Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 122
October 16, 2009
Heretic/Rebel Edition Friday (with linkylink too)
So, um, these dustjackets came in the mail for the limited Finch editions. I have to sign 350 of them and write sentences on 150 of them. I'm going to work on that today to get it out of the way, so in the meantime here're some recent links to stuff I'm involved in. Enjoy your Friday! – Jeff
Long-Time Mystery Reader, First-Time Noir Writer guest post:
"If I have to skip town, that's okay. I can always lie low in the next burg over, maybe even pick up some work as an unlicensed PI…."
October 15, 2009
Last Drink Bird Head…In the Flesh…
Awww. C'mon–how can you resist this insane project with 80-plus contributors including Gene Wolfe, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Peter Straub, Ellen Kushner, and others. C'mon. You know you want it...
Lamson Library's "Illustrating VanderMeer" Exhibit
A very nice article on the exhibit that's running from now through Nov. 23rd at Plymouth State University's Lamson Library in New Hampshire. On the evening of the 23rd, my friend and long-time artist on various projects will participate in a reading, discussion, and Q&A from the audience, in the library cafe. Should be fun. Many thanks to Matt Cheney, and to Eric (for putting up with me over the years).
October 14, 2009
Got 30 Seconds? Got a Camcorder or Camera with Video Capability? Got Cityscapes?
If you've got 30 seconds, even just a camcorder of whatever quality–or a phone or camera that takes even half-way decent video–and a backdrop of a ruined part of a city or a ruined part of a city that looks fantastical, and you can shoot yourself talking on camera–just a few lines I'd send–and get it to me in the next week, please email me at vanderworld at hotmail.com and I'll send the words. Clothing worn during your shoot must be devoid of brand names or other contemporary markers...
Things I Like Today
(Is it a good or bad thing that Neo lets us put coasters on him?)
I also like Charles Tan's essay on sexism/racism in anthologies, Tessa's run-down of the Halo collaboration, and John Scalzi's post on girl cooties. The Tan essay analyzes things from a lot of different angles and provides a space for full discussion of the issue.
I also like Daniel Maier-Katkin's Stranger From Abroad and long cats:
October 13, 2009
The End of Ambergris: Remembering It All, Forgetting It All
(Finch, hitting bookstores on November 3.)
The postman brought a box of Finch today. I opened them half-reluctantly for some reason, then just about died when I saw the top copies were gap-toothed: the left margin of the cover didn't quite match up to the interior pages. Then saw these were only the first few on top, and the rest were fine. I'd had a sudden image in my head of these village-idiot-looking copies populating bookstores. But, not to worry. The majority look awesome.
In the back...
Bear with Me…
Just a note that with so many projects debuting this month or next, and so many other things starting up, I realize that there are probably too many entries that feel self-promotional. Thanks for your patience, I hope it isn't becoming white noise. Unfortunately, most of this stuff is very important to my career and to my continued freelancing. Just know that starting in November you'll have a wonderful bunch of guest bloggers posting on a wide variety of topics.
Right now, too, with the...
Shared Worlds Guest Writers for 2010
Shared Worlds, the two-week SF/F teen writing camp, is proud to announce that instructors for summer 2010 will include Spiderwick Chronicles creator Holly Black, critically acclaimed YA and adult authors Kathe Koja and Marly Youmans, Nebula Award winner Michael Bishop, writer/gaming expert Will Hindmarch, and World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer, in addition to Wofford College faculty and Jeremy Jones, lecturer and camp director. Artist Scott Eagle will also conduct a workshop during...
October 12, 2009
"The Mona Lisa"–A Collaboration with Tessa Kum for Halo: Evolutions
(All images in this post are *unauthorized* dramatic re-creations from our novella "The Mona Lisa," with the spaceship played by a model given to Ann and me by a Romania friend. These images do not in any way represent screen shots from any new or future version of Halo, okay dude?)
There's nothing like a little challenge to roil the blood and take over your life for a couple of months—all while not being able to say much of anything about it publicly, but, finally, I can announce that:
