CHANGE Is Coming…

June 13, 2015 at 12:38 pm

… but not to the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

We have our latest author event scheduled for Monday: a launch party and booksigning for the original anthology, THE CHANGE, edited by S.M. Stirling and set in his “Emberverse” universe.

Steve himself will be on hand, of course… what’s more, he’s arranged to bring in nine of the writers who contributed stories to THE CHANGE, including DIANA PAXSON, WALTER JON WILLIAMS, JANE LINDSKOLD, JOHN JOS. MILLER, and EMILY MAH.

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MATT (M.T) REITAN, KEIR SALMON, VICTOR MILAN, and LAUREN TEFFEAU will also be attending.

The event starts at 7:00 pm. We will have some readings from the stories, a panel discussion moderated by Steve Stirling himself, a q&A with the audience, and of course a mass signing session where you can get your copy defaced by all the writers.

HOWEVER… because we cannot possibly get ten writers up on the little itty-bitty stage at the Jean Cocteau, we have moved this event down the road a little, to the brand new VIOLET CROWN CINEMA two blocks south. They have lots more room than we do. (And a whole lot of cool beers on tap as well).

See you there!

Tags: anthologies, jean cocteau, signings

Autograph Hounds

June 9, 2015 at 1:11 am

For all of you autograph collectors out there…

My partner in crime Gardner Dozois is cleaning out his house in scenic Philadelphia, and he just send me two big boxes of OLD MARS and OLD VENUS hardcovers, all signed.

I’ve added my own illegible scrawl to the title pages, to go with his.

Since Gardner and I live two thousand miles apart, getting a copy of one of our anthologies signed by both of us is not easy. So here’s your chance.

Matching copies of OLD MARS and OLD VENUS signed by both editors can be purchased (while the supply lasts, which may not be long) from the Jean Cocteau bookstore, at:
http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/

Lots of other autographed books are available from the same site, of course, including titles by Diana Gabaldon, Ellen Datlow, Lisa See, Carrie Vaughn. Junot Diaz, Lev Grossman, Dennis Lehane, and that George R.R. Martin guy.

Tags: anthologies, signed books

Conquest Bound

May 18, 2015 at 7:19 pm

I hear that everything is up to date in Kansas City, so I am heading that way to check it out for myself. Next weekend I will be Editor Guest of Honor at Conquest, KC’s long-running regional con, and one of my very favorites. I went to my first KC con in 1972 (where I finally met Howard Waldrop, with whom I’d been exchanging letters since 1963), and have been coming back when I can ever since. The 1976 worldcon in KC — MidAmericon — still ranks as the best worldcon of all time, in my not so humble opinion. Even if I did lose two Hugos there.

So if any of you are in Kansas or Missouri or within driving distance, do come join us. You can check out the basics on the con here: http://www.conquestkc.org/

I should underline the fact that I am the Editor GOH at Conquest (Brandon Sanderson is the Author Guest of Honor). I’ve been editing books just as long as I’ve been writing them (the first book I ever published was one I’d edited, not one I’d written), and to date I’ve been editor or co-editor on thirty-eight anthologies, with number thirty-nine on the way. Yet this will be be the first time that any con has ever honored me for my editorial work.

Yes, I will be reading a chapter from THE WINDS OF WINTER there, and yes, I’ll talk about ICE AND FIRE and my other writing… but the emphasis at Conquest will be on my editing, especially the WILD CARDS series, and one of my two scheduled autograph sessions will be limited to the anthologies I’ve edited. Just sayin’.

And of course, I expect to find some burnt ends as well… dragon-charred, no doubt…

Tags: anthologies, conventions, travels

LOCUS Nominations Announced

May 4, 2015 at 7:20 pm

LOCUS has just released its list of finalists for this year’s Locus Awards. I am pleased and proud that ROGUES, last year’s big crossgenre anthology from Gardner Dozois and yours truly, earned a nomination for Best Original Anthology.

In addition, three of the stories in the ROGUES have also been nominated in their respective categories: “The Lightning Tree” by Patrick Rothfuss in Novella, and Joe Abercrombie’s “Tough Times All Over” and Scott Lynch’s “A Year and a Day in old Theradane” in Novelette.

You can find the complete list of finalists here:

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/05/2015-locus-awards-finalists/

While this year, admittedly, may be different due to the influence of the slate campaigns, over most of the past couple of decades the Locus Poll has traditionally had significantly more participants than the Hugo nomination process. Looking over the Locus list, one cannot help but think that this is probably what the Hugo ballot would have looked like, if the Puppies had not decided to game the system this year.

