Washington Post Says
Fri 3 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis| Posted by: Gavin
This weekend, following quickly on the heels of the starred Booklist review, Everdeen Mason gives Abbey Mei Otis’s debut Alien Virus Love Disaster a standout review in the Washington Post Book World:
Abbey Mei Otis is an exciting voice in contemporary science fiction. Her new book “Alien Virus Love Disaster” (Small Beer) is a short-story collection that explores those left behind in typical sweeping science fiction adventures — the children, discarded robots, school dropouts and blue-collar workers with the misfortune of being near something toxic. A stand-out story is “Moonkids,” about young humans from the moon who find themselves living and working on a beach town on Earth after being expelled from lunar society. Humans born on the moon end up becoming physically changed from the atmosphere, and if they fail a high-stakes exam, they are returned to Earth with nothing to do but be gawked at by normal people. Like many of Otis’s stories, it’s dreamy but with an intense physicality that belies the violence behind the longing.
The book comes out on the 14th and Abbey will be reading at the following five fantastic indie bookstores:
Tue., 8/14, 7 p.m.
Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216.321.2665
Wed. 8/15 7:30 p.m.
Two Dollar Radio HQ
1124 Parsons Ave., Columbus, OH 43206
614-725-1505
Thu 8/16/18, 7 p.m.
Literati Bookstore
124 E Washington, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734.585.5567
Tues. 8/21/18, 7 p.m.
Scuppernong Books
304 S. Elm St.
Greensboro, NC 27401
Wed. 8/22/18 7 p.m.
Flyleaf Books
752 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Up to Saving God?
Thu 2 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., John Schoffstall, Reviews| Posted by: Gavin
Half-Witch by John Schoffstall, our latest title from Big Mouth House receives a lovely review by Colleen Mondor in the new issue if Locus.
There is something deeply satisfying about a traditional fantasy with plucky protagonists, nefarious villains, hungry goblins, tricky witches, and a dangerous and difficult quest. In John Schofstall’s Half-Witch, everything you expect to find is present, plus a lot of unlikely twists and turns that make this adventure a classic read. . . . As they continue their quest, Lisbet and Strix become the very definition of plucky, and it is hard not cheer them on. They are charming characters who overcome all sorts of fantastical obstacles and forge a powerful friendship.”
There’s more, including the note about saving God but you’ll have to get Locus to read that. In the meantime, pick up a copy of Half-Witch while you can still get a first edition hardcover . . . !
PW Star!
Mon 30 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman, starred review| Posted by: Gavin
Sliding in here from sunny yet muggy San Diego to share my delight that Claire G. Coleman’s forthcoming debut novel Terra Nullius has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly:
“Coleman stuns with this imaginative, astounding debut about colonization. . . . Coleman universalizes the experiences of invaded indigenous populations in a way that has seldom been achieved. Artfully combining elements of literary, historical, and speculative fiction, this allegorical novel is surprising and unforgettable.”
— Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Read the full review here and follow the author on twitter here.
Last Invisible Valley Event!
Fri 27 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
Tomorrow evening at 7 p. m. at the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Austin Woerner will conclude his successful and fun US tour celebrating the publication of his translation of Su Wei’s first novel, The Invisible Valley.
After this event Austin will be returning to teach at Duke Kunshan University in Shanghai and won’t be back here for a bit so don’t miss this chance to hear more about the ins and outs of translating this huge, immersive perfect summer read!
About Air Logic
Fri 27 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
And we’ve just added a little bit of actual description about Air Logic . . .
Tender a WFA Finalist!
Thu 26 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Awards, Sofia Samatar| Posted by: Gavin
I am delighted to see that among all the happy finalists for this year’s World Fantasy Awards is Sofia Samatar’s debut collection Tender.
If you’re curious and would like to read a few of the stories from this wide-ranging collection, here are just a few:
An Account of the Land of Witches
Read, Share, Eat Better Sandwiches
Wed 25 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
Today in celebration of LCRW38 going out into the world — which includes the latest iteration of Nicole Kimberling’s cooking column, “Comfort Food” — we’re putting one of my favorite columns by Nicole online, How to Seduce a Vegetarian from LCRW 29.
