There Is No Nobody’s Land

Thu 20 Sep 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman | Comments Off on There Is No Nobody’s Land | Posted by: Gavin

A year ago on September 7th I queried Hachette Australia about North American rights to Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius. I’d read Veronica Sullivan’s review in the Guardian and was immediately intrigued. Intrigued doesn’t quite catch the level of my curiosity, though. When I was a kid one of my favorite novels was John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids — which happily for me is in print from our friends at the New York Review Books — a post apocalyptic story of a kid who realizes that his differences puts him in danger. The Guardian review reminded me of The Chrysalids and when I looked for a US edition of Terra Nullius I was frustrated, then delighted, to find it did not yet exist.

When I reached out to Hachette Australia they first emailed then mailed me the book, the latter took some time thanks to Massachusetts being quite far from Australia, and on October 27th I made an offer on North American rights. By November 3rd negotiations were concluded and we were a go to publish. In the intervening eleven months we’ve sent review copies hither and yon throughout the US (and a few to Canada).

Terra Nullius starts with a kid, Jacky, running, and never stops. It is a page turner that will resonate uncomfortably for many readers in postcolonial countries and I believe it will be yet another in the many steps needed in the ongoing discussions of land ownership, land use, reparations, owning, belonging, home, &c. in North America the way it has in Australia.

When the book came out in Australia, Claire was featured at many book festivals and interviewed a lot. I’ve listened to most of these (links copied from her website, thanks, Claire!) and recommend leaving a tab open and listening to a few. Besides being a great writer, she is a live spark and well worth listening to:

Home Truths: Telling Australian Stories. Recoded at Sydney Writers festival, on ABC iView.

Radio National the Hub on Books Great Debate – Write What You Know on ABC Radio National.

I had a great chat with Andrew Pople on Final Draft, 2ser Sydney, you can hear it here.

The second episode of The Meanjin Podcast has me talking to Jonathan Green.

I spoke to Jonathan Green about Australia, the White Invaders and who the real nomads are on Blueprint for Living.

I spoke to Beverley Wang for It’s Not a Race Season 2 Episode 2 – For Us Happy Endings Feel Dishonest.

Panel at Melbourne Writers Festival 2017, facilitated by Adelle Walsh, featuring Samantha Shannon, Sami Shah, Garth Nix and Me – Reality and Fantasy (Youtube)

Rhianna Patrick interviewed some authors, including me, at Genrecon for her podcast.

The Wire – Reframing Australia’s History of Invasion. My interview with Bonnie Parker.

I was on ABC Brisbane on the 4th of July 2017 talking about my book and what inspired me to write it for NAIDOC weekhttp://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/programs/evenings/evenings/8657932. I am on at about 1 hour and 29 minutes in.

Hear me talk about Aboriginal literature, family history and the frontier wars on Brisbane Murri Radiohttp://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/claire-coleman/

I was interviewed by Triple J breakfast, it’s somewhere in this podcast: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s4497391.htm

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Malaprop’s and Moon Palace

Wed 19 Sep 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, Nathan Ballingrud, readings | Comments Off on Malaprop’s and Moon Palace | Posted by: Gavin

Do you live in Asheville or Minneapolis and just read Gary K. Wolfe’s review column and were wondering what Abbey Mei Otis’s stories sounded like? Good news pour vous! We’ve just added two more readings for Abbey Mei Otis in those very towns! The first is on Sunday, September 30 at 3 pm in the afternoon, where Abbey will be in conversation with Nathan Ballingrud, author of North American Lake Monsters.

