A Taste of This, A Taste of That

May 10, 2016 at 11:03 pm

Some of you may not realize that, in addition to my Not A Blog, I also have an actual homepage / website. You can find it here: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/ Check it out, if you have not visited before. There’s lots and lots of content there, all sorts of things to explore.

I must confess, though, I don’t update it as often as I should. What can I say? I’m busy.

But today we uploaded a couple of new items that some of you may be interested in: new samples from two forthcoming books.

For all the Wild Cards fans out there, we’ve got a taste of HIGH STAKES, due out this August. HIGH STAKES is the twenty-third volume in the overall series, and the third and concluding part of the ‘Fort Freak’ triad. The sample is from the pen of the talented Ian Tregillis, and features Mollie Steunenberg, aka Tesseract. You’ll find it at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/wild-cards-excerpt/

((Readers with weak stomachs be warned, HIGH STAKES is our Lovecraftian horror book, and things do get graphic and bloody and… well… horrible. Althought not so much in the sample)).

And… because I know how much bitching I’d get if I offered a new sample from Wild Cards without also doing one from A SONG OF ICE & FIRE… we’ve also changed the WINDS OF WINTER sample on my wesbite, replacing the Alayne chapter that’s been there for the past year with one featuring Arianne Martell. (Some of you may have heard me read this one at cons).

Have a read at: http://www.georgerrmartin.com/excerpt-from-the-winds-of-winter/

You want to know what the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran, Areo Hotah, Ellaria Sand, Darkstar, and the rest will be up to in WINDS OF WINTER? Quite a lot, actually. The sample will give you a taste. For the rest, you will need to wait.

And no, just to spike any bullshit rumors, changing the sample chapter does NOT mean I am done. See the icon up above? Monkey is still on my back… but he’s growing, he is, and one day…

Tags: song of ice and fire, wild cards, writing

The Wild Cards Take Brazil

April 14, 2016 at 7:25 pm

All you Wild Cards fans out there… and those of you who will be (we hope) soon… should head over to Tor.com and meet the newest ace in the WC universe. The Recycler hails from the slums of Rio, and we think you’re going to like him as much as we do.

The story is “Discards.” The Hugo-winning author is David D. Levine.

(The art is by the one and only John Picacio).

You can read “Discards” for free here: http://www.tor.com/2016/03/30/discards/

(And if you like that one, there are five other Wild Cards originals available on Tor.com, by the likes of Walter Jon Williams, Carrie Vaughn, Paul Cornell, Cherie Priest, and Daniel Abraham. Seek and ye shall find. Jetboy did not die in vain!)

Tags: short stories, tor, wild cards

Behold, The Mighty Editor

March 25, 2016 at 11:07 am

I have my editor’s hat on today. (It looks just like my writer’s hat, only in a different color). ((No, not really, I am being facetitious. Damn, you guys, don’t take everything I say so literally)).

For the past three weeks, the forty-odd (some very odd) members of the Wild Cards consortium have been submitting story proposals and pitches for the three new WC books from Tor, LOW CHICAGO and MISSISSIPPI ROLL and TEXAS HOLD ‘EM. Last night at midnight was the deadline for pitches.

As usual, we have more proposals than we need. Only eight writers per book. So today is Decision Day, wherein I decide who gets to be in which book, who is out, who gets to double-dip. It is never easy. So many talented writers, so many great characters, so many fun ideas.

But that’s why I get the Big Bucks as editor (that was another joke, yessir, for sure, this is a labor of looooooove).

John Sebastian said it best:

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Tags: anthologies, editing, wild cards

Wild Cards Times Three

March 16, 2016 at 5:15 pm

Some exciting news on the WILD CARDS front for fans of the world’s longest running shared world anthology series.

HIGH STAKES will be out later this year, as previously announced. That’s the third and concluding volume in what we’ve come to call our “mean streets and madness” triad, and the twenty-third volume in the overall series (which originally began way way back in 1987). It was also the last new volume under contract to Tor.

