Time for a New Calendar – Redux

December 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm

We’re well into December now, and time is running out on the year, and your 2012 calendar. So I thought I’d update my plug about all the nifty 2013 calendars out there.

First off, there’s an astonishing SONG OF ICE AND FIRE calendar for 2013, with art by Marc Simonetti.

You can get that one via Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/Song-Ice-Fire-2013-Calendar/dp/034553154X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354065445&sr=1-1

or from your favorite local or online bookseller (no, alas, it is not likely to show up at one of those calendar kiosks that pop up in malls around Xmas, they prefer to feature only their own calendars).

Maybe you loved the 2012 calendar so much that you’re slavering for more John Picacio art, however. That’s cool too, and as it happens, John is going into the calendar business on his own through his new company, Lone Boy. He’s doing a “greatest hits” compilation of some of his favorite cover paintings, launching it through KickStarter.

See here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1143812835/the-2013-john-picacio-calendar

Now, for something completely different, there’s the Literary Pin-Up Calendar put together by Patrick Rothfuss and friends.

The art is by Lee Moyer, and all of the proceeds will go to Worldbuilders on behalf of Heifer International. The art is by Lee Moyer, featuring sexy (but tasteful! tasteful!!) pin-ups of characters created by Peter S. Beagle, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Robin Hobb, N.K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Patrick Rothfuss… and me. All guaranteed saucy. So if you’re a lover of fantasy, of “good girl” art, literature, the female form, or feeding the world’s poor… actually, helping them feed themselves… or just want to ogle Nekkid Cersei, this is a calendar you need to have.

Best of all, you can order NOW. Just go to:

http://thetinkerspacks.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-2013-pin-up-calendar

So… that gives you three great choices for 2013. Picacio, Simonetti, or Moyer. Hey, why not get all three? Everyone should have a calendar in every room.

Oh, but what about 2014, you ask? The new year will be done with in no time. And it always pays to plan ahead. So right you are. But as it happens, we have you covered. I’ve just gotten a look at the cover for the 2014 SONG OF ICE AND FIRE calendar, with art with the amazing Gary Gianni, and I couldn’t wait to share, so:

That one you can’t buy just yet. You will need to wait till July, I fear. But I think the calendar will be worth the wait. Gary has finished nine of the twelve paintings as I write, and they’re all more spectacular than the last.

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Tags: calendar

Love Them Heifers

October 29, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Who says that Cersei Lannister is a cold, calculating, uncaring sort of queen?

Far from it. Her Grace loves the simple folk, and to prove it, here’s a swell new picture of her getting all nekkid just to help them buy some cows, sheeps, and goats…

The art is by Lee Moyer, a lover of the classic pin-up girl and doer of good deeds. It’s part of his soon-to-be-released 2013 Literary Pin-Up calendar, all of the proceeds of which will go to Worldbuilders on behalf of Heifer International.

Cersei will be in good company. This year’s calendar also features brand new, never before pin-ups of characters created by Peter S. Beagle, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Robin Hobb, N.K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Patrick Rothfuss. All guaranteed saucy. So if you’re a lover of fantasy, of “good girl” art, literature, the female form, or feeding the world’s poor… actually, helping them feed themselves… this is a calendar you need to have.

Best of all, you can pre-order NOW. Just go to:

http://thetinkerspacks.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-2013-pin-up-calendar

My hat is off to Lee Moyer, and to the tireless and talented Patrick Rothfuss, who put this whole thing together. “If we can get the word out,” Rothfuss writes, “I know it will raise a lot of money for Heifer International.” Let’s make it so, boys and (yes) girls.

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Tags: calendar, charity

Theon at Moat Cailin: the Calendar

September 12, 2012 at 9:24 pm

The official 2013 SONG OF ICE AND FIRE calendar is on sale at your favorite bookstore, br it brick & mortar or internet (if it’s not, time to find a new favorite bookstore). Some gorgeous artwork by Marc Simonetti this year.

And courtesy of Marc, and Random House, we also have a YouTube video about the “making of” said calendar, so you can see how all this comes together.

Enjoy.

