For all those who can’t seem to get enough of me talking… and were not able to make our COLONY event at the Jean Cocteau Cinema… IGN has uploaded a video of my conversation with COLONY’s co-creator Ryan Condal.
Have a look… and do check out the show. It’s good.
<lj-embed id=”685″/>
Meow Wolf’s opening weekend approaches. The gala will be on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, and the doors will open to the public for the first time on March 18 and 19.
And now the word is spreading beyond the borders of the Land of Enchantment.
The LA TIMES came to visit a few weeks ago. Here’s their story:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-c1-meow-wolf-20160223-story.html
Go to the Meow Wolf website at https://meowwolf.com/ to reserve tickets and have a look at their calendar of upcoming events.
Chrysalis SELMA BLAIR
Ti Malice NICHOLAS GUY SMITH
Xbalanque NOEL BEARHEART
Hunapu OZZIE RODRIGUEZ
Troll RICHARD MOLL
Peregrine KATHLEEN TURNER
G.C. Jayewardene SANJIT DE SILVA
Cordelia Chaisson KASEY LANSDALE
Fortunato PRENTICE ONAYEMI
Lady Black DONNABELLA MORTEL
Mackie Messer P.J. OCHLAN
Molniya ADRIAN PAUL
Sara Morgenstern EMILY CARD RANKIN
Dr. Tachyon RAPHAEL SBARGE
Polyakov STEFAN RUDNICKI
It was quite a jigsaw puzzle, with recording taking place over the world, but we think the result will be worth it.
And we’re moving right on to DOWN & DIRTY, where a number of the cast members will be reprising their roles.
SFWA has announced the finalists for this year’s Nebula Awards.
You can find the full list on the SFWA website, here: https://www.sfwa.org/2016/02/2015-nebula-awards-nominees-announced/
Congratulations to all the nominees… and to our new Grand Master, C.J. Cherryh.
And a special shout-out to David D. Levine, who is one of my Wild Cards writers. David is a finalist in Short Story for “Damage,” from Tor.com.
But speaking of David… do watch Tor.com for his next story, a Wild Cards original entitled “Discards.” It will be up on Tor.com in March, with an amazing John Picacio “cover.”
“Discards” is set in Rio, and introduces David’s new Brazilian ace, The Recycler. I think you’ll like it.
Ogre Jenni speaking! I am one of George's minions who helps out at Jean Cocteau Cinema.
This February and March we celebrate the incredible work of Tony DiTerlizzi, illustrator and co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles!
On Tuesday, March 1st at 4:00 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time), we will feature a special screening of the 2008 film adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG). Afterward at 6:30 p.m (MST), we have the privilege of welcoming DiTerlizzi to our cinema for a Q&A and book signing! Tickets are $10 for event admission only, or $35 for event admission and a copy of Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide. If you can't make it to Santa Fe, make sure to check out Jean Cocteau Cinema's Periscope feed at 6:30 p.m. (MST) on March 1st to watch the event live!
The Jean Cocteau Cinema Gallery currently showcases a selection of DiTerlizzi’s original illustrations and giclee prints, which are available for purchase. For inquiries about art sales, like us and send us message us on Facebook! We will happily send you a packet with some information, but please give us at least 24 hours to respond.
In addition, signed copies of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and several other books featuring DiTerlizzi’s award-winning illustrations, will be available for purchase at our online bookstore on March 4th.
See you at the Cocteau!
<lj-embed id=”684″/>
• THIS MESSAGE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER •
Next weekend I will be heading off to MystiCon, in Roanoke, Virginia, where I’ll be a Guest of Honor. A new con for me, and a new part of the country (it’s been on my schedule since 2013).
They have a website at http://mysticon-va.com/ with a list of all the other guests — but, alas, it says there that they are sold out, so if you’re not signed up, you may be out of luck.
I am looking forward to spending some time with old friends there, and to making some new ones.
