Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 125

The Third Bear Story Collection–Turned In (sorta)

(cover by Jacob McMurray)

I just turned in my story collection The Third Bear to Tachyon. The table of contents is as follows:

The Third Bear

The Goat Variations

The Quickening

Finding Sonoria

Lost

Shark God Versus Octopus God

The Situation

Predecessor

Komodo

Fixing Hanover

Three Days in a Border Town

The Secret Life of Shane Hamill

The Surgeon's Tale (with Cat Rambo)

Appoggiatura

"The Quickening" and "Komodo" are new stories, and, to be honest, I'm still working on both, but will still turn...

Sea Planes and Citrus: Vintage Art from an Imaginary Past

The first time I met Steve Hlavac it was on South Beach, where he had a busy night ahead of him as a professional photographer. We followed him to a bar where Warren Zevon was playing–he got his shots even though a customer wanted to punch him out. (Ann's known him ever since he was her boss at a Record Bar in Tallahassee.)

In addition to his professional work for national and and international magazines (see also his page on photographed celebs) Steve's had a couple of cool exhibits in...

My Complicated Relationship with Facebook

(A screen capture from my profile photo album on Facebook; I love how the juxtapositions form a kinda cool collage.)

I've got a complicated relationship with Facebook. When Matt Staggs first set up an account for me, I kind of scoffed at Facebook. Me? Wanting to interact with people using status messages on