Wed 3 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link| Posted by: Gavin

Kelly’s story “Magic for Beginners” is a nominee for the Le Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. (Wow!) (via)

And: Kelly has a new story, “Light'” in the new issue of Tin House. She is reading with Lucy Corin, Shelley Jackson, and Samantha Hunt at 7 PM on Friday in New York City.

It looks like an amazing issue, check out the ToC. Also, you can read the whole of “Light.” (Thatlink will change in a couple of months.)

Wed 3 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link| Posted by: Gavin

Kelly’s story “Magic for Beginners” is a nominee for the Le Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire. (Wow!) (via)

And: Kelly has a new story, “Light'” in the new issue of Tin House. She is reading with Lucy Corin, Shelley Jackson, and Samantha Hunt at 7 PM on Friday in New York City.

It looks like an amazing issue, check out the ToC. Also, you can read the whole of “Light.” (Thatlink will change in a couple of months.)

Wed 3 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Interstitial Arts, LCRW| Posted by: Gavin

10/30: Mark the day on your calendars for an Interfictions event at McNally Robinson in NYC with Delia Sherman, Matt Cheney, K. Tempest Bradford, and Veronica Schanoes.

There’s a great review by Laird Hunt of Interfictions in the new issue of Rain Taxi, which makes for fascinating reading, more so than quoting. Besides, Rain Taxi is well worth seeking out. Most indie book stores carry it (it’s free) or you can subscribe. Seek!

And: There’s also a review of Endless Things in Rain Taxi. Since Aegypt the 1st (aka The Solitudes) is coming out this week in paperback—kicking off the whole series being reprinted in pb—expect a number of high profile reviews of the whole series.

John Joseph Adams digs for the truth behind The Best of LCRW.

Wed 3 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Interstitial Arts, LCRW| Posted by: Gavin

10/30: Mark the day on your calendars for an Interfictions event at McNally Robinson in NYC with Delia Sherman, Matt Cheney, K. Tempest Bradford, and Veronica Schanoes.

John Joseph Adams digs for the truth behind The Best of LCRW.

Mon 1 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Uncategorized| Posted by: Gavin

Sign your name, maybe help the Burmese? Who knows. Worth a try. Sign, forward, etc.

—– Original Message —–
From: Ricken Patel – <mailto:avaaz@avaaz.org> Avaaz.org
To: sue.okell@dsl.pipex.com
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 1:50 PM
Subject: Burma: Stop the Bloodshed

Dear friends,

The worst is happening – over the last few days, Burma’s generals have unleashed terror on the peaceful monks and protesters: shooting and beating many to death, and taking others away to torture chambers where at this moment they must be enduring the unbearable.

We can stop this horror. Burma’s powerful sponsor China can halt the killing, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Tuesday that will deliver our message and the number of signers. Our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours, but we need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China’s attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we’ll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven’t already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/p.php

The petition will also be delivered to the UN Secretary-General, and we will broadcast the news of our effort over radio to Burma’s people, telling them not to lose hope, that the world is with them.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. The fate of many brave and good people is in our hands, we must help them â€“ and we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

PS: if you would like to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies, scroll down our petition page for details of times and events.

_____________________________________
Please add avaaz@avaaz.org to your address book to make sure you keep receiving emails from Avaaz. Avaaz.org is staffed by a global team of campaigners operating on 3 continents. We have administrative offices in London, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Please direct mail to our NY office at 260 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A.

Mon 1 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Uncategorized| Posted by: Gavin

Sign your name, maybe help the Burmese? Who knows. Worth a try. Sign, forward, etc.

—– Original Message —–
From: Ricken Patel – <mailto:avaaz@avaaz.org> Avaaz.org
To: sue.okell@dsl.pipex.com
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 1:50 PM
Subject: Burma: Stop the Bloodshed

Dear friends,

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/p.php

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

PS: if you would like to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies, scroll down our petition page for details of times and events.

Mon 1 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Books| Posted by: Gavin

This is awesome. Go get a free, cheap, expensive (you choose) Radiohead album. (Album because it’s not really a CD or record—unless you want to pop for the $80 edition).

Meanwhile, Apple keep locking away their phone and mp3 players (and no doubt every other device they have planned) while Nokia are pulling a Radiohead and saying Go ahead, do what you want. Really hope Nokia do well with this because for all their great design and easy use (this post being written on a Mac), Apple’s corporate ethos is crap. Sorry, Apple, we have many of your products, but the love, well…. Defending your bad behavior? It’s getting old and so are we. Who has time for crap relationships? So maybe we will buy the machines, but sign out of the religion.

On Wednesday, go listen to Maureen talk about Alt. Reality Games.

A nice Best of LCRW review at SF Site.

The stories Link and Grant have selected over the past ten years are deserving of a broader readership and, with The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet now in bookstores, they will, it is hoped, achieve that readership.

