David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 26
December 7, 2011
Time Out
Time Out Chicago has a rather short Best Of list of Science Fiction and Fantasy titles for 2011. Just three. Quality, though. Quality is what counts. At least I'd like to think so.
I'm there, along with Catherynne Valente and China Mieville.
Take a look if you need convincing.
I'm there, along with Catherynne Valente and China Mieville.
Take a look if you need convincing.
December 6, 2011
Wintery Upper Park
After a mild and very wet autumn, we've just had the weather turn wintery here at Upper Park...
Sure, it's pretty, but we live up a 1/2 mile track - mostly uphill (or downhill, as the case may be). We've had to park the car at the bottom of the track and hike it in and out. Here are the kids heading off to school.
Apparently, Maya's not loving it...
Sure, it's pretty, but we live up a 1/2 mile track - mostly uphill (or downhill, as the case may be). We've had to park the car at the bottom of the track and hike it in and out. Here are the kids heading off to school.
Apparently, Maya's not loving it...
December 5, 2011
Aliette de Bodard
Just a link today...There's a nice interview with Aliette de Bodard, author of the Obsidian and Blood series, over at the blog, Drying Ink.
You could read it HERE.
December 2, 2011
The Real Cover
So the other day I showed you the mock-up of the cover for the mass market paperback of The Sacred Band. Today I can present the real thing. This is what it'll look like come February!
December 1, 2011
A Person of Influence
I've just received something very nice. Words. Just words. But they are ones that mean quite a bit to me - for lots of reasons. I'm pleased to say that one of the Time Magazine's Most Influential People in the World has been kind enough to pen a few kind sentences about me.
No, it wasn't Mark Zuckerberg. Not Michelle Obama either. Michele Bachman... ah, no. And, alas, it wasn't Oprah.
It was his awesomeness himself: click HERE.
Stay with me...
Okay, so my publisher heard that he might be offering a blurb. They got excited and like instantly produced a new version of forthcoming massmarket cover. It looks like this: (Click on it and read George's "quote".)
Pretty nice, huh? If only I knew what the heck he was saying...
Fast forward to today, and I can offer you the actual endorsement George has very kindly offered me. The cool thing is that he starts it with the first thing he read of mine - that little novel about Carthage...
David Anthony Durham knocked me out with Pride of Carthage. He brought Hannibal, his brothers, and the Second Punic War to vivid, bloody life, and established himself as one of the bright new lights of historical fiction. He's doing great work in science fiction as well, as the Campbell Award voters attested when they elected him the best new writer in the field. His epic fantasies make him a triple threat. No matter the genre, David Anthony Durham has serious chops. I can't wait to read whatever he writes next...
I am pleased and very grateful. My publisher has been jolted into a fury of activity. I can't really talk much about that, but judging from their reaction... George is a very influential person indeed.
No, it wasn't Mark Zuckerberg. Not Michelle Obama either. Michele Bachman... ah, no. And, alas, it wasn't Oprah.
It was his awesomeness himself: click HERE.
Stay with me...
Okay, so my publisher heard that he might be offering a blurb. They got excited and like instantly produced a new version of forthcoming massmarket cover. It looks like this: (Click on it and read George's "quote".)
Pretty nice, huh? If only I knew what the heck he was saying...
Fast forward to today, and I can offer you the actual endorsement George has very kindly offered me. The cool thing is that he starts it with the first thing he read of mine - that little novel about Carthage...
David Anthony Durham knocked me out with Pride of Carthage. He brought Hannibal, his brothers, and the Second Punic War to vivid, bloody life, and established himself as one of the bright new lights of historical fiction. He's doing great work in science fiction as well, as the Campbell Award voters attested when they elected him the best new writer in the field. His epic fantasies make him a triple threat. No matter the genre, David Anthony Durham has serious chops. I can't wait to read whatever he writes next...
I am pleased and very grateful. My publisher has been jolted into a fury of activity. I can't really talk much about that, but judging from their reaction... George is a very influential person indeed.
November 30, 2011
The Shutesbury Library
Democracy in action? On the town/community level? It's a good thing, but it can get ugly...
While I'm nestled in on the hillside in Scotland, lots of things have been going on in my hometown back in Massachusetts. The latest one is a very big, community-dividing debate about whether or not to approve funding for a new library.