Sun., 9/30, 3 p.m. In conversation with Nathan Ballingrud
Malaprop’s
55 Haywood St., Asheville, NC
828-254-6734

And the second reading is at Moon Palace (yes, the store that just added LCRW!), where Abbey will read with Anya Johanna DeNiro:

10/23, 7 p.m.
Moon Palace Books
3032 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis MN  55406
612.454.0455

Recent Reviews

“Otis actually belongs with writers like Kelly Link, who freely borrow genre materials to construct elegant literary fictions far more about character than spectacle. . . . As odd as these worlds are, they are populated by sharply drawn characters we come to care about through Otis’ luminescent prose.” — Gary K. Wolfe, Chicago Tribune

“Otis doesn’t use science fiction to lift the veil of the familiar and peer at what’s beneath. Instead, with great shrewdness and courage and originality, she reveals that the veil was itself an illusion, and the familiar a construct of anything but.” — Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, IGMS

“Dreamy but with an intense physicality that belies the violence behind the longing.”— Everdeen Mason, Washington Post Book World

“It’s a collection that will keep your heart half in your throat and half in your toes, and I recommend it.” — Tor.com

“In these stories, yes, there are aliens, robots, sex dungeons, chicken puppets, ghosts, and blobs of unknown origin and nature. But there is also tenderness and the absence of it. There is prose that delights. There are plastic people, and people not sure if they can bleed. What these stories do best is sci-fi. What these stories do best is love. And if you need to distinguish between the two, then Abbey Mei Otis is here to deny you. For if barriers between what is ‘science fiction’ and what is ‘literature’ haven’t already broken down, then this collection is Abbey Mei Otis burying a glowing-neon hammer into that tired beige wall.”— Columbia Journal

“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.” — Booklist (starred review)

“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.” — Elizabeth McCracken, author of Thunderstruck & Other Stories

“These are amazing, electric stories—you can feel the live wire sizzling in them from the first sentence, and you know you’re about to take a wild, unforgettable trip. Abbey Mei Otis is my favorite kind of writer: her worlds are uniquely strange yet eerily relatable, and she knows how to make you laugh and weep at the same time.” — Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will

“Abbey Mei Otis deposits the reader in bargain bin worlds remaindered from the near futures of the more fortunate, worlds filled with space junk and toxic glitter, gel candy and gutted elk. These are stories for the many, for lovers and mourners, for those who want to split their minds from their bodies and those who know how to merge their organs in a single skin. In Alien Virus Love Disaster, language itself is in phase change. This book is a volatile, dangerous gift.” — Joanna Ruocco, author of Dan

“After I read this book, I woke up with bumpy, reddish growths along my spine. They burst, releasing marvels: aliens, robots, prefab houses, vinyl, chainlink, styrofoam, star stuff, tales from the edge of eviction, so many new worlds. Alien Virus Love Disaster is a super-intelligent infection. Let Abbey Mei Otis give you some lumps.” — Sofia Samatar, author of Tender

“Abbey Mei Otis speaks for a generation of people with fractured futures and complicated hopes. It is a collection about right now.” — Maureen F. McHugh, author of After the Apocalypse

“The aliens have already arrived in ‘Blood Blood.’ Abbey Mei Otis has them visiting in a way we’ve seldom seen before in genre science-fiction: Not as hunters, conquerors or even ambassadors, but as wildlife observers. . . . As brilliant as this cosmos and narrative is, Otis also manages to supply rich characterizations. It’s a concept sci-fi piece that tries something new and succeeds on every level.” —Matt Funk, Full Stop

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Karen Joy Fowler @ Smith College

Mon 10 Sep 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Karen Joy Fowler | Comments Off on Karen Joy Fowler @ Smith College | Posted by: Gavin

Last week Karen Joy Fowler was in town (so we have signed copies of What I Didn’t See) to read at Smith College as her novel We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was this year’s First Year Experience Smith Reads choice.

She was joined on stage by Ruth Ozeki and they chatted and Ruth asked questions the students had emailed her. After the reading there was a rush as attendees lined up to get their books signed. I was delighted to take this panoramic shot of the line as a reminder of the enthusiasm of readers for this author and her book — click to enbiggen:

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One More Week to Terra Nullius

Tue 4 Sep 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman | Comments Off on One More Week to Terra Nullius | Posted by: Gavin

We had a slight printer error and while I sort that out with them Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius will be delayed a little. Some initial copies have gone out so you may find it in stores and the ebook is available (DRM-free as ever from Weightless) in all the usual places.

