Any Massachusetts librarians out there…?

Fri 3 Apr 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Any Massachusetts librarians out there…? | Posted by: Gavin

We just read the program guide for the Mass. Library Association’s annual conference and found it is full of fabulous things to do and people to see (Lynda Barry!). So our question to any librarians in Massachusetts is: can you help us get in?


I saw it on the back of a cereal box

Thu 2 Apr 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on I saw it on the back of a cereal box | Posted by: Gavin

http://www.alexmyers.info/files/gimgs/8_danishgirls-copy3.jpgDon’t know if you got a beer and put up the slideshow of the Interstitial Arts Foundation cover pool on Flickr on your computational device — it was great fun to do, highly recommended for passing a good amount of time.

The IAF have pulled (ouch) out a winner, “e” by Alex Myers, which will be used for the cover of their next antho, Interfictions 2. And, natch, it was painted on the back of a cereal box. Or maybe the inside. Which side is the inside if the box is flat? Hmm. (More about Alex and the cover).

Interfictions 2 comes out in November. Keep up with it here. Check out that ToC, should be a great book!


linkdump

Tue 31 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , | Comments Off on linkdump | Posted by: Gavin

Random links, mostly to reviews of our books. Why would you read this? It’s coming near to the end of the day and the teleprompter isn’t working and really, who is watching CNBC right now anyway? Might as well read out a bunch of reviews and see if any of the books catch your eye. Go on, newsreader, have some fun.

Brian Slattery enjoys Geoff Ryman’s The King’s Last Song in The New Haven Review:

As sensitive and humble toward the subject matter as the author could be, yet manage also to tell an unflinching, wrenching story involving some deeply, deeply flawed people who are nonetheless searching for a way out.

Nice short piece on Venus Zine about Anne Elizabeth Moore and Cambodia.

Jedediah Berry’s book is getting a bunch of nice notices, including in the Boston Globe. See his site (or our calendar on this page) for more of his upcoming readings.

Rambles looks at Generation Loss:

The reader will find it difficult to put down. The multiple levels of mystery, the setting and the characters work together seamlessly. In Generation Loss, Hand proves that real life can be scarier and stranger than fantasy.

The Seattle Times on The Ant King: (and Howard “Yay!” Waldrop and Cory Doctorow):

The Ant King and Other Stories shows just how strange and wonderful the microcosms he creates can be.

More readings from Ben R. are coming soon: watch out!

A bunch of people are out there on the couch reading the eponymous couch. It gets two shots from The Daily Evergreen from Andrew and Jessica Schubert McCarthy—who both like it, which is good news for us.

The essential message of Couch appears to be that the world and our lives would be better if we all got off our couches (literal and metaphorical) a bit more often.
—Zone SF

Charles Tan interviewed Ben Parzybok:

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn Cover

I enjoy multi-tasking – I find it a kind of high – and yet I don’t believe it’s good for me. When I wrote Couch I was in a small apartment in Ecuador with no Internet access, and it was a tremendous boon to productivity.

Gavin reviews Alison Goodman’s Eon: Dragoneye Reborn and Ray Bradbury’s We’ll Always Have Paris for the LA Times: “In recent years, Ray Bradbury has settled comfortably into his role as the wacky grandfather of American letters….”


Pretty

Fri 27 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Pretty | Posted by: Gavin

Look: Indiebound gets on the crafty/etsy/pretty bus! Local bookshops celebrate spring, yay! (Now if they could only help our snowdrops come up, that would be excellent.)


Cloud & Ashes

Mon 23 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Cloud & Ashes | Posted by: Gavin

We’re about to send this book to the printer and PW has just published the first review of Greer Gilman’s Cloud & Ashes:

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales Greer Gilman. Small Beer, $26 (448p) ISBN 978-1-931520-55-3

Almost two decades after the publication of her debut novel, Moonwise, Gilman returns to the fantasy realm of Cloud with a trilogy of interconnected narratives. 2000’s Nebula-shortlisted “Jack Daw’s Pack” follows an otherworldly traveler as he creates a rich tapestry of myth in the cards he throws down. 2003’s “A Crowd of Bone,” which won the World Fantasy Award, is a decidedly nonlinear tragedy about child witch Thea, who flees her goddess mother and a foolish love-struck mortal. The novella “Unleaving,” the original piece of the trinity, revolves around Thea’s daughter, Margaret, who “unravels” the heavens and, in turn, much of the mythos of Cloud. Though the sublimely lyrical Jacobeanesque dialect is challenging, readers who enjoy symbolism and allusion will cherish Gilman’s use of diverse folkloric elements to create an unforgettable realm and ideology. (May)

Order here!


