Renovation Schedule

August 10, 2011 at 11:25 am

It seems as though San Diego Comicon and my nine-city book tour just ended yesterday, and yet here comes worldcon, bearing down on me like a wedge of charging knights.

As I said at every one of my tour appearances, the BEST place to meet your favorite writers (including me, if I’m one of them) is not at a bookstore signing, but at a con. And there’s no con like worldcon. Yes, comicon is bigger. So is Gencon, Dragoncon, and many more. But worldcon is the source from whence they all sprang, the granddaddy of them all, and still the center of the SF/ fantasy universe.

And hey, they give the HUGOs there!

Here’s my schedule for Reno:

THURSDAY, August 18
1:00 pm A reading, from THE WINDS OF WINTER (AO1+6, RSCC)
3:00 pm autographing (Hall 2, RSCC)

FRIDAY August 19
11:00 am The Art of Ice & Fire, with John Picacio and Martina Pilcerova

SATURDAY August 20
11:00 am – 1:00 pm “The Pointy End” – a special screening of my episode from
the first season of the HBO series, with commentary

4:00 pm The Ethics of Adaptation, a debate/ dialogue w/ Melinda Snodgrass

8:00 pm HUGO AWARDS (Peppermill, Tuscany Ballroom) I will be presenting.

SUNDAY August 21

12:00 noon WILD CARDS panel (Ao1+6, RSCC)
1:00 pm autographing (Hall 2, RSCC)

Of course, the daytime programming is only a small part of what worldcon is all about. The other part is the room parties. And yes, I’ll be hitting those as well, partying every night — and you can expect that the Brotherhood Without Banners will once again throw the best, most kickass party at the con, as they’ve done for most of the past decade.

Unlike comicon, worldcon does not sell out. Full memberships and day passes will be available at the door. All you need do to attend is make it to Reno.

For most information, go to http://www.renovationsf.org/

See you in Reno!

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Tags: appearances, conventions, hugo awards

A Lighter Shade of Pale

August 9, 2011 at 4:14 pm

Thrice nominated, once victorious. A double threat. He wrote the script for his own wedding. Has struggled against the Spider’s sort, taken on Santa, caught a tiger by his tail. Never reads the same book twice. Last seen dancing home.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Across the Atlantic Sea

August 8, 2011 at 7:55 pm

From England, England hails this fellow, an ideal choice. He’s been a madman, a nut, a spud, a martian, a king, and a slaver, he’s gone up with a balloon and down with a ship. But why he is so sad when he’s stroked so many women?

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Learn to Rite Good

August 8, 2011 at 8:41 am

The Clarion West writer’s workshop in Seattle has announced its lineup of instructors for 2012.

I’m one of them.

Here’s the scoop:

http://www.clarionwest.org/

The Clarion workshops are a sort of writer’s boot camp. They’re not for everyone — the criticism can be intense — but for those who are willing to live, eat, drink, and breathe SF and fantasy for a summer, there’s no better training. Admission is pretty competitive as well. Many apply, few are chosen.

But over the decades Clarion and Clarion West have turned out more professional SF and fantasy writers than all the college creative writing programs in the country combined.

Scholarships are available for those who cannot afford the tuition.

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Tags: appearances, teaching, writing

Best New Show!

August 7, 2011 at 4:11 pm

And this year it’s… drum roll, please… GAME OF THRONES.

GOT just took the “Outstanding New Program” award at the 2011 TCA awards, voted by the members of the Television Critics of America, an organization of professional television critics, reviewers, and journalists.

Here’s the scoop:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/friday-night-lights-game-thrones-220054

Goes without saying that we’re all jazzed.

Thanks to all the members of the TCA for the recognition, and to Dan and David and the rest of their team, whose efforts produced a series we can all be proud of.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

ICE Now Shipping

August 6, 2011 at 7:21 pm

Cool news from Valyrian Steel. Their full-sized steel replica of Ice is now ready and shipping.

Mine turned up a few days ago. If you preordered, you should have yours as well.

And if not, well, there’s still time to arm yourself for the invasion of the Others and/or the zombie apocolypse, whichever comes first.

Order from Valyrian Steel at http://www.valyriansteel.com/shop/swords/ice-sword-of-eddard-stark/prod_9.html

(I should note, for those who came in late, that the Valyrian Steel replica is derived from the blade in the books, and is NOT modeled on the version seen in the HBO television show. HBO preferred to make its own versions).

Replicas of Longclaw and Needle remain available as well, while the supply lasts.

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Tags: song of ice and fire, valyrian steel

“Mystery Knight” Vies for Howie

August 6, 2011 at 5:18 pm

Dunk and Egg are contending in another tourney. The third of my Dunk & Egg novellas, “The Mystery Knight,” has been announced as a finalist for this year’s World Fantasy Award.

