Name That Dragon

August 26, 2017 at 4:14 pm

Our genre is blessed (or cursed, some might say, but not me, nosir) with a wide range of awards and honors for outstanding achievement. We have the Nebula, the Tiptree, the Bram Stoker, the LOCUS Award, the Sidewise Award, the World Fantasy Award (previously the Howie, now the Creepy Tree), the Stabbie, the Saturn, the Seiun, the Prometheus, and many more whose names I am likely forgetting.

The Hugo Award, first given in 1953, is the oldest and most prestigious.

The Dragon Award, first given last year, is the newest. It’s way too new to know how prestigious it will be in the long run.

The Dragon is a fan award, and aspires to be the Peoples’ Choice Award for SF and fantasy. It is given at Dragoncon, the huge Labor Day convention down Atlanta way, but you don’t need to be a Dragoncon member to vote on it. All you need to do is register, here:

http://application.dragoncon.org/dc_fan_awards_signup.php

Dragoncon has provided a handsome trophy for the winners, which is a good start. GAME OF THRONES won one last year, so I can testify to that. But the true prestige of any award derives not from the hardware (mind you, nice hardware helps), but from the works it honors.

I remember talking to Eric Flint about the Dragon Awards at Kansas City last year. He had a hand in their creation, and it was his hope that in time the Dragon would become a major broad-based award voted on by a wide spectrum of fans from all over the country. It’s not there yet, by any means… but it could become that, if enough people decide to take part. So far that has not happened. But it could. That’s up to you.

There is no cost to vote for the Dragons. You don’t even need to join the con. So if you’d like to cast a ballot for the novels, games, TV shows, and movies you liked best last year, register at the link above and vote. But do it soon. Registration closes in a couple of days.

Current Mood: calm calm

Tags: awards

Just Sayin’

August 23, 2017 at 4:09 pm

Oh, about those successor shows…

‘Nuff said.

Current Mood: mischievous

Tags: game of thrones, hbo, television

Long Time No See

August 23, 2017 at 11:48 am

I am home again in the Land of Enchantment, after almost a month on the road.

I flew to New Jersey for my nephew Sean’s wedding, which was a lot of fun.

Then I went to New York City for a week, checking in with my editors, publishers, and agents, and some old dear friends as well. Did a pizza crawl, had myself a Cel-Ray and an egg cream and a pastrami sandwich (New York health food), and did a lot of business.

From there it was off across the ocean to Helsinki for worldcon. My third visit to Finland, which never disappoints. Helsinki is a beautiful city, and it was a terrific con. Sure, we lost the Hugo, but the Hugo Losers Party kicked ass.

After worldcon, we hopped a train for Russia. A few days in St. Petersberg — my god, what a stunning city — and then off to the woods for Assembly Con. Our Russian hosts were warm and wonderful.

All in all, a great trip, but an exhausting one. The trip home was grueling.

Let me catch my breath, and might be I’ll have some more to say.

Right now, I need some green chile.

Current Mood: tired tired

Tags: hugo award, travels, worldcon

My Worldcon Schedule

July 26, 2017 at 10:40 am

The World Science Fiction Convention is only a few weeks away. This is the oldest SF con, the one that started it all, and though it is no longer the largest, it’s still the one that matters, the heart and soul of SF fandom. And for me, it’s home away from home.

Here’s my schedule this year in Helsinki:

WEDNESDAY August 9
4:00 pm Tea & Jeopardy Podcast, w Emma & Peter Newman

THURSDAY August 10
12:00 NOON panel discussion: Invented Religions

2:00 pm autographing

FRIDAY August 11
8:00 pm HUGO AWARDS

SATURDAY August 12
2:00 pm panel discussion: Built Upon the Shoulders of Giants

4:00 pm autographing

SUNDAY August 13
1:00 pm panel discussion: Thirty Years of Wild Cards

Those are my official public appearances… but of course I will also be attending parties, checking out the art show, wandering the dealer’s room, lunching and dining with editors, agents, friends, and colleagues.

For those of you who want books signed, please, bring them to one of my two listed autograph sessions. I will NOT be signing before or after panels, at parties, during lunch or breakfast or dinner, at the urinal, in the elevator, on the street, in the hall. ONLY at the autograph table. If the lines are as long as they usually are, I’ll only be signing one book per person.

See you in Helsinki!

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: signed books, signings, travels, worldcon

The Swords Are Drawn

July 22, 2017 at 4:29 pm

For all you fans of sword ‘n sorcery, and/ or my own ‘fake histories,’ the new anthology from Gardner Dozois, THE BOOK OF SWORDS, has been scheduled for release on October 10, and is now available for pre-order from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Book-Swords-Gardner-Dozois/dp/0399593764 and many other online booksellers. I imagine your favorite local bookseller is taking orders too.

This is NOT one I co-edited with Gargy (people keep getting that wrong), so I haven’t read any of the other stories yet, but it looks to have a helluva lineup, with originals by Lavie Tidhar, Daniel Abraham, Scott Lynch, C.J. Cherryh, Robin Hobb, Ken Liu, Cecelia Holland, Walter Jon Williams, and many more. And of course it also includes “Sons of the Dragon,” a chronicle of the reigns of Aegon the Conquerer’s two sons, Aenys I Targaryen and Maegor the Cruel, for those who cannot get enough of my entirely fake histories of Westeros. That one has never been published before in any form, though I did read it at a couple of cons.

