Not a Blog

Jetboy Flies Again!

August 2, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Profile Pic

Coming in November…

For all those Wild Cards fans, both old and new, who have been complaining that the original series is impossible to find, and too damn expenseive when you do find it, I’m pleased to announce that Tor will be releasing a new edition of the first volume in the series, WILD CARDS, this November.

Here’s an advance peek at the cover mock-up, which once again features the gorgeous art of Michael Komarck.

The new edition will be in trade paperback format.

If you’ve enjoyed INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, and SUICIDE KINGS (and if not, you should), and wanted to know how it all began, here’s your chance to start at the beginning.

Longtime fans of the series will recall that WILD CARDS is our historical volume, with stories that took us all the way from Dr. Tachyon’s arrival on Earth in 1946 right up to the Wild Card “present” — which was 1986 back when the book came out in 1987. We had forty years to cover, and we covered it pretty well… but of course, there were gaps. Years and even decades of Wild Card history that we simply did not have the space to dramatize.

Tor’s new edition will help rectify that. We’re not just reprinting volume one as it was first published; we’re adding three brand-new, original, never-before-published stories set during some of the “lost years” we couldn’t cover last time around. So this edition of WILD CARDS will be fortified with original content, extra fiber, and three news tale:
– Michael Cassutt will take us back to 1956 with, “Captain Cathode v the Secret Ace,”
– David D. Levine will visit 1960, to tell us about “Powers,” and,
– Carrie Vaughn will show us 1981, as “Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan.”

We think these will be three terrific new additions to the Wild Cards saga, and we’re excited about the chance to present them to you.

November is looking to be a big, big month for me. In addition to WILD CARDS, that month will also see the release of SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH, the big new cross-genre romance/ fantasy anthology that Gardner Dozois and I have edited. AND I’ll be showing up in Minnesota for Fantasy Flight’s “Days of Ice and Fire.”

Current Mood: null null

Good News from Great Britain

June 23, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Profile Pic

The Jack Vance tribute anthology that I co-edited with Gardner Dozois, SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, has been announced as one of the finalists on this year’s shortlist for the British Fantasy Awards. We’re in the Best Anthology category, natch.

LOCUS has a full list of nominess available at http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/06/2010-british-fantasy-award-nominees/

Needless to say, Gardner and I are thrilled by the news. It’s a great honor for us, and for Jack Vance, without whose seminal work modern fantasy would look very, very different.

If you haven’t read the book yet, hey, never too late… and after you’ve read these Vance tributes, by our all-star lineup of writers, go and read some of Jack’s own books. Fantasy doesn’t get much better.

Current Mood: null null

Stuff and Nonsense

June 16, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Profile Pic

Busy days.

The reaction to the teaser that HBO ran before TRUE BLOOD has been amazing. Of course, it’s turned up all over the internet, and people are analyzing it frame by frame. Makes me wonder what it would have been like in those dark days before Tivo and YouTube, when those fifteen seconds would have flashed by once, with no way to rerun ’em, let alone freeze frame.

Casting continues apace. Mycah, Janos Slynt, Gendry, Tobho Mott, Old Nan, Shagga, Syrio, Marillion, Doreah, Alliser Thorne, Grenn, Pyp, Rast, Osha… oh, why oh why did I invent so many blasted characters??? Didn’t I know what it would cost? Oh, wait… in a book, a cast of thousands and a cast of two costs the same. For some roles, hard choices between lots of very qualified, talented actors. For other roles, hard searches, where no one seems to be quite right. Nina Gold is finding some great people, though. And the search goes on.

Another monkey may soon be off my back. All but two of the stories are in on DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS, the latest crossgenre anthology I’m editing with Gardner Dozois. We hope to be able to deliver that one by month’s end. A great lineup once again.

Meanwhile, I’ve been wrestling with Kong. For more than a week I’ve been pounding on the epilogue, but still can’t get it to gel. This morning I put that aside for a bit and went back to rewrite a Tyrion chapter, and that’s going much better. (Don’t get too excited over me mentioning the epilogue, please. I don’t always write these chapters in the order you read them. The epilogue will close the book, but it won’t be the last chapter written. For instance, the last chapter written on A STORM OF SWORDS was the Red Wedding).

Come July, I’m off to San Diego to teach a week at Clarion. There will be a signing at Mysterious Galaxy as well, I believe.

But, alas, the San Diego Comicon is looking less and less likely, so that will probably be the only visit I make to San Diego this year. On the other hand, there’s now a good chance I’ll be at the NYC Comicon in October. We shall see.