Interfictions podcasts.

Mon 1 Oct 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Books| Posted by: Gavin

This is awesome. Go get a free, cheap, expensive (you choose) Radiohead album. (Album because it’s not really a CD or record—unless you want to pop for the $80 edition).

On Wednesday, go listen to Maureen talk about Alt. Reality Games.

A nice Best of LCRW review at SF Site.

The stories Link and Grant have selected over the past ten years are deserving of a broader readership and, with The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet now in bookstores, they will, it is hoped, achieve that readership.

Interfictions podcasts.

Read a Karen Joy Fowler story

Fri 28 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., LCRW| Posted by: Gavin

Just posted “The Last Worders” by Karen Joy Fowler from LCRW 20. Enjoy!

Also: newsletter actually went out.

And: a page for The Best of LCRW.

Das Newsletter

Fri 28 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., LCRW| Posted by: Gavin

A newsletter went out.

1) Preface
2) Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis
3) Introduction (B Dan Chaon!)
4) Stuff that’s on the inside
5) The Ask
6) The Tell
7) The Noun

+ ……………………………………….. +

Thu 27 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link, Uncategorized| Posted by: Gavin

We’ve been picking up the Futurama calendars for a couple of years (they match the Greenpeace ones surprisingly well) and really enjoying the notes (such as the one on April 3, 2008: “Read Jeffrey Ford’s The Empire of Ice Cream“).

We kept the 2007 edition open at the centerfold (huge bees!) and missed looking at the actual months until yesterday when we picked up the 2008 edition and found that one of Kelly’s hopes and dreams had been fulfilled and she hadn’t known it. Her birthday is listed in the calendar. Wow, is all that can be said.

Thu 27 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Kelly Link, Uncategorized| Posted by: Gavin

SFWA?

Wed 26 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., writing| Posted by: Gavin

It’s time (well, past time, but who, besides the late-fees administrator, is counting?) to renew SFWA membership. We are wondering about skipping membership and just donating the money straight to the Medical Fund? Any thoughts?

Seattle power couple interview

Wed 26 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., YouTube| Posted by: Gavin

2 minutes each of Eileen Gunn and John D. Berry in Yokohama, Japan.

Eileen’s collection, Stable Strategies and Others, had just been awarded the Sense of Gender Award (1, 2) and John’s Dot-Font books had just come out (Talking about Typography & Talking about Matthew Carter):

Thu 20 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., To Read Pile| Posted by: Gavin

Best of LCRW reading at KGB: packed, great readers, martinis served (thanks to a reading of Mr. Butner’s “How to Make a Martini” and a free LCRW with every martini!). Ok.

Rest day.

Now go ye and order a copy The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and get with the new century.

Who is it for? Everyone.

Only read postmodern fictions? It’s pour vous.

Straight up sci-fi hardcase? It’s all you.

John Clute? It’s you, too.

Want a dark comedy? How about a modern immigrant tale? Like graphic novels? It’s for you!

Understand? This one’s so rich it’s for everyone.

Thu 20 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., To Read Pile| Posted by: Gavin

Best of LCRW reading at KGB: packed, great readers, martinis served (thanks to a reading of Mr. Butner’s “How to Make a Martini” and a free LCRW with every martini!). Ok.

Rest day.

Now go ye and order a copy The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and get with the new century.

Who is it for? Everyone.

Only read postmodern fictions? It’s pour vous.

Straight up sci-fi hardcase? It’s all you.

John Clute? It’s you, too.

Want a dark comedy? How about a modern immigrant tale? Like graphic novels? It’s for you!

Understand? This one’s so rich it’s for everyone.

Moved!

Tue 18 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., nothing| Posted by: Gavin

We have moved! We’re now in a lovely space in the Paragon Arts building (website may not be current) in arts-crazy Easthampton. Here are some pics. Going to have to sell some books, hmm?

Lucky we just sold a ton at the Brooklyn Book Fest, so that’s next month paid for. Ha ha.

The new address (see below) has been slowly rolling out across the website and into the world — although we expect that will take a while. The old address will still be good for a while, so no worries there.

The new address:

Small Beer Press
150 Pleasant St., #306
Easthampton, MA 01027

Tue 18 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Howard Waldrop| Posted by: Gavin

Where did Howard’s blog go?

While we were in Japan Howard mailed us some more “posts”. So now they go off to our wonderful volunteer and next week or so they will start again with “Christmas Every Thursday.”

Tue 18 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Howard Waldrop| Posted by: Gavin

Where did Howard’s blog go?

While we were in Japan Howard mailed us some more “posts”. So now they go off to our wonderful volunteer and next week or so they will start again with “Christmas Every Thursday.”