Speaking of fake history… regulars here may recall our plan to assemble an entire book of my fake histories of the Targaryen kings, a volume we called (in jest) the GRRMarillion or (more seriously) FIRE AND BLOOD. We have so much material that it’s been decided to publish the book in two volumes. The first of those will cover the history of Westeros from Aegon’s Conquest up to and through the regency of the boy king Aegon III (the Dragonbane). That one is largely written, and will include (for the first time) a complete detailed history of the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons. My stories in DANGEROUS WOMEN (“The Princess and the Queen”) and ROGUES (“The Rogue Prince”) were abridged versions of the same histories.

No publication date has been set yet, but it’s likely that we will get the first volume of FIRE AND BLOOD out in late 2018 or early 2019. The second volume, which will carry the history from Aegon III up to Robert’s Rebellion, is largely unwritten, so that one will be a few more years in coming.

And, yes, I know you all want to know about THE WINDS OF WINTER too. I’ve seen some truly weird reports about WOW on the internet of late, by ‘journalists’ who make their stories up out of whole cloth. I don’t know which story is more absurd, the one that says the book is finished and I’ve been sitting on it for some nefarious reason, or the one that says I have no pages. Both ‘reports’ are equally false and equally moronic. I am still working on it, I am still months away (how many? good question), I still have good days and bad days, and that’s all I care to say. Whether WINDS or the first volume of FIRE AND BLOOD will be the first to hit the bookstores is hard to say at this juncture, but I do think you will have a Westeros book from me in 2018… and who knows, maybe two. A boy can dream…

Meanwhile, you’ll have Gardner’s anthology to fill the time. Keep your swords sharp!

Current Mood: quixotic

Tags: anthologies, fake history, game of thrones, hbo, television and film

Talking Over Thai

July 21, 2017 at 6:09 pm

So a couple of months ago, while I was out at Stokercon in Long Beach, on the mighty Queen Mary, I went out with Scott Edelman for Thai food (yum), and he recorded our conversation for his EATING THE FANTASTIC podcast.

The food was great, and the talk was fun. You can check it out at:

http://www.scottedelman.com/2017/07/21/down-drunken-noodles-with-george-r-r-martin-in-episode-43-of-eating-the-fantastic/

Scott and I both emerged from comics fandom of the 60s, so be forewarned, there’s a lot of talk about the Good Old Days.

Current Mood: contemplative

Tags: comic books, fandom, life and death, writing

Wild Cards and Werewolves

July 21, 2017 at 12:37 pm

Another new post just up on the Wild Cards blog.

This time our blogger is David Anthony Durham, and his subjects are Spartacus… and werewolves.

Ahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

http://www.wildcardsworld.com/on-the-trials-and-tribulations-of-werewolves/

Current Mood: amused amused

Tags: werewolves, wild cards

Wild Cards Goodness

July 19, 2017 at 10:12 pm

Some cool new stuff out there for Wild Cards fans.

Over at Tor.com, the Wild Cards Reread continues with Katie Rask’s insightful look at the fourth volume of the original series, ACES ABROAD. Check it out and join the discussion at:

https://www.tor.com/2017/07/18/religion-revolution-and-80s-politics-wild-cards-iv-aces-abroad/

And there’s some new content on the Wild Cards website as well. A new blog post by Mary Anne Mohanraj about writing an intertwined story

http://www.wildcardsworld.com/how-do-you-tell-an-interlinked-story/

and some great art uploads of work by some of our favorite artists: John Picacio, Marc Simonetti, and Michael Komarck.

((Meanwhile, development continues on the Wild Cards television series. I could tell you all about that as well, but then I’d have to kill you. Oh, yes, and the latest Wild Cards mosaic novel is nearing completion as well. Seven of ten stories in, and the last three expected soon)).

Current Mood: pleased pleased

Tags: editing, television, wild cards

Dothraki Conquer British Museum!!

July 17, 2017 at 12:50 pm

Well, okay, they are really the Scythians:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/15/british-museum-lures-game-thrones-fans-exhibition-little-known/

As Khal Drogo would say:

Current Mood: giggly giggly

Tags: game of thrones, history

A New Season

July 17, 2017 at 11:01 am

So the seventh season of GAME OF THRONES is underway. I hope everyone out there enjoyed last night’s premiere episode.

Here in Santa Fe, we had an exciting night at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. Maybe a little too exciting… fans began lining up well before noon, and at the end we had to turn a hundred people away. Times like this make me wish I had a larger theatre. Those who did get in seemed to enjoy the show, though, and those who didn’t get in got our special GOT popsicles. We had some nice costumes turn up too, along with barbarians on horses. (I’ll post some pix when they send some).

Seven seasons… that’s still hard to believe. Where have the years gone? It seems like only yesterday we were off in Morocco filming the pilot.

One more season to go for GOT… but with five (5!) potential pilots in development, it seems likely that there will be one or more successor shows along eventually. I’d love to tell you all about them, but then I’d have to kill you. They’re all prequels, though, I let that slip already, and several of them are….

Current Mood: busy busy

Tags: game of thrones, hbo, jean cocteau cinema

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