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:
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.
Watch this space. Tomorrow I will tell you about our CREEPY DOLL CONTEST!
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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/
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 will be terrific.
'Nuff said.
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Something old and something new… that's ACES ABROAD, scheduled to be re-released by Tor in a new, expanded trade paperback edition on Tuesday (January 13).
The fourth volume in the original Wild Cards series of mosaic novels, ACES ABROAD is set in 1987, and tells the tale of a global fact-finding junket sponsored by the World Health Organization, to investigate the conditions of aces and jokers around the world. The original book contained stories from Stephen Leigh (featuring Puppetman) , John J. Miller (Chrysalis), Leanne C. Harper (the Hero Twins), Gail Gerstner Miller (Peregrine), Edward Bryant (Wyungare), Walton Simon (Jayewardene and the Great Ape), Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), Victor Milan (Mackie Messer), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Dr. Tachyon), Michael Cassutt (Polyakov), and my own linking interstitial "Journal of Xavier Desmond" (starring Xavier Desmond, of course).
All of those are here, for anyone who missed them first time around… but to sweeten the pot, we've added two brand new originals for this new edition. Kevin Andrew Murphy takes center stage with the untold tale of Troll's adventures in Peru, and we visit Prague with Lady Black and Carrie Vaughn.
We also have a brand new cover, another spectacular piece of art from Michael Komarck.
Old stories, new stories, great new art… you can preorder a copy from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Cards-IV-Aces-Abroad/dp/0765335581/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420919494&sr=1-1, or pick it up Tuesday from your favorite local bookstore or online retailer.
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Another year has come and gone, and all sorts of folks are putting out lists of their favorite books of 2014…
… including the editors at Amazon.
I am pleased to say that our Westerosi worldbook THE WORLD OF ICE & FIRE and our anthology ROGUES both made the Top Twenty list in Science Fiction and Fantasy:
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_426357402_25?ie=UTF8&node=10207159011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&pf_rd_r=1MX64NEX9Q76GESKDKKX&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1968735602&pf_rd_i=10207069011
Thanks, Amazon. And thanks to all of you, my readers. Hope you enjoyed the books as well.
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DANGEROUS WOMEN, the big crossgenre anthology that Gardner Dozois and I edited for Tor, was announced as the winner of the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology of 2013 on Sunday, at the World Fantasy Convention in Washington, DC.
I wasn't able to attend the con this year (I do hope to be at next year's event, in Saratoga), but Gardner was on hand, and accepted for the both of us.
The news came as a pleasant surprise… nay, even a shock. Neither Gardner nor I thought we had a prayer of winning. The anthology shortlist was very strong this year. But this one is case where I was glad to be proved wrong.
My thanks to the fans and readers who nominated us, to the judges who chose us as winner, to our editors and publishers and all the rest of the good folks at Tor and Harper. And of course to our writers, whose talents made DANGEROUS WOMEN. We had a great lineup:
INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
SOME DESPERADO, by Joe Abercrombie
MY HEART IS EITHER BROKEN, by Megan Abbott
NORA’S SONG, by Cecelia Holland
THE HANDS THAT ARE NOT THERE, by Melinda Snodgrass
BOMBSHELLS, by Jim Butcher
RAISA STEPANOVA, by Carrie Vaughn
WRESTLING JESUS, by Joe R. Lansdale
NEIGHBORS, by Megan Lindholm
I KNOW HOW TO PICK ‘EM, by Lawrence Block
SHADOWS FOR SILENCE IN THE FORESTS OF HELL, by Brandon Sanderson
A QUEEN IN EXILE, by Sharon Kay Penman
THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR, by Lev Grossman
SECOND ARABESQUE, VERY SLOWLY, by Nancy Kress
CITY LAZARUS, by Diana Rowland
VIRGINS, by Diana Gabaldon
HELL HATH NO FURY, by Sherilynn Kenyon
PRONOUNCING DOOM, by S.M. Stirling
NAME THE BEAST, by Sam Sykes
CARETAKERS, by Pat Cadigan
LIES MY MOTHER TOLD ME, by Caroline Spector
THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN, by George R.R. Martin
For those of you who missed DANGEROUS WOMEN in hardcover, the anthology is being released in mass market (in three volumes) by Tor in the US and HarperVoyager in the UK. All three of the British paperbacks and the first two of the American are on the stands, and available from Amazon and other online booksellers. Gardner and I are very proud of this one. We hope you check it out.
For the full list of this year's World Fantasy Awards winners, go to:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/11/world-fantasy-awards-winners-2014/
This is my third Howard. I won Best Novella for "The Skin Trade" a couple of decades ago, and more recently a Lifetime Achievement Award… which I guess makes this one a post-lifetime achievement. I look forward to lining up my three HPLs on the mantlepiece.
Aieeeeeeeeee…………………….