Truth be told, I need a good con just about now. I am tired and I am stressed, and I am so so so sick of the toxic rancor that more and more seems to characterize the internet.
So… let’s raise a few glasses and have a few laughs at MystiCon, and try to remember why we love science fiction, fandom, and each other.
Returning once more to the Hugo Awards…
In my original post about Best Editor (Long Form), I mentioned the names of a number of very gifted and hard-working editors deserving (IMNSHO, of course) of nomination. Some of the fans commenting on that post, both here and over on FILE 770, said they could not possibly vote for any of them — or for any editor, actually — without knowing what titles each of them had edited during the awards year.
So I asked them.
Some have replied. Downstream of this, you’ll find a list of the books edited last year by Anne Lesley Groell of Bantam Specta, Diana Pho of Tor, and Jane Johnson of HarperCollins Voyager. And today I have a response from an editor who was NOT mentioned in my original post, but should have been: JOE MONTI of Saga Press.
Saga, for those who do not follow the ins and outs of publishing closely, is the new science fiction imprint of Simon & Schuster/ Pocket Books. S&S, of course, is one of publishing’s Big Five, a major major house with a long and storied history, but they have not had much presence in our genre since David G. Hartwell’s prestigious Timescape imprint folded a few decades back. The return of S&S to SF was one of the big publishing stories of recent years, and a very good thing for our field. It says a lot for Joe Monti’s skills that he was the guy S&S chose to launch Saga and go head to head with Tor, Bantam Spectra, Del Rey, DAW, Baen, and the other long-established SF imprints.
And so far, I think, he’s done a hell of a job. But you can judge that for yourself. When I wrote Joe and asked what books he’d edited last year, he replied:
“As for this, I sat on it a bit as I wasn’t sure if I deserved to be mentioned, but I will play along… I edited and acquired a lot in my inaugural year for Saga Press! I really was scrambling to present a full list, along with my fellow editorial conspirator Navah Wolfe, to showcase the kind of books I hope to publish and a sense of my tastes.
“One author I snapped up in a pre-empt in my first days: The great Ken Liu. Some were through previous relationships I had as an agent, a friend, others were just serendipity like The Gospel of Loki and Lagoon, which I saw on publisher rights list and ran screaming after. They are, in loose order of publication:
The Darkside War by the enigmatic Zachary Brown
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
Cold Iron by Stina Leicht
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
Loosed Upon the World: the Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction, edited by John Joseph Adams
The Red by Linda Nagata
The War Against the Assholes by Sam Munson
The Trials by Linda Nagata (The Red trilogy #2)
Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman
Going Dark by Linda Nagata (The Red trilogy #3)
I also reissued a few excellent books that were previously at other publishers:
Chuck Wendig’s first three Miriam Black novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, and The Cormorant (Setting up for books 4, 5, & 6 starting in 2017)
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
The November Criminals by Sam Munson
And then I repackaged a few great books from the S&S lists for adult SFF readers:
The Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums; all with new introductions by Tamora Pierce, Naomi Novik and Brandon Sanderson (respectfully)
The Sea of Trolls trilogy by Nancy Farmer: The Sea of Trolls, The Islands of the Blessed, The Land of Silver Apples
The Curse Workers trilogy by Holly Black: White Cat, Red Glove, Black Heart.
PHEW! I am really proud of that list, as they contain a few debuts and all of them reflect authors… stretching their… skills… I really feel lucky to be in my dream job after all this time. That’s why I got the Saga colophon tattoo!”
So there’s another name to consider when you are making those Hugo nominations.
We have a wealth of choices in Best Editor (Long Form) this year. Good editors, who would make worthy winners. Regardless of what the slates chose to do, my own hope is that one of them gets to claim a rocket in Kansas City, to thunderous applause.
Fresh off last night’s terrific COLONY showcase, the Jean Cocteau Cinema is setting up to do it again next Tuesday, when Joe R. Lansdale His Own Self returns to Santa Fe to premiere the pilot episode of his new television series HAP & LEONARD, from Sundance.
