THE WINDS OF WINTER, the sixth volume of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. Please don’t start any rumors to that effect. I am so tired of having to issue denials every time some offhand comment of mine, most having nothing to do with WINDS, somehow convinces half the internet that the book is imminent. It’s not. No. (Maybe I need to stop making offhand comments)

So calm down. (Until April 8, anyway. Then you can get excited all over again, but for an entirely different reason.

The third season of DARK WINDS, based on Tony Hillerman’s classic tales of Navajo detectives Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, made its debut on AMC and AMC+ on March 9, to strong ratings and even stronger reviews. One critic said its past time to give Zahn McClarnon an Emmy. I can only agree. DW has eight episode this season (up from six for seasons 1 and 2). We’ll have eight episodes in season four as well… and filming has already started filming. Zahn himself is directing episode one! We’re all excited about that. Kiowa, Bernadette, Chris Eyre, Stephen Paul Judd, New Mexico’s amazing landscapes… lots of reasons to watch this one, if you haven’t done so already. As for those two guys playing chess in the jail cell in episode one… yes, could be one was the Sundance Kid, but t’other hombre… some guy from the Twilight Zone?

DARK WINDS is shooting just north of Santa Fe, at Camel Rock Studios. Meanwhile, over in London, season three of HOUSE OF THE DRAGON has also started filming. You’ll be getting eight episodes of that one too. Hitting the air in 2026, best guess.

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS will come first. Six episodes, the HBO adaptation of the first Dunk & Egg novella, “The Hedge Knight.” I just watched it again last week, the latest cuts. It’s looking good, I think. I love it lots, but I’m not one to judge. Meantime, in London Towne, Ira Parker and his team are huddled together beating out “The Sworn Sword,” the second Dunk and Egg adventure. It is such a joy to see the characters come alive, so vividly. Watching them makes me want to start writing the next novella tomorrow… but of course, I can’t. Too many other things to do.

Oh, I should mention THE IRON THRONE. The play, not the chair. I caught up on that when I was in London last month. We do not have a theatre yet, or a cast, or a date… but they are making progress, and everyone is very excited. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t. Not quite yet. But we’re getting close and closer. I am hoping we’ll know a lot more by year’s end.

I also visited the Dickens house when I was in London. That was great too. Love Dickens. I need to read more of his books, though, so I bought four more of them when I was there.

And before I forget: the Milk of the Poppy is now open. (Like half a year late, but that’s the story of my life, I think). It’s in Santa Fe, just behind Beastly Books and around the corner from the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

Read all about it:

https://www.milkofthepoppybar.com/

https://sfreporter.com/food/the-fork/new-stuff-we-learned-about-george-rr-martin%E2%80%99s-new-bar-milk-o/

https://www.abqjournal.com/lifestyle/article_33310b62-eceb-11ef-9b69-8326c024bbf7.html

No, you won’t find me tending bar in Milk of the Poppy, but you may catch me having a drink from time to time. Seven save me, there are days I really need one.

Tags: movies, television, television and film, travels

A Scottish Worldcon

April 2, 2025 at 9:01 am

We spent a month across the pond last summer, from July 15 to August 15. We started in Belfast and environs, where A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS was being filmed. From there we went on to Amsterdam, where I paid a call on my Dutch publisher, and then London to call on Jane Johnson and the good folks at Voyager, my UK publisher. Oxford was next. The Oxford Writers House had invited me to deliver a talk on fantasy with Philip Pullman, the author of HIS DARK MATERIALS. I was really looking forward to that. Unfortunately Pullman was ill and had to bow out, so the event turned into a booksigning and Q&A, and I ended up flying solo.

It was an enjoyable afternoon in any case, and Oxford was amazing. This was my first visit there. I really must get back there one of these days. Perhaps by then the Eagle and Child will have opened again, and I can raise a pint to the Inklings.