We're a small town amidst other small towns, population under 3,000. Not big, and we have a tiny library to serve us. Thing is, the library gets used a lot by the community. It's packed full of books and cds and dvds, making use of every bit of space. It's an old building, with no running water, and no place to sit inside. They made the improvement of a composting toilet a few years back, but that hardly makes the building a comfortable space to hang out in.
So there's been a lot of support for building a new library. The town applied for - and got - a grant worth something like 2.1 million. The folks in the town need to come up with another 1.4 million, that would be paid for through... taxes. Oh my. For that, we'd get a much bigger, modern facility that would include all sorts of space inside for events, meetings, classes, as well as just tables to actually sit at and read! It would be great. I'd be in there everyday.
It had seemed like things were going forward smoothly, but in a late round of voting (there have been a number of votes throughout the grant process) a majority of NO voters emerged. They mobilized at the last minute, and caught the YES voters off guard. The YES folks argued that there should be a revote because the NO folks had campaigned with a lot of misinformation - and there hadn't been time to respond to that before the last vote. After a very fractious meeting, the council that decides such things voted to allow the revote. Since then, both sides have been on a full-out campaign to win the Jan 10th vote.
Here's an article about it.
It's been tense. I'm an ocean away, but I feel the tension. I'm also, of course, a huge supporter. I want this library, and believe it will be a great addition to our community - a progressive one that looks to the future and creates prosperity for us. Many people have rallied with donations to the new library fund and by making pledges of donations over the long term. But the vote is going to be close.
If you have any interest in donating a few dollars to this effort at community library building you could do so here. Every dollar helps. You could consider it an investment in helping me write my future books - since the new library will be a big part of writing them!
I recently wrote a letter of support that's posted on the YES for Library! website. Here's what I wrote:
While I'm nestled in on the hillside in Scotland, lots of things have been going on in my hometown back in Massachusetts. The latest one is a very big, community-dividing debate about whether or not to approve funding for a new library.
We're a small town amidst other small towns, population under 3,000. Not big, and we have a tiny library to serve us. Thing is, the library gets used a lot by the community. It's packed full of books and cds and dvds, making use of every bit of space. It's an old building, with no running water, and no place to sit inside. They made the improvement of a composting toilet a few years back, but that hardly makes the building a comfortable space to hang out in.So there's been a lot of support for building a new library. The town applied for - and got - a grant worth something like 2.1 million. The folks in the town need to come up with another 1.4 million, that would be paid for through... taxes. Oh my. For that, we'd get a much bigger, modern facility that would include all sorts of space inside for events, meetings, classes, as well as just tables to actually sit at and read! It would be great. I'd be in there everyday.
It had seemed like things were going forward smoothly, but in a late round of voting (there have been a number of votes throughout the grant process) a majority of NO voters emerged. They mobilized at the last minute, and caught the YES voters off guard. The YES folks argued that there should be a revote because the NO folks had campaigned with a lot of misinformation - and there hadn't been time to respond to that before the last vote. After a very fractious meeting, the council that decides such things voted to allow the revote. Since then, both sides have been on a full-out campaign to win the Jan 10th vote.
Here's an article about it.
It's been tense. I'm an ocean away, but I feel the tension. I'm also, of course, a huge supporter. I want this library, and believe it will be a great addition to our community - a progressive one that looks to the future and creates prosperity for us. Many people have rallied with donations to the new library fund and by making pledges of donations over the long term. But the vote is going to be close.
If you have any interest in donating a few dollars to this effort at community library building you could do so here. Every dollar helps. You could consider it an investment in helping me write my future books - since the new library will be a big part of writing them!
I recently wrote a letter of support that's posted on the YES for Library! website. Here's what I wrote:
November 28, 2011
Neil Gaiman's Record Label
I just noticed a piece at Salon.com that I found quite interesting: Neil Gaiman's Audiobook Record Label.
And then I got an email asking me about pronunciation for the upcoming audiobook of Pride of Carthage. The two things together prompted me to blog!
So, read up on Gaiman's audiobook publishing venture. It's cool, and certainly good news for audiobook fans. I don't have any connection to Neil on this, but the audiobook of Pride of Carthage that's going into production is related, in a way.
Audible.com and the ACX program are trying to make it easier for writers to connect directly with narrators to get audiobooks made that might not otherwise. That's exactly what's happened with Pride of Carthage. It's the only one of my books without an audio version. That had always bothered me. I mentioned this to Dick Hill - the narrator of my Acacia Trilogy - a while back, and he proposed that we partner on the audio version and publish it ourselves on Audible. So that's what we're doing.