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Tags: bantam spectra, calendar

Gianni to Illustrate 2014 Calendar

February 14, 2012 at 6:17 pm

Cool news for everyone who likes great ICE & FIRE artwork (starting with me).

The 2011 Ted Nasmith calendar and the 2012 John Picacio calendar both did very well, and Random House has extended our deal for three more calendars: 2014, 2015, and 2016 (the 2013, featuring art by Marc Simonetti, is already in the works, and will debut in July at the San Diego Comicon).

And if that wasn’t exciting enough, we’ve just signed GARY GIANNI to provide the art for the 2014 calendar!

The comic book fans among you probably know Gianni best for his work on the PRINCE VALIANT comic strip in your Sunday paper, where he took on the daunting task of following in the footsteps of the immortal Hal Foster, and brought it off wonderfully.

But I’ve been a huge fan of Gianni’s ever since I first stumbled upon a copy of the Wandering Star limited edition of THE SAVAGE TALES OF SOLOMON KANE (my favorite Robert E. Howard character, fwiw). Until I saw the Wandering Star book, the notion that any other artist could ever do a Solomon Kane to compare to Jeff Jones’s version would have struck me as rank heresy, but Gianni’s art blew me away.

Gianni went on from that to illustrate one of Wandering Star’s gorgeous CONAN volumes, to provide some lovely interiors for Michael Chabon’s GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD, to Prince Valiant, and assorted other triumphs too numerous to mention.

He’s an amazing artist, and I cannot wait to see him bring my world and characters to life for the 2014 calendar.

So now the only question is… who can we possibly get for 2015 and 2016?

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Tags: a song of ice and fire, calendar

Picacio Does Melisandre

July 29, 2011 at 1:37 pm

John Picacio has posted another sneak peek from his 2012 Ice & Fire calendar. This time it’s a detail of the red woman, Melisandre of Asshai.

http://picacio.blogspot.com/2011/06/2012-asoiaf-calendar-melisandre-preview.html

The calendar will debut at the San Diego Comicon. John and I will both be on hand, signing copies. See you there!!!

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Tags: bantam spectra, calendar, song of ice and fire

Coming to Comicon

July 19, 2011 at 4:19 pm

I’m off to San Diego tomorrow morning, for comicon.

Tickets have been sold out for months, alas. But for you lucky 150,000 who will be lucky enough to get in, here’s my current schedule of signings, panels, and other public events.

THURSDAY, JULY 21

10:00 am – 12 noon Daniel Abraham and I will be signing copies of the FEVRE DREAM graphic novel at the Avatar booth (#2701),

12 noon – 1:00 pm EPIC FANTASY panel, rm 6A

1:30pm – 2:30 pm The panelists from Epic Fantasy will be signing in autograph area AA1

3:00pm – 4:00 pm The GAME OF THRONES panel, an hour long discussion of the HB0 series with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and actors Lena Headey (Cersei), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys), Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime). I’ll be moderating.

4:30pm – 5:45pm The GAME OF THRONES cast and I will be signing posters at the Warner Brothers booth #4545.

FRIDAY JULY 22

10:00 am – 11:00 am I will be signing copies of the DOORWAYS graphic novel at the IDW
booth (#2643)

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm John Picacio and I will be signing copies of the 2012 Ice & Fire calendar in the autograph area, AA 21 I will also be signing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and my other Ice & Fire books during this appearance.

SATURDAY JULY 23

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm I will be signing A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, the other Ice & Fire books, and anything else you care to bring in the autograph area, AA 18.

5:00pm – 6:00 pm Tor Books will be giving away complimentary copies of INSIDE STRAIGHT at their booth, and I’ll be on hand to sign them, along with Melinda Snodgrass, Daniel Abraham, Carrie Vaughn, and other members of the Wild Cards crew. We’ll also be glad to deface FORT FREAK and any other Wild Cards books you care to present to us.

SUNDAY JULY 24

10:30 am – 11:30 am WILD CARDS panel. Half a dozen of your favorite Wild Cards writers will assemble to talk about the past, present, and future of the long-running shared world series in the field.