The last scheduled stop on our European travels was Glasgow, for the World Science Fiction Convention. This was the third Glasgow worldcon. Parris and I attended the other two, the first in 1995 and the second in 2005, and have fond memories of both, so I was determined to make this one too.

I am glad we did. No, I was not on any programming… but in the end I hardly missed it. I attended my first worldcon in 1971 (that was Boston) and sat on my first panel in 1976 (Big Mac, in Kansas City) — those were the days of single track programming, and you had to pay your dues before they let you onto the podium with the big boys and girls. I have lost track of how many panels I’ve done since. Sometimes they were fun, and sometimes they were tedious; I suppose they were good promotion for my books. That was never the point, though. For me, worldcon was a family reunion, a gathering of friends new and old. That was what drew me back, year after year after year.

Glasgow reminded of that. I spent most of the con in the hotel bar, drinking and talking with fellow writers and fans, telling the old stories, remembering the old times, and raising a pint to all those we have lost. Howard and Gardner, Phyllis Eisenstein and Gene Wolfe and Charlie Brown, Harlan Ellison and Fred Pohl, Isaac Asimov and Fred Pohl and Jack Vance, Michael Bishop and Ursula K. LeGuin , Jay Haldeman and Greg Bear and Poul Anderson and so many more. We wandered the art show and the huckster’s room, and enjoyed some great meals in Glasgow’s restaurants… the most memorable being our visit to Mr. Singh’s with the Brotherhood Without Banners. I love Indian cuisine, but it’s so much better in England and Scotland than over here in the US… and nowhere is better than at Mr. Singh’s in Glasgow, the best I have ever had. (I have eaten there every time I’ve been to Glasgow, and it just keeps getting better and better and better).

Regular readers of this blog will know that for the past couple of years I have been producing a series of short films based on the works of Howard Waldrop, my oldest and dearest friend in fandom, and one of the greatest (and most original) short story writers in the history of the field. We had five films in various stages of production (and a sixth, not based on a Waldrop story, underway), and were able to wrap three of them before worldcon: NIGHT OF THE COOTERS (d. Vincent d’Onofrio), MARY MARGARET ROAD-GRADER (d. Steven Paul Judd), and THE UGLY CHICKENS (d. Mark Raso.) We’ve had them out on the festival circuit, but I brought them to Glasgow as well, thinking I might screen them at the con. That’s more complicated than it sounds, for various reasons, and I was never able to get anyone to return my phone calls to see what could be worked out, alas. Fortunately, the hotel where we were staying had a small screening room in the basement, so at least I was able to invite a couple dozen friends over for a semi-private show.

I am pleased to say the shorts seemed to be well received. We got a very nice review from the website WINTER IF COMING, for those of you who would like to know more about them:

https://winteriscoming.net/posts/i-saw-george-r-r-martin-s-howard-waldrop-short-films-and-they-re-delightful-exclusive-01j5x krv0fx3

(Howard liked them too. We were able to screen the final cut of MARY MARGARET for him just six days before he died in January 2014. I am so happy he was able to see it). THE UGLY CHICKENS and MARY MARGARET ROAD-GRADER are still out playing festivals, so you still may be able to see them, depending on where you live. The Chickens won the award for Best Short last week in San Jose at Cinequest, and will be showing again this weekend in Cleveland. Catch it if you can; it is one of Howard’s classics.

The other highlight of my worldcon was the Alfie Awards banquet we held at our hotel

The Alfies are named in honor of Alfred Bester, one of the giants of the field, the author of THE DEMOLISHED MAN, “Fondly Fahrenheit,” THE STARS MY DESTINATION, and a long list of other great stories. Bester was the winner of the first Hugo Award for Best Novel (for THE DEMOLISHED MAN, at the 1953 worldcon in Philadelphia). He turned up at the very first Hugo Losers Party as well, in 1976 at Big Mac in Kansas City, and insisted he still counted as a loser since that first Hugo trophy was a made from an Oldsmobile hood ornament, and had rusted and corroded over the years. We all laughed, and let him in.

