Well, I’ve made it across the ocean safe and sound. Typing this from an internet cafe.
No, I didn’t finish the novel, though not for want of trying. Nothing to be done about that but push on when I return.
Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones in Spain and Portugal.
In my absence, all my email is being handled by my assistant, Ty.
Current Mood: 
null
Here are the details on my signing in Granada on July 25:
LibrerÃa Nostromo
C/ Buensuceso, 1 – Granada
Tlf: 958 523 818
from 18.00h to 21.00h
I also have the specifics for my appearances in Gijon at Semana Negra.
Saturday, July 12
6:00 pm — introduction of Corominas’ art book of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE
Sunday July 13
7:00 pm — panel w/ Scott Bakker and Paco Ignacio Taibo II
9:00 pm — Q&A chat with my translator, Cristina Macia
Those are my only official events at Semana Negra, but I will be arriving on July 11 on the Black Train, and leaving on July 15. In between, you’ll often find me at the festival, signing at the Gigamesh booth, listening to the other panels, riding the rides, drinking sangria on the fairway (will the chicken be back, I wonder?), and eating midnight dinners like the Spanish seem to do. Parris and I love to meet my readers, so if you’re there in Gijon, don’t be shy about coming up and saying hi.
That’s in July, though. Right now it’s still June and I have one day left before I leave, so I had better cut this short. Things are getting frantic, as they always do before a trip.
Current Mood: null
Here are the details on three of my scheduled appearances in the south of Spain.
SEVILLA July 22 signing at Nostromo C/ Zaragoza, 11 Sevilla 18:30 to 21:00
CORDOBA July 23 signing at Crash Comics C/ Duque de Fernán Núñez, 2 Córdoba
18:00 to 21:00
MALAGA July 28 signing at LibrerÃa Luces Alameda Principal, 16 Málaga
18:00 to 21:00
See you there!
Current Mood: null
I won’t be at this year’s Comicon in San Diego, but some of my characters will be.
Jed Haigh and Justice Joseph, the good folks behind Valyrian Resins, tell me that the first of their resin minibusts will be on sale — for the first time — at the Comicon. So if you’re one of those who have been waiting impatiently for your very own Ned Stark, Sandor Clegane, and Daenerys Targaryen, swing by the Haute Products booth at San Diego before they’re all gone, and be the first kid on your block to bring ’em home.
The minibusts will come full painted in 1/18 scale. Each of the three characters in this initial offering will come in two versions: the “standard” pose and a variant. Ned, for instance, is holding Ice in the standard pose, and holding out his chain of office in the variant.
Jed Haigh writes, “We will definitely have the Variant versions available and a very small amount of the Regular Version at SDCC. I just received confirmation from the factory that they will have 25 cases of each case pack (regular and variant). We will be fulfilling Diamond Comics order out of these 25 cases which will leave us with only 4 cases of the regular version! The cases come packed with 2 of each figure.”
The variant versions are limited to 250 pieces, the regular versions to 500 of each. Haute Products — aka Valyrian Resin –will be sharing a booth space with SOTA Toys again, booth number 4245.
And just to whet your appetite a little more, here are the two versions of Dany.
And if you can’t make the San Diego Comicon, no worries. As Jed mentions, Diamond Comics will be distributing the minibusts, which means they should be available at all the best comic shops and bookstores across the country. You can also order directly from Haute Products by visiting the Valyrian Resin website at http://www.valyrianresin.com/
And while you’re looking over these, Justice Joseph is already hard at work sculpting the next three figures in the line — Jaime and Cersei Lannister, and Arya Stark. Drop by their booth in San Diego and they may even let you have a peek at the prototypes.
Current Mood: null
Still working on details of my visit to Spain.
In addition to the appearances in Madrid, Gijon, and Barcelona that I listed previously, it now appears that I’ll be adding four additional bookstore signings in southern Spain.
Some the time and venues are still being worked out, but right now it appears that I will be signing books in Sevilla on July 22, in Cordoba on July 23, in Granada on July 25, and in Malaga on July 28. My Malaga event will be hosted by the Libreria Luces bookstore. The other sites will be announced as soon they’re confirmed.
So if you’re in southern Spain, and can’t make it up to Semana Negra or my events in Madrid and Barcelona, maybe you can catch me at one of these. I should mention, though, that these new events will be primarily for autographing. If I speak, it will be only briefly, and there will not be the sort of the time for questions and answers that we’ll have at the other events.
Current Mood: null
Here are the dates and details for my appearances in Portugal next month.
July 1 Signing, reading, and Q&A at El Corte Inglés, Lisbon (6.30PM)
This is the major event for fans of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. I will be talking about the series, reading a bit from A DANCE WITH DRAGONS (in English, alas, I don’t speak Portugese), fielding questions, and signing your books.
July 2 Workshop about writing at Fnac do Colombo, Lisbon (7PM)
This event will focus on writing. It’s open to all fans but specially interesting to authors and would-be writers. I’ll be talking about my own experiences as an author, and answering questions about writing and publishing.