Kristin’s converter tables

Wed 18 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 6 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing CoverIn response to our call for suggestions for A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing Kristin had a fantastic idea:

How about something targeted to the young fantasy/science fiction/mystery writer in all of us?

  • How far can a horse travel in a day?
  • Carrying two riders when one is an elf and one is human?
  • What is the minimum amount of oxygen content/gravity/sunlight able to sustain human life?
  • How do you allow for time dilation?
  • A ratio for ambient temperature to body temperature for establishing time of death.

Which led us to supply a few more:

  • How about how many old ladies visiting your town does it take to produce a murder?
  • An adverb removal tool to convert your text into noir?

Which then led to the thought: there’s a curiously large internet’s worth of writers out there. Any conversion tables you’d like to see?


Ugly couches and more

Tue 17 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Ugly couches and more | Posted by: Gavin

Ben Parzybok is tearing up the west coast this week on another tour. Here’s a flier, here’s an interview at Powell’s, here’s an ugly couch competition at Auntie’s Books in Spokane (come on, surely all the couches are beautiful in the west?) and here are the dates!

Olympia, WA
March 17thcouch, 7 PM
Orca Books
509 E. 4th Ave., Olympia, WA 98502

Tacoma, WA
March 18th, 7 PM,
Garfield Book Company at PLU
208 Garfield St S., Tacoma, WA 98444

Seattle, WA
March 19th, 6.30 PM,
Ballard Public Library
5614 22nd Ave. N.W., Seattle, WA 98107
(sponsored by Secret Garden Bookshop)

Bellingham, WA
March 21st, 7 PM,
Village Books
1200 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225

Missoula, MT
March 23rd, 7 PM,
Fact & Fiction
220 N. Higgins & University Ctr., Missoula, MT 59802

Dillon, MT
March 24th, 7 PM
The Bookstore
26 N. Idaho St., Dillon, MT 59725

Spokane, WA
March 25th, 7.30 PM
Auntie’s Books
402 W. Main Ave., Spokane, WA 99201

St. Helen’s, OR
April 7th, 7 PM
St. Helen’s Book Shop
58527 Columbia River Hwy. St. Helens, OR  97051


The Beer of Alchemists and Witches

Mon 16 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 10 Comments | Posted by: Michael

If you came to the Manual of Detection release party, you may have had the chance to sample my latest brewing experiment, the Legendary Black Beer of Aaaargh!–a first attempt at recreating a long-extinct style of medieval herb beer, flavored, in this case, with rosemary and sage as a substitute for hops. If you were one of the intrepid few, I thank you. It came as quite a shock to me how many compliments the black beer got, considering half the reason for the silly name was the reaction I expected it to get. The experience has given me hope that people are a lot more open-minded about their beer than the world’s brewing industry would have us believe.

That in mind, I’m going to talk some about how and why this style of beer went extinct, and how and why I might go about bringing it back.

Read more


lcrw 23 out!

Fri 13 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on lcrw 23 out! | Posted by: Gavin

LCRW 23. Celebrate!Maybe it was the Utne Reader, maybe it was something else, but we’re out of stock on the paper edition of LCRW 23! You can still buy the ebook at Fictionwise or Lulu (or a pdf from us) or there’s the swanky trade paperback at Lulu…! We printed a few less than before (hey, it’s a recession), but these went fast. Maybe we’ll go make more. For now subscriptions will get LCRW 22 or 24 as their first ish.


What do you want in a planner?

Mon 9 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on What do you want in a planner? | Posted by: Gavin

In August we’re going to publish something different: the first in what we’re hoping will be an annual series of . . . desk calendars(!) with A Working Writer’s Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing. (You can preorder it using that Paypal link or here.) We figured there was a gap for something like this, so why not go for it.

A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing CoverThe calendar will be published in August so we’re almost finished putting it together and we’ve been having great fun adding all the things we would like to be in a calendar.

And then we thought: there’s a whole big internet of people who might, just might, have some opinions on this, too, so here we go: what are you looking for in a planner/calendar/diary? What is the killer app (as it were, this is a book, there may be an online component of it later, we’re not sure) that would make this irresistible to you—or for someone else as a gift? Is it phases of the moon? Birthdays of interesting people? Converter tables between liters and pints, inches and centimeters, parsecs and kilograms?* Market information? Blank space?

