Writing

August 19, 2012 at 3:19 pm

These worldbook “sidebars” are all threatening to turn into novellas.

Sure hope you guys and gals like fake history.

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Tags: song of ice and fire, writing

RIP, Harry Harrison

August 15, 2012 at 11:20 am

We have lost another Grand Master, I fear. I’ve just learned that Harry Harrison has died.

I did not know Harry well, but I always liked him, and enjoyed his writing. BILL THE GALACTIC HERO, THE TECHNICOLOR TIME MACHINE, DEATHWORLD (the first one is the best), THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT (ditto)…

He was a hard-drinking, fun-loving guy. I remember him tending bar at the SFWA suite. When you asked Harry for a gin and tonic, you got a tumbler of gin with a splash of tonic. He kept his money on the Isle of Man, and would tell anyone who would listen that they should move their money there as well. And back before the Brits reformed their currency, he was famous for insisting that all his UK contracts be paid in guineas rather than pounds.

Farewell, Harry. It was good reading you.

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Tags: writing

Bring Me the Head of Howard Phillips Lovecraft

August 14, 2012 at 1:26 pm

Actually, TWO heads would be even better.

It occurs to me that I have been so busy lately that I have not yet gotten around to announcing that (1) A DANCE WITH DRAGONS has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award in the “Best Novel” category, and (2) the World Fantasy Award jury has also selected me as one of the winners of their Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

images

The World Fantasy Award is one of the more complicated honors in our field. Here’s how it works. A five-person jury is selected. The members of the previous World Fantasy Con and the upcoming World Fantasy Con receive a nominating ballot, and nominate two finalists in each award category. The jury adds three additional nominees. Then the jury selects the winner from among the five finalists.

This year’s finalists for Best Novel are:

!¢ THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER, Christopher Buehlman (Ace)
!¢ 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)
!¢ A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)
!¢ OSAMA, Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing)
!¢ AMONG OTHERS, Jo Walton (Tor)

A very distinguished list. My congratulations to all the other finalists.

The rest of the ballot can be found here:

http://www.wfc2012.org/pr-wfawards01.html

The Lifetime Achievement Award is a different deal. That one is announced ahead of time. I was rather startled to learn that the jury had announced ME. After all, my lifetime is not nearly over, and I have lots more achieving ahead of me, I hope… (unless the World Fantasy Award knows something that I do not). I am such a young lad, and devilishly handsome as well.

However, it is a HUGE honor, and I am very thrilled to receive it… especially as the jury also named Alan Garner as the other Lifetime Achievement receipient. If you don’t know Garner’s work, well… you should, damn you. He’s the author of THE OWL SERVICE and THE WEIRDSTONES OF BRISINGAMEN and ELIDOR and all sorts of other great stuff, and was writing terrific fantasies long before fantasy was either popular or fashionable. It’s great to see Garner get some long overdue recognition for his contributions to our genre. Now I’d love to see someone put all his books back into print again.

Past receipients of the Life Achievement award include Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, Jack Vance, Jack Williamson, Stephen King, Fritz Leiber, Gene Wolfe, and many of my other heroes and role models, so I am going to be in very good company indeed with this one.

The awards will be presented at this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Toronto over Halloween weekend. Alas, I do not think I will be able to attend. My schedule is already pretty full for the rest of 2012, and this one came on me unexpectedly. (Also, I just appeared in Toronto early in the year). But I am sure it will be a great con.

(I do have one of Howard’s heads already, for my werewolf novella “The Skin Trade” from way back when. He proudly wears a Jets cap).

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Tags: awards, conventions, honors

Land o’ the Flea, Home o’ the Plague

August 14, 2012 at 11:57 am

So… I have already posted my schedule for the worldcon in Chicago (see below), but I neglected to mention that the next con on my schedule is actually our hometown convention, Bubonicon, down the road in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Land o’ the Flea and Home o’ the Plague, as con mascot Perry Rodent will be glad to tell you).