We created the Alfie Awards in 2015, at the worldcon in Spokane. That was the year of Puppygate, when a number of writers and fans who would surely have been nominated for a Hugo Award were squeezed out when the Puppies (Sad and Rabid) stuffed the ballot with their own favorites. There was no way to rectify that (though various people tried, with everything from wooden asterisks to rules reform to voting No Award). My own approach was the Alfies; trophies made of old hood ornaments, like many of the early Hugo Awards, given to writers and fans who missed out on nominations they likely would have gotten in a normal year. (I don’t say they would have won, there was no way of knowing that, but it IS an honor to be a Hugo loser. I should know, I’ve lost a fair number of them myself). You can learn way more than you ever wanted to know about the Hugo brouhaha of 2015 in from the myriad accounts on the web.

I gave another set of Alfies out in 2016, when the worldcon was in Kansas City. The Hugo rules were different that year, so I tweaked the Alfies as well… but the winners still seemed to appreciate them. (And that’s what awards are all about, really). By 2017, when the con was in Helsinki, the need for the Alfies seemed to have passed. We threw a great Hugo Losers Party that year, but handed out no hood ornaments. Come 2018, worldcon went to San Jose, where we awarded a single Alfie, to John Picacio for his Mexicanx Initiative, a commendable effort to put more world in worldcon. We went international as well in 2019, in Dublin. Alfies were presented there to two titans of British publishing, Malcolm Edwards of Gollancx and Jane Johnson of Voyager, two of the leading editors in the history of our genre, neither of whom had gotten so much as a Hugo nomination in years past. They were long overdue.

There were no Alfies given at the worldcons in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The New Zealand con had to go virtual, due to the pandemic, and I was not able to attend the 2021 con in Washington, DC or the Chicago con in 2022. But the next one up was in Chengdu, China… and that’s where the problems came in. The Chinese fans designed a handsome Hugo trophy, for certain… but when the nomination totals were finally revealed, it became clear that the vote counting had gone seriously awry. The numbers did not seem right, and four possible contenders (a television show, a fan writer, a new writer, and a major novel) were unaccountably missing from the final ballot, despite having received more than enough nominations. They had been disqualified and removed from the ballot. Why? No one would say.

I won’t attempt to describe what followed. You can read all about it on line.

It was time for the Alfies to return. Fortunately, I still had a garage full of old hood ornaments. And our hotel had a room that was just the right size for a small-ish celebration to honor those who were wrongfully denied their chance to contend for a Hugo rocket.

The Chengdu Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, was won by EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. Short Form went to “Babylon’s Ashes”, an episode of THE EXPANSE. Worthy winners both, but some of the competition was missing. SANDMAN received 139 nominations in Short Form for “The Sound of Her Wings,” almost a hundred more than the EXPANSE episode, but was removed from the ballot for reasons never satisfactorily explained. In Long Form, the first season of SANDMAN got 50 nominations, which would not have been enough to make the ballot… but the series was removed from that category as well (just to be sure?)

In the fan writer category, CHRIS BARKLEY was the winner. He had received 90 votes during the nomination round, only one more than another perennial contender, PAUL WEIMER, who got 89… the third highest total, and more than enough to make the final ballot. But Weimer’s name did not appear. It was said that he was disqualified for the crime of visiting Tibet at one point. Except he hadn’t. Whoever removed him did not seem to know the difference between Tibet and Nepal, which he had visited.

Paul was at the con, but the concom had him working during our banquet, so he was not able to attend. No one from SANDMAN was in Glasgow, sad to say. (We got them their Alfies regardless. And none of our trophies broke, I am assured).

Our final two winners were on hand, however.

Believe it or not, I was a new writer once, and in 1973 I was a finalist for a brand new award for Best New Writer, the first year it was given. It was called the John W. Campbell Award then, and for many years thereafter. Today it is called the Astounding Award, but it’s the same award. “Not a Hugo,” by either name, it is awarded to the best new writer to break in during the previous two years.

XIRAN JAY ZHAO was a finalist for the Astounding Award in 2022. They lost, just as I did in 1973 — but hey, it is an honor just to be nominated, and I certainly felt that way in ’73. The first time is always special. Jay got enough votes to make the ballot again in 2023, their second year of eligibility… 178, to be precise, the fourth highest nomination total. But their name did not appear on the final ballot.

Why? No idea.

Instead, we gave them an Alfie.

The final Alfie of the night went to R.F. KUANG for her novel BABEL, OR THE NECESSITY OF VIOLENCE,, which received 810 nominations, the third highest total. Nonetheless, there was no place on the ballot for her. That was especially egregious, I thought, since BABEL would have had an excellent chance of coming out on top if the book had been nominated. The novel had already won the Nebula Award and the Locus Award, among other honors; a Hugo would have given it a rare sweep of SF’s most prestigious awards. Alas, BABEL never got the chance to contend.

But it did get an Alfie. And Rebecca herself was there to collect it.

Will there be more Alfies in the years to come? Only time will tell.

But Glasgow was fun.

I hope to see you all again this year, in Seattle.

GRRM

Current Mood: pleased pleased

Tags: awards, conventions, travels, worldcon

Lord Jago Wants You

March 29, 2025 at 8:56 am

Lord Jago Branok is having a party at Loveday House.

Truth be told, he has a party every month. No two are ever the same. But nothing is ever the same at Loveday, his lordship’s rambling mysterious (some say haunted) manse, perched on the cliffs overlooking the sea on Keun Island, off the Atlantic coast of Cornwall. It’s a queer place, Keun,. Three miles of mudflats and an ancient stone causeway connect the rocky island to the Cornish mainland during low tide, but when the tide comes roaring in… fast as a galloping horse, as the locals say… the road is submerged and Keun becomes a true island, accessible only by boat.

The island has been inhabited, off and on, for millennia. Archeologists have found Stone Age cairns there, and the jagged remnants of standing stones larger than any of those at Stonehedge. A ringfort stood atop the island’s sheer black cliffs during the Dark Ages; later a crude castle of rough-hewn stone went up in its place. For hundreds of years Keun was the stronghold of a clan of reavers and pirates known as the Hounds of the Sea, who raided and plundered up and down the Cornish coasts and into Wales and England. It was from them the island got its name; keun being Cornish for ‘hound.’ They were finally extinguished in 1308 by Piers Gaveston, new-made 1^st Earl of Cornwall, who put to death every member of the clan and razed their castle. Legends claim that the last surviving hound pronounced a curse on Gaveston as he died.

Thereafter the island remained uninhabited for several centuries, save for seabirds and an occasional fisherman. The fisher folk did not like to stay overnight, however; it was said the island was haunted. There were also tales of merfolk in the waters surrounding Keun Island; some stories spoke of beautiful mermaids who lured sailors to their doom, others of more grotesque creatures, not unlike the Deep Ones of H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos. Humanity returned to the island in the 1500s. A new castle arose atop the cliffs on the seaward side of the island, and a fishing village on the landward side. Over the years half a dozen noble families came and went, leaving legends of their own behind,. The last and greatest of the lordly manors on Keun was called Loveday Castle, the seat of the family St. Gerren…. but when the last of the line, the widowed Lady Morwen (known as Mad Morwen) died during the Great Storm of 1703 as the castle collapsed about her, she left no heirs, the ruins of Loveday were left to decay… until 1857, when a wealthy merchant styling himself Marcus St. Gerren laid claim to the island, pulled down the overgrown ruins of the old castle, and used its stones to build a large, splendid Victorian mansion on the site, which he named Loveday House. By the turn of the century, however, most of the money was gone, and the great house had begun to decay, a process that continued until the Great Depression, which took the last of the family wealth.

The last St. Gerren attempted to sell Loveday House, but found no buyers; the mansion had become a white elephant, too huge to maintain without servants, impossible to heat, its paint peeling, its foundations cracked. When old Tristan St. Gerren died in 1937, Loveday was abandoned once more and left to rot. And so it did… until a new owner turned up and set about restoring the old house to its former splendor. The “new lord” is a mysterious figure who goes about in a hooded cloak, always masked, who seems to have no limit to his wealth. A dozen mutually contradictory tales are told of him in the village, but on one point the villagers agree: Jago Branok is a wild card of some sort. An ace, a joker, a knave, no one is quite certain… but one of them, no doubt.

And the quests who visit Loveday each month are just as queer, the villagers will tell you. They come to Keun from all over the world. Most of them leave after the party winds down. Most of them. As to the others…

None of the villagers are quite certain. There are stories, though. Stories told by the likes of Stephen Leigh, Mary Anne Mohanraj. Kevin Andrew Murphy, Peter Newman, Peadar O Guilin, and Caroline Spector. They know a few things. They were guests at Loveday last year, accompanied by their characters old and new.

You can read all about it in HOUSE RULES, the latest volume in our long-running WILD CARDS series of mosaic novels. Volume thirty-four in the ongoing series (which launched way back in 1987)… and no, you don’t need to read the preceding thirty-three to enjoy this one… HOUSE RULES was released by HarperCollins Voyager in the UK in December, and by Bantam in the USA on January. (Yes, I am a few months late in getting out the word, but I have been crazy busy of late).

For those of you who like autographed editions, Beastly Books in Santa Fe has signed copies of both editions in stock.

(And they have many of the older volumes as well).

Whether you’ve been a Wild Cards fan from the very beginning, or are a newcomer curious to visit our world, do come to Keun. Jago Branok’s parties are not to be forgotten… and who knows, we may even let you leave.

GRRM

Current Mood: weird weird

Tags: anthologies, wild cards

On the Festival Circuit

February 28, 2025 at 8:44 am

This is not your occasional message from George or the minions of Fevre River, but a new addition to the team – I’m Michael Cassutt, writer of fiction, non-fiction, lots of television (TWILIGHT ZONE, MAX HEADROOM, EERIE INDIANA, more recently THE DEAD ZONE and Z-NATION). Since October I’ve been working with George as his “creative director,” helping to shape and advance non-HBO TV, film and game projects and even some publishing. (No, I’m not “helping” George with his writing.)

Last spring and early summer I directed a short film titled THE SUMMER MACHINE, based on a lost TWILIGHT ZONE TV concept by George, from my script. We shot for eight days in Alamagordo and Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a cast led by Lina Esco, Charles Martin Smith and Matt Frewer, and just recently finalized the cut.

This is the fifth film that George has produced, following four adaptations of stories by his great friend Howard Waldrop: NIGHT OF THE COOTERS, HEIRS OF THE PERISPHERE, MARY MARGARET ROAD-GRADER and THE UGLY CHICKENS. Four are complete.

So what do you do with a short film? Theatrical exhibition is always a goal, but difficult for even feature-length projects these days.

Streaming? Yes, but you have a short film, under 40 minutes in length. Where does it fit on Netflix, Amazon, Apple+ etc.? Almost nowhere.

But you want your film seen, so . . . .

You hit the festival circuit. Not only does this expose your work to an audience, but it opens the door to the holy grail of indie filmmaking, distribution.

Winning awards helps with that, too.

Our team started with NIGHT OF THE COOTERS, which had its premiere showing at the LA Shorts film festival in North Hollywood in August 2022, where it won best sci-fi short. COOTERS, directed by and starring Vincent D’Onofrio, earned additional honors at Midwest Weird (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) and the Atlanta Film Festival, too.

Since then we’ve released MARY MARGARET and THE UGLY CHICKENS, and both of them have picked up awards and made themselves known:

MARY MARGARET, written and directed by Steven Paul Judd, has been recognized by the deadCenter Film Fest and the Mojave Wasteland Film Fest.