Brooklyn Book Festival

Sat 15 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Cons| Posted by: Gavin

Today, Sunday, Sept. 16, from 10 AM until 6 PM (plus or minus a few minutes, come on, this is us , after all) we will be joining the hordes at the Brooklyn Book Festival in Brooklyn, NY.

We should be at Table 27, easily distinguished by it’s whiff of late summer lavender and dancing goat display. Also, it is between tables 26 (Housing Works Bookstore Café) and 28 (BOMB Magazine). And near Drawn & Quarterly (32). And some 90+ others. Many of whom will have fascinating texts that might interest You, Dear Reader.

So take the train down (2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall; R to Court Street; A, C, F to Jay Street/Borough Hall) or perhaps it will be lovely and you will want bike instead (aren’t cars banned from NYC by now?) and do drop by to say hello.

Fri 14 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Alan DeNiro| Posted by: Gavin

Catch up with Alan DeNiro tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7 PM, in Milwaukee at the Bay View Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop.

Thanks to everyone at Schwartz Books for making this happen, especially Mike Carey who said of Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead “Of the many books I’ve read this year, this has been my absolute favorite.”

Fri 14 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Alan DeNiro| Posted by: Gavin

Catch up with Alan DeNiro tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 15, at 7 PM, in Milwaukee at the Bay View Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop.

Sat 1 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., travel, YouTube| Posted by: Gavin

Japan: awesome! Yokohama: great place for a convention! Hugo Awards pre- and post-reception: yummm!

And now this:

Sat 1 Sep 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., travel, YouTube| Posted by: Gavin

Japan: awesome! Yokohama: great place for a convention! Hugo Awards pre- and post-reception: yummm!

And now this:

Barzak

Tue 28 Aug 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Uncategorized| Posted by: Gavin

Barzakian Secrets of the Barzakian Plan for Barzakian Galactic Domination:

1. Wear great shirts.

2. Get on the Colbert Report.

3. If (2) does not work: Dance them to death. However. There has to be dance practice. And perhaps karaoke. But no mp3s of the performance, please!

4. Get old before everyone else and get photographed at a party or a wedding to prove it. Pick him out if you can!

5. Then surprise and horrify everyone by becoming younger and younger every year.

6. Favor sloth but practice the opposite.

7. Design (but have someone else host) A Mad Tea Party.

8. Live on the edge of a verb. A noun. Or an adjective.

9. Get your international freak on.

10. Have local pop star write a song about you. (Wait, he already did that.)

11. Write a novel.

12. Publish novel today.

13. Take over blogosphere for 24 hours. Have the print and TV media in your town pick it up. Become a star. Shine, baby, shine.

Sat 25 Aug 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Cons, travel| Posted by: Gavin

We are in Tokyo! Arrived via Northwest. Flight ok—tiny seats but at least they serve up all the bad movies you want on your tiny screen (Namastey London isn’t bad: it had the proper amount of cheesy pop and fun dancing).

We were met at the airport by Kelly’s editor at Hayakawa, Naoki Shimizu, who very kindly accompanied us all the way to our hotel (the amazing Hotel Grand Palace). He also gave Kelly a copy of the new hardcover Japanese edition of Magic for Beginners—which has a lovely painting of a telephone box on the cover, a review in the Nikkei paper, and her schedule (Tues/Wed: busy!)

How sensible it seemed that there are regularly scheduled buses from the airport to all the big hotels. We picked up a rental cell phone at the airport, maybe we ate something, but mostly what we did was wonder why we were awake until, happily, we were not.

Now it is Saturday evening. We started out the day with the fabby Japanese breakfast at the hotel (rice/rice porridge, miso soup, poached eggs, pot of green tea, some fishy and meaty bits for those that like that sort of thing) then made a quick trip out doors. It is melty: hot and humid. So it was a slow trip around a few blocks then to Lawson to see how the onigiri had progressed in the last 10 years. (Still tasty!) Lucky we got those snacks, because Mari Kotani had arranged for us to see the Takarazuka Revue. We were originally meant to go on Tuesday with Eileen Gunn and others but Kelly has interviews all day so we were thinking we would miss it. However, Mari not only arranged for us to go today, but also bought our tickets. Mari is traveling with Eileen, John Berry, and Ellen D., so we have not seen her yet. Instead her assistant, Yasuko Nakaegawa came to the hotel and took us (in a taxi with those groovy self-closing doors) to the Takaruzaka Theater (Thanks Yasuko!). We got there just on time and loved our seats: by themselves on the end of a row so that we could both stretch our feet out each way. (Still cramped up from the flight!)