It’s not that I’m looking to seduce any vegetarians, vegans, or anyone else, rather it has some top tips for making your sandwiches better, a subject very close to my heart. Enjoy!
How to Seduce a Vegetarian
Wed 25 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Free Stuff to Read, cooking, LCRW 29, Nicole Kimberling| Posted by: Gavin
This is LCRW Cooking Columnist Nicole Kimberling’s third column for LCRW and was originally published in LCRW 29. Check out the first, Sending All Your Love—In the Form of Brownies Through the Mail, and the second, Feeding Strays.
Step One: Find Likely Candidate
In years past, finding a vegetarian to seduce was more difficult than it is today. Back when vegetarianism existed mainly as a symptom of some sort of religion, a VILF-hunter could go weeks, even years, without making contact with a likely target.
Fortunately, today things are different. Now, even straight men can be found abstaining from plate-loads of surf, turf and sky. So pick a non-meat eater that you like the look of and invite him or her to hang out sometime, like at a park or something. Choose a venue that allows you to bring your own food. This is key because to claim the love of vegetarians you must prove that you can, and will, feed them.
With vegetarians so varied and bountiful, one would think that ensnaring one for a night, or perhaps even a lifetime of passion would be easy.
This is not so.
For the vegetarian is, by nature, likely to be choosy and have what we in the world of professional cooking call, “standards.” You might have to try a few different leads before one takes the bait. In this case the bait will be a cold sandwich, which you will prepare and then present to your vegetarian, proving that you have the goods to make him or her happy.
A Breathtaking Reading Experience
Tue 24 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, starred review| Posted by: Gavin
You may have been wondering who that Abbey Mei Otis is who we posted about being on tour and ok, this does not actually tell you anything about the writer, but, hey, here is the first trade review and it is a star from Booklist so that is something to cheer about in these utterly strange times.
The review will be in the August 1st issue of Booklist so here is just a line or two to whet thy appetite:
“Many of the stories share an emphasis on physicality and embodiment, whether it be bodies distorted by alien environments or artifacts or people thrown into their own bodies through suffering at other, human hands. . . . highly recommended for anyone interested in weird fiction, sf, or just a breathtaking reading experience.”
Clarion
Mon 23 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Clarion, Kelly Link| Posted by: Gavin
Following Christopher Barzak, Holly Black, Mat Johnson, and Kij Johnson’s instructor weeks, Kelly and I are off to teach the final two weeks at the Clarion Writers Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop in San Diego, CA. Clarion, like their lovely Seattle neighbor, Clarion West, is great fun and quite an intense amount of work between the critique workshops in the morning, the one-on-one conferences in the afternoon, and reading the stories for the next day’s workshops. See you in 2 weeks!
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 38
Thu 19 Jul 2018 - Filed under: LCRW| Posted by: Gavin
2018. 62 pages. Ebook ISBN: 9781618731487
Something to dive into. Sneaked out into the world in July 2018. New fave stories by new fave writers.
In LCRW 39 your neighbor’s secrets are exposed. Yours too, sorry. Whereas in LCRW 38 it is the pure fictive product poured upon the page, dried in the sun, and brought to you by the lovely people at your local indie bookstore.
—
A. B. Young’s story “Vain Beasts” is one of 12 winners of the $2,000 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. The prize includes publication in The PEN America Best Debut Short Stories anthology published by Catapult.
Reviews
“I was very impressed the last time I saw a Joanna Ruocco story in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and her latest such, “Stone, Paper, Stone”, in #38, does not disappoint, either. . . . Also in LCRW is S. Woodson’s first sale, “Lime and the One Human”, and it’s rather a delight. . . .”