I will be at that one too. My schedule:

FRIDAY AUG 24

8:30 pm – READING (I will probably read from THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE) Acoma
10:30 pm – CHARITY AUCTION (will be donating various signed books and collectibles)

SATURDAY AUG 25

1:00 pm – HOLLYWOOD TALES panel w/ SNodgrass & Cassutt Salon E
5:30 pm – MASS SIGNING (all the writers at the con, defacing books)

SUNDAY AUG 26

12:15 noon – SIGNING (me and Brandon Sanderson, defacing books)

Of course, I will be hanging around the bar and cruising the parties as well.

Same rules as worldcon: always glad to meet you and converse, but I will sign stuff only at the designated signings on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for understanding.

Bubonicon only draws about a tenth as many people as worldcon, so if you’re in driving distance of Albuquerque, there’s no better place to hang with your favorite writers and fellow fen. A link with all the necessary info can be found on my Appearances page.

See you there.

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Tags: convention, signed books

Coming to Chicago

August 13, 2012 at 11:01 pm

Leaving for Chicon TOMORROW, so I figured I’d bump this one back up to the top.

Should be a great con! See you there, boys and girls.
===================================================================

Worldcon is coming up soon: Chicon 7, to be held in Chicago over Labor Day Weekend (worldcon’s traditional weekend, where it AND IT ALONE belongs). I’ll be there. Hell, I’ve only missed one worldcon in the last thirty years. Of course I will be there.

Just finished nailing down the details of my programming at the con.

Here’s where you will find me:

THURSDAY August 30
3:00 – 4:30 pm autographing, dealer’s room

FRIDAY August 31
1:30 – 3:00 pm autographing, dealer’s room
4:30 – 6:00 pm WILD CARDS panel, Crystal A

SATURDAY September 1
12:00 – 1:30pm GAME OF THRONES discussion w/ Mo Ryan of THE HUFFINGTON POST,
Columbus EF
3:00 – 4:30pm SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION panel w/ Resnick, Dozois, Silverberg,
Crystal B

SUNDAY September 2
1:30 – 3:00pm reading from THE WINDS OF WINTER, Columbus EF
8:00 pm HUGO AWARDS, Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom

MONDAY September 3
1:30 – 3:00pm autographing, dealer’s room

Of course, I will also be found partying in the evenings. Look for the Brotherhood Without Banners bash. It will be the best party at the con, it always is. If I’m not there, I likely will be soon. I will also be at the Hugo Loser’s Party and Keith’s chili party, but you probably can’t get into those… the BWB parties are open. And if Kansas City throws a bid party (I expect they will), I will be there too.

Cons, as I have said many a time, are a MUCH better place to meet and hang with your favorite author (or me, if your favorite isn’t there) than any booksigning.

Do please note, however: I have scheduled myself for three ninety-minutes autograph sessions, so I will be defacing books for four and a half hours at this worldcon. If you want your book signed, come to one of those. PLEASE do not ask me to sign outside of those scheduled events.

If you come across me walking through the hall, visiting the art show, browsing in the dealer’s room, attending a program item, leaving my panel or rushing to the next one, waiting for a cab, eating dinner, eating lunch, eating breakfast… by all means say hi, but don’t ask me to sign anything. That’s what those autograph sessions are for.

And at parties, or in the bar, hey, by all means, come up, say hi, introduce yourself, start a conversation, offer to buy me a drink (I may or may not accept), flirt with me (I may or may not respond)… but DON’T ask me to sign stuff, okay? And while I certainly don’t mind talking about my books or the TV show, remember, I have done a thousand interviews on these subjects, and asking me about my favorite character or telling me who YOUR favorite character is will likely just send me slouching off to find someone who wants to talk about Jack Vance, sing old TV theme songs, or argue whether Sanchez or Tebow should QB the Jets.

’nuff said.

See you in Chicago, I hope.

