Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 124
October 7, 2009
Gene Wolfe and Jack O'Connell Paired with Awesome Beer
I finally made a decision on what books go best with Stone's amazing 09.09.09 Vertical Epic Ale. Go take a look.
At base, I was reminded of Guinness, in that the foundation has that kind of firm, comforting flatness. But over top of that, there's a slow-motion carnival going on. There's a definite disappearing horizon of spice in there–it's just a hint but emphatic–and then as your taste buds encounter the beer fully there's an energy and a uniqueness that's difficult to describe. The taste...
October 6, 2009
Murder by Death's Soundtrack for the Novel Finch
Finch's Theme by Murder By Death
One of my favorite bands, Murder by Death, has made their utterly kick-ass (and beautiful) instrumental soundtrack for my novel Finch available on the internet. You can share it, download it, or buy the actual CD. There's also a green vinyl limited edition–scroll down. (You also get the CD with either of the two limited edition hardcovers from Underland Press.)
I've already written about the soundtrack before, but I'll just add that it's truly haunting and...
October 5, 2009
My Old Friends The Kinks and Richard Thompson: Still Awesome
Okay, so I was bad and splurged today. I went down to Vinyl Fever, where my stepdaughter Erin used to work, and I bought Richard Thompson's box set Walking on a Wire: 1968-2009 and The Kinks' Picture Book (from their first record to their last–SIX CDs of amazing music). I basically took out a loan on some of the money coming to me from my work on [REDACTED--classified:], for which a check will be coming soon courtesy of Bli-[REDACTED--classified:], Mi-[REDACTED--classified:], and...
Right Before the Panic Sets In: Guestbloggers, Links, Book Tour Progress
Just a few notes, updates, and links, with about 22 days to go before attending the World Fantasy Convention, the kick-off for my five-week Endurance Tour for Finch and Booklife…
Guest Blogging
While I'm on the road, cool peoples will be guest blogging here (Nov. 3 through Dec. 12), including (in no particular order):
Felix Gilman
Kameron Hurley
Charles Tan
Rima Abunasser
Eugie Foster
David Moles
Lavie Tidhar
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Rachel Swirsky
Will Hindmarch
Caren Gussoff
Shane Hoversten
Luis Rodrigues
October 4, 2009
The First Annual Last Drink Bird Head Award Finalists
As I noted before, we're giving out awards at the Last Drink Bird Head party at World Fantasy Award. The more that Ann and I thought about it, the more service awards seemed particularly appropriate given the nature of the Last Drink anthology. So we got all serious and spent a good deal of timing thinking about categories and finalists. We thought awards from this perspective might be a very good thing for the field, so we're leaving open the probability of continuing the awards next year...
October 2, 2009
Illustrating VanderMeer: A Pain in the Ass, But Someone Has to Do It
(The original hardcover dustjacket for the edition of City of Saints & Madmen that put me on the map; larger version here, with detail in my photostream.)
From the Plymouth State Library page (more info there):
Which came first; the story or the illustration? When you think about the illustrated stories that you've read, whether they have been in the form of a graphic novel, a picture book, or comic strip–you might ask yourself this question. In an exploration of the collaborative process...
October 1, 2009
Running Out of Anthology Ideas? Hmmm?
Same thing strike you about the cover that strikes me?
David Anthony's Durham's The Other Lands
(Gorgeous cover!)
I just posted a really interesting interview with David Anthony Durham on Omnivoracious–go check it out.
Here's an excerpt:
Amazon.com: There's been a lot of talk lately about "plot" and the idea that literary fiction tends to not have "plot" because of an impression that in literary fiction story comes out of characterization. Whereas genre fiction, including fantasy, apparently has "plot" that's more readily identifiable as such because the characters are subordinate to...
Mind Melds, Depressing Hammers, Parasol Protectorates, and Lots of Work…
One month to go until World Fantasy Con, which is the launchpad for my five-week book tour–just added an event Dec. 10th at Chapel Hill Comics, co-featuring Mur Lafferty and special guest Natania Barron. It's looking like 30 events in 35 days, gawd help me. I'm knee-deep in all kinds of work, so here are some links for a Thursday, and feel free to post your own or let me know what you've been up to (links may get caught in my spam filter and so may take a little while to appear).
- Charles...
September 30, 2009
Booklife Masterclass in Seattle, November 8th at the Hugo House
I'll have a post next week setting out book tour info, including more information on other gigs in Seattle, but for now I wanted to point out that registration is now open for my Booklife Masterclass November 8th at the Hugo House in Seattle.
The description reads:
In this new age of social media, award-winning writer Jeff VanderMeer, the author of "Booklife: Strategies & Survival Tips for 21st Century Writers", shows you how to achieve a sustainable career and sustainable creativity. From...