— Rich Horton, Locus
“Read it slowly and savor the language. . . . The fiction concludes with “Lime and the One Human” by S. Woodson -+- Lime is a fairy who ruins a plant in the garden of a human named A.E. Erskine so that she could make herself a dress. He captures her and asks her to grant him a wish (mainly to restore the plant). She is defiant at first. But as she gets to know Erskine things change. This was a delightful little ‘fairy story’ which was a lot of fun to read. This is S. Woodson’s first story in print. It’s so good, I will put her on my short list for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer next year.” — SF Revu
Table and Chairs of Contents
fiction
Ellen Rhudy, “The Remaining”
James L. Cambias, “René Descartes and the Cross of Blood”
Emily B. Cataneo, “Bears at Parties”
A. B. Young, “Vain Beasts”
Sarah Monette, “The Oracle of Abbey Road (Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night)”
Joanna Ruocco, “Stone, Paper, Stone”
S. Woodson, “Lime and the One Human”
nonfiction
Nicole Kimberling, “Comfort Food”
About the Authors
poetry
Neile Graham, “About God(s)(desses), Parts 1 & 2”
cover
Joamette Gill, “Metsona”
About
This is Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet issue number 38, July 2018. ISSN 1544-7782. Ebook ISBN: 9781618731487. Text: Bodoni Book. Titles: Imprint MT Shadow. LCRW is (usually) published in June and November by Small Beer Press, 150 Pleasant St., #306, Easthampton, MA 01027 · smallbeerpress @ gmail.com · smallbeerpress.com/lcrw. Printed at Paradise Copies (paradisecopies.com · 413-585-0414). Subscriptions: $20/4 issues (see page 45 of the print issue for options). Please make checks to Small Beer Press. Library & institutional subscriptions are available through EBSCO. LCRW is available as a DRM-free ebook through weightlessbooks.com, &c.
This issue is the first to be available at Moon Palace Books (3032 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis MN 55406 · moonpalacebooks.com) yay & thanks, mighty indie booksellers!
Contents © 2018 the authors. All rights reserved. Cover illustration “Metsona” © 2018 by Joamette Gill (joamettegil.com). Thank you, generous authors and artists.
In among these dark days we celebrate Juan Martinez’s Best Worst American: Stories winning the inaugural Neukom Institute Literary Arts Debut Award for Speculative Fiction. Yay! Also: Jeffrey Ford’s A Natural History of Hell: Stories was a finalist for the Ohioana Award and Sofia Samatar’s Tender: Stories is a finalist for the British Fantasy Award.
Please send submissions (we are always especially seeking weird and interesting work from women and writers of color), guideline requests, &c. to the address above. Peace.
About these Authors
James L. Cambias is a science fiction writer and game designer. Originally from New Orleans, he was educated at the University of Chicago and lives in western Massachusetts. His novels include A Darkling Sea, Corsair, and the forthcoming Arkad’s World. His short stories have appeared in Nature, F&SF, and several anthologies. He is a partner in Zygote Games and his most recent game (for Pinnacle) is Weird War I.
Emily B. Cataneo is a writer and freelance journalist currently based in Raleigh, NC. Her fiction has appeared in magazines such as Nightmare Magazine, The Dark, and Interfictions. She has reported for venues NPR and the Financial Times on three different continents. She is graduate of the Odyssey and Clarion Writers Workshops, and is currently pursuing her MFA at North Carolina State University. She likes hats, crafts, history, and dogs.
Joamette Gil is a queer Afro-Cuban cartoonist best known for her work as P&M Press, publisher of Power & Magic: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology, Power & Magic: Immortal Souls, and Heartwood: Non-binary Tales of Sylvan Fantasy.
Neile Graham has a trophy (which came attached to a World Fantasy Award) for her work writer-wrangling for the Clarion West Writers Workshop. She also has a well-autographed Meritorious 2nd Banana from the Locus Awards. In addition to collecting these objects, she has two new poetry collections coming out in 2019: The Walk She Takes and Cedar and Stone. She is ecstatic about all of these things and delighted to be here in LCRW.
Nicole Kimberling lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her wife, Dawn Kimberling. She is a professional cook and amateur life coach. Her first novel, Turnskin, won the Lambda Award and she is also the author of the Bellingham Mystery Series.