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Tags: conventions, signings, worldcon

Me and Captain Jack

August 12, 2012 at 3:55 pm

For all you TORCHWOOD and DR. WHO fans, here’s my comicon interview with John Barrowman:

<lj-embed id=”326″/>

It was great fun. Enjoy.

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Tags: comic books, limited editions

Thank You

August 11, 2012 at 11:16 pm

The NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list for August 19 has been released. Here ’tis:

http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/hardcover-fiction/list.html

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS is on the list, hanging in there at #10 in hardcover bestsellers. Which is not news by itself. DANCE has been on the list for a long time, moving down, moving up, but never quite falling off. For 52 weeks.

That’s the news. DANCE has been on the NYT list for one full year.

I never could have imagined this, not in my wildest dreams.

Copy of DWD5

This is a terrific moment for me, of course, but it is nothing I could ever have achieved without the help of others… so very many others…

I owe them thanks.

Thank you to me editors and publishers, past and present, to Anne Groell, Scott Shannon, Nita Taublib, Jennifer Hershey, Irwyn Applebaum, to my valiant and tireless publicists David Moench and Chris Artis, and to all the other great folks at Bantam Spectra and Random House.

Thank you to all the critics and reviewers, who gave the book such outstanding notices, not to mention all sorts of cool awards. I have never had a book better reviewed.

Thanks for all the journalists and feature writers and bloggers who conducted interviews, ran contests, and helped spread the word.

Thanks to Parris, who was with me through every page, and to Ty, my acerbic assistant, who helped crack the whip and spurred me on and kept the trolls at bay. One of these days he may even teach me to say, “no.”

Thanks to the Brotherhood Without Banners. Fans and friends, AND they throw the best party at worldcon.

Thanks for all the booksellers and librarians everywhere. You’re all heroes.

Thanks to Mike Lombardo and Sue Naegle and Richard Plepler and Mara Mikilian and all the rest of the great folks at HBO, and thanks especially to Brian Cogman, David Benioff, and Dan Weiss, to Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Mark Addy, Jack Gleeson, Nicholaj Coster-Waldau, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Kit Harrington, Maisie Williams, Conleth Hill, Michelle Fairley, and the rest of the greatest cast on television, and to our amazing cast and phenomenal directors. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS would likely have made the NYTimes list without the GAME OF THRONES series, but beyond doubt, it is the show that has kept the books riding high for so long. You’ve all done amazing work.

But most of all, thanks to you, my readers. You were the ones who bought the book a year ago when it first hit the shelves, and you are the ones who are still buying it today, and pressing copies on your lovers and kin, and telling your friends to buy their own copies. Luck can get a book on the list, even keep it there for a week or two… but only a long, sustained passion and great word of mouth can keep a title on the TIMES list for one solid year. So take a bow, readers. I owe it all to you.

All I can say is… keep reading. The best is yet to come.

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Tags: a dance with dragons, publishing

“Show Us Your Papers”

August 11, 2012 at 3:46 pm

I am way too busy these days for long political rants.

But I would be remiss if I do not at least make passing mention of how depressed, disgusted, and, yes, angry I’ve become as I watch the ongoing attempts at voter suppression in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, and other states where Republicans and their Teabagger allies control key seats of power.

It is one thing to attempt to win elections. But trying to do so by denying the most basic and important right of any American citizen to hundreds and thousands of people, on entirely spurious grounds… that goes beyond reprehensible. That is despicable.

It would really be nice if there were still some Republicans of conscience out there who would stand up and loudly denounce these efforts, a few men of honor and integrity for whom “win the election” does not “win the election at any cost.” There were once many Republicans I admired, even I disagreed with them: men like Everett Dirksen, Clifford Case, Henry Cabot Lodge, William Scranton… yes, even Barry Goldwater, conservative as he is. I do not believe for a moment that Goldwater would have approved of this, any more than Robert A. Heinlein would have. They were conservatives, but they were not bigots, nor racists, nor corrupt. The Vote Suppressors have far more in common with Lester Maddox, George Wallace, John Stennis, and their ilk than they do with their distinguished GOP forebears.