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Not Like Anything I’ve Recently Read

Tue 28 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., CLRW, LCRW, Reviews, WCLW, WHAT, WLCR | Comments Off on Not Like Anything I’ve Recently Read | Posted by: Gavin

Rich Horton included a couple of stories from this spring’s LCRW 37 in a recent short fiction roundup in Locus and since the reviews are now online I’ve reprinted them here because the stories are excellent and should be widely read. As I went to find Maria Romasco Moore’s twitter ID to tag her in the review I saw on her website that besides her fantastically titled forthcoming chapbook from Rose Metal Press, Ghostographs, this summer she sold her debut novel, congratulations, Maria!

Someone on twitter recently asked if we publish novellas and I answered that we sometimes do in LCRW — although if asked in person I usually add something to indicate that  a novella has to be as good as as 2-3 short stories. James Sallis’s “Dayenu” is. Last night I was looking at one of Gardner Dozois’s Year’s Bests Science Fiction and I very selfishly missed him again thinking that this was a story he would have enjoyed. It’s funny how much one person’s reading can influence so many others. Ach. Anyway, here are the reviews:

“Dying Light” by Maria Romasco Moore (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, March) is a strong story set on a starship carrying passengers in suspended animation, heading to a newly colonized world. The passengers live in “the light”, a virtual environment, to keep them mentally sharp. The narrator, Ruth, is worried about her wife, Mag, who has become self-destructive – an odd thing in the “light”, where one can do what they want to their virtual bodies without necessarily affecting their “real” body. The real problem is Ruth and Mag’s relationship, which the story foregrounds. It’s well enough executed, but what intrigued me was the backgrounded SFnal aspects – the “light” and how it works, the hints about the state of Earth society and how that affects the colony’s prospects. Neat stuff, even if I’m not quite sure I read it the way the writer intended.

Even better is a remarkable long story by James Sallis, “Dayenu“. It opens with the narrator doing an unspecified but apparently criminal job, and then fleeing the house he was squatting in, and meeting an old contact for a new identity. Seems like a crime story – and Sallis is primarily a crime novelist – but details of unfamiliarity mount, from the pervasive surveillance, to a changed geography, to the realiza­tion that the rehab stint the narrator mentioned right at the start was a rather more extensive rehab than we might have thought. Memories of wartime service are detailed, and two partners in particular – a woman named Fran or Molly, a man named Merrit Li. Page by page the story seems odder, and the destination less expected. The prose is a pleasure, too – with desolate rhythms and striking images. Quite a work, and not like anything I’ve recently read.

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Author exposes Scuppernong to ‘Alien Virus’

Mon 20 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis | Comments Off on Author exposes Scuppernong to ‘Alien Virus’ | Posted by: Gavin

Not our title, but a little irresistible: Ian McDowell reviews AVLD and interviews Abbey Mei Otis in NC’s YES! Weekly — obviously I am going to love any paper with an exclamation mark in the title —  Author exposes Scuppernong to ‘Alien Virus’.

If you’d rather listen to an interview, T. Hetzel interviewed Abbey for WCBN’s Living Writer series.

Also, Columbia Journal: “What these stories do best is sci-fi. What these stories do best is love. And if you need to distinguish between the two, then Abbey Mei Otis is here to deny you.”

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Whee!

Tue 14 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, readings, tour | Comments Off on Whee! | Posted by: Gavin

And off it goes! Today we are publishing a fantastic first book of stories, Alien Virus Love Disaster by Abbey Mei Otis. This book tore into our hearts and then knocked our heads off. This is contemporary fiction through an sf&f lens. Things drop out the sky, there are aliens, there are crappy jobs, there are families doing what it takes to not lose the family house. Booklist gave it a starred review (you can read that here), Everdeen Mason liked it (as per the Washington Post Book World), and Brit Mandelo just reviewed it (“It’s a collection that will keep your heart half in your throat and half in your toes, and I recommend it”) yesterday on Tor.com.