At the recent Miami SciFi Film Fest, Steven was judged co-winner of the Russell Bates award, honoring the first Native writer of SF for television.

As for THE UGLY CHICKENS, directed by Mark Raso, written by me and starring the talented Felicia Day—

Felicia was chosen as best actress at the Yellowstone (India) Film Festival last fall, and Mark won the best director, short film, at the Pittsburgh Film Festival in December.

This week is the Pendance Film Festival in Toronto, and UGLY CHICKENS has already won the Best Canadian Short Film.

Upcoming we have the Fargo Film Festival, where Mark will be present. I will be attending

Cinequest in San Jose (March 22-24) and producer Elias Gallegos will be representing us at the Cleveland International Film Festival (late March-early April).

And new news, UGLY CHICKENS has been accepted at the Certain.e.s laiment court (CLAC), a short film festival in Lyon, France, April 4-5.

And we’re nowhere near done with MARY MARGARET, which has been submitted to half a dozen upcoming festivals. (Typically we find out about acceptances three weeks ahead of time.)

My SUMMER MACHINE will be submitted for the first time this spring.

I mentioning these events now because George and I and the team that made these films would like you to see them, too – and dozens of other great shorts and features at these festivals.

And if you do attend and see one of us, say hello!

# # #

Current Mood: accomplished

A Feast for Your Eyes

February 24, 2025 at 10:38 am

We have a cover for the illustrated edition of the fourth book in my A Song of Ice and Fire series! This gorgeous, illustrated edition of A Feast for Crows will be arriving on shelves November 4.

The special edition of A Feast for Crows features 24 original color illustrations from artist Jeffrey R. McDonald and a special foreword by Joe Abercrombie.

After centuries of bitter strife, the seven powers dividing the land have beaten one another into an uneasy truce. But it’s not long before the survivors, outlaws, renegades, and carrion eaters of the Seven Kingdoms gather. At a feast for crows, many are the guests—but only a few are the survivors.

We’ll be sharing a couple of the interior illustrations later this spring so you can see what Jeffrey R. McDonald has in store for A Feast for Crows. In the meantime, you can visit Jeffrey’s website to see examples of his previous work.

Preorders are available now!

Enjoy.

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER

A Voyage to Saturn

February 20, 2025 at 10:02 am

The Saturn Awards were created in 1973 by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, to honor the year’s best work in genre television, film, and home entertainment. They have been given annually ever since. This year’s year’s awards ceremony, the 52nd, was held in the Hilton Universal City in Los Angeles, on February 2.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON had three finalists in the television division.

EMMA D’ARCY was nominated as Best Actress in a Televsion Series, and MATT SMITH for Best Supporting Actor.

The show itself was up against AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, FOR ALL MANKIND, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER, and PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS for BEST FANTASY SERIES.

Our congratulations go out to Emma and Matt. It is an honor just to be nominated (as I’ve been told more times than I can count). It’s true. Matt and Emma did not win (this year), but they did outstanding work bringing Rhaenyra and Daemon to vivid life.

And there’s always next year.

I am pleased to say that HOUSE OF THE DRAGON itself did take home the prize, and claimed the Saturn for BEST FANTASY SERIES.

Here’s the full list of finalists and winners for the year, for those of you who like to keep track of these things.

https://www.saturnawards.org/

I was not able to attend the awards ceremony, but I am happy we won. There was some tough competition, especially FOR ALL MANKIND, which is such a damn fine show, especially if you grew up during Mercury and Apollo, as I did.

Actually, I’ve managed to attend the Saturn Awards only once, and that was way way back in the 90s, where I went to one of their awards luncheons to represent BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. We didn’t win that year, but I got a nice lunch. The big winner was Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose acceptance speech was short and very very funny.

