David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 14
November 6, 2012
World Fantasy Awards
The World Fantasy Conference was great fun, as always. It's one of my favorite cons, and I just love it that walking into the lobby on the first day means greeting friend after friend. I met a ton of new people also, which is a treat. Means I'll have that many more friends to connect with next time!
Of course, I totally failed to take any photos, and I'm not going to exhaustively name drop. (Although, hanging out with the Australian contingent is highly recommended. Garth Nix is absurdly nice for someone that's sold millions of copies. Sean Williams, too.)
I will mention that, to my embarrassment, I had barroom conversation with Lavie Tidhar without 1) congratulating him on being nominated for the World Fantasy Award and 2) somehow managing to forget that I'd just bought his book and was very much looking forward to it. Not good con etiquette. I guess we had other things to talk about, though.
Oh, and then Lavie went on to win the big prize. Congrats, sir.
Okay, so a little name dropping. Not much, though.
Instead, I'll point you toward the WF Award winners. If you haven't checked them out already, take a look HERE.
Of course, I totally failed to take any photos, and I'm not going to exhaustively name drop. (Although, hanging out with the Australian contingent is highly recommended. Garth Nix is absurdly nice for someone that's sold millions of copies. Sean Williams, too.)I will mention that, to my embarrassment, I had barroom conversation with Lavie Tidhar without 1) congratulating him on being nominated for the World Fantasy Award and 2) somehow managing to forget that I'd just bought his book and was very much looking forward to it. Not good con etiquette. I guess we had other things to talk about, though.
Oh, and then Lavie went on to win the big prize. Congrats, sir.
Okay, so a little name dropping. Not much, though.
Instead, I'll point you toward the WF Award winners. If you haven't checked them out already, take a look HERE.
October 25, 2012
I Talk...
...with The Original Fantasy blog. Wanna hear me?
No. Well, then. Fine.
You could listen to the interview to hear Emily Craven, though. She's Australian. Very nice. We spoke via Skype. I sat in my car picking up my local library's internet in Massachusetts. She was all the way on the other side of the globe. Weird stuff.
Anyway, this will get you to it:E-Book Revolution Mini-Podcast
No. Well, then. Fine.
You could listen to the interview to hear Emily Craven, though. She's Australian. Very nice. We spoke via Skype. I sat in my car picking up my local library's internet in Massachusetts. She was all the way on the other side of the globe. Weird stuff.
Anyway, this will get you to it:E-Book Revolution Mini-Podcast
October 24, 2012
The Top Ten Again
A while back I contributed a list of my "Top Ten" favorite books to a collection by J Peder Zane. The book, filled with author recommendations and ruminations, came out a few years ago. It looks like Peder has revamped the material in website form now.If you're interested in my list - and other authors and/or in submitting your own list, you could start HERE.
October 22, 2012
Promotional Video For Unfettered
Here's a little video we came up with to help promote Shawn Speakman's Unfettered anthology. It features my kids and our cats! You can't say no to them, I'm sure...
October 18, 2012
Remember That David Anthony Durham Award?
Well, the finalists have been announced, which means I've got to get my act together and do some judging between now and Thanksgiving!
You can see the finalists and read their stories at Liternational.
You can see the finalists and read their stories at Liternational.
October 17, 2012
Die Fernen Lande - Finally In Hand
You know that I always love receiving foreign copies of my books. This one isn't new. Been out for a little while now in Germany. But I've just received a few copies all my own. It's a pretty book...
I think I'll toss one in the package I'm sending over to Pat Rothfuss for this year's Worldbuilders charity campaign.
I think I'll toss one in the package I'm sending over to Pat Rothfuss for this year's Worldbuilders charity campaign.
October 9, 2012
The Inside Straight
GRRM wrote recently asking his Wild Card's minions to spread the word about books he's donated for sale to benefit The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. He's given them 100 copies of Inside Straight, a Wild Cards novel that begins one of the newer cycle of stories. It's signed by him and co-authors Melinda Snodgrass, Ian Tregillis, Daniel Abraham, John Jos Miller, and Michael Cassutt.
