Not Their Bitch

July 30, 2013 at 11:55 am

For those of you who were not able to be in San Diego for Comicon:

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The rest is silence.

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Tags: conventions

Eleven Days and Counting . . .

July 29, 2013 at 6:18 pm

. . . until the Grand Re-Opening of the Jean Cocteau Cinema, the movie theatre I bought a few months back in a fit of madness.

We've been busily refurbishing the theatre all that time. As late as a week ago, it looked as if a bomb had gone off in the lobby, and I was having a nervous breakdown. Things have finally started to come together, however, and my contractor (the amazing Marshall Thompson of Constructive Assets) and my manager (the astonishing Jon Bowman, founder of the Santa Fe Film Festival) both assure me that we will indeed be ready come the day. I certainly hope so. We've kept the theatre's wonderful old marquee, after replacing the old fluorescents with brighter LEDs, and the auditorium is more or less the same (though we've installed some wheelchair seating), but the lobby and concessions area has a bold new look, designed by the wonderfully talented Jayne Franck. Assuming our chairs and tables arrive on time, it should be spectacular…

The Jean Cocteau has been dark for seven years, since Trans-Lux closed all its theatres in April, 2006. To celebrate our return to life, and let the Santa Fe film-going community know that we're back, admission will be FREE to all shows during our first week.

FREE! FREE!! FREE!!!

We open on Friday, August 9, with two classic feature films: ORPHEUS, by Jean Cocteau, for whom our cinema is named, and FORBIDDEN PLANET, the classic MGM big-budget SF movie from 1956, which IMNSHO remains the best science fiction film ever made.

Both of them will be shown on our brand new (slightly larger and definitely brighter) screen, with our brand new digital projector(an NEC 900 Digital Projection System and Integrated Media Server) and our brand new upgraded sound system (Dolby Digital Surround Sound Processor CP650), so the picture quality and sound should be better than ever.

We will also be offering pizza, pastries, and the best popcorn in town (with parmesan) from our new art deco concession counter.

(No, the food and drink won't be free, that's just admission).

And we have some cool SURPRISES in store for that first week as well. So those of you in Santa Fe… or Albuquerque… or, hell, anywhere in driving distance, should make of point of turning up for our Grand Opening Week to see the new improved Jean Cocteau.

More on all this in the weeks to come. Meanwhile, our website is just up, so take a look. Be advised, website construction is still in progress, so a lot of our features are not working yet… but you can check out the general design, and get a peek at the posters for some of the films we've got booked for the weeks and months to come.

http://www.jeancocteaucinema.com/

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Tags: jean cocteau, movie theatre, movies

The Wedding Guest

July 29, 2013 at 2:17 pm

He's a father, he's a son. He's been a bishop, a cardinal, a prior, a friar, a vicar, a knight, a lord, a mayor, a director. There's one born every minute, but by any other name he'd smell as sweet.

Later:
I see the long delay between visits from Froggy the Gremlin hasn't dulled your skill at deciphering clues any.

Yes, it's the fine British character actor Roger Ashton-Griffiths, who has been cast in the role of Mace Tyrell, son to the Queen of Thorns, and father of Loras and Margaery.

Thanks for playing, and congrats to those who got it right.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

OLD VENUS Delivered

July 29, 2013 at 1:15 pm

Another anthology done, another monkey off my back.

The last revision just came in on OLD VENUS, the latest (and last, for a time) original anthology that Gardner Dozois and I have been putting together. Gardner will be delivering the final manuscript… well, e-manuscript… to our editors at Bantam Spectra later today.

Sixteen stories set on Venus. Not, however, the real life Venus, with its rains of sulfuric acid and surface temperatures that would roast a man in the blink of an eye, but the old watery pulp Venus of our lost youth, with its swamps, dinosaurs, and web-footed Venusians… Venerians… whatever.

The final lineup for this one will look like this:

INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSS, by David Brin
BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
THE HEART'S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald

This one is even more fun than our forthcoming OLD MARS, I think… and there's one story in there that's so bloody good that if it doesn't win the Hugo and Nebula both, I'll count it as a major injustice. Which one? Ah, I will leave you guys to figure that out. But first you'll need to read the book. Look for it along about a year after OLD MARS.

Gardner and I wish to categorically deny the rumor that we are now working on OLD URANUS.

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Tags: anthologies, bantam spectra

Breakfast at Brakebills

July 29, 2013 at 10:02 am

Monday morning, and Tor.com has uploaded another teaser from DANGEROUS WOMEN.

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If you'd like to break your fasts at Brakebills with Lev Grossman, check out this sample from his Magicians story, "The Girl in the Mirror," at:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-lev-grossman-excerpt

Watch this space. More to come.