At AWP this March Abbey was part of a huge group reading with Juan Martinez and a number of Black Ocean and Third Man Books poets and writers at a bar in Tampa, FL, and she was amazing. Being a young and enthusiastic author Abbey is on tour starting tonight. Later in autumn she’ll be reading at Malaprop’s and then — if all goes well — Moon Palace in Minneapolis. Don’t miss her!

You can read 3 stories now:

The title story — as recommended by Dan Chaon — on Electric Lit’s Recommended Reading.
“Blood, Blood” on Strange Horizons.
“Sweetheart” on Tor.com.
Prefer print? Read “Rich People” in the new issue of Tin House.

So here’s your chance to catch an author at the start of it all. Get ye to a bookstore and see Abbey Mei Otis’s August 2018 Debut Tour

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Terra Nullius gets a Reading Group Guide

Mon 13 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman, Reading Group Guide | Comments Off on Terra Nullius gets a Reading Group Guide | Posted by: Gavin

Not recommended until you’ve read it, but once you have read Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius and you really want to talk about it, we have you covered: you can come back here and download the Terra Nullius Reading Group Guide (0 downloads).

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Washington Post Says

Fri 3 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis | Comments Off on Washington Post Says | 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

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Up to Saving God?

Thu 2 Aug 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., John Schoffstall, Reviews | Comments Off on Up to Saving God? | 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 . . . !

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PW Star!

Mon 30 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman, starred review | Comments Off on PW Star! | 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.

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Last Invisible Valley Event!

Fri 27 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Last Invisible Valley Event! | 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!

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About Air Logic

Fri 27 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on About Air Logic | Posted by: Gavin

And we’ve just added a little bit of actual description about Air Logic . . .

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Tender a WFA Finalist!

Thu 26 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Awards, Sofia Samatar | Comments Off on Tender a WFA Finalist! | 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:

How to Get Back to the Forest

An Account of the Land of Witches

Meet Me in Iram

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Read, Share, Eat Better Sandwiches

Wed 25 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Read, Share, Eat Better Sandwiches | 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!

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A Breathtaking Reading Experience

Tue 24 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, starred review | Comments Off on A Breathtaking Reading Experience | Posted by: Gavin

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Clarion

Mon 23 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Clarion, Kelly Link | Comments Off on Clarion | 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!

 

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Abbey Mei Otis Tour Dates

Thu 19 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis, readings | Comments Off on Abbey Mei Otis Tour Dates | 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

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Claire G. Coleman on the Book Podcast

Tue 17 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Claire G. Coleman | Comments Off on Claire G. Coleman on the Book Podcast | 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.

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In Other Lands in Teen Vogue

Thu 12 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Sarah Rees Brennan | Comments Off on In Other Lands in Teen Vogue | 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.”

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Upcoming

Sat 7 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Abbey Mei Otis | Comments Off on Upcoming | 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.

 

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British Fantasy Awards

Fri 6 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Awards, Sofia Samatar | Comments Off on British Fantasy Awards | 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)

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Get Free Advance Copies An Agent of Utopia on LibraryThing

Fri 6 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., Andy Duncan, Free books | 4 Comments | 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!

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Readercon 2018

Thu 5 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal., John Schoffstall | Comments Off on Readercon 2018 | 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!

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Indie Next & EWGC

Tue 3 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Indie Next & EWGC | 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

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Abbey Mei Otis on the Weekly Reader & in Locus

Mon 2 Jul 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Abbey Mei Otis on the Weekly Reader & in Locus | 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:

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The Golden Compass as written by Roald Dahl

Tue 26 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on The Golden Compass as written by Roald Dahl | 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.”

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Half-Witch Events!

Mon 18 Jun 2018 - Filed under: Not a Journal. | Comments Off on Half-Witch Events! | 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 21, 1 P.M. The Lahaska Bookshop, Peddler’s Village Store, 162 Carousel Ln & Rte 263 A, Lahaska, PA 18931 ·  First bookstore signing!

July 26, 7 p.m. Farley’s Bookshop, 44 S Main St, New Hope, PA 18938

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