Joe is an amazingly prolific author (I hates him, I hates him), turning out wonderful books in a whole range of genres: science fiction, horror, historical, and mystery, just for a start. If you haven’t read his stuff, you don’t know what you’re missing. The Sage of Nachodoches, Texas, he has a unique voice; nothing reads like a Lansdale story.
His Hap & Leonard novels are among my favorites, and it is great to see them coming to the small screen (in your homes) and the big (well, medium sized) one at the JCC. The cast is pretty amazing too: Marc Antony as Hap and Omar as Leonard, how do you beat that? (James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams, for those not up on their HBO series).
<lj-embed id=”681″/>
Joe will also be signing books, of course. (We have a good selection of autographed Lansdale titles available from the JCC online bookstore right now at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/ — but supplies are limited. But have no fear, we will be getting lots more in by Tuesday for Joe to scrawl in, including a bunch of Hap & Leonard novels).
As with all our TV premieres, admission is FREE. You still might want to call ahead to reserve tickets, though, since this one could easily sell out.
See you at the show!
The Authority took control at the Jean Cocteau Cinema last night, when Ryan Condal and his team from Legendary, IGN, and USA turned up for a special showcase of USA’s new sf series COLONY. We showed episodes six and seven on our big (well, medium sized) screen, and afterward Ryan and I talked and fielded questions about COLONY, GAME OF THRONES, working in television, development hell, SIXTH GUN, and all manner of other things.
If you missed it, you should be able to find it on line somewhere. I know people were filming us. So… Twitter, Facebook, IGN, Periscope, one of those places. (What do I know about this Interweb thingie? I still tie messages to the legs of ravens).
It was a fun event, and everyone left with a signed COLONY poster and a red cap.
Our drink special… the Redcap, natch… was also pretty righteous. I had one, and I think I am still feeling the effects this morning.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the episodes as well… even though only three people in the crowd had seen the five episodes that preceded the ones we screened. If you haven’t caught COLONY yet, give it a try. Ryan and his team are doing a nice job.
For a limited time only, Brick Tower Press is offering ebooks of classic works by Alfred Bester, Roger Zelazny, and others for sale on a “pay what you want” basis.
They call it a “Humble Books Bundle,” and you can find it here:
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/scificlassics_bookbundle
I note it here because the offerings include two Wild Cards titles, DEUCES DOWN and DEATH DRAWS FIVE. These two volumes — books number sixteen and seventeen in the overall series, but essentially stand-alones — are almost impossible to find in their original print editions, as many fans have informed me over the years. When Byron Preiss’s company iBooks picked up the series, after a seven-year hiatus following the last Baen volumes, they reprinted a number of the original books, but also added these two originals. DEUCES DOWN was an anthology of original stories about deuces, wild carders with trivial and in some cases absurd superpowers. DEATH DRAWS FIVE was a solo novel by John Jos. Miller, featuring Carnifex, John Fortune, Fortunato, and introducing John Nighthawk and the Midnight Angel.
When Byron Preiss died in a tragic traffic accident in 2005, however, iBooks did not long survive him, tottering into bankruptcy a few months later. Brick Tower Press acquired all the remaining assets of iBooks, including inventory and contracts, in the bankruptcy proceedings. DEUCES DOWN and DEATH DRAWS FIVE were part of that, along with the Zelazny and Bester titles you see offered as part of the Humble Books Bundle.
The print-runs of the iBooks WC originals were never large, and the distribution was scattershot at best… especially for DEATH DRAWS FIVE, which was published only days before iBooks closed its doors for goods. Brick Tower did subsequently release trade paperback editions, but those were not widely distributed either.
So if you’re one of the numerous WC fans who has been searching for these two titles to complete his collection, here’s your chance… but best move quickly, since the offer will expire soon.
This blog is the only place for official communication from George R.R. Martin. For press inquiries, please contact David Moench