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Tags: anthologies, tor

Two More From Tor

July 28, 2013 at 2:27 pm

Tor.com is posting up these DANGEROUS WOMEN excerpts faster than I can blog about them.

Two news ones have gone up since I posted about the Jim Butcher tease.

Here's a taste of Russian cooking from Carrie Vaughn's "Raisa Stepanova" —

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-carrie-vaughn-excerpt

And here's a little tease from Diana Rowland's "City Lazarus" —

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-diana-rowland-excerpt

Swell stories both, I avow. Go ye and get teased.

More to come, including… yes…. "The Princess and the Queen."

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Tags: anthologies, tor

Still More Danger

July 26, 2013 at 7:15 pm

Tor.com has posted another excerpt from DANGEROUS WOMEN, this one from Jim Butcher's story "Bombshells," set in his Harry Dresden series.

Dangerous Women

You can check it out here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-jim-butcher-excerpt

Read. Enjoy. Pre-order.

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Tags: anthologies, tor

Dangerous Virgins

July 25, 2013 at 6:41 pm

Tor.com has just posted another teaser from our forthcoming DANGEROUS WOMEN anthology, this one an except from Diana Gabaldon's story, "Virgins."

You can check it out here: http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-diana-gabaldon-excerpt

And yes, this story is part of Diana's bestselling and award-winning OUTLANDER sequence.

DANGEROUS WOMEN will be published on December 3, but is available for advance purchase now from your favorite online bookseller.

The full table of contents:
INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
SOME DESPERADO, by Joe Abercrombie
MY HEART IS EITHER BROKEN, by Megan Abbott
NORA’S SONG, by Cecelia Holland
THE HANDS THAT ARE NOT THERE, by Melinda Snodgrass
BOMBSHELLS, by Jim Butcher
RAISA STEPANOVA, by Carrie Vaughn
WRESTLING JESUS, by Joe R. Lansdale
NEIGHBORS, by Megan Lindholm
I KNOW HOW TO PICK ‘EM, by Lawrence Block
SHADOWS FOR SILENCE IN THE FORESTS OF HELL, by Brandon Sanderson
A QUEEN IN EXILE, by Sharon Kay Penman
THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR, by Lev Grossman
SECOND ARABESQUE, VERY SLOWLY, by Nancy Kress
CITY LAZARUS, by Diana Rowland
VIRGINS, by Diana Gabaldon
HELL HATH NO FURY, by Sherilynn Kenyon
PRONOUNCING DOOM, by S.M. Stirling
NAME THE BEAST, by Sam Sykes
CARETAKERS, by Pat Cadigan
LIES MY MOTHER TOLD ME, by Caroline Spector
THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN, by George R.R. Martin

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Tags: anthologies, tor

In Memoriam

July 25, 2013 at 9:45 am

For those of you who were not able to come to San Diego for Comicon… or get into Hall H for the GAME OF THRONES panel… here's the video that kicked off the proceedings, a tribute to all those we have loved (or not) and lost during the first three seasons of the show.

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Seen all together like that, it does make me seem rather a bloody bastard, doesn't it?

In my own (feeble) defense, however, let me point out that Irri, Rakharo, the Thirteen of Qarth, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Mago (not seen in the video), and Pyat Pree are all still alive and well (more or less) in the books as of the end of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. Like the guys in Spinal Tap, David and Dan do like to turn things up to 11.

Robb's wife is alive in the novels too, but Jeyne Westerling is an entirely different person than Talisa Maegyr with an entirely different fate. Ros does not exist in the books, but of the characters she replaced, Kyra is dead, but Chataya and Alayaya are still around.

As to where we go from here… season four is coming, and no one is safe on GAME OF THRONES.

Not even those who you think might be safe for another book or two, from reading my novels.

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Tags: a song of ice and fire, comicon, convention, game of thrones

A Taste of Danger

July 24, 2013 at 2:54 pm

DANGEROUS WOMEN, the latest huge crossgenre anthology from Gardner Dozois and me, is scheduled for hardcover release on December 3. But you can get an early taste of danger…

Dangerous Women

Tor.com is going to be running a series of short excerpts from some of the stories in DW. The first of them just went up. It's a teaser from Brandon Sanderson's novella, "Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell," and you can find it here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/07/dangerous-women-brandon-sanderson-excerpt

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Tags: anthologies, tor

Not a Blog

Not Their Bitch

Eleven Days and Counting . . .

The Wedding Guest

OLD VENUS Delivered

Breakfast at Brakebills

Two More From Tor

Still More Danger

Dangerous Virgins

In Memoriam

A Taste of Danger

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