But no longer! Wild Cards will fight another day. Tor has just stepped up and signed us for three more originals. This set we will be calling (informally) “the USA Triad.” But it won’t really be a triad, more like three stand-alones, each with its own setting, cast, and tone.

The three new books are:
TEXAS HOLD ‘EM
MISSISSIPPI ROLL
LOW CHICAGO

Details? Sorry. You’ll need to wait for those. The ink on the contracts is not quite dry yet, so we’re just getting up to steam (as in MISSISSIPPI… no, that would be telling).

This much I can tell you. I’ll be editing the new volumes, natch. Melinda Snodgrass will continue as my assistant editor and right hand woman. And we’ll be calling on the madman and wild women of the Wild Cards consortium for stories, as ever. Whenever we begin a new triad and a new contract, however, we like to reach out and recruit a few new writers. Fresh blood is just so tasty, and adding some new characters to the mix always helps to enliven things.

So let me introduce you to our Class of 2016. The newest inmates in the asylum are:
SALADIN AHMED
MAX GLADSTONE
MARKO KLOOS
DIANA ROWLAND

They’re all insanely talented, and they claim they play well with others (we’ll see). And no, I won’t tell you about the new characters they’ve created for us… but we think you’re going to like them.

WILD CARDS! From 1987 to forever….

((And if you have not caught the virus yet, there’s still time. Head over to the Jean Cocteau Bookshop at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/ and you’ll find all sorts of signed Wild Cards books on sale, some of them with multiple autographs from editors and writers both).

[[Comments welcome. On Wild Cards only, please. Stay on topic]].

Tags: editing, wild cards, writing

Keep Listening

February 26, 2016 at 5:59 am

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.

Tags: anthologies, audiobooks, wild cards

Nebula Nominees

February 25, 2016 at 2:52 pm

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.

Tags: awards, tor, wild cards

Orphans For Sale – Cheap

February 17, 2016 at 3:41 pm

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.

Tags: e-books, wild cards

Wild Cards Pubdates

February 2, 2016 at 12:30 pm

HIGH STAKES — the third and concluding volume in the current Wild Cards triad, and the twenty-third volume in the overall series — will be released by Tor in hardcover on AUGUST 23.

This one is another full-on mosaic novel, its storylines completely interwoven to make for a six-way collaborative novel. The participating writers, and their featured characters, are:

David Anthony Durham — Marcus (Infamous Black Tongue) Morgan
Stephen Leigh — Barbara (Babel) Baden
John Jos. Miller — The Midnight Angel
Melinda M. Snodgrass — Francis Xavier Black, NYPD
Caroline Spector — Michelle (the Amazing Bubbles) Pond
Ian Tregillis — Mollie (Tesseract) Steunenberg

Other favorites, old and new, will also appear: Hoodoo Mama, Carnifex, Lohengrin, the Recycler, Earth Witch, Jonathan Hive, Tinker, and many many more.

Be warned: this one is not for the faint of heart. This is our horror book, and things get pretty horrible. Mayhem and madness and murder, oh my. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Oh, and on other Wild Cards fronts — on March 30, a new original WC story will be available on Tor.com. “Discards,” by David D. Levine, is the origin story of his Brazilian ace, the Recycler… who will be appearing again in HIGH STAKES. But meet him first on Tor.com.

Tags: anthologies, tor, wild cards

Listen To This

January 11, 2016 at 3:08 pm

Got some exciting news for Wild Cards fans… and for fans of audiobooks.

We’ve got a new deal in place for Wild Cards audiobooks. This time we’ve signed with Random House Audio, the same good folks who have been bringing you the great audiobook versions of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, as well as ROGUES, DANGEROUS WOMEN, and my other anthologies.

Brilliance Audio did the audio editions of the first two volumes in the series, WILD CARDS and ACES HIGH, the last one coming out in 2011. Random House will be picking up the series with the third volume, JOKERS WILD, the first of our full-on mosaic novels.

Luke Daniels was the reader for the two Brilliance volumes, and did a fine job. But as long time fans of the series know, the Wild Cards books are team efforts featuring interwoven stories by a number of different writers set against a common background. Even in a shared world, however, not everything is shared; every writer has his own characters, and every character has his own voice.

