The Rumpus interview

Fri 27 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Benjamin Parzybok| Posted by: Gavin

The Rumpus just posted a great longish interview with Benjamin Parzybok about his somewhat scarily possible novel Sherwood Nation. Ben is someone who sees a problem and does something, whether that’s write a novel or run a poetry magazine in gumball machines or to tell the story of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner from the first person (Project Hamad). David Breithaupt at The Rumpus asked Ben about his activism, our place in the world, and more:

The Rumpus: I don’t understand the denial of climate change. Sherwood Nation depicts a type of class war over the unequal distribution of water rations. Do you think this is happening now with climate denial, that the wealthy are in battle with the other ninety-nine percent?

Parzybok: I certainly think there’s a war going on between the self-interested, self-serving body that is the corporation, and humans. At this point in our democracy, that’s the primary struggle we’re facing: whether corporate or constituent interests will win out. Weirdly, corporations are staffed by people, presumably, and so you’d expect they’d have some sway. But a corporation has a mind of its own, and corporate goals do not line up at all with potential longer-term goals of our species (these goals might be difficult to agree on, but surely opportunities for cataclysm might be among them). I do wish every CEO (most of whom are among the one percent) would sit down and re-evaluate his or her corporation’s goals based on long-term interests for living here on this planet.

  Read on

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Cloud & Ashes pb

Wed 25 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., events, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe| Posted by: Gavin

I’m pleased to note that the first paperback edition of Greer Gilman’s amazing, immersive, enchanting, mind boggling, fever-inducing, death-defying literary tightrope walk, Tiptree Award winner Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales has gone to press and will be published in April of this year.

Greer will be reading and taking questions at the mighty Porter Square Books on April 21st at 7 pm along with one of her amazing first readers, Sonya Taaffe, who will be celebrating the publication of her own latest book, Ghost Signs, a collection of 36 poems and one story, published by our friends at Aqueduct Press.

Should you read Cloud & Ashes? Here is one reader’s response:

“Cloud & Ashes is not a book for every reader; but it is a book for every human. (It’s also a book for every library that desires to be worthy of that appellation.) There might seem to be a contradiction in those words, and there might well be, were every human to read. But to my, mind reading is an effort that exists outside its own exercise; that is when we read, it may feel like an internal, unshared, indeed unsharable experience. But that is not, I think the case. When we read, we go to the place where writing comes from, and in so doing, I think we leave something of ourselves behind as readers. Greer Gilman found whatever it is that is left behind, she has captured it in her net of words and managed to write it down and get it published. That is a herculean feat. It may only happen once in her lifetime or in ours. But it’s happened here and now. What you do with it is up to you. For eternity, as it happens.”
—Rick Kleffel

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This Saturday in LA

Wed 18 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Ayize Jama-Everett, bookshops, keep it indie, libraries| Posted by: Gavin

This Saturday in LA at the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Children’s Literacy Day we are very happy to note that Ayize Jama-Everett (The Entropy of Bones, Aug. 2015) will be a panelist on the We Need Diverse Books panel, along with Newbery Award winner Cynthia Kadohata (Kira-Kira) and Sherri Smith (author of the fabulous and weird Orleans). The moderator is debut novelist Stacey Lee (Under a Painted Sky).

Even better news: Fedex is right now delivering advance reading copies of The Entropy of Bones for attendees. Ayize’s novels are pretty fast-paced sf thrillers and this one kicks off hard with a young woman out for a run in the Northern California hills getting the drop on some people who expected to surprise her.

Here’s a taste:

Chapter One

Last time I’d been this deep in the Northern California hills I was a blood and bar tour in a monkey-shit brown Cutlass Royale with the Raj. Now I was on distance running from the Mansai, his boat, to wherever I would finally get tired. From Sausalito to Napa is only sixty or so miles if I hugged the San Pablo Bay, cut through the National Park and ran parallel to the 121, straight north. About a half a day’s run. Cut through the mountains and pick up the pace and I could make it to Calistoga in another three hours. From downtown wine country I’d find the nicest restaurant that would serve my sweaty gortexed ass and gorge myself on meals so large cooks would weep. The runs up were like moving landscape paintings done by masters; deep with nimbus clouds hiding in craggy sky-high mountains. Creeks hidden in deep green fern and ivies that spoke more than they ran.