Sarah Monette and Katherine Addison are the same person. She grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one of the three secret cities of the Manhattan Project. She has a B.A. from Case Western Reserve and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Despite being summa cum laude, none of her degrees is of the slightest use to her in either her day job or her writing, which she feels is an object lesson for us all. She currently lives near Madison, Wisconsin. Her novels include Melusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, Corambis, and Locus Award winner The Goblin Emperor (published as Katherine Addison). She has two short story collections, The Bone Key and Somewhere Beneath Those Waves, and has co-written three novels and a number of short stories with Elizabeth Bear, the most recent of which is An Apprentice to Elves. Twitter: @pennyvixen; Patreon: pennyvixen
Ellen Rhudy (ellenrhudy.com | @ilifi) lives in Philadelphia, where she works as an instructional designer. If you ever happen to be in Eastern Europe she recommends you visit Mavrovo—it is a town of real charm and not easily forgotten. Her work has previously appeared in LCRW no. 15 and is forthcoming in cream city review.
Joanna Ruocco is the author of several books, including, most recently, Dan, The Week, and Field Glass, written with Joanna Howard. She is an assistant professor in the English Department at Wake Forest University.
S. Woodson lives in Virginia and is a graduate of the Hollins University M.A. in Children’s Literature program. She’s written a handful of Twine games, but this is her first story in print. You can find her on Twitter @Citrushistrix.
A. B. Young learned to tell stories from playing with Barbies. She learned to tell stories well at California College of the Arts. She now teaches kids how to read stories and write essays about them as a high school Media and English teacher. This is her first published story.
Abbey Mei Otis Tour Dates
Thu 19 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, readings| Posted by: Gavin
There will be Minneapolis and more dates added later in autumn but for the moment here are the dates for Abbey Mei Otis’s tour next month behind her debut Alien Virus Love Disaster.
I saw Abbey read at our AWP reading with Juan Martinez and many others in Tampa earlier this year and she was a standout so I highly recommend putting on your jetpack and getting to one of these fab indie stores to see her:
Tue., 8/14, 7 p.m.
Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216.321.2665
Wed. 8/15 7:30 p.m.
Two Dollar Radio HQ
1124 Parsons Ave., Columbus, OH 43206
614-725-1505
Thu 8/16/18, 7 p.m.
Literati Bookstore
124 E Washington, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734.585.5567
Tues. 8/21/18, 7 p.m.
Scuppernong Books
304 S. Elm St.
Greensboro, NC 27401
Wed. 8/22/18 7 p.m.
Flyleaf Books
752 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-942-7373
Claire G. Coleman on the Book Podcast
Tue 17 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman| Posted by: Gavin
Here’s fascinating interview with Claire G. Coleman to whet your appetite for her forthcoming debut Terra Nullius:
Terra Nullius is a work of speculative fiction written by Claire Coleman, a writer from Western Australia who identifies with the South Coast Noongar people. It is a story exactly as we know it. No speculation required. A story so familiar, until it’s not.
Read more about Claire Coleman here and listen to the interview here.
In Other Lands in Teen Vogue
Thu 12 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Sarah Rees Brennan| Posted by: Gavin
Teen Vogue are such a strong voice for justice these days so it is a huge thrill to see In Other Lands on this list: “10 Queer Reads Perfect for Any Time of the Year:”
“Unbeknownst to the majority of mankind, a hidden magical realm populated by fairies, elves, and even mermaids touches the human world. In order to cross over into it, a human must be among the select few who can see the wall straddling both worlds. Snarky and friendless, Elliot unexpectedly discovers he is one of these lucky ones and once he passes over into the magical Borderlands, he kicks off on an adventure that ultimately changes the course of his life, and the world, forever. Told in irreverent, rolicking prose, readers follow Elliot as he enrolls in magical school, befriends humans and magical beings alike, explores his budding bisexuality, and comes of age, finally adding emotional maturity and poise to his considerable smarts. While Elliot’s character can be cluelessly obnoxious when he uses snark and sarcasm as a defense mechanism, he always reads as wholly authentic, a young man learning his place in a quickly changing landscape. Sarah Rees Brennan knows how to engage readers with her fresh prose style and a innovative new take on the fantasy novel.”
Upcoming
Sat 7 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis| Posted by: Gavin
Curious about Abbey Mei Otis’s debut collection, Alien Virus Love Disaster, coming next month?
Good news: you can read two of the stories right now and two more will be published online on storied sites we admire very much: one on Electric Lit and one on Guernica — Check out “Poet Wrestling with the Possibility She’s Living in a Simulation.”