Some of these will be in the calendar, some won’t. We’re looking for your help to make this better and we’re looking forward to your suggestions. So, please, send in what you’d like in it and feel free to repost this on anywhere else.

* That’s a tough one. May need a physicist or two to help us there.


lcrw 23 updates

Fri 6 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 1 Comment | Posted by: Gavin

March 11 update to update: Nice write up in Utne Daily blog:

The latest issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet (LCRW) fairly buzzes with vibrant, intelligent writing….

LCRW 23 cover by Kevin HuizengaAlex Wilson’s story, “A Wizard of Mapquest,” from LCRW 23 was a nominee (which maybe means finalist/honoree or something, or it was nominated by someone else?) for the 2nd Annual Micro Award.

We’ve added an option to buy the trade paperback of LCRW 23 from Lulu on that page.

And, at last, we’ve managed to upload LCRW 23 to Fictionwise.com. Sorry: could not do it and needed a lot of help! Happily, it is easy to find, right there on the front page. Er, just below the big sign that says Fictionwise has just been acquired by Barnes & Noble. (Although if you go to bn.com, there’s no mention yet of Fictionwise.) Fictionwise delivers ebooks easily, cheaply, and well, and their customer and publisher interfaces have been very user-friendly, so we will hope it continues that way and congratulate Steve and Scott Pendergrast, the founders of Fictionwise, Inc., for having built the company so well and hope that they do indeed get to “run the Fictionwise websites as a separate business unit within Barnes & Noble.”


Text-to-speech on a per-title basis

Sun 1 Mar 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 2 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

Happy to see PW reporting that Amazon backed down on the text-to-speech debacle. It’s not that the robotic voice reading a book aloud is a huge problem now, but letting it go now would create huge problems later when contextual reading widgets will allow text-to-speech to sound more human. (10 years? More like 5?):

In a surprising about-face, Amazon has decided to give publishers and authors the choice over whether or not to enable the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech function…. Despite protests from the Authors Guild, Amazon’s move came as a surprise since the company rarely reverses a policy once it is in place….

Amazon are the 800lb gorilla everyone in publishing deals with and they own so many parts of the book business that we have to be careful with every move they make. No doubt we are missing some of the ramifications of their actions right now….

Their market share isn’t that high, but it is enough that they can dictate terms—and they are not particularly kind. It’s a relief to see IndieBound getting more creative and useful, being able to link to individual titles should have been available years ago, but at least it’s available now.


On memory

Fri 20 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on On memory | Posted by: Gavin

When we asked Vincent McCaffrey for a bio (since we’re publishing his book in September, it seemed the polite thing to do), this is one of the variations he sent:

“I have conveniently forgotten everything I did before I started my bookshop. This allows me to make things up as need be. A writer’s prerogative, according to Mark Twain, who should know. My first professional memory is selling a book on the morning of October 15th, 1975. It felt good so I kept doing it, just like any baby-boomer would.”


Your Mysteries Earn Free Books

Thu 19 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Your Mysteries Earn Free Books | Posted by: Gavin

The Manual of Detection CoverJedediah Berry’s awesome first novel, The Manual of Detection, is out Today! Today! Run to your local bookshop and if they don’t have it firebomb them, er, ask politely when they will have it in. If they do have it, what are you reading this for? Go read the book.

Or, maybe you will win a free copy!

We were going through Jed’s desk the other day and found a few lonely and unread copies so we decided that we should find them good homes. First, we made him sign them, and now, clearly, it’s time for a contest.

To enter, leave a comment on this post with a mystery in need of solving. Personal or historical, major or quotidian, real to everyone or just to you. We’ll choose five of the most strange and intriguing mysteries and those folks will get a copy of The Manual of Detection. They may even get their mysteries solved. (Please don’t wait around for that to happen.)

Submit conundrums and enigmas within a week or so. And in the meantime, you may want to read up on the Manual over here: www.manualofdetection.com.


The real reason car sales are falling

Wed 18 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on The real reason car sales are falling | Posted by: Gavin


NYTimes, Nerdcore, & love

Wed 18 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on NYTimes, Nerdcore, & love | Posted by: Gavin

Lev Grossman and Sophie Gee recently posted their playlist on the NYT Paper Cuts blog. This is a guy who outnerds most of the readers of this blog, seriously—although his list may overlap with yours more so than it might with ours. It’s somewhat like reading what Junot Diaz’s playlist might have been before Oscar Wao came out would be like. Every time it looks like he’s hit nerdvana, he ratchets it up again.