Narayana Raj had taught me in the samurai style. You don’t focus on your enemy’s weakness, instead you make yourself invulnerable. My focus was to be internal. In combat discipline was all. But in the running of tens of miles, that discipline was frivolous. My only enemy was boredom and memory. Surrounded by such beauty, how could I not split my attention? Nestled in the California valleys I found quiet, if not peace.

I also found guns. Halfway between Napa and Calistoga, the chambering of a shotgun pulled my attention from the drum and bass dirge pulsing in my ear buds. The woods had just gone dark but my vision was clear enough to notice the discarded cigarette butts that formed a semi-circle behind one knotted Redwood. Rather than slowing down, I sped up and choke-held the red headed shotgun boy hiding behind the tree before he had time to situate himself, my ulna against his larynx, my palm against his carotid. He was muscular but untrained . Directly across from him was an older man, late thirties, dressed for warmth with one of those down jackets that barely made a sound when he moved. His almost fu-manchu moustache didn’t twitch when he pulled two Berettas on me. I faced my captive towards his partner.

“Wait . . .” Berettas said, more scared than he meant to sound.

Drop them. I commanded with my Voice. The gun went down hard. I used the Dragon claw, more a nerve slap than a punch, to turn the redhead’s carotid artery into a vein for a second. When he started seizing, I dropped him. To his credit, Beretta went for the kid rather than his weapons. I continued my run, mad that I’d missed a refrain from Kruder and Dorfmeister.
. . .

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Mythically resonant

Wed 18 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Nicole Kornher-Stace| Posted by: Gavin

ETA: Another great response!

“Archivist Wasp turns destiny on its head, and it re-invents the world you know to do it. Strong. Fast. Addictive.” — Darin Bradley, author of Noise and Chimpanzee

The drums keep beating for Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Archivist Wasp. It’s her first young adult novel, it comes out in May, and this week we had two pieces of good news:

First, an excellent response from an early reader:

“Sharp as a blade and mythically resonant, Archivist Wasp is a post-apocalyptic ghost story unlike anything else I’ve read. Trust me, you want this book.” — Karina Sumner-Smith, author of Radiant

And, second, the first trade review came in and it’s a STAR! Here’s a line from it, please do go read the rest of the review and if you feel like it, clickity click one of those sharey buttons:

“A ravishing, profane, and bittersweet post-apocalyptic bildungsroman transcends genre into myth.”
— Kirkus Reviews

 

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Locus Recommended Reading

Fri 13 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Alice Sola Kim, Delia Sherman, Eileen Gunn, Holly Black, Kelly Link, Locus, Monstrous Affections, Nalo Hopkinson, Ysabeau S. Wilce| Posted by: Gavin

This month’s issue of Locus (handily available on Weightless) is a humdinger of a read — not just for this here publisher, although our books do get many great shout outs. For which, Yay!

I always find the year in review columns interesting to see the range of books covered, what I’ve read, and what I’ve missed. This year I thought they were even more enjoyable than ever because they were even more personalized than ever. There is still the authoritative Recommended Reading List, but there are so many books and magazines mentioned and highlighted throughout the whole issue (ok, I haven’t read the whole thing yet) that I found it made for immersive reading. I love how widely the editors look for books and how fresh their eyes are. It’s easy to get tired of the unending stream of books, magazines, anthologies, ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts, etc., but what I got from this issue was that it was put together by a group of people who are enthusiastic about books and their jobs and are happy to share their enjoyment.

This year three of our 2014 books and one story from LCRW were included in the list. (We published 3 new collections and 1 new novel, and reprinted 2 novels and 4 ebooks to make a total of 10 books, plus 1 chapbook and 2 issues of LCRW):

Questionable Practices, Eileen Gunn
Young Woman in a Garden, Delia Sherman
Prophecies, Libels, and Dreams: Stories of Califa, Ysabeau S. Wilce
“Skull and Hyssop”, Kathleen Jennings (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet no. 31, Dec. 2014)

I’m very happy to see that Monstrous Affections, the YA all-monster-all-the-time anthology that Kelly and I edited for Candlewick was on the list, received some fabulous mentions, and had 5 stories included. Me, I’d have included all 15 stories, but, hey, I co-edited the beast:

Monstrous Affections, Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant, ed (Candlewick)
“Moriabe’s Children”, Paolo Bacigalupi
“Left Foot, Right”, Nalo Hopkinson
“Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind)”, Holly Black
“Mothers, Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying”, Alice Sola Kim
“The New Boyfriend”, Kelly Link

And it is also pretty fabby to see Kelly’s three stories included, one from Monstrous Affections and one story from the anthology My True Love Gave to Me which is not included in her new collection, Get in Trouble (also reviewed in this issue by Gary K. Wolfe):

“I Can See Right Through You”, Kelly Link (McSweeney’s #48)
“The Lady and the Fox”, Kelly Link (My True Love Gave to Me)

Happily for us, there were also a couple of reviews of our books. Gardner Dozois reviewed Ysabeau S. Wilce’s Prophecies, Libels, and Dreams:

. . . lyrical, whimsical, eccentric, baroquely ornamented, and often very funny. . . . but what really makes these stories shine is the voice they’re told in – one using flamboyant, over-the-top verbal pyrotechnics that somehow almost always pay off. . . .

and Eileen Gunn’s Questionable Practices:

Nobody sees the world quite like Gunn does, who puts her own unique spin on everything, transforming even the mundane into something rich and wonderful . . . [including] two stories published in this collection for the first time, “Phantom Pain” and the richly textured variant on the Golem story, “Chop Wood, Carry Water”.

and even a review of Monstrous Affections by Rich Horton.

And, if you do go check out the Recommended Reading list, don’t forget you too can go vote in the poll. I like voting in almost any context so of course I recommend it here. In the meantime, thanks to Locus for all the work that goes into that corker of a February issue and to everyone who reads and votes for our books.

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The Chemical Wedding moves on

Fri 13 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., John Crowley| Posted by: Gavin

Good news for those of you following the long evolution of John Crowley’s The Chemical Wedding. Jacob MacMurray is deep into the design and the book has just come back from the proofreader. More updates as we have them!

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Got the snacks, cupcakes, beer, just need the reader

Fri 13 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link, readings| Posted by: Gavin

and Kelly will be on a train back from New York City soon. She also did a radio interview and read at Word Jersey City and chatted with Lev Grossman. I saw a photo on twitter, weird.

Tonight! Books! Eats from King Street Eats! Cupcakes! Berkshire Brewing beer!

Odyssey Bookshop, 7 pm!

Location: 9 College St., South Hadley, MA 01075 (get directions)

Poet A. B. Robinson will read followed by Kelly reading, doing a Q&A, and enjoying being in Western Mass for a couple of days before heading oot scoot off to the West Coast. Hope to see you there!

Monday: Brookline Booksmith!
Tuesday: Elliott Bay, Seattle!
Wednesday: Powell’s, Portland!
Thursday: Booksmith, San Francisco!
Friday: Literati, Ann Arbor!
More!

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Archivist Wasp gets going

Wed 11 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., keep it indie, Nicole Kornher-Stace| Posted by: Gavin

How do we know Archivist Wasp is getting out there?

Because Elliott Bay Bookstore and their lovely bookseller Justus Joseph, all the way over there in Seattle, was tweeting at us today about it, that’s how! Yeah! We sent copies out to some of the best indie bookstores around and they are reading it and loving it. The book came to us on a hot tip from Ysabeau Wilce and we are very happy to be sending it out into the world this May.

Also, because we’re getting a cracking response from early readers!

“Archivist Wasp is a gorgeous and complex book, featuring a deadly girl who traverses an equally deadly landscape. Wasp won me over, and she’s sure to find fans among teens and grown-ups alike.”
— Phoebe North, author of Starglass

“A tremendously inventive and smart novel. Archivist Wasp is like Kafka by way of Holly Black and Shirley Jackson, but completely original. Highly recommended.”
— Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy

“A gorgeous, disturbing, compelling book with a smart, complicated heroine who bestrides her post-apocalyptic world like a bewildered force of nature. Reading it was a wild ride and a thoroughly satisfying one.”
— Delia Sherman, author of The Freedom Maze

“Brutal post-apocalypse meets sci-fi techno-thriller meets a ghost story for the ages in this astonishingly original novel from Nicole Kornher-Stace. You’ve never read anything like Archivist Wasp, but once you have you’ll be clamoring for more.”
— Mike Allen, author of Unseaming

“One of the most revelatory and sublime books I’ve ever read, Archivist Wasp is a must-read for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction. Kornher-Stace is a genius, and I can’t wait to see what she does next!”
— Tiffany Trent, author of The Unnaturalists

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Slipstream Fiction Goes Mainstream

Wed 4 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link, Publishing| Posted by: Gavin

Names? Genres?