12:00 noon – 1:00 pm The Wild Card panelists will adjourn to AA1 to sign your books.

Later that afternoon, I will heading over to Mysterious Galaxy for my signing there, but that’s offsite, and not an official part of the SDCC schedule.

A couple of notes about the signings:
1) as on my tour, I will be autographing your books, but I won’t be able to inscribe or personalize them (unless by some chance you catch me at a slow time when there’s no line),
2) many of these signings are keyed to particular books and projects. At Avatar, I’ll be signing FEVRE DREAM, at IDW it will be DOORWAYS, for Tor WILD CARDS. The place to get your DANCE WITH DRAGONS signed is at the big general signings on Friday and Saturday. We’ve scheduled me for four hours of signing between those two days… so please, respect my other publishers and DO NOT ask me to sign your Ice & Fire books at the booth signings. Those are meant to promote my other projects.

[[AFTER THE CUT IS NSFW. ]]

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Of course, there are certain things I am always willing to sign.

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Tags: a dance with dragons, appearances, avatar, calendar, conventions, game of thrones, hbo, idw, signings, tor, wild cards

Sneak Peeks

June 3, 2011 at 9:47 am

For a sneak peek at the Hound from the 2012 ICE & FIRE calendar, check out John Picacio’s blog at http://picacio.blogspot.com/2011/06/2012-asoiaf-calendar-hound-preview.html

John has other sneaks up there as well, and will be giving more peeks in the future.

The calendar will debut at the San Diego Comicon in July, and can be preordered right now from Amazon or your favorite local bookstore.

Oh, and Valyrian Steel has sent me pictures of the prototype of King Robert’s warhammer, just received. Here, have a look:

Please note, this is a prototype. Further adjustments will be made before the hammer goes into production. For future details, or to weigh in with your own thoughts and suggestions, go to the Valyrian Steel website at http://www.valyriansteel.com/

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Tags: calendar, valyrian steel

Art Collectors Assemble!

March 2, 2011 at 10:04 am

Some of you out there collect original science fiction and fantasy art, I know.

(I do. Mostly I buy covers and other illustrations based on my own writings. Not entirely, though. Sometimes I just see a piece of art I love in a gallery or convention art show. I’ve been collecting art since… well, since I looked like that guy in the thumbnail).

If you liked Ted Nasmith’s artwork for the 2011 “Calendar of Ice & Fire,” maybe you’ve dreamed of hanging one of his originals on your own walls.

Well, now’s your chance. Ted’s paintings of the castles of Westeros are going up for sale, along with a lot of his stunning Tolkien art and other work. You can download a PDF of the catalog and peruse the offerings at http://www.adcbooks.co.uk/catalogue-2010-11.pdf

If you like what you see, and want to own your own Nasmith original, remember… he who hesitates is lost. Four of the paintings are already spoken for, I understand — King’s Landing, Oldtown, Dragonstone, Castle Black. ((Two of those by me, myself, and I, heh heh.)) The rest remain available, but who knows for how long?

I should add, for what it’s worth, that original art makes a great investment. Way back around 1974 or so, Frank Kelly Freas offered to sell me the original of his ANALOG cover for my story “Second Kind of Loneliness” for $200. That was my very first cover, and I loved it, so I was sorely tempted. I had only been paid $250 for the story, however, and I was still a VISTA volunteer, just barely making the rent, so I passed, and bought one of the interiors instead. I have rued it ever since. I mean, I do love the B&W I bought, but that cover… last time it changed hands, I think it went for $10,000, and THAT was twenty years ago. I’d be scared to learn what it was worth now.

Actually, though, the money is secondary, of more concern to my eventual heirs than me. I’ll likely never sell the art I’ve collected. What you want to do is buy artwork that you love, that you will enjoy looking at on your wall for the rest of your life. That’s what we do.

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Tags: art collecting, calendar

Calendars, Calendars

December 20, 2010 at 12:11 am

With the year running down, we’ll all soon be needing new 2011 calendars to hang on the wall. There’s still time to pick up the official 2011 Ice & Fire calendar, with its gorgeous castle landscapes by Ted Nasmith.