I need more hours in the day, more days in the week, more weeks in the month.

Current Mood: null null

Can’t Shut Me Up

April 28, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Profile Pic

For those who haven’t had enough of hearing me pontificate, there’s a new podcast up on the Dragon Page at http://www.dragonpage.com/2010/04/27/cover-to-cover-405a/

Hear me talk with Mike & Mike (no, not Greenberg and Golic) about WARRIORS, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, and the HBO series.

No football talk. I’m saving that for when I’m a guest of the other Mike & Mike.

Current Mood: null null

Locus Awards Shortlist

April 20, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Profile Pic

LOCUS has announced the shortlist for its annual awards, and I’m pleased to report that SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, the Jack Vance tribute anthology I co-edited with Gardner Dozois, has been nominated in the Best Anthology category.

((Three of the five nominees in Best Anthology were edited or co-edited by Gardner, who is also up himself in the Best Editor category. Despite which, he is convinced he is going to lose both awards. That’s why we call him Eeyore.))

Neil Gaimain’s story for SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH is also a finalist, in Best Short Story, and Vance’s autobiography has been nominated in Best Related Book.

For the full list, check here: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2010/04/locus-awards-finalists.html

Current Mood: null null

More on Warriors

April 4, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Profile Pic

Robin Hobb, Joe Lansdale, Cecelia Holland, and Carrie Vaughn talk about the inspiration for their contributions to WARRIORS on Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist:

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/04/little-more-information-on-warriors.html

Current Mood: null null

Love. Death. Sex. Heartbreak.

March 31, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Profile Pic

What more could you want?

Coming in November, the latest original anthology from me and my sometime-partner, Gardner Dozois (former editor of ASIMOV’s and winner of umpty-ump Hugo Awards as our field’s best editor): SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH.

The good folks at Pocket Books have just sent us the cover. Have a look.

The lineup:
-Jim Butcher, “Love Hurts” (a Harry Dresden story)
-Jo Beverly, “The Marrying Maid”
-Carrie Vaughn, “Rooftops”
-M.L.N. Hanover, “Hurt Me”
-Cecelia Holland, “Demon Lover”
-Melinda M. Snodgrass, “The Wayfarer’s Advice” (an Imperials story)
-Robin Hobb, “Blue Boots”
-Neil Gaiman, “The Thing About Cassandra”
-Marjorie M. Liu, “After the Blood”
-Jacqueline Carey, “You and You Alone” (a Kushiel story)
-Lisa Tuttle, “His Wolf”
-Linnea Sinclair, “Courting Trouble”
-Mary Jo Putney, “The Demon Dancer”
-Tanith Lee, “Under/Above the Water”
-Peter S. Beagle, “Kashkia”
-Yasmine Galenorn, “Man in the Mirror”
-Diana Gabaldon, “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows” (an OUTLANDER spinoff)

The anthology will be released as a hardcover under the Gallery imprint.

Current Mood: null null

On Sale Today

March 16, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Profile Pic

WARRIORS was officially released today, and should be available at your favorite local bookstore.

For the latest adventure of Dunk & Egg, a new Lord John story from Diana Gabaldon, an Emberverse tale from S.M. Stirling, and original stories by Joe Haldeman, Howard Waldrop, David Morrell, Tad William, Naomi Novik, Lawrence Block, James Rollins, Robin Hobb, and many many others, go ye forth and snag a copy.

Enjoy the read!

Current Mood: null null

Win A Warrior

March 1, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Profile Pic

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist is running a giveaway for Advanced Reading Copies of WARRIORS, the big crossgenre anthology I did with Gardner Dozois.

For more details, go to

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/03/win-copy-of-warriors-anthology-edited.html

And for those of you who don’t win, WARRIORS will be in the bookstores on March 16.

Current Mood: null null

WARRIORS Excerpts

February 12, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Profile Pic

With WARRIORS scheduled for hardcover release on March 16, there are a number of places on the web where readers can get a taste or two of what the book will offer.

Diana Gabaldon has posted an excerpt of her brand new Lord John novella, “The Custom of the Army,” on her website at http://66.147.244.179/~dianagab/excerpts/lj_army.html

Macmillan offers a sample from Cecelia Holland’s Viking tale, “The King of Norway,” on its own site at http://us.macmillan.com/warriors

And of course there’s an excerpt from my new Dunk & Egg novella, “The Mystery Knight,” up at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist at http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2010/01/exclusive-excerpt-from-george-r-r.html

Coming soon to a bookstore near you.

Current Mood: null null