Come to the Forbidden City

March 1, 2015 at 12:56 pm

We have another great author event at the Jean Cocteau this Monday, March 9.

Bestselling novelist LISA SEE will be joining us, to talk about her new novel CHINA DOLLS.

SEE_ChinaDolls Lisa See Â© Patricia Williams

CHINA DOLLS tells the story of three young women who meet at the glamorous and exclusive Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco in 1938.

SOME REVIEWS FOR CHINA DOLLS:

!œA spellbinding portrait of a time burning with opportunity and mystery.! !”O Magazine

!œIn her impeccably researched and distinctive historical saga of desire and ambition, betrayal and revenge set amid the glitz and debauchery of burlesque entertainment on the !˜chop suey circuit,’ See again lavishly explores the thorny intricacies of female friendships.!!”Booklist

!œ[S]tellar. . . .The depth of See’s characters and her winning prose makes this book a wonderful journey through love and loss.! !”Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

!œA welcome spotlight on an overlooked segment of showbiz history.!!”Kirkus Reviews

!œThe Chinese American nightclub era comes to life in See’s latest novel. . . . colorful and fascinating historical touches tie the story together perfectly and form an exquisite backdrop for the adventures of three friends.!!”Library Journal

“Engaging!¦ China Dolls is blessed with characters and story lines that are interesting indeed.”!”USA Today

!œ[A] captivating, profoundly American story!!”Miami Herald

!œ[A] fascinating portrait of life as a Chinese-American woman in the 1930s and !˜40s.!
!”New York Times Book Review

!œ[S]uperb. . . . this emotional, informative and brilliant page-turner resonates with resilience and humanity.! !”Washington Post,

!œSee offers the perfect summer read in this flamboyant, historical novel. “China Dolls” is packed with engaging period details about fashion, food, film and music and also addresses serious gender and geopolitical issues. . . . a sweeping, turbulent tale of passion, friendship, good fortune, bad fortune, perfidy and the hope of reconciliation.!
!”Los Angeles Times

!œLisa See’s latest novel, China Dolls, is her most penetrating since Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.!!”Seattle Times

“China Dolls plunges us into a fascinating history and offers an accessible meditation on themes that are still urgent in our contemporary world. The women’s story explores burning questions about the possibilities of friendship, the profound effects of betrayal, the horrors of prejudice and the nature of ambition – especially female ambition. . . . These Asian artists were true pioneers, breaking ground, chasing vast dreams, subverting stereotypes simply by appearing onstage against the odds. Here, in China Dolls, they have found another stage of sorts, another place to rightfully shine.!!”San Francisco Chronicle

!œLisa See loves discovering people and stories that have been forgotten, lost or deliberately hidden away. Through memoir and historical fiction, she recovers those lost stories and breathes new life into them.!!”Orange County Register

The event starts at 7:00 pm. Admission is FREE with the purchase of a hardcover book, $5 with the purchase of a paperback, and $10 without book purchase. In honor of the occasion, our bar will be serving some authentic period cocktails from the Chinese cabarets of San Francisco between the wars.

For more about Lisa See and her work, visit her website at http://www.lisasee.com/

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Tags: jean cocteau, signings

Rules for Creepy Dolls

February 26, 2015 at 9:58 am

As promised, here are the rules for the Jean Cocteau’s Creepy Doll Contest:

Creepy dolls will be judged based on originality, creativity, characterization, artistic quality, and the ability to be inventive. Voting by the Queen of Creepy, Ellen Datlow, on Sunday, March 15, at 6:30 pm when winners will be announced.

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Submission Rules

Each participant may submit 1 doll each

Size limits: 6 to 24 inches tall

Dolls must be supported for display

Antique or dolls ravaged by weather and/or time are acceptable for submissions

Entry dolls must be named and have a place card attached to support for display

Contest Timeline

Submissions Begin: Monday, February 23, 2015

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Email your image to Sam Haozous at deadmartyr@yahoo.com (subject to approval) Dolls may be sold on consignment at the Jean Cocteau Cinema should artist choose to do so. Dolls must be shipped and arrive at the Jean Cocteau Cinema no later than Friday, March 13, 2015. Any entries arriving after deadline date will be disqualified. Any further questions, contact Sam Haozous at the email provided.