Hey, we just know what we love and when we can we publish it.

Great article in the Wall Street Journal by Anna Russell and Jennifer Maloney with shout outs to many favorite authors. Our new LCRW blurb:

“a ’zine, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.” — The Wall Street Journal

And this is all tied in to Kelly’s new book, Get in Trouble, which, despite a houseful of colds and days of sick or snow days we are celebrating and getting Kelly ready to head out to a ton a great bookstores. Love the picture of Kelly, too!

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Get in Trouble

Tue 3 Feb 2015 - Filed under: Books, Kelly Link| Posted by: Gavin

February 3, 2015 · Random House · hardcover · 9780804179683
February 9, 2016 · Random House · trade paper · 9780812986495

Signed copies available.

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE – NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BookPage – BuzzFeed – Chicago Tribune – Kirkus Reviews – NPR – San Francisco Chronicle – Slate – Toronto Star – The Washington Post She has been hailed by Michael Chabon as “the most darkly playful voice in American fiction.” Now Kelly Link’s eagerly awaited new collection–her first for adult readers (including the www.imgsexy.com readers) in a decade–proves indelibly that this bewitchingly original writer is among the finest we have.

Link has won an ardent following for her ability, with each new short story, to take readers deeply into an unforgettable, brilliantly constructed fictional universe. The nine exquisite examples in this collection show her in full command of her formidable powers. In “The Summer People,” a young girl in rural North Carolina serves as uneasy caretaker to the mysterious, never-quite-glimpsed visitors who inhabit the cottage behind her house. In “I Can See Right Through You,” a middle-aged movie star makes a disturbing trip to the Florida swamp where his former on- and off-screen love interest is shooting a ghost-hunting reality show. In “The New Boyfriend,” a suburban slumber party takes an unusual turn, and a teenage friendship is tested, when the spoiled birthday girl opens her big present: a life-size animated doll.

Hurricanes, astronauts, evil twins, bootleggers, Ouija boards, iguanas, The Wizard of Oz, superheroes, the Pyramids . . . These are just some of the talismans of an imagination as capacious and as full of wonder as that of any writer today. But as fantastical as these stories can be, they are always grounded by sly humor and an innate generosity of feeling for the frailty–and the hidden strengths–of human beings. In Get in Trouble, this one-of-a-kind talent expands the boundaries of what short fiction can do.

Praise for Get in Trouble

“Ridiculously brilliant . . . These stories make you laugh while staring into the void.”—The Boston Globe

“When it comes to literary magic, Link is the real deal: clever, surprising, affecting, fluid and funny.”–San Francisco Chronicle

“With every tale Link] conjures a different universe, each more captivating than the last. . . . You’ll long to return the minute you leave. Grade: ] A.”–Entertainment Weekly

“Marvelous . . . As a writer Kelly Link is possessed of many magical powers, but to me what’s most notable about Get in Trouble] is its astonishing freedom.”–Meg Wolitzer, NPR

“Sensational . . . Remain in your narrative comfort zone, or venture into Link’s uncharted sea of troubles. Come on. Live a little.”–O: The Oprah Magazine

“This is art that re-enchants the world. Who needs tediously believable situations, O. Henry endings or even truthfulness to life? Give us magic; give us wonder.”–The Washington Post

“The stories here are effective because we believe them–not just their situations but also their hearts.”–Los Angeles Times

“A zero-gravity vacation in a dust jacket.”–Chicago Tribune

From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Kelly Link is the author of the collections Get in Trouble, Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, and Pretty Monsters. She and Gavin J. Grant have co-edited a number of anthologies, including multiple volumes of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and, for young adults, Steampunk! and Monstrous Affections. She is the co-founder of Small Beer Press. Her short stories have been published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Best American Short Stories, and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. She has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Link was born in Miami, Florida. She currently lives with her husband and daughter in Northampton, Massachusetts. From the Hardcover edition.

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