Abbey’s work is the pure product and right of this very moment. Here are the stories that are available right now: Blood, Blood on Strange Horizons & Sweetheart on Tor.com. You can preorder Alien Virus Love Disaster here, it comes out August 14.
British Fantasy Awards
Fri 6 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Awards, Sofia Samatar| Posted by: Gavin
I’m delighted to see Sofia Samatar’s collection Tender is one of five very strong finalists for the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. It is always an honor to have a book in the running for an award, so yay, and thanks British Fantasy Awards for some good news!
Best Collection
· Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
· Strange Weather, by Joe Hill (Gollancz)
· Tanith by Choice, by Tanith Lee (Newcon Press)
· Tender: Stories, by Sofia Samatar (Small Beer Press)
· You Will Grow Into Them, by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories)
Get Free Advance Copies An Agent of Utopia on LibraryThing
Fri 6 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Andy Duncan, Free books| Posted by: Gavin
You, you, you and fourteen other lucky winners will be holding free advance uncorrected copies of Andy Duncan’s forthcoming An Agent of Utopia on LibraryThing.
US-only this time since these are print copies, sorry international readers, just can’t do the $20 per book mailing 🙁
Enter here!
Readercon 2018
Thu 5 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., John Schoffstall| Posted by: Gavin
We will be at Readercon in Quincy, MA, next weekend and hope to see you there. While neither Kelly nor I are on panels, we will have a couple of tables in the Dealers Room — nope, not at this time ready for that but by July 13th I expect I will be! — and many, many good people will be there. One of those people will be John Schoffstall, whose first novel, Half-Witch, comes out next week so we will find some way to celebrate that!
Indie Next & EWGC
Tue 3 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
Next Tuesday I’m hoping to participate in the Early Words Galley Chat and talk to any librarians (and everyone else) on Twitter who have (or might) read Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius and nominate it for LibraryReads list. The nomination deadline for September titles is July 20. Librarians, please do consider this title!
Before that, though, comes the Indie Next deadline: which is July 9th for September titles. It’s been a while since we had an Indie Next title*, maybe too long! Indie booksellers, please consider this title for a nomination!
Here is it on Edelweiss.
* Book Sense Picks:
The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories
John Kessel
Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead
A. DeNiro
Magic for Beginners
Kelly Link
* Book Sense Notable Books:
Mothers & Other Monsters
Maureen F. McHugh
Perfect Circle
Sean Stewart
Abbey Mei Otis on the Weekly Reader & in Locus
Mon 2 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
In the run up to the publication of Abbey Mei Otis’s debut Alien Virus Love Disaster Abbey is interviewed this week by Dakota VanLinden on KMSU’s Weekly Reader.
And the collection gets a lovely big review by Gary K. Wolfe in Locus:
‘‘Not an Alien Story’’ says, ‘‘Things aren’t going to change. We aren’t going to get jobs. Animals aren’t going to pad through our dreams and whisper the answers.’’ Sometimes Otis can toss off a classic Kelly Link-style sentence (‘‘She was so rich the stories came true as she spoke them’’), sometimes an almost pulp-like opening hook (‘‘Can’t remember if I was nine or ten when the sex robot fell from the sky’’), sometimes a sharp apothegm about the appeal of VR (‘‘It’s not that planet calling you. It’s this one pushing you away’’). If Otis’s overall vision seems pretty dark, it’s ameliorated by the colorful voices and deeply humane characters struggling in a world that offers them plenty of bizarre experiences, but little real hope. It’s a world far more like ours than we’d want to believe, but it also a world not quite like anyone else’s. At their best, the stories in Alien Virus Love Disaster can generate the same sort of excitement of first coming across writers as diverse as Kelly Link, M. Rickert, or Margo Lanagan: a striking new voice, both strangely familiar and yet disorienting, that takes us somewhere we haven’t been.