If you can’t find the Nasmith calendar at that kiosk that appears every Christmas at your local mall, check your local bookstore. A few copies may also be available through some of the associated sellers on Amazon, though Amazon itself seems to have sold out.

http://www.amazon.com/Song-Ice-Fire-2011-Calendar/dp/0553808001/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292828522&sr=1-1

Meanwhile — not to get too far ahead of ourselves — but work continues apace on next year’s Ice & Fire calendar as well. The artwork on the 2012 calendar will be provided by Hugo-award winning artist and fan favorite John Picacio, and he’s doing some amazing stuff. So I thought I’d whet your appetites by showing you the mockup of the cover that Bantam featured in its latest catalog.

The Picacio calendar will be released next July. This may not actually be the final cover, but it should give you a good taste of the spectacular work that John is doing. He tells me he’s determined to make this calendar the best work he’s ever done.

So… who would you guys like to see do the art for future calendars? Our plan is to feature a different world-class artist every year.

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Tags: calendar, song of ice and fire

A Few Odds, Some Ends

July 30, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Nightmarish day yesterday. The computer virus that we’ve been battling for weeks… often hammering it down, but never entirely eradicating it… upsurged again, and totally messed my Windows machine, so Ty had to spend the whole day dealing with it, and I could never get on line to read my emails.

He was finally successful, so I’m back in business. In fact, the computer is running better than it has for weeks. Maybe Ty has finally slain the beast. But I won’t celebrate too soon.

Of course, just one single day away from my email meant that I had more than a hundred letters in my inbox when I did get back on this morning. ONE DAY! Aieeee….

On other fronts, I see that Mo Ryan broke the Charles Dance casting while I was in computer hell. Yay, Mo. I’m very pleased by this one, and will post more about it later. Got a couple other castings I should talk about as well… but it has dawned on me that there’s no way I can talk about them ALL. Not if I want to do anything else. There are just so many.

The first week of shooting in Belfast went well, I hear, although the weather screwed with them a bit and pretty much confined them to the Paint Hall. Wish I could have been there.

I missed the San Diego Comicon as well, as previously posted. But I did have a presence. IDW announced the DOORWAYS comic, as below… and Bantam Specta debuted the gorgeous new 2011 Ice & Fire calendar, with its stunning Ted Nasmith art.

The calendar is now officially on sale and available, at all good bookstores that sell calendars. Also on Amazon. And they are shipping now. People are already receiving their calendars. Yes, we thought we would try something new this time, like actually sending people the calendars that they order. I hope you like this innovation. (This is not an invitation to rehash the mess we had with the 2009 calendar. That horse is dead. We know, we know. Believe me, we know).

Oh, and I also wanted to mention LIGHTSPEED, a new on-line SF magazine edited by the talented John Joseph Adams. Their current issue reprints a story by some Martin guy from the dawn of time, called “… for a single yesterday.” You can read it here:

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/for-a-single-yesterday/

The way LIGHTSPEED works, JJA informs me, “you can read all of our content for free, but it’s serialized on the website throughout the month, one story and one article per week. If you want to read the week 4 story now–or if you just want it in convenient downloadable formats–you can just buy the ebook version.”

So: electronic magazines. Wave of the future.

Finally, might mention that I finished a chapter of the DANCE today. I had one last chapter about this particular character — I will call him Fred — to finish, and then I am done with him for the book. Of course, in the writing, it turned into three chapters. So I finished a Fred chapter a week ago, and a Fred chapter an hour ago, and yet I STILL have one Fred chapter to finish. Sigh. The horizon recedes continuously before me.

Time to go eat supper. Bye.

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Tags: a dance with dragons, calendar, writing

Not a Blog

Time for a New Calendar – Redux

Love Them Heifers

Theon at Moat Cailin: the Calendar

Gianni to Illustrate 2014 Calendar

Picacio Does Melisandre

Coming to Comicon

Sneak Peeks

Art Collectors Assemble!

Calendars, Calendars

A Few Odds, Some Ends

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