The people behind these efforts at disenfranchising large groups of voters (the young, the old, the black, the brown) are not Republicans, since clearly they have scant regard for our republic or its values. They are oligarchs and racists clad in the skins of dead elephants.

And don’t tell me they are libertarians either. No true libertarians would ever support a culture where citizens must “show their papers” to vote or travel. That’s a hallmark of a police state, not a free country.

TUESDAY ADDENDUM: Okay, this has been running several days now, has been featured on HUFFINGTON POST and ABC news, referenced on Stephanie Miller, and no doubt countless other people. We have had four hundred messages, and I think everyone has had their say, and everything that needs to be said has been said. Generally eight or ten times. There are plenty of links and references in the comment threads for those who would like to know more about these voter suppression efforts. If you don’t want to dig through the links, start with the Brennan Center for Justice and get the facts.

There’s no sense in letting this spin on in circles forever. I am locking comments. Back to Westeros and worldcon and similar subjects, boys and girls.

Thanks for listening.

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Tags: politics

Inside the HBO Show

August 7, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Brian Cogman’s “making of” book, INSIDE HBO’S GAME OF THRONES, is scheduled for publication on September 25, and is now available for preorder from your favorite bookstore.

HBO has released a promotional video for the book. Cool stuff here. Enjoy.

<lj-embed id=”322″/>

Brian has been a part of the series since the very beginning — he was the first person David and Dan hired when they got the go-ahead from HBO — and he’s done a terrific job of telling all the “behind the scenes” stuff.

And there’s a preface by me too, if you’re into that.

Happy reading.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Flying High with Wild Cards

August 5, 2012 at 12:41 pm

I’ve got all sorts of good news for the Wild Cards fans reading this.

LOWBALL, the twenty-second volume in the overall series, and the second part of the current triad that began with FORT FREAK, is almost complete, and should be going in to Tor very shortly. I will be sure and let you know when a publication date is announced. My thanks to my friend and co-editor Melinda Snodgrass for helping me bring this one home.

And the story continues. I’ve just signed contracts with Tor with the next Wild Cards book, a full-on mosaic to conclude the triad. This one will be titled HIGH STAKES.

Tor’s reprints of the first three volumes of the original series have also done very well (well, WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH have done well, JOKERS WILD is still forthcoming), so I am thrilled to announce that we will be continuing with those as well.

We’ve just signed for four more volumes. New Tor editions of ACES ABROAD, DOWN & DIRTY, ACE IN THE HOLE, and DEAD MAN’S HAND will be coming your way during the next few years, probably as trade paperbacks. And to make things even more interesting, we will be adding three brand new original stories to ACES ABROAD, just as we did for Tor’s reissue of WILD CARDS, volume one.

SFBC4

And Wild Cards readers outside the US are going to have plenty to read as well. After far too long, we finally have a new deal in the United Kingdom, where Gollancz/ Orion will be publishing British editions of WILD CARDS, ACES HIGH, JOKERS WILD, INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, SUICIDE KINGS, FORT FREAK, and LOWBALL.

Wild Cards will be invading France as well. We’ve just closed a deal with J’ai Lu for French translations of the first six volumes in the original series: WILD CARDS, ACES HIGH, JOKERS WILD, ACES ABROAD, DOWN & DIRTY, and ACE IN THE HOLE. (More foreign deals are in the offing but I will hold off on those till the contracts are signed).

We’ve had a long strange run with Wild Cards… but from all appearances, we’re only getting started. If you haven’t tried the books yet, what are you waiting for?

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Tags: tor, wild cards

Not a Blog

Writing

RIP, Harry Harrison

Bring Me the Head of Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Land o’ the Flea, Home o’ the Plague

Coming to Chicago

Me and Captain Jack

Thank You

“Show Us Your Papers”

Inside the HBO Show

Flying High with Wild Cards

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