The Golden Compass as written by Roald Dahl
Tue 26 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
Here ahead of next month’s publication are pictures of the first edition of John Schoffstall’s debut novel, Half-Witch. The world is close but not quite this one. A young girl — who talks to god . . . and gets answers — and a witch are forced by circumstances into companionship. This is how Lauren at Elliott Bay described it
“In a Europe where goblins coexist with the literal (but unhelpful) Holy Trinity, Lizbet is sucked into a magical quest with only the surly witch-girl Strix as a companion. Like all great children’s books, Half-Witch is not afraid to put the big stuff on the page: they match wits with the Pope of Storms and corpse-eating earth-witches, and also with human violence and cruelty. An edge-of-your-seat adventure about friendship, trust, and what it means to be changed by someone, Half-Witch is like The Golden Compass as written by Roald Dahl.”
Half-Witch Events!
Mon 18 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
I’m starting the week with some events to look forward to as we gear up to the publication of John Schoffstall’s debut novel Half-Witch. Someone asked me why we’re doing this book in hardcover and all I could do was mention that Kirkus gave it a starred review and it’s a Junior Library Guild selection. If you enjoyed The Golden Compass, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this (completely different, and yet . . . ) first novel.
And here’s where you can meet John & pick up the book:
July 12-15: Readercon, Quincy, MA — we have tables in the Dealers Room. Not going to Readercon? Preorder from our site and we can get the book signed for you.
July 26, 7 p.m. Farley’s Bookshop,
Literary Arts Tribute
Fri 15 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Ursula K. Le Guin| Posted by: Gavin
Just in case you missed it and would like to watch or listen, here is the video from Literary Arts Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin that was held on Wednesday evening at the beautiful Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. Kelly was one of the speakers and since I tagged along as husband I’d like to take a moment to thank Theodore Downs-Le Guin and the whole Le Guin family and everyone at Literary Arts whose grace in these circumstances was a model to aspire to.
It was a . . . lovely? evening. All through the hall people were catching up with one another and sometimes exchanging their favorite Le Guin stories — or stories about Le Guin. (Stories about Le Guin welcome in the comments!) She lived in Portland for fifty years or so and brought together so many disparate strands of the city it was a joy to see so many people there to remember her. I took one photo before they asked attendees not to take photos or films and I was happy to sit in the darkness and try and take in what I am still having trouble taking in: this world is missing a person I loved. Ursula K. Le Guin was generous and fierce and her emails and wordplay usually made me laugh — on not liking a blue variant of the Words Are My Matter cover, “Yes, textbooky, zackly. Anyhow blue is not my hue.” — as well as sit up straighter. I miss her more than I can say.
Ursula K. Le Guin – Broadcast from Henry V Live on Vimeo.
Incandescently Dark
Fri 15 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis| Posted by: Gavin
Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories emailed us on Tuesday with this note about Abbey Mei Otis’s upcoming debut Alien Virus Love Disaster:
“Abbey Mei Otis’s stories are incandescently dark, if you can imagine such a thing (but maybe only she can). Full of danger and strangeness, but written in carbonated and astounding prose that is all her own, these stories create worlds and will make you contemplate (and worry about) our own.”
The Invisible Valley Comes to You
Thu 14 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Austin Woerner, readings, Su Wei| Posted by: Gavin
Good news for Bostonians, Texans, New Yorkers, and Seattle-ites: Austin Woerner will be visiting the USA this summer from China and will be doing events to celebrate the publication of his translation of Su Wei’s first novel to be translated into English, The Invisible Valley.
And, for the event at the Brookline Booksmith Austin will be joined by the author himself, Su Wei.
Here are the dates:
June 28, 7 p.m. Deep Vellum Books, Dallas, TX
June 30, 7 p.m. Malvern Books, Austin, TX (Facebook)
July 12, 7 p.m. Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA (with Su Wei)
July 25, Asian American Writers’ Workshop, NYC
July 28 at 7 p.m. Elliot Bay Books, Seattle, WA
John Crowley, author of Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, said:
“Su Wei’s The Invisible Valley is a remarkable work, pungent, funny, and mind-widening. Austin Woerner’s translation is nearly invisible: it erases all barriers of strangeness and places the reader deep within a Chinese experience that comes to seem as familiar to us as our own daily round — if ours too had ghost brides and very big snakes.”