The Revue was fantastic and shouldn’t be missed (even if you somehow managed to miss it in its home city of Osaka while teaching there for a year, cough). It’s an all-women cast, something still unusual today. (The audience was also something like 90% women.) There were two shows, Valencia, 90 minutes of something about Napoleon and Spain, then a mind-blowing 30-minute show, Space Fantasista. Which is really something to write home about. Not so much the plot (um, the origins of the universe?) but the lights, songs, dances, and the way way way out costumes. Feathers. Lots and lots of feathers. There was a shop where you could buy a special edition $600 DVD of one of their shows. We bought four, of course. Be ready for them at Xmas!

After that it was hard to be impressed by anything. Except we were in Ginza and went to goggle over the new toys at the Sony store (shiny! small! like Apple, but Sony!), eat pizza (hee hee! Italian food is great in Japan), go to HMV (hello Mayumi Kojima! Super Butter Dog!—nothing new but listened to a lot. Any recommendations welcome!), wander round lovely stores (all the lovelier with a/c—we were told it is an extra hot summer this year, yay…!), and take the subway back. Yay public transport. Now to avoid sleeping too early so that we will not zoink awake at 5 AM. Again.

We have some email access but will be mostly off it until Sept. 14 when we will be back in the office in Easthampton (and to the Brooklyn Book Fest on the 16th, eek!). There may be some more We Did This and That from Japan. It Depends. We are going to the WorldCon (schedule below) and then will travel about some. Most of that will probably be off the grid. Yay!

Kelly’s schedule:

Fri

1400

What Do You Read Passionately Besides SF

Is cross-genre reading all that popular? Can an author of one genre rightly expect his/her readers to follow when the author switches genres? What, as a fan, do you like to read? Do you read outside that genre? As an author, do you write outside that genre?

Grant CARRINGTON, Kelly LINK, Kirsten (KJ) BISHOP, Marianne PLUMRIDGE-EGGLETON, Susan DE GUARDIOLA, Carolina GOMEZ LAGERLOF

Fri

1700

Introducing the Triptree Award and the Sense of Gender Award

Reona KASHIWAZAKI, Yutaka EBIHARA, Hisayo OGUSHI, Tomoyo KASUYA, Megumi KOBAYASHI, Yasuhiko NISHIZAWA, Natsuko MORI, Mari KOTANI, Kelly LINK, Candas Jane DORSEY, Eileen GUNN

Sat

1600

Is It Really Strange?: New Slipstream

Bruce Stterling coined the term Slipstream nearly twenty years ago. Since then a bunch of new writers has written a lot of that kind of unclassifiable strange fiction. But is it a type, or subgenre? One thing is clear now. Many writers in their thirties now prefer to write bizarre and surrealistic stories within our genre. And it happens in Japan, too.

Kelly LINK, Patrick NIELSEN HAYDEN, Mark L. VAN NAME, Takashi OGAWA

Sun

1000

Small Press Publishing in the United States, Japan, Europe …

Some of the most exciting work in science fiction, fantasy and horror is produced by small presses. What makes a book good? Can small presses save us from degeneration? What challenges in design, production, and marketing do small presses face? Can labors of love make money?

Daniel SPECTOR, Bob EGGLETON, Charles ARDAI, John D. BERRY, Kelly LINK

Gavin’s schedule:

Fri 1000 Sprawl Fiction
Participants: Ellen DATLOW, Gavin J. GRANT, Lou ANDERS, Yoshio KOBAYASHI
“Sprawl fiction” was coined to show how new writers, most in their thirties, are trying to expand our genre yet still loving its very core, straight SF. Terms like “new Weird”, “interstitial”, “strange fiction” or “new fabulist” don’t cover the trend fully. It is a natural reflection of our urban society and probably heralds the new stage of our evolution; to the stars. We talk about why the new generation slipstream is not the fusion of literary fiction and SF/F.

Fri 1200 How Healthy is the Short Story
Participants: Ellen DATLOW, Gavin J. GRANT, Joe HALDEMAN, Larry NIVEN
For decades, there has been talk of the death of short fiction in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Are markets shrinking? Is the quality less than it was thirty years ago?

Fri 1700 Kaffeeklatsche
Participants: Gavin J. GRANT

Sun 1400 The Short Story’s Role in Fantastic Fiction
Participants: Ellen DATLOW, Gavin J. GRANT, Larry NIVEN, Pat CADIGAN
Short fiction rarely gets the attention that novels do by reviewers. It is harder to sell collections and anthologies than novels. The panelists, writers and editors of short fiction discuss their thoughts about the shorter forms (short story, novelette, novella) of fantastic fiction.

Sun 1600 Lost Tribes of Cult Novels
Participants: Elizabeth Anne HULL, Gavin J. GRANT, Yoshio KOBAYASHI
Where have the cult novels gone? They were once legion; “Stranger in a Stranger Land”, “Cat’s Cradle”, “The Lord of the Rings”, “Illuminatus!”, “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”, “Neuromancer” and “The Wasp Factory” . But what about “Snow Crash” and “Harry Potter”? Why aren’t they cult novels?