Here's GRRM's Not a Blog Post about it.
Here's the Legal Defense site.
This is all about protecting freedom of speech during Banned Books Week. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.
That's all. Check it out!
Here's GRRM's Not a Blog Post about it. Here's the Legal Defense site.
This is all about protecting freedom of speech during Banned Books Week. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, and readers. The CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.
That's all. Check it out!
October 6, 2012
A Step Closer to being Unfettered
Shawn Speakman has released an author and story list for the anthology he's put together to help knock out his mountain of medical bills. The anthology is called
Unfettered
.You can get all the info here.
There's a nice write up about it at Grasping for the Wind also.
Yes, I'm in this thing. I was honored to be able to provide a story for Shawn, and chuffed to be in there with such a stellar list of authors. Check em out:
The Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks (a Shannara tale)Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks (a precursor to the Word/Void trilogy)How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick RothfussRiver of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (a Wheel of Time tale)The Old Scale Game by Tad WilliamsMartyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey (a precursor to the Kushiel series)Dogs by Daniel AbrahamMudboy by Peter V. Brett (a Demon Cycle tale)Nocturne by Robert V. S. RedickThe Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian (a Vault of Heaven tale)Untitled by Geno & R.A. SalvatoreKeeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood (a Summer Dragon tale)Game of Chance by Carrie VaughnThe Lasting Doubts of Joaquin Lopez by Blake CharltonThe Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne (an Iron Druid tale)Select Mode by Mark Lawrence (a Broken Empire tale)Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth (a Struck epilogue tale)Unbowed by Eldon Thompson (a Legend of Asahiel tale)Untitled by Naomi Novik (a Temeraire tale)The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan (a Riyria Chronicles tale)The Duel by Lev Grossman (a Magicians tale)The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman (an Annwn Cycle tale)
My contribution? That would be a story called All the Girl's Love Michael Stein. I think it's safe to say it's like nothing else I've ever published. It's Young Adult. It's the story of a ghost cat that sets out to find a way to comfort the girl that's mourning his death. In the process, he gives her a gift that changes her life forever.
September 22, 2012
Too Early...
I don’t know why this strikes me as so funny, but it does.
The other day, when my daughter came downstairs for school - at a pitch black 5:45am - she thought that I was sitting in front of our woodstove stoking up a little fire to take the chill off. Reasonable enough. I had just done that very thing. But she only saw “me” out of the corner of my eye.
In fact, I was on the other side of a partition, in the kitchen. She walked half way across the room when she gasped. A moment later, she rounded the corner, holding her hand to her heart, looking shaken but amused. Apparently, she’d had one of those bizarre early morning moments when, finally looking at “me” she saw this:
It was Saba standing, as he likes too, right beside the stove. For Maya, though, it was one of those funky moments when reality bends.
She was like, “Oh no, dad what happened to you?” Just for a moment...
I was a dog.
The other day, when my daughter came downstairs for school - at a pitch black 5:45am - she thought that I was sitting in front of our woodstove stoking up a little fire to take the chill off. Reasonable enough. I had just done that very thing. But she only saw “me” out of the corner of my eye.
In fact, I was on the other side of a partition, in the kitchen. She walked half way across the room when she gasped. A moment later, she rounded the corner, holding her hand to her heart, looking shaken but amused. Apparently, she’d had one of those bizarre early morning moments when, finally looking at “me” she saw this:
It was Saba standing, as he likes too, right beside the stove. For Maya, though, it was one of those funky moments when reality bends.
She was like, “Oh no, dad what happened to you?” Just for a moment...
I was a dog.
September 16, 2012
Caixa Acácia
Those folks at Saída de Emergência never fail to surprise me. I just discovered that they're republishing the first two Acacia books (really just The War With the Mein in two volumes) in a special edition, with a groovy new gold-flecked cover. I like these people. ;)Not only that, they're put together a trailer about it. Check it out (and dig the music):