Amy Lantrip in World Literature Today: “The Invisible Valley takes the reader along a journey full of mystery, magic, and political intrigue. The characters are full of nuance and contradiction, each keeping their own secrets. As each secret is revealed, the reader comes closer to understanding the larger picture. Combined with the balance between the natural and supernatural, this makes the novel interesting for any reader.”
Rachel S. Cordasco in SF in Translation: “In The Invisible Valley, Su Wei asks us to broaden our definition of reality, as Lu does, in order to better understand the peoples and landscapes around us.”
There are so many books! Which one is this? Read an excerpt.
Read Abbey Mei Otis’s Rich People in the New Tin House
Tue 12 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis| Posted by: Gavin
Straight from the Tin House’s mouth:
Dive into Tin House #76 this summer and prepare for exploration of waters unknown. Start with one last short story by the late Ursula K. Le Guin, “Pity and Shame,” whose prose is, as ever, filled with her poignant intellect and humor. Plumb the mysteriously strange lives of “Rich People” with emerging writer Abbey Mei Otis, or find uneasy accommodation with Catherine Lacey’s “The Grand Claremont Hotel.” And Meghan O’Gieblyn’s essay “On Subtlety” will make you think twice about the stories you’ve been told and things better left half-said. All this and more in an issue as expansive as it is wild, mercurial, and tempting.
You can read the new Ursula K. Le Guin story here and pick up the new issue here:
Fiction from Ursula K. Le Guin, Abbey Mei Otis, J. Jezewska Stevens, Catherine Lacey and Leigh Newman, and New Voices by Ashley Whitaker and Carrie Grinstead
Poetry from Lia Purpura, Yusef Komunyakaa, Shane McCrae, Adam Clay, James Hoch, Philip Metres, Maggie Smith, Mildred Barya, Nomi Stone, Ira Sadoff, Teddy Macker, Sally Ball, Gerardo Pacheco Matus, and Rosebud Ben-Oni
Nonfiction from Ashleigh Young and Meghan O’Gieblyn
Books Lost & Found from Tabitha Blankenbiller, Jon Michaud, Joshua James Amberson, Cheston Knapp, and Ruby Brunton
And a Blithe Spirit from Elissa Schappell
Air Logic Publication Date
Mon 11 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal.| Posted by: Gavin
I am delighted to announce that Laurie J. Marks‘s fourth and final volume in her Elemental Logic series, Air Logic, will be published on July 9, 2019.
Laurie has handed in her final draft and we have already received it back from our gimlet-eyed (sorry Paul) proofreadr (sic), Paul Witcover.
From the other side of the world Kathleen Jennings sent us initial cover sketches and soon she will be working on the next stages. By the end of summer, there will be a cover and a final manuscript and so we have at last added the book to the forthcoming books page.
Every month we receive emails asking when Air Logic will be published. There will be many, many people delighted to read this book. Should you want to read or reread the series in preparation for this novel that we have waited such a long time for, the series order is:
Fire Logic — originally published by Tor in 2002. Available in ebook right now and in a new paperback edition in spring 2019.
Earth Logic — published in 2004 again by Tor. Available in ebook now and new paperback edition in spring 2019.
Water Logic — published by Small Beer Press in 2007. Available in trade paperback and ebook editions. The ebook will be updated with Kathleen Jennings’s new cover.
Lydia Millet: By the Book
Mon 11 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Lydia Millet| Posted by: Gavin
It was lovely to read Lydia Millet’s intimate (but austere!) and conversational By the Book in this week’s New York Times Book Review and also lovely to see her through Jillian Tamaki’s eyes — see illustration on right.
I’m looking forward to her new collection, Fight No More, which comes out this month. To celebrate we have her middle grade Dissenters Series on sale again this week — click on the prices below (US only due to mailing costs):
Book 1: The Fires Beneath the Sea
Hardcover: $16.95 $9.95
Paperback: $12 $5.99
Book 2: The Shimmers in the Night
Hardcover: $16.95
Click here to save 40%: $9.95
Book 1 & 2: The Fires Beneath the Sea & The Shimmers in the Night
Hardcover, click here to save 50%: $16.95
Book 1, 2, & 3: The Fires Beneath the Sea, The Shimmers in the Night, & The Bodies of the Ancients
Hardcover, click here to save 50%: $24.95