If all goes well, an audio version of the book will be available sometime in the spring! It'll sound just as professional as any other version. It's produced in the same way, really. It's just that the "risk" of production is shared between us. As are the eventual sales. (Hoping that there will be some...)
And then I got an email asking me about pronunciation for the upcoming audiobook of Pride of Carthage. The two things together prompted me to blog!
So, read up on Gaiman's audiobook publishing venture. It's cool, and certainly good news for audiobook fans. I don't have any connection to Neil on this, but the audiobook of Pride of Carthage that's going into production is related, in a way.Audible.com and the ACX program are trying to make it easier for writers to connect directly with narrators to get audiobooks made that might not otherwise. That's exactly what's happened with Pride of Carthage. It's the only one of my books without an audio version. That had always bothered me. I mentioned this to Dick Hill - the narrator of my Acacia Trilogy - a while back, and he proposed that we partner on the audio version and publish it ourselves on Audible. So that's what we're doing.
If all goes well, an audio version of the book will be available sometime in the spring! It'll sound just as professional as any other version. It's produced in the same way, really. It's just that the "risk" of production is shared between us. As are the eventual sales. (Hoping that there will be some...)
November 17, 2011
A Few Wild Cards Things
First, I'm very pleased to have just completed my first draft of the three part story I'm contributing to the next Wild Cards book, currently being called Lowball. It went off to George RR Martin and Melinda Snodgrass yesterday. Here's hoping they like it...
Second, did you know Wild Cards has finally gone audio? Yep, they have. There's a new audio version of the first book, Wild Cards 1 .
Here's a review of it at The Guilded Earlobe .
And here's the forthcoming Wild Cards II: Aces High!
Third, Tor Books is offering a special on ebook versions of several Wild Cards titles. Here's what Tor says:
Tor Books is pleased to announce a special Wild Cards promotion in anticipation of the impending release of Wild Cards: Aces High (Dec. 20th) and the exciting news that Wild Cards is in development to become a movie. From November 16th until December 14th the following four Wild Cards titles will be available in the U.S. for $2.99 each wherever eBooks are sold!
Wild Cards I
Inside Straight
Busted Flush
Suicide Kings
Basically, that offers two good starting points. Wild Cards 1 is the first book, where it all begins. Inside Straight begins one of the newer sequences of books, followed by Busted Flush and Suicide Kings. So many ways enter the Wild Cards world! What are you waiting for? Give us a try. Before the movie comes out...
Second, did you know Wild Cards has finally gone audio? Yep, they have. There's a new audio version of the first book, Wild Cards 1 .
Here's a review of it at The Guilded Earlobe .
And here's the forthcoming Wild Cards II: Aces High!
Third, Tor Books is offering a special on ebook versions of several Wild Cards titles. Here's what Tor says:
Tor Books is pleased to announce a special Wild Cards promotion in anticipation of the impending release of Wild Cards: Aces High (Dec. 20th) and the exciting news that Wild Cards is in development to become a movie. From November 16th until December 14th the following four Wild Cards titles will be available in the U.S. for $2.99 each wherever eBooks are sold!
Wild Cards I
Inside Straight
Busted Flush
Suicide Kings
Basically, that offers two good starting points. Wild Cards 1 is the first book, where it all begins. Inside Straight begins one of the newer sequences of books, followed by Busted Flush and Suicide Kings. So many ways enter the Wild Cards world! What are you waiting for? Give us a try. Before the movie comes out...
November 16, 2011
Did You Know? Pizza Counts As A Vegetable!
Okay, true enough, not many thinking adults would accept that as reasonable, but the House of Representatives does. I wonder what convinced them?...
Here's a short NPR piece on it.
Here's a short NPR piece on it.
November 14, 2011
Stomping
I came across a fun post over at Stomping on Yeti. It's the site's fiction picks for October.Nice selection of books. I'm particularly pleased to have made the cut as one of the two "Picks of the Month".
And I'm even more pleased to see the Aliette de Bodard is the other pick, for the conclusion to her trilogy, Master of the House of Darts: Obsidian and Blood Book 3.
I met Aliette a few years back when we were both up for the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I'm very pleased that she's concluded her trilogy. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds great. Looking for an Aztec mystery/fantasy? If so, you're in luck. If not, consider it and check her out. I will.