Here’s the full list of this year’s nominees:

BEST NOVEL
* Zoo City, Lauren Beukes (Jacana South Africa; Angry Robot)
* The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
* The Silent Land, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
* Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay (Viking Canada; Roc; Harper Voyager UK)
* Redemption In Indigo, Karen Lord (Small Beer)
* Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)

BEST NOVELLA
* Bone and Jewel Creatures, Elizabeth Bear (Subterranean)
* The Broken Man, Michael Byers (PS)
* !œThe Maiden Flight of McCauley’s Bellerophon!, Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All-New Tales)
* The Thief of Broken Toys, Tim Lebbon (ChiZine Publications)
* !œThe Mystery Knight!, George R.R. Martin (Warriors)
* !œThe Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window!, Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Summer 2010)

BEST SHORT FICTION
* !œBeautiful Men! , Christopher Fowler (Visitants: Stories of Fallen Angels and Heavenly Hosts)
* !œBooth’s Ghost!, Karen Joy Fowler (What I Didn’t See and Other Stories)
* !œPonies!, Kij Johnson (Tor.com 11/17/10)
* !œFossil-Figures!, Joyce Carol Oates (Stories: All-New Tales)
* !œTu Sufrimiento Shall Protect Us!, Mercurio D. Rivera (Black Static 8-9/10)

BEST ANTHOLOGY
* The Way of the Wizard, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Prime)
* My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me, Kate Bernheimer, ed. (Penguin)
* Haunted Legends, Ellen Datlow & Nick Mamatas, eds. (Tor)
* Stories: All-New Tales, Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio, eds. (Morrow; Headline Review)
* Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, S.T. Joshi, ed. (PS)
* Swords & Dark Magic, Jonathan Strahan & Lou Anders, eds. (Eos)

BEST COLLECTION
* What I Didn’t See and Other Stories, Karen Joy Fowler (Small Beer)
* The Ammonite Violin & Others, CaitlÃn R. Kiernan (Subterranean)
* Holiday, M. Rickert (Golden Gryphon)
* Sourdough and Other Stories, Angela Slatter (Tartarus)
* The Third Bear, Jeff VanderMeer (Tachyon)

BEST ARTIST
* Vincent Chong
* Kinuko Y. Craft
* Richard A. Kirk
* John Picacio
* Shaun Tan

SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL
* John Joseph Adams, for editing and anthologies
* Lou Anders, for editing at Pyr
* Marc Gascoigne, for Angry Robot
* StÃ©phane Marsan & Alain NÃ©vant, for Bragelonne
* Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi, for ChiZine Publications

SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL
* Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith, & Amanda Foubister, for Brighton Shock!: The Souvenir Book Of The World Horror Convention 2010
* Alisa Krasnostein, for Twelfth Planet Press
* Matthew Kressel, for Sybil’s Garage and Senses Five Press
* Charles Tan, for Bibliophile Stalker
* Lavie Tidhar, for The World SF Blog

The winners will be announced Halloween weekend at the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego, California. The award is a wonderfully gloomy bust of H.P. Lovecraft sculpted by Gahan Wilson.

I have one Howie on my awards shelf already, a best novella award for my werewolf story “The Skin Trade,” published lo these many years ago when the world was young… but he has a lonely look about him, and ‘twould be nice to have another. Hey, it’s always nice to get a little head. Not that I’m expecting to win. Unlike the Hugo and the Nebula, the World Fantasy Award is juried, so one never knows how it’s going to turn out.

“The Mystery Knight” was published in WARRIORS, the big crossgenre anthology I edited with Gardner Dozois. If you’d like to check it out, paperback copies are available from Amazon and other on-line bookshops.

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Tags: anthologies, awards, dunk & egg

Seattle Remarks

August 6, 2011 at 4:47 pm

And here’s my appearance in Seattle, courtesy of Vimeo, Suvudu, and the University Book Store.

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Any resemblence to my pre-signing remarks in Burlington, New York City, Indianapolis, San Diego, LA, Redwood City, Denver, and Lexington is entirely… ah… intentional.

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Tags: appearances, dance with dragons, signings

Googling

August 6, 2011 at 4:22 pm

For those of you who couldn’t be there, here’s my interview at Google.

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The Google campus was pretty amazing. Must be a fun place to work. I especially liked the slide who those who want to get to the ground floor quickly…

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Tags: appearances, interviews

Hot New Casting Hints

August 6, 2011 at 3:28 pm

Down under he was the voice of wisdom.

Later on he was the voice of everyone.

Now he’s wisdom.

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Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Not a Blog

Renovation Schedule

A Lighter Shade of Pale

Across the Atlantic Sea

Learn to Rite Good

Best New Show!

ICE Now Shipping

“Mystery Knight” Vies for Howie

Seattle Remarks

Googling

Hot New Casting Hints

Latest Month

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