Is it a better list or a worse one? Opinions may differ. The proof is in the reading.

In any case, congratulations to Scott, Patrick, and Joe, and thanks to everyone who nominated their stories, and ROGUES. We’re glad you liked the book. Gardner and I loved doing it.

Tags: anthologies, awards, locus awards

OLD VENUS Audio

May 4, 2015 at 3:55 pm

Any audiobook fans out there?

Somehow, with Puppygate and the Cocteau and travel and cons WILD CARDS and (yes!!!) working on WINDS, I neglected to mention the OLD VENUS audiobook, which came out a few months ago.

So I am mentioning it now. We have a really astonishing line-up of readers on this one. Take a look for yourself:

Gardner Dozois Introduction & Author Bios SCOTT BRICK
Joe Haldeman !œLiving Hell! W. MORGAN SHEPARD
Garth Nix !œBy Frogsled and Lizardback!¦! HARRY LLOYD
Michael Cassutt !œThe Sunset of Time! MATT FREWER
Allen Steele !œFrogheads! JAKE WEBER
David Brin !œThe Tumbledowns of Cleopatra Abyss ! WIL WHEATON
Matthew Hughes !œGreeves and the Evening Star! STEPHEN FRY
Tobias Buckell !œPale Blue Memories! PRENTICE ONAYEMI
Lavie Tidhar !œThe Drowned Celestial! ROY DOTRICE
Joe R. Lansdale !œThe Wizard of the Trees! MICHAEL DORN
Ian McDonald !œBotanica Veneris: Thirteen Papercuts…” DAME DIANA RIGG
Eleanor Arnason !œRuins! MANDY WILLIAMS
Paul McAuley !œThe Planet of Fear! TISHA DONNELLY
Elizabeth Bear !œThe Heart’s Filthy Lesson! JANIS IAN
Gwyneth Jones !œA Planet Called Desire! JAKE STORMOEN
Stephen Leigh !œBones of Air, Bones of Stone! GETHIN ANTHONY
Mike Resnick !œThe Godstone of Venus! RON DONACHIE

Happy listening.

Tags: anthologies, audiobooks

At the Cocteau

March 13, 2015 at 12:46 pm

This will be a great weekend at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

PETER S. BEAGLE and his travelling show return tonight, with THE LAST UNICORN.

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We have one screening tonight (Friday) at 6:00, and two tomorrow at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Peter will be introducing each screening personally, and fielding your questions afterwards. He’ll also be on hand to sign copies of his original novel, and many of other classic works. If you missed him last year when he passed through, don’t make the same mistake again. And if you were here last year, well, come again.

In between the two Saturday screenings of THE LAST UNICORN, we’ll be showing THE SALVATION a new western in the classic tradition, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Eva Green.

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Come Sunday, ELLEN DATLOW will be here with new anthology, THE DOLL COLLECTION.

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Ellen will be joined by two of her authors, Jeffrey Ford and Stephen Graham Jones. We’ll have readings from the book, an interview, a question-and-answer, and of course Ellen, Jeff, and Stephen will all be available to sign their books.

All that… and our CREEPY DOLL CONTEST! Check back here on Monday to see the winners.

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Tags: anthologies, appearances, jean cocteau, movies, signed books, signings

Return to Venusport

March 3, 2015 at 11:48 am

Remember Venus? No, no, not the hellhole that NASA found, with its acid rains and searing temperatures, but Old Venus, the Venus of our childhoods, the Venus of Burroughs and Moore and Bradbury and Brackett and Heinlein and Zelazny… the Venus that Astro hailed from… shrouded in clouds, mysterious, teeming with dinosaurs and endless swamps anmd furtive web-footed Venerians?

Who says you can’t go home again? Old Venus awaits you. OLD VENUS, the latest original anthology from me and my co-conspirator Gardner R. Dozois, goes on sale today at a bookstore near you, or from your favorite on-line bookseller.

Old Venus final jkt

Here’s the table of contents:

The final lineup:

INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSS, by David Brin
BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
THE HEART’S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald

OLD MARS was a great hit with fans of old-fashioned space opera and planetary romance, and we think OLD VENUS is even better… and there’s one story in there that’s so bloody good that if it doesn’t win the Hugo and Nebula both, I’ll count it as a major injustice. Which one? Ah, I will leave you guys to figure that out. But first you’ll need to read the book.