Looking back over the history of the Saturns between then and now, I was surprised to learn that GAME OF THRONES won six of them over its run. Our winners were:

2015      BEST LIMITED RUN TELEVISION SERIES
2015     BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES: MAISIE WILLIAMS
2019     BEST FANTASY TELEVISION SERIES
2019     BEST ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES: EMILIA CLARKE
2019     BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES: PETER DINKLAGE
2019     BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES: MAISIE WILLIAMS

That’s six Saturns for GAME OF THRONES and one for HOUSE OF THE DRAGON.

The weird thing is, this was the first I’ve heard of any of these. The Saturns were broadcast this year (on Roko), but that hasn’t been true for most of their run… but you’d think someone would have told us. No one did. At least they did not tell me. Maybe all the trophies are lined up on a shelf at HBO somewhere, surrounded by all the other awards HBO has won over the decades. There have been a lot of them.

In any case, belated congratulations to Maisie and Peter and Emilia, and the rest of our amazing team, to David and Dan and Bryan Cogman, to David Nutter and Alan Taylor and Miguel Sapochnik and all the other writers and directors who helped make GOT what it was… and to the cast and crew who worked beside them in 2015 and 2019. Take a (belated) bow.

Current Mood: pleased pleased

Tags: awards, hbo, House of the Dragon, television

Dunk, Egg, a Few Random Mutterings

January 28, 2025 at 7:14 am

Where does the time go? January went by in a flash. I had a lot of posts I wanted to make, a lot of things I wanted to say, I had writing to do, I had zooming to do, meetings to attend, I had scripts to read, notes to give. There was travel, some for business and some for fun. There were friends to mourn, books to blurb. I saw a few good movies and television shows, that gave me some pleasure. The NFL did not. I missed most of the games this season, but that was probably a good thing, sinceit relieved me of having to write any of those “life is meaningless and full of pain” posts… though it was, the Jets were wretched and the Giants were worse.

We returned from our summer travels on August 15, and I had a ton of things I wanted to talk about. Instead of one long post, I decided to break up my trip and make a series of shorter ones. I figured I’d have it all done by the end of August. Well, no… I still have a worldcon to cover, and the Alfies, and my visit to Tolkien’s grave. I DID cover some of that… not in my Not A Blog, but in a rambling speech I gave at Bubonicon… but my phone screwed up and the video we made was lost, so my Not A Blog ended up being Not A Speech. Sigh.

Well, I will try to get to that later… eventually… for now, let me touch briefly on better news.

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, for starts. It’s done. Ira and his team wrapped the first season months ago, and moved right on to post production. I’ve seen all six episodes now (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly), and I loved them. Dunk and Egg have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm. and Tanselle Too-Tall.

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS is an adaptation of “The Hedge Knight,” the first of the novellas I wrote about them. It’s as faithful as adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject). Viewers who are looking for action, and more action, and only action… well, this one may not satisfy you. There’s a fight scene here, as exciting as anyone could ask for, but there are no dragons this time around, no huge battles, no white walkers… this is a character piece, and its focus is on duty and honor, on chivalry and all it means. “The Hedge Knight” was published between A GAME OF THRONES and A CLASH OF KINGS in Robert Silverberg’s epic anthology LEGENDS, and was so popular that it brought tens of thousands of new readers to Westeros. Sales of my novels were much higher after LEGENDS than before, and for that I credit Silverbob, and Anne Groell, and Dunk and Egg. This one ranks as one of the best stories I’ve ever written, and I am so so so pleased that Ira Parker, Ti Mikkel, Aziza Barnes (may they rest in peace), Owen Harris, and our astonishing cast and crew did right by them.

The series will make its debut late this year, I am now told. How late, I could not say. Maybe in the fall.

I hope you will love the show as much as I do.

Meanwhile, we’ll be moving on to “The Sworn Sword,” the second tale of Dunk & Egg. And once I finish THE WINDS OF WINTER, I will need to get hopping on “The Village Hero,” and all the other tales that await the lads. Don’t worry, I am sure you folks will remind me.

Current Mood: excited excited

Tags: everyday life, hbo, nfl, politics, travels, writing

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