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So Gardner Dozois and I put together this gargantuan crossgenre anthology called ROGUES for Bantam, featuring a great lineup of original stories about cads, swindlers, n'eer-do-wells, and scoundrels from some of our favorite writers. It was published in hardcover a few months ago, to terrific sales (debuted at #7 on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list) and some great reviews. Lots of people seemed to like it.
One of them turned out to be Bill Schafer, of Subterranean Press. Who liked it so much he decided that SubPress would do its own edition.
Look for it early next year. Or, better still, start checking the SubPress website so you can place an order as soon as it becomes available, since the SubPress editions tend to sell out… and yes, this one will be limited to 500 copies.
Like all SubPress limiteds, it will be gorgeous. Slipcased, numbered or lettered, signed by Gardner and me and all of our writers, acidfree paper, beautiful design… and lavishly illustrated by Ken Laager, a very talented artist best known for his work in noir.
Here's his cover, based on my own contribution to the volume, "The Rogue Prince."
The Rogues are coming back. Beware.
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Hey, lots of good news on the anthology front while I was traipsing around France and Switzerland these past couple of weeks.
OLD MARS led the way, winning the annual Locus Award as the Best Anthology of 2013:
You can check out the details at http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/06/2014-locus-awards-winners-2/ And congratulations to my pals Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck as well. As James S.A. Corey, they won the Locus Award for Best SF Novel of the year. (Would that ABADDON'S GATE was on the Hugo ballot as well). And of course, congrats to my co-editor Gardner Dozois, and our amazing lineup of writers, who made the anthology the delight that it is. If you haven't checked out OLD MARS yet, you missed at lot.
((And for what it's worth, OLD VENUS will be even better)).
Next thing, the nominees for this year's World Fantasy Award were announced. OLD MARS wasn't eligible, being science fiction and all… but DANGEROUS WOMEN, the big crossgenre anthology that Gardner and I released last summer, is one of the finalists for Best Anthology (against some mighty stiff competition, I might add).
You can check out the full list of Wold Fantasy Award nominees here:
http://www.worldfantasy.org/awards/
To round out the triptych, in the midst of all this recognition for the books that Gargy and I did last year, our newest anthology, ROGUES, hit the shelves from coast and coast… and debuted at #7 on the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List. No, not the anthology bestseller list, or the SF/ fantasy bestseller list, but the bestseller list for ALL HARDCOVER FICTION. Which is pretty damned extraordinary for an anthology.
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2014-07-06/hardcover-fiction/list.html
So, all in all, it was a hell of a month.
My thanks to the LOCUS voters, the World Fantasy Con members and judges, and all the readers who snatched up ROGUES.
I love doing anthologies, and introducing great stories and new writers to my fans. It's great to see the books being so well received.
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Venus is lovely in the spring.
The Old Venus, that is. You know, the steamy, swampy Venus of the SF pulps, with its web-footed Venusians (Venerians), teeming jungles, dinosaurs, and those infamous dens of inquity in Venusburg. The Venus of Leigh Brackett, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Roger Zelazny, C.L. Moore, and Isaac Asimov.
Those who miss the place (like me) will be able to return there next spring. OLD VENUS, an original anthology of retro-SF stories set upon the lost Venus of old, will be released by Bantam Spectra in hardcover on March 3, 2015. We just got our first look at the cover:
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
If you enjoyed OLD MARS (our Locus Award nominee from last year), you'll like this one even better, I think… 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.
March 3. Mark the day on the calendars.
I'll meet you on Venus.
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The rogues are here.
Today was pub day. ROGUES, the latest gigantic crossgenre anthology from Gardner Dozois and yours truly, is now available at your favorite local bookstore on on-line bookseller.
If you enjoyed WARRIORS and DANGEROUS WOMEN, we think you'll love ROGUES. It may be our strongest anthology yet. We have some amazing writers and some incredible stories in this one. The table of contents:
George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”
Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”
Connie Willis “Now Showing”
Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”
George R.R. Martin "The Rogue Prince, or, A King's Brother."
Enjoy the read!
(And yes, New Mexicans, we have copies for sale at the Jean Cocteau, and I will be there tomorrow evening to sign them. We're having a benefit for the New Mexico Book Association. Come join us, have a beer, buy a book, hear me read).
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ROGUES, the latest gigantic crossgenre anthology from yours truly and Gardner Dozois, is scheduled for release on June 17… but three lucky fans can snag a copy early.
Patrick St. Denis, fantasy blogger and degenerate Dallas Cowboys fan, is having one of his infamous giveaways at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. To enter, just go to
http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2014/05/win-copy-of-rogues-edited-by-george-r-r.html
For those who'd like a taste of the treats awaiting them, Pat has also put up an excerpt from Patrick Rothfuss's outstanding novella. You can find that one here:
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