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Tags: anthologies, publications, science fiction

Lose Some, Win Some

February 21, 2015 at 12:41 pm

So GAME OF THRONES failed to win either of the Writers Guild Awards it was nominated for. Congrats to THE GOOD WIFE and TRUE DETECTIVE and all the other winners.

All is not lost on the awards front, however. ROGUES won a Stabby!

The Stabby is given by the folks on Reddit. ROGUES won as last year’s best anthology. Which is very cool. Thank you, Redditters. And thanks to my co-editor, Gardner Dozois, and to an amazing lineup of writers, whose talents made the book what it was.

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

The trophy is very cool as well: an engraved dagger. I have not received mine yet, but here’s a picture of someone else’s:

stabby

I am informed that Gardner Dozois and I will both receive one of these. I’ll post a picture when it turns up. And it will be great to have an award that I can use to stab my enemies. Battering them to death with my Hugos just takes too long.

For a full list of the Stabby winners, go to:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/2rh018/best_of_rfantasy_2014_the_results_thread/

Meanwhile, on other fronts, we’ve also been informed that the audiobook of DANGEROUS WOMEN (the previous massive crossgenre anthology that Gardner and I put together) has been nominated for an Audie Award. We’re a finalist in the category of Short Story Collections. For a full list of nominees, check out: https://www.audiopub.org/Audies15/2015_Audie_Awards_Release.pdf

Thanks again to Gardner and to our writers, to Janet Stark and all the great folks at Random House Audio, and to the amazing cast of voice actors and readers they assembled: Claudia Black, Scott Brick, Karen Dotrice, Jonathan Frakes, Iain Glen, Janis Ian, Stana Katic, Inna Korobkina, Jenna Lamia, Lee Meriwether, Emily Rankin, Maggi-Meg Reed, Fred Sanders, Allan Scott-Douglas, Sophie Turner, Harriet Walter, and Jake Weber.

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Tags: anthologies, audiobooks, awards, internet

Beware… the Dolls Are Coming

February 14, 2015 at 1:16 am

Never understood why so many people are scared of clowns.

Clowns aren’t creepy.

DOLLS are creepy.

Look at these examples I found on the internet:

crrepy1 creepy2

crrepy3 crrepy4

Whether you love dolls, or are seriously creeped out by them, you will want to be at the Jean Cocteau Cinema on Sunday, March 15, when award-winning editor and anthologist ELLEN DATLOW comes to visit us, with her new book about… you guessed it.

TheDollCollection-400

Watch this space. Tomorrow I will tell you about our CREEPY DOLL CONTEST!

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Tags: anthologies, horror, jean cocteau, signed books

Congrats, Congrats

January 24, 2015 at 6:22 pm

Congratulations to GILLIAN FLYNN. Her story "What Do You Do?" from ROGUES has been nominated for an Edgar Award by the members of the Mystery Writers of America.

It's a terrific story, and Gillian is an amazing writer. Gardner Dozois and I are very proud to have had the honor of publishing it.

Fingers crossed for Gillian to bring home the head of Edgar Allan Poe when the MWA gives them out at the end of April.

For a full list of this year's Edgar nominees, go to http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

If you'd like to read "What Do You Do?" — and a lot of other great stories about con men, scalawags, ne'er do wells, cads, scoundrels, and their disreputable brothers and sisters — ROGUES is available from your local bookstore or favorite online bookseller. And you can snag a signed copy (signed by me, not Gillian, alas) from the Jean Cocteau Cinema at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

Congratulations also to the amazing and talented SOPHIE TURNER, our very own Sansa Stark, who has just landed the plum role of Jean Grey in the next X-MEN movie.

Yes, THAT Jean Grey. Marvel Girl. Phoenix. Dark Phoenix. One of the most iconic.. and most powerful… characters in the Marvel universe.

I first met Jean Grey in the first issue of the X-MEN, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced them back in the 1960s. I first met Sophie when when we were shooting the pilot of GAME OF THRONES. This is a casting made in comic book heaven. It brings out the old fanboy in me, the kid who used to write letters that began "Dear Stan and Jack."

sophie-turner-game-of-thrones 2689024-phoenix

Sophie will be terrific.

'Nuff said.

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Tags: anthologies, awards, films, game of thrones, movies

Not a Blog

CHANGE Is Coming…

Autograph Hounds

Conquest Bound

LOCUS Nominations Announced

OLD VENUS Audio

At the Cocteau

Return to Venusport

Lose Some, Win Some

Beware… the Dolls Are Coming

Congrats, Congrats

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