Readercon 21 Rundown

Sara and I just got back from Readercon. It was great this year, starting with some great panels and ending with Spain’s glorious victory over the Dutch. Gol!

I got to attend a discussion with Samuel R. Delany, who talked expansively about writing in general and his new novel that comes out next year. The discussion was great, and I even got to ask him a question without making myself sound like a complete ass. As terrifying as meeting your idols may be, if you get the chance, take it.

I also got to sit in on a great discussion with James Morrow later in the weekend, where he talked about sundry interesting things, including steampunk, the Titanic, his new novel, and the scientific method. I am a great admirer of Morrow’s because there are apparently no limits to his creativity and his daring. Towing Jehovah is one of my favorite books. The novel he is working on now (involving Darwin) sounds amazing.

I gave away three copies of Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist to poor, unsuspecting souls. People also took a bunch of fliers for all five Hiram volumes, which hopefully will compel them to pick up the complete set in a frenzy of online commerce.

Got books signed by Paolo Bacigalupi, Peter Straub, John Crowley, and James Morrow.

Readercon has the best dealer’s room; every table simply makes your inner bibliophile drool with envy. Alas, like last year, I didn’t buy that much because we were going home via the bus and subway, and everything I bought would have to be carried (along with all the books I brought from home to be signed). I seriously need a book caddy.

These are the books I got:

• The Third Bear, Jeff VanderMeer
• Strange Itineraries, Tim Powers
• Shambling Toward Hiroshima, James Morrow
• Darkness, ed. Ellen Datlow
• The Jewel-Hinged Jaw, Samuel R. Delany
• About Writing, Samuel R. Delany
• Star-Maker, Olaf Stapledon

Boy, Did They Pick the Wrong Guy…

I just got stopped on the sidewalk (in the 100 degree sun, no less) by a news crew keen to hear my “man on the street” thoughts about the state of the U.S. economy and of my 401K plan.

Apparently, I need to work on my Sturm und Drang face. The guy was flabbergasted when I said I wasn’t all that concerned about the state of the economy vis-à-vis my retirement. Clearly, they were looking for some spittle-flying “woe is me” tale to shoehorn into his media narrative of the day. Maybe he thought I looked like a Tea Partier and was expecting some racist, idiocy-laden Keynesian/Ayn Randish rant about guns and ethanol subsidies. Alas, I suspect they will not use the footage of my zen-like equilibrium.

I was tempted to say that I know full well that our Feline Overlords will have made money a quaint memory by the time I retire.

Readercon 21

I am going to be at Readercon again this year. Sara and I are going on Friday in the early afternoon and will be there until late Sunday (once the World Cup Final is over.) Readercon has always been our favorite con because it focuses just on the literature, and a lot of great writers and editors go every year.

I am a huge fan of Samuel Delany, Michael Swanwick, and James Morrow. Hopefully, I will have a chance to talk with them during the weekend.

Also, it will be great to meet some of the folks that I know only through their blogs or Facebook. I will be at the Meet the Prose party, and, when not at panels or in the bookshop, I will most likely be in the vicinity of the bar, so say hi.

These are panels I definitely would like to see, but it is possible that one or two may clash with a kaffeeklatsch/beer talk or autograph session.

Fri – 3:00 Influence as Contagion

Fri – 4:00 The Unknowable Character

Sat – 11:00: Starmaker My Destination: Teleological SF

Sat – 12:00: Orphans of the Time Stream

Sat – 2:00: The Fiction of the Unpleasant

Sat – 4:00-6:00 Charles Stross/ Nalo Hopkinson Interviews

Sun – 10:00 Metaphysical Hard SF

Sun – 12:00 The Short Fiction of Theodore Sturgeon

Mimsymonger

I have been on pins and needles waiting for Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist to come out, and now it is out in the wild. Some good reviews so far. It has been a long time coming. (I will have a much longer, unexpurgated post about the writing of the Hiram Grange novella soon.)

There are all kinds of exciting plans for promoting the Hiram books, including book signings, videos, readings, absinthe, conventions, etc. I will also try to set some things up locally. If you have already had a chance to read the book, feel free to post a review on Amazon or B&N; at this stage of the game, word of mouth really helps a lot.

Some exciting news on the Hiram front: I am working on a flash Hiram story submission for the upcoming digital version of Shroud Magazine, tentatively titled “Hiram Grange and the Dessicates of Marrakech.” I have a cool concept for it, but I haven’t sat down to work on it yet, so I have no idea if it will fit into 500 words.

I have started work on a new horror novel, tentatively titled The Firstborn (at 20K words now, 60K more to go.) I am also finishing a space opera novella that I have been batting around for a few years. I have started actively sending out short stories again, so hopefully I can place a few here and there.

I will be at Context in Ohio in August, after a week in San Diego for work. The best-case scenario will have me on a red-eye flight Friday night and in Ohio Saturday morning exhausted but raring to go for all the Shroud/Hiram Grange festivities.

I am also planning on being at World Horror Con in Austin, TX, next April, and I think most (perhaps all!) of the Hiram folks will be there. I have always wanted to go to Austin, as I have heard great things about the food and music scene there. Also, I am looking forward to the chance to meet Joe Hill, Brian Keene, Sarah Langan, and one of my writing idols Joe Lansdale.

Somewhere in between all this, Sara and I are trying to figure out if we can manage another trip, most likely in late December, when I get a week off from work. We are considering Marrakech again because we both feel that we barely scratched the surface the first time there. This time we will definitely go out into the desert and see Ouarzazate. But as is always the case when we start thinking about the next trip, other places keep popping up, and now we are also considering Mexico City, mainly for the food, Aztec ruins, and bullfights. We won’t know until later in the year if we are going anywhere, but it is always fun to plan.

The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror

I just learned my story “Bruise for Bruise” from Weird Tales #353 is going to be reprinted in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror (due out in October by Prime Books, edited by Paula Guran). It looks like I will be sharing a TOC with some of my literary idols, including Lucius Shepard and Joe R. Lansdale.

Needless to say, my joy is full. It is a story I am extremely proud of.

You can get a jump on your holiday shopping at Amazon.

Bigs News

I just got some great news about one of my stories that I can’t quite share yet, but it is definitely bigger than a breadbox. (Yes, I hate when people post things like this, but I trust you will indulge me just this once. Trust me, it will be worth the wait.)

It is one of my favorite stories, so I am very pleased.

Chung Kuo Series Coming Back

One of my favorite SF series, David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo, is being revised and reprinted, with a few new novels thrown in, to make a complete 20-volume series. I am beyond excited.

The original series was published in 8 volumes, but the publisher pulled the plug on the planned ninth book, so the ending was very rushed and most people agree that the 8th volume was the weakest, souring many on the entire series. It looks like this will be rectified in the new versions, as new material has been written to fill in the missing gaps.

• The Middle Kingdom (1989)
• The Broken Wheel (1990)
• The White Mountain (1992)
• The Stone Within (1993)
• Beneath the Tree of Heaven (1994)
• White Moon, Red Dragon (1994)
• Days of Bitter Strength (1997)
• The Marriage of the Living Dark (1999)

You can get these pretty readily on eBay and in used bookstores, except for The Marriage of the Living Dark, which had a much smaller print run and may cost you a kidney or two to acquire.

I would suggest waiting for the new revised reprints to experience this phenomenal series.

My Book Is Now Available

You can order it here.  It is  also available on Amazon.

From its global headquarters in Boston, the mysterious Occlusionist Movement is preparing to control the world with its Digital Eucharist, while in the serpentine bowels of the city an ancient demon is unleashed, eager for revenge against the man who imprisoned it years ago–Hiram Grange!

Cover Art and illustrations by Malcolm McClinton

Layout, design, copyediting, and woodcut embellishments by Danny Evarts

What Are People Saying?

“Join Hiram Grange as he negotiates with a little voodoo help an unfamiliar and scary Boston. Along the way he struggles with Black Magic rituals, creatures summoned from the Abyss, his own inner demons, and the mysterious enslaving power of the Digital Eucharist. At stake: Saving the world from the  Occlusionist Movement. The writing is consistently authentic and compelling. An absolute  must read for fans of fast-paced, action-packed occult thrillers.”

–Gene O’Neill, Bram Stoker Award-winning author  of JADE and DEATHFLASH

“The Digital Eucharist is a trip in every sense of the word…dark, funny, humanistic, and surreal. While others are producing stories and characters in a familiar cookie-cutter format, the minds behind Hiram Grange are blazing a trail as unique and wonderful as the world they are working within. Hiram Grange is Absinthe for the fastidious horror reader.”

– Michael Knost, Bram Stoker Award-winner of WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR

“Vivid, engaging, and darkly humorous – Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist is another spectacular entry in the Hiram Grange series that you can’t afford to miss.”

– Jason M. Tucker – Author of MEAT CITY & OTHER STORIES

If you need to catch up on Books 1 and 2, they are available here: Shroud Publishing

They are also available at Amazon.

Novella Explained

Some of you have asked what a novella is. I suppose one could say that it is a short novel. Without getting into tedious things such as word counts, suffice it to say that a novella is longer than a short story and a novelette, but shorter than a novel.

You could definitely kill a bug with a printed novella, and perhaps you could maim a smallish rodent, but you would be hard pressed to dispatch cattle with it.

These are the numbers that SFWA uses:

• Novel: a work of 40,000 words or more
• Novella: a work of at least 17,500 words but under 40,000 words
• Novelette: a work of at least 7,500 words but under 17,500 words
• Short story: a work of under 7,500 words

NOLA Itinerary

Thursday

• 1:30 arrive in NOLA
• 3:00pm ACME Oyster House
• 8:30pm Bayona

Friday

• 10:00 Audubon Zoo – albino alligator!
• Lunch at Coop’s Place – jambalaya supreme!
• 6:00 apps at NOLA
• 7:30 Night of the Iguana

Saturday

• 11-12 James Carville talk
• 11-12:30 World’s Longest Oyster Po’Boy!!
• Louisiana Oyster Jubilee 2010
• 11-6:00  Roadfood Festival Street Fair
• 6:00pm-10:00pm Roadfood Festival – Shrimp and Crawfish Boil

Sunday

• 11:00 Brunch at Muriel’s
• 4:30 Swing dance lessons at DBA
• 7:00 – Spotted Cat, DBA, Frenchman’s Street jazz crawl

Monday

???

Whenever/Alternates

• Pharmacy Museum
• Coop’s Place
• Preservation Hall
• Mr. B’s
• Tujague’s
• Absinthe House – an absinthe toast to Hiram Grange!
• Garden District
• Voodoo Tour – research!