July 5 Roundtable about fantastic fiction at Biblioteca Municipal de Telheiras, Lisbon
A discussion of fantastic fiction in all its forms, from sf to fantasy and horror. Also with a roundtable and questions by the fans.
I look forward to meeting some of my Portugese readers. See you in Lisbon in July!
Current Mood: null
Addicts love company, I guess. It appears that, after long and tiring efforts going back years, I have finally lured my dear friend and WINDHAVEN collaborator Lisa Tuttle into the madness that is the blogosphere.
Lisa has just started up her own Live Journal. You can find it http://lisatuttle.livejournal.com/2008/06/15/
For those who don’t know her, Lisa is a Texan living in Argyll with her English husband and their Scottish daughter. She’s written science fiction, fantasy, and (especially) horror, YA books, a feminist encyclopedia and a how-to-write book. Once upon a time she won the John W. Campbell Award as the best new writer in the field. Once upon another time she won a Nebula and turned it down (the only person ever to do so). When she drinks too much she tells the Big Mouth Frog Joke.
Go and say hello and welcome her to the blogosphere. Poor lost soul.
Current Mood: null
Really, I did.
Bill Schafer informs me that the deluxe lettered edition of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH is now sold out. See? When I say “getcha copies now,” I mean it.
FWIW, the numbered edition is going quickly as well. More than half of the run is already reserved.
Current Mood: null
The latest news on HBO front is that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have turned in the second draft of the pilot script for A GAME OF THRONES, and their rewrite is presently being read and evaluated by the powers-that-be at HBO. In other words, it’s the normal process, which is long and often slow. So far, the reports are good, and HBO seems to like what they’re seeing… but no, there’s no greenlight yet, A GAME OF THRONES remains a script in development, not a series in production.
The one hard bit of news is that HBO has reached agreement with the BBC for them to come in as a partner on the series… IF it goes ahead. That’s very cool news, and I’m excited and pleased to have the BBC involved… but even so, we’re still in the crossed fingers stage here, not the shooting-off-fireworks stage.
I get emails about the HBO adaptation of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE almost daily, by the way, so let me say a few words about that.
Look, guys and girls, I appreciate all the enthusiasm and interest, but please stop sending me your resumes, your head shots, your audition tapes. We’re not hiring anyone as yet. We won’t be hiring anyone for some time, most likely. And should that day arrive when the show gets the greenlight and we start looking for a cast and crew, it won’t be me doing the hiring and casting. I’ll visit the set from time to time, I’m sure (how often may depend on whether we’re shooting in Ireland, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Rumania, or wherever), but the final decisions on these matters will be made by HBO, the BBC, the showrunners, and the director. I can’t help you. Especially if you’re not actually professionally involved in film and television, but are still “desperate to be involved in the show in any capacity, even just standing around in the background.” I get a lot of those emails too. Those people who stand around in the background are called “extras,” for what it’s worth, and I’m not in charge of hiring them either. Again, we thank you for the love, but that’s not how television works.
I also get a constant stream of emails asking me for news about the HBO project. Guys, that’s why I have a News page on my website, and that’s why I post here. When there’s some news to share, I share it. Honest. No news is no news. Sometimes long periods pass when nothing is happening, or things are happening behind the scenes that even I am not aware of. Whenever there is a significant development — like the BBC coming aboard — I will post it here. I’m not going to try to disseminate it in individual emails to whoever happens to write that day to ask what’s new with HBO.
Thanks for your patience. Thanks for your understanding. Keep your fingers crossed.
Current Mood: null
And now AJ has left us.
Algis Budrys was one of the greats. He did not write many novels, compared to some, but the quality of his work was second to none. MICHAELMAS and ROGUE MOON and WHO were his masterpieces, and all three deserve a place among the classics of our genre, but HARD LANDING and THE FALLING TORCH and even THE AMSIRS AND THE IRON THORN are worth a read as well. He was also, for many decades, the field’s leading critic and reviewer. Like many other young turks of my generation, I remember waiting for AJ’s review — it was the one that counted.
Later in life, he became a mainstay of the Writers of the Future contest, but he was always a teacher. He was one of the charter members of the Windy City Writers Workshop that I founded during my years in Chicago, always willing to share his time, energy, and insights with the younger neopros who made up most of the group. He taught at Clarion as well, and of course he was one of the Milford Mafia, way back when Damon Knight first started the workshop.
Author, teacher, critic, scholar, he was all that, and a genial host and good guy as well. There was no one better to lift a glass with at a con. And he knew where all the bodies were buried too. Some of the stories he told… but no, I better not.
First Arthur C. Clarke, and now AJ Budrys. This is turning into a real bad year for science fiction.
Current Mood: null
This blog is the only place for official communication from George R.R. Martin. For press inquiries, please contact David Moench