Submissions End: Saturday, March 14, 2015

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((The creepy two-headed doll above is by Sam himself, and will be on hand to welcome the competitors… but as Sam is on our Cocteau staff, his little boy/girl is not eligible)).

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Tags: contest, jean cocteau, signings

Gone to Texas

February 25, 2015 at 8:53 pm

I am off to the Lone Star State tomorrow for a whirlwind visit… no, not to Dallas, or Fort Worth, or Austin, or Houston, or San Antonio.

I am going to College Station for a very special presentation at the library.

And thence to Nacogdoches for the Nacogdoches Film Festival.

I will be doing a signing at the Hastings in Nacogdoches, for those who want your books defaced. Well, a book, anyway… only one to a customer. We will also be screening a couple of my episodes of GAME OF THRONES (“Blackwater” and “The Lion and the Rose”), and I’ll be doing some stuff with my friends Howard Waldrop, Michael Cassutt, and Joe R. Lansdale.

So come see me, y’all. (I won’t be there long).

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Tags: appearances, signings, travels

Dunk & Egg Ride Again

February 25, 2015 at 8:40 pm

Circle October 6 on your calendar.

My friends at Bantam have just informed me that will be the day that A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS in released in English, collecting all three of my “Dunk & Egg” novellas — “The Hedge Knight,” “The Sworn Sword,” and “The Mystery Knight” — between one set of covers for the first time.

AKo7K comps 18 high

Many of you, of course, will have read the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg in their original appearances in LEGENDS, LEGENDS II, and WARRIORS. But A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS will have a lot more than the three stories. We wanted this to be an illustrated book, so we went to the amazing Gary Gianni and asked him to do some art for us, thinking perhaps we could include seven or eight interior illustrations. Gary turned us down. He loved the stories, he said, but he’d only do it if he could illustrate the entire book, with art on virtually every page.

We said yes, of course, and Gary has been drawing for the better part of two years. Most fantasy fans know Gianni’s artwork from his work on PRINCE VALIANT, on the Wandering Star limited editions of SOLOMON KANE and BRAN MAK MORN, and of course for his stunning 2014 ICE & FIRE calendar, but we think A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS may be his best work to date.

This is going to be an amazing book, one I will be very happy to have my name on — beside that of Gary Gianni, surely among the very best fantasy artists of all time. (And damn it, folks, it is LONG past time that he was nominated for a Hugo).

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Tags: bantam spectra, dunk & egg, publications

Two Great Nights

February 24, 2015 at 1:05 am

We have had some great shows at the Jean Cocteau since we reopened a year and a half ago, but tonight and last night were among the very best. Janis Ian was in town, and she gave two amazing shows to sellout crowds.

Thanks to everyone who came. And those who didn’t… you really missed something special.

Don’t worry, though. We plan to bring her back.

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Tags: jean cocteau, music

Kick the Artists

February 21, 2015 at 12:50 pm

Eight days left in Meow Wolf’s Kickstarter campaign, to help finance the House of Eternal Return, the interdimensional interactive Victorian mansion at the center of space and time that they are going to be putting up inside the old Silva Lanes.

8b2206904e2c31d498f9b6305656e7b2_original

For more information, or to contribute, go to:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/185944623/meow-wolf-art-complex-ft-the-house-of-eternal-retu

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Tags: artwork, meow wolf

Lose Some, Win Some

February 21, 2015 at 12:41 pm

So GAME OF THRONES failed to win either of the Writers Guild Awards it was nominated for. Congrats to THE GOOD WIFE and TRUE DETECTIVE and all the other winners.

All is not lost on the awards front, however. ROGUES won a Stabby!

The Stabby is given by the folks on Reddit. ROGUES won as last year’s best anthology. Which is very cool. Thank you, Redditters. And thanks to my co-editor, Gardner Dozois, and to an amazing lineup of writers, whose talents made the book what it was.

