Lost Places is a Locus Award Finalist

Tue 14 May 2024 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Posted by: Gavin

Lost Places cover - click to view full sizeDelighted to see Sarah Pinsker’s Lost Places is a finalist for the Locus Award for best short story collection — along with one of her stories and one novelette.* Small Beer is a finalist which I take it to mean that all of our 2023 titles were much enjoyed by readers.

Congratulations to all the finalists! — including Kelly, for her collection White Cat, Black Dog, and her story “Prince Hat Underground” which are also finalists.

The Locus Awards weekend is June 19-22 live in — and online from — Oakland, CA.

* Still funny to write that instead of two short stories. When does one get used to the names for the various short  categories?


Locus 2023 Recommended Reading List

Thu 1 Feb 2024 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , | Posted by: Gavin

In 2023 we (only) published four books and I’m happy to see three of them are on the Locus Recommended Reading list. The one title missing is Ayize Jama-Everett’s series capper Heroes of an Unknown World—at least The Last Count of Monte Cristo, his great Afrofuturist graphic novel, is listed.

As ever, congratulations to everyone whose work made the list! Do I think more of the list makers should read LCRW? Well of course! How could they miss our monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, semiannual, dammit, annual issue from last year? (I mean, maybe they all read it and didn’t enjoy any of the stories, but, come now, how likely is that?)

The three titles, which if you are reading this you may be familiar with, that did make the list are:

Kij Johnson, The Privilege of the Happy Ending: Small, Medium, and Large Stories

Sarah Pinsker, Lost Places: Stories & the original story novelette first publisher there, “Science Facts!”

Anya Johanna DeNiro, OKPsyche


OKPsyche in Locus

Tue 7 Nov 2023 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Posted by: Gavin

The new issue of Locus has a roundtable on short fiction with Ted Chiang, Kelly Link, and Usman T. Malik and an interview with superstar Carmen Maria Machado, both of which I’m looking forward to seeing when my print issue arrives. But the first thing I read in the pdf was Jake Casella Brookins’s review of Anya Johanna DeNiro’s OKPsyche. I can’t reprint the whole thing but it is worth reading before and after you read the book. It starts off:

I was completely unprepared for how powerful Anya Johanna DeNiro’s OKPsyche is. Told in second person by a carefully unnamed narrator, the novel blends fantasy, science fiction, and absurdism; it’s also a very grounded and personal work. The narrator, a trans woman trying to reconnect with her young son, trying to find friendship and love in a hostile world, is aided by magical figures and contraptions, but it’s her voice that stands out. This is absolutely brilliant writing: raw and unflinching in how it portrays transphobia and self-doubt, sweeping and dynamic in its use of language and imagery.

And all I can say is that I am so glad the reviewer read the same book I did and hope many people will pick up the book and see how strong it is.


A Locus Bestseller

Wed 1 Nov 2023 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Posted by: Gavin

Bestseller lists are weird things. None of them turn out to be as simple as I’d expect — except, I suppose the ones I make for Book Moon because that they are what they say they are: a list of bestselling books in the store.

Anyway, this hardly a thought never mind an exploration of the concept comes from celebrating Sarah Pinsker’s recent collection Lost Places just slipping onto the August bestseller list as reported in the new issue of Locus.

Have other Small Beer titles been Locus bestsellers? Could this be our first bestseller? Can we get it to appear on other lists? I have no idea! In the meantime, we’ll celebrate having possibly the only short story collection on the list this month!


Truly Original

Fri 7 Oct 2022 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 45 cover - click to view full sizeI enjoy reading Locus, finding books for Book Moon or for me, and generally keeping half an eye on what’s going on. This month Paula Guran reviewed the latest issue of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, #45, and said:

“If you are looking for unique literature, you can’t beat LCRW.”

 


Locus Reading & Panel

Wed 22 Jun 2022 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , | Posted by: Gavin

As part of the Locus awards readings and celebration, Kelly will do a zoom reading on Thursday June 23 with Michael Swanwick and be on a panel on Connie Willis and Gary K. Wolfe on Saturday, June 25:

Thursday, June 23 – 4 p.m. PDT/7 p.m. ET – Reading: Kelly Link and Michael Swanwick

Saturday, June 25 – 2 p.m. PDT/5 p.m. ET – DONUT SALON: In Conversation: Kelly Link, Connie Willis, and Gary K. Wolfe (bring your own donuts!)

Jeff Ford and Sarah Pinsker are two of the many readers and panellists. Should be fun. I’ve lifted the post from the Locus site so check here for updates.

Event links at Locus Awards Online 2022 will become live at their scheduled time. Here’s the full list of events from Locus:

LOCUS AWARDS SCHEDULE

Wednesday, June 22  –
4:00 p.m. PDT–  Reading: José Pablo Iriarte and Nnedi Okorafor
5:00 p.m. PDT–  Reading: Nalo Hopkinson and Catherynne M. Valente
6:00 p.m. PDT – Reading: Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Fran Wilde
Thursday, June 23  –
4:00 p.m. PDT – Reading: Kelly Link and Michael Swanwick
5:00 p.m. PDT – Reading: Suzanne Palmer and Wole Talabi
6:00 p.m. PDT – Reading: Jeffrey Ford and Angela Slatter
Friday, June 24 –
4:00 p.m PDT – Reading: Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Cat Rambo
5:00 p.m PDT – Reading: John Wiswell and Connie Willis
6:00 p.m PDT – Online Hangout with Connie Willis and Locus folks
Saturday, June 25 –
10:00 a.m. PDT – PANEL: “Hauntings & Histories” with Akemi Dawn Bowman, TJ Klune, Darcie Little Badger, Sam J. Miller
11:00 p.m. PDT – PANEL: “Power Dynamics in New Worlds” with Daniel Abraham, C.L. Clark, Fonda Lee, Sarah Pinsker
12:00 p.m. PDT – PANEL: “Writing Rules and How to Break Them” with Charlie Jane Anders, Charles Payseur, Sheree Renée Thomas, A.C. Wise
2:00 p.m. PDT – DONUT SALON: In Conversation: Kelly Link, Connie Willis, and Gary K. Wolfe
(bring your own donuts!)
3:00 p.m. PDT – LOCUS AWARDS CEREMONY with MC Connie Willis

 

*Memberships include a set digital subscription to the magazine, from our February 2022 issue (our Year-in-Review issue with Recommended Reading List and Poll and Survey) to August 2022 (with the Locus Awards photo coverage and writeup) and everything in between. Member subscription is non-transferable and does not affect or extend existing subscriptions.

Connie Willis
MC Connie Willis

Locus Supports Inclusivity! Thinking of attending? Please do. We encourage people of color, women, people with disabilities, older people, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to attend. We welcome people of any gender identity or expression, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, size, nationality, religion, culture, education level, and self-identification. Locus associate editor Arley Sorg will serve as our PoC/LGBTQQIA Ombudsman.  Feel free to reach out to him in advance at locus@locusmag.com subject: Arley Ombudsman. Our Code of Conduct is available here: Locus Science Fiction Foundation Code of Conduct.


Locus Recommended Reading List

Mon 3 Feb 2020 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , | Posted by: Gavin

Issue 709 Table of Contents, February 2020Congratulations to all the writers whose work has been selected for this year’s Locus Recommended Reading List! I am especially delighted that in a year where we published 10 titles (2 collections, 2 novels, 1 chapbook, 5 titles reprinted in paperback), three of the five new titles are on the list:

And among all the stories on the list (I’d have added a few from LCRW, but, hey, bias) I’m glad that Kelly’s story in the final issue of Tin House made it to the list:

Congrats to one and all!


2015 Locus Recommended Reading List

Fri 19 Feb 2016 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Congratulations to all the writers whose work was selected for the 2015 Locus Recommended Reading List. It is always an interesting list; fascinating to see what makes the list, what does not. In 2015, not counting reprints and two issues of LCRW, we apparently published:

— two novels by Ayize Jama-Everett, The Liminal War and The Entropy of Bones
— one translation: Angélica Gorodischer’s Prodigies (translated by Sue Burke)
— one young adult novel: Nicole Kornher-Stace’s Archivist Wasp
— one short story collection, Mary Rickert’s You Have Never Been Here
— two paperback reprints: Geoff Ryman’s Was and Greer Gilman’s Cloud & Ashes
— which constitutes a recommended reading list all of our own!

Of those five new titles, we are very happy to say four were selected for the Recommended Reading List:

NOVELS – FANTASY
Prodigies, Angélica Gorodischer
The Liminal War, Ayize Jama-Everett
Archivist Wasp, Nicole Kornher-Stace

COLLECTIONS
You Have Never Been Here, Mary Rickert

I’m also very happy to see Kelly’s collection Get in Trouble and her story from Strange Horizons, “The Game of Smash and Recovery.”

No matter which books you liked or didn’t, I hope you’ll go and vote at the next election and keep democracy alive! And no matter if you do that or no, remember that the Locus poll is open, everyone can vote in it, and you can write in your own choices: Michael J. DeLuca for Editor!

2015 titles in order of publication:


Locus Recommended Reading

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

Locus February 2015 (#649) cover - click to view full sizeThis month’s issue of Locus (handily available on Weightless) is a humdinger of a read — not just for this here publisher, although our books do get many great shout outs. For which, Yay!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and Eileen Gunn’s Questionable Practices:

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

and even a review of Monstrous Affections by Rich Horton.

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


Locus awards & this month’s Locus

Thu 9 May 2013 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , , , | Posted by: Gavin

LocusLovely news from Locus that 2 (or 3, depending on how you count) Small Beer books are finalists for this year’s Best Collection Award. Any time something like this happens, I remember what an honor it is to be nominated. It is excellent and reassuring to know that there are readers finding these books. Congratulations to Kij Johnson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and all the nominees in all the categories. (Er, one note: come on world, there are some excellent women artists out there.)

When this month’s issue of Locus came in the mail I forgot to say that they have a fascinating indie publishing section where they asked the same couple of questions of many independent presses. I answered for Small Beer and am glad I did because it is awesome to be included with some of my favorite indies out there.  And, for a Locus trifecta, Rich Horton reviews Angélica Gorodischer’s Trafalgar and picks “Trafalgar and Josefina” as his favorite. (For instant gratification, you can pick up Locus from Weightless.)

COLLECTION

THE SMALL & INDEPENDENT PRESS 

Introduction • Small Beer Press • Lethe Press • PS Publishing • Earthling Publications • Cheeky Frawg Books • Fairwood Press • ChiZine Publications • Twelfth Planet Press • EDGE Books • Prime Books • Aqueduct Press • Tachyon Publications • Ticonderoga Publications • Subterranean Press • Night Shade Books

1/2 story, Locus, TK

Mon 7 Feb 2011 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Posted by: Gavin

I have a story up at Strange Horizons this week! Or, at least, the first part. Part 2 will be up next Monday. Can’t wait to see what happens.

Last week’s story at Strange Horizons was a reprint of “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken, nicely presented with an Introduction by one of the fiction editors, Jed Hartman.

We have four books on the Locus Recommended Reading List, Meeks, Redemption in Indigo, The Poison Eaters, and What I Didn’t See. Not too bad!

We published nine books last year (+ 2 issues of LCRW!), these four plus four that weren’t eligible for the list: a reprint (Ted Chiang’s collection), two novels that aren’t spec fic, (Kathe Koja’s Under the Poppy and Alasdair Gray’s Old Men in Love), the Daily Planner, and the first publication in English of Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud (A Life on Paper: Stories). It’s disappointing that A Life on Paper didn’t make the list but to make up for it there’s a nice review up at Devil’s Lake—a well-named lit journal from UW Madison.

Last week I was looking for any recs on mobile broadband devices and while Verizon gets the thumbs up, it’s pricey so I was leaning toward Virgin Mobile—but they’re putting on a data limit of 5GB/month (which I think I’d pass given we’re always uploading new things to Weightless). So now I’m wondering if anyone has used localnet? Looks old fashioned, but I only need better internet access for 3-6 months. Anyone know it?

And, Later this week Karen Joy Fowler and Edward Gauvin will be popping by.