Random House Audio wants to capture that with these new audiobooks. Instead of a single reader, therefore, JOKERS WILD and the volumes to follow will feature a multiplicity of narrators, a different voice for every viewpoint character.

JOKERS WILD, the first of our full mosaics, is a seven-way collaboration, set on the fortieth anniversary of the first Wild Cards Day in New York City. All the action takes place in twenty-four hours, and is seen through seven sets of eyes. The writers (and their respective viewpoint characters) were Lewis Shiner (Fortunato), Melinda M. Snodgrass (Roulette), John Jos. Miller (Wraith), Edward Bryant (Sewer Jack), Leanne C. Harper (Bagabond), Walton Simons (Demise), and your truly (Hiram Worchester).

We’ve assembled a very exciting group of readers to give them voice. You’ll hear:

Prentice Onayemi, reading Fortunato,
Pam Grier, reading Roulette,
Molly Quinn, reading Wraith,
Ray Porter, reading Sewer Jack,
Felicia Day, reading Bagabond,
Stephen McHattie, reading Demise,
Ron Donachie, reading Hiram Worchester.

Recording is taking place in London, Edinburgh, Denver, Taipei, Toronto, Burbank, and Los Angeles; we went all around the world to assemble this team.

I can hardly wait to hear how this amazing group of actors bring our characters to life.

Tags: audiobooks, wild cards

Last Year (Writing, Editing, Producing)

January 1, 2016 at 7:13 pm

I do other things besides A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

Nothing new about that. Since the very start of my career, in the early 1970s, I’ve always tried to keep several balls in the air. Sometimes one will plunk you in the head, to be sure, but it keeps life from getting dull.

My editing wound down a little in 2015. As much as I would like to do some more anthologies like ROGUES and OLD VENUS with Gardner Dozois, they were taking more of my time than I was comfortable with, given my other commitments. So Gardner is going on ahead solo with several exciting new anthology projects, but our team titles will need to wait. Apologies to all of you who were waiting for OLD URANUS.

Wild Cards is another matter. Wild Cards is in my blood, and I plan to continue with those books as long as someone will keep buying them. (And I desperately want to write more Wild Cards stories of my own, instead of just editing, but I don’t have time for that either). We delivered HIGH STAKES last year — the copyedited manuscript is on my desk as I type, waiting to be reviewed — and have signed with Tor for three more originals. Meanwhile, the reissues continue, and foreign publishers are picking up the series all over the world. We also have three Wild Cards graphic novels in the pipeline. Originals, not adaptations. The scripts are in — one from Carrie Vaughn, one from Melinda M. Snodgrass, one from the team of Kevin Andrew Murphy and John Jos. Miller — and the artists are hard at work on the pencils. They should be something.

Meanwhile, on the Hollywood front, I have three shows in various stages of development under the aegis of my overall deal with HBO. There’s CAPTAIN COSMOS for HBO (scripted by Michael Cassutt), there’s SKIN TRADE for Cinemax (to be scripted by Kalinda Vasquez), and there’s a third project in the very early stages that I am not allowed to talk about yet. There’s also WILD CARDS, but that’s at a different studio and I am not involved with it, except to license rights, sign the check, and distribute funds to my writers. Oh, and on the movie side, we seem to be moving toward production on IN THE LOST LANDS, an adaptation of three of my old stories.

Last year I also formed Kill Van Kull Productions, to develop and produce a series of low budget short films (twenty to thirty minutes long) of some classic SF short stories. Can’t say any more than that just now, but I will keep you posted as plans proceed.

I also turned down several interesting and potentially lucrative projects, on both the publishing and television/ film sides. Some of it was stuff I would love to do, but there’s just not enough time. I like to juggle, but you do need to keep the number of balls down.

So… plenty on my plate. Keep your fingers crossed, though, especially for the television and film projects. In Hollywood, nothing is ever real till shooting starts, and sometimes not even then. Remember William Goldman’s wisdom: nobody knows anything.

Tags: anthologies, editing, hbo, wild cards

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