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

The trophy is very cool as well: an engraved dagger. I have not received mine yet, but here’s a picture of someone else’s:

stabby

I am informed that Gardner Dozois and I will both receive one of these. I’ll post a picture when it turns up. And it will be great to have an award that I can use to stab my enemies. Battering them to death with my Hugos just takes too long.

For a full list of the Stabby winners, go to:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/2rh018/best_of_rfantasy_2014_the_results_thread/

Meanwhile, on other fronts, we’ve also been informed that the audiobook of DANGEROUS WOMEN (the previous massive crossgenre anthology that Gardner and I put together) has been nominated for an Audie Award. We’re a finalist in the category of Short Story Collections. For a full list of nominees, check out: https://www.audiopub.org/Audies15/2015_Audie_Awards_Release.pdf

Thanks again to Gardner and to our writers, to Janet Stark and all the great folks at Random House Audio, and to the amazing cast of voice actors and readers they assembled: Claudia Black, Scott Brick, Karen Dotrice, Jonathan Frakes, Iain Glen, Janis Ian, Stana Katic, Inna Korobkina, Jenna Lamia, Lee Meriwether, Emily Rankin, Maggi-Meg Reed, Fred Sanders, Allan Scott-Douglas, Sophie Turner, Harriet Walter, and Jake Weber.

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Tags: anthologies, audiobooks, awards, internet

Awards Time

February 14, 2015 at 1:53 pm

In Beverly Hills for the Writers Guild Awards. GAME OF THRONES has two nominations. Keep your fingers and toes crossed, boys and girls.

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all. May you shares many hugs and kisses with your honeys.

LATER. Back from the awards. Same old same old. Lost them both.

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Tags: awards, game of thrones, hbo

Beware… the Dolls Are Coming

February 14, 2015 at 1:16 am

Never understood why so many people are scared of clowns.

Clowns aren’t creepy.

DOLLS are creepy.

Look at these examples I found on the internet:

crrepy1 creepy2

crrepy3 crrepy4

Whether you love dolls, or are seriously creeped out by them, you will want to be at the Jean Cocteau Cinema on Sunday, March 15, when award-winning editor and anthologist ELLEN DATLOW comes to visit us, with her new book about… you guessed it.

TheDollCollection-400

Watch this space. Tomorrow I will tell you about our CREEPY DOLL CONTEST!

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Tags: anthologies, horror, jean cocteau, signed books

Janis Is Coming!

February 4, 2015 at 12:34 am

This announcement really pleases me. One of my favorite singer/ songwriters, the one and only JANIS IAN, will be visiting Santa Fe later this month, and performing two shows at the Jean Cocteau.

Janis is a science fiction and fantasy fan, writer, and editor. I met her at the Philadelphia worldcon a decade and a half ago, and I’ve had the pleasure of hanging with her at a dozen subsequent worldcons. She’s always great company.

I knew her songs decades before I met the singer, though. I had… have… her albums. (Albums… there were large discs made of vinyl, with music on them. You played them on this thing called a turntable. We still have one of those as well). If you’re my age, you know her hits: Jesse, Society’s Child, Between the Lines, Boots Like Emmy Lou’s, When the Party’s Over, Watercolors (a personal favorite)… there are so many… and of course, At Seventeen.

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I’ve wanted to have Janis perform at the Cocteau ever since I reopened the place, and I am thrilled that it is finally going to happen.

She will be doing two shows, on the evenings of Sunday, February 22, and Monday, February 23. I expect both shows to sell out, so get your tickets now:

http://www.jeancocteaucinema.com/film/janis-ian-concert/

You can also call the theatre (during business hours) at 505-466-5528 and purchase tickets over the phone. Please be sure to have your credit card details on hand.

We will also have Janis’s CDs on sale, as well as copies of her autobiography (she has led a pretty interesting life), and I know she’ll be glad to sign them all.

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Tags: jean cocteau, music

Not a Blog

Come to the Forbidden City

Rules for Creepy Dolls

Gone to Texas

Dunk & Egg Ride Again

Two Great Nights

Kick the Artists

Lose Some, Win Some

Awards Time

Beware… the Dolls Are Coming

Janis Is Coming!

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