There is also lite (sic) jazz and a book with a scientist falling in love with a ghost:

…the book I’m working on now, “The Magicians,” which you could glibly but not inaccurately describe as Harry Potter meets “The Corrections” for shots of synthohol in Ten Forward….

Palmcorder Yajna, the Mountain Goats…. the mental soundtrack that I wrote to. I used to picture a scene of torch-lit close-quarters sword-and-ax combat with this song in the background. Dwarves, orcs, elves, no heroics, no speeches, just sweat and dirt and blood in their beards. Like, as if Tarantino filmed the “The Lord of the Rings” instead of Peter Jackson. That’s what the past sounds like to me. You know — the past that never happened….

Unlike Dylan, as far as I know, T.D.O.T.H.T. mostly do pop-metal songs about the works of H. P. Lovecraft….


An Opportunity to Partake of Both Beer and Literature

Tue 17 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 3 Comments | Posted by: Michael

This is it, ladies and gentlemen. Until now, all my talk of beer and literature has been just that: talk. Finally, however, the opportunity has arisen to put my barley where my mouth is. Er…not that I haven’t been doing that all along. You know what I mean.

On Friday, February 27th, Jedediah Berry will be at Amherst Books to celebrate the release of The Manual of Dectection, a beautifully complicated novel about a clandestine detective agency and a meticulous clerk thrust unwillingly into a detective’s role. He does not, as would I, resort to drink under pressure… though there’s a fair amount of whiskey swallowed throughout.

I’m brewing beer for the occasion because home distilling happens to be illegal.

Read more


The Faery Handbag on BBC7 (for 6 more days)

Mon 16 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on The Faery Handbag on BBC7 (for 6 more days) | Posted by: Gavin

Listen to “The Faery Handbag” (“A distraught young woman reveals how she has lost both her boyfriend and grandmother to a magical handbag.”) on BBC 7’s Fantastic Journeys. It’s live for 6 more days.


Ed Emshwiller on YouTube

Thu 12 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Ed Emshwiller on YouTube | Posted by: Gavin

Sunstone:


Crack Fiction

Thu 12 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Crack Fiction | Posted by: Gavin

The IAF just posted the contents of their next anthology, Interfictions 2, which we will publish for them in November. Lots of new and some old friends there—as well as an online annex of goodies, so: more good stories coming”

Interfictions 2 TOC!

Co-editors Delia Sherman & Christopher Barzak are pleased to announce:

The Table Of Contents for Interfictions 2!

Curious about the first one? Check it out:


More Kindle yech

Tue 10 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on More Kindle yech | Posted by: Gavin

So it looks like we may have to withdraw at least some of our titles from the Kindle as the Wall Street Journal reports:

Some publishers and agents expressed concern over a new, experimental feature that reads text aloud with a computer-generated voice.

“They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.”

An Amazon spokesman noted the text-reading feature depends on text-to-speech technology, and that listeners won’t confuse it with the audiobook experience. Amazon owns Audible, a leading audiobook provider.

We queried our contact at Amazon and he said:

The ability to read text aloud is very different from producing an audio version of a written work, so audio distribution rights are not required for any titles currently available as eBooks in the Kindle store.

But the difference is that the Kindle is specifically a reading device, so customers can buy the ebook—and get it read to them, which is a different product and right, an audiobook—whereas a computer is a multifunction device. We’re happy that computers have text-to-speech capabilities for visually impaired readers but this seems to be directly impinging on an author’s rights. Hmm.


Kindle King

Tue 10 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on Kindle King | Posted by: Gavin

The news that Stephen King has an exclusive story for the Kindle is 1) not surprising: the man cannot resist a new channel and 2) depressing as all get out. His poor core fans. If they don’t have a $359 object they can’t read it. Wonder exactly how fast it will be 1) torrented and 2) in print.

When did Amazon acquire the One Ring? Amazon take such a huge cut that having books there is almost a loss leader ad for our books in stores. (People still like to pick up and see what they’re buying—and our books are all printed on pretty pretty recycled paper.)

When talking heads say not to worry about bookstores/chain stores/distributors dying because Amazon will save us all, I think: ok, I can find a job that will actually pay me because if it’s all Amazon all the time, this job won’t.


Camille on the Couch

Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Camille on the Couch | Posted by: Gavin

A bookseller asked, since we now have an interest in all things couchy, if we’d heard Camille Bloom‘s CD Ten Thousand Miles. Seems Ms. Bloom has many shoes and a couch (more of a Big Chair, there) and is taking at least some of those things on tour this month. Even to . . . Easthampton! Maybe we can get a day-release from the head bampot and go see the show:


Semiprozinez (and other diseases)

Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Semiprozinez (and other diseases) | Posted by: Gavin

Eric Marin of Lone Star Stories is miffed that the Hugo Award for Semiprozine (fondly known as the Locus Award that none of us shall ever receive) may disappear at this year’s Worldcon in Montreal (in August, oh sunny lovely August).

Seems that Locus won too many times in a row so (maybe, haven’t been following this) some people want to change the rules so that there’s no award to dominate anymore. Which takes away the honor of nomination* for four other mags. Which isn’t very nice. We don’t care if we are nominated or not (we received the honor a couple of years ago and like that it gets spread around: there are a lot of people doing good work out there), but, come on, how about all the new zines, paper or online, why take it away from them?

So, if you’re going to be at the Worldcon (not sure if we will), go to the business meeting and tell them that the Semiprozine category, silly as it is, is worth keeping—at least until they go completely daft and make a Hugo Award for Semiprozine Editors, since there’s one for all kinds of other editors.

* That may seem like a joke, but if you’re smart you’ll realize it’s not. Or, you can wait until an award list comes out with your name on it—or you’re on a jury and have to decide the nominations—and then finally you might realize what an honor it actually is.


The Faery Handbag on BBC Radio 7

Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on The Faery Handbag on BBC Radio 7 | Posted by: Gavin

Next Sunday at 6.30 PM GST, BBC Radio 7 will air their adaptation of Kelly’s story “The Faery Handbag.” (It also re-airs at 00:30 that night.) We’re very excited and curious to see what it will sound like!

“The Faery Handbag” is the third (of four) episodes in a show called Fantastic Journeys—you can go and listen (for another 6 days) to the current show, “Fifty Cents,” by Tim Powers and James Blaylock.


Small Beer at AWP

Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Small Beer at AWP | Posted by: jedediah

We just secured a table at the AWP Chicago bookfair. If you’re planning to be there this week, please come say hello! You’ll find us next to the folks from Kundiman.

Also, because this came together in last-minute fashion, we need help! Anyone willing to work the table for an hour here or there will be paid in free books and glittering good karma. And stickers. And buttons. And secret coupons which you may redeem for secrets.

Finally: Chicagoans! The bookfair will be open to the public on Saturday. It’s at the Hilton Chicago, 720 South Michigan. We’ll be expecting you. All of you.


Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Charles Platt shows he doesn’t know shit about how Wal-Mart works. Maybe this will clarify it, Charles: Demanding lower prices = moving jobs abroad. What a great company that it! And, those workers who used to work in textile mills or in manufacturing jobs that paid enough to support a family, can now get jobs at . . . Wal-Mart. And maybe a second job at Wal-Mart, too, as the first one sure as hell isn’t going to pay the mortgage.

While Wal-Mart may have made some positive contributions to society, they have also helped push thousands of people in this country out of their jobs. How? To quote Fast Company:

The retailer has a clear policy for suppliers: On basic products that don’t change, the price Wal-Mart will pay, and will charge shoppers, must drop year after year. But what almost no one outside the world of Wal-Mart and its 21,000 suppliers knows is the high cost of those low prices. Wal-Mart has the power to squeeze profit-killing concessions from vendors. To survive in the face of its pricing demands, makers of everything from bras to bicycles to blue jeans have had to lay off employees and close U.S. plants in favor of outsourcing products from overseas.


Mon 9 Feb 2009 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | 2 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

Charles Platt shows he doesn’t know shit about how Wal-Mart works. Maybe this will clarify it, Charles: Demanding lower prices = moving jobs abroad. What a great company that it! And, those workers who used to work in textile mills or in manufacturing jobs that paid enough to support a family, can now get jobs at . . . Wal-Mart. And maybe a second job at Wal-Mart, too, as the first one sure as hell isn’t going to pay the mortgage.

While Wal-Mart may have made some positive contributions to society, they have also helped push thousands of people in this country out of their jobs. How? To quote Fast Company:

The retailer has a clear policy for suppliers: On basic products that don’t change, the price Wal-Mart will pay, and will charge shoppers, must drop year after year. But what almost no one outside the world of Wal-Mart and its 21,000 suppliers knows is the high cost of those low prices. Wal-Mart has the power to squeeze profit-killing concessions from vendors. To survive in the face of its pricing demands, makers of everything from bras to bicycles to blue jeans have had to lay off employees and close U.S. plants in favor of outsourcing products from overseas.


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