Tim Jones's Blog, page 63

An Interview with Lyn McConchie

Lyn McConchie is a New Zealand writer who has been published extensively, especially in the USA, in a range of genres: science fiction, fantasy, horror, humour, and mystery. Lyn was crippled in an accident in 1977 and forced to take medical retirement in 1988. She now owns and runs a small farm near Norsewood, where she breeds coloured sheep and tends her free range geese and hens. I talked with Lyn abut her career, the many genres in which she has written, her collaboration with Andre Norton, a

What Makes a Good Book Launch? What Makes a Good Reading?

I had a great time reading poetry at Palmerston North City Library, as part of the Stand Up Poetry series (forthcoming readers in that series: Glenn Colquhoun, Harvey Molloy, Helen Heath), a week ago. I enjoyed the open mike session that preceded my reading, I was happy with my own performance, the feedback was good, and I sold plenty of my books. Earlier this year, I had an equally good time reading in Christchurch (despite a heavy cold).

But that hasn't always been the case. I've done readings

Voyagers Interview: The Podcast

Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand has just been published. You can buy Voyagers from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle e-book, or from Fishpond in New Zealand. You can also find out more about Voyagers, and buy it directly from the publisher, at the Voyagers mini-site.

This afternoon, National Radio in New Zealand played an interview that Arts on Sunday presenter Lynn Freeman recorded with Mark Pirie and myself about Voyagers. The interview is now available as a podcast in mp3 f

Poetry Runway: Promoting Poetry, One Contestant At A Time

I went to Palmerston North yesterday to read in the Stand Up Poetry series at the very impressive Palmerston North City Library. I really enjoyed myself: I had a great time reading to an appreciative audience, sold plenty of books, had a lovely dinner before the event and lengthy pub discussions about poetry afterwards, and enjoyed meeting lots of new people and some poets I'd only met virtually before, including series MC Helen Lehndorf and my overnight host, Tim Upperton.

And it was on the way

Two Big Climate Campaigns for 2009

2009 is a critical year for the future of the planet's climate. World leaders are gathering in Copenhagen in December to attempt to agree on a successor to the current Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which expires in 2012.

The successor to Kyoto needs to mandate deep and rapid global cuts in net greenhouse gas emissions, and fund the means by which these cuts can be made, if the bulk of the planet's surface is to remain liveable for its existing macrofauna (that's big creatures, like humans and

Tim Jones Goes Viral

I'm going viral, not the blog - I've got a cold (I'm confident it's a cold rather than anything more porcine and sinister, because my partner caught it a few days before me, and she's getting over it). So instead of another pocket epic, this post is a very quick list of links to interesting things I think you should know about. (I'm infectious, so I'm allowed to be bossy.)

The Quiet World Project: Johanna Knox's fascinating blog on the future of books, publishing and reading in a changing world.

T

Voyagers: The Contents

Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand has just been published. You can buy Voyagers from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle e-book, or from Fishpond in New Zealand. You can also find out more about Voyagers, and buy it directly from the publisher, at the Voyagers mini-site.

Here are the contents of Voyagers. Although we weren't able to include every poem and every poet that we would have liked, I hope you'll agree that the anthology contains an impressive selection of poets.

The gener

An Interview with Julie Czerneda

Former biologist and science writer, Canadian Julie E. Czerneda has turned her passion for living things and love of science fiction into a career as an awarding winning author and editor. Today, with thirteen novels in print from DAW Books, and six more under contract, she also keeps busy editing anthologies, when not doing workshops for educators and the public on scientific literacy and SF. Her latest anthology is Ages of Wonder from DAW Books, with co-editor Rob St.Martin, featuring stories

Voyagers: Here At Last

I was going to do a much longer and more complicated blog post tonight, but I'm too tired. So instead, this is just to say that I have a copy of Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand sitting right here besides me, and that feels good!

Mark Pirie and I started on this project in 2004, when we called for submissions for our planned anthology of New Zealand science fiction poetry. While submissions were coming in, we went off and deepened our knowledge of New Zealand poetry by looking fo

Voyagers for Sale, Stand Up Poetry, Online Voting for the Vogels, and James Dignan's New Exhibition

Voyagers for Sale

Mark Pirie and I are still waiting for the contributors' and review copies of Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry from New Zealand to make their way to the shores of Aotearoa, so we can start sending them out. But it is already possible to buy – or at least order – Voyagers online, as follows:
From Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle e-book (search for "Voyagers: Science Fiction Poetry")From Fishpond in New Zealand.From the publisher, via the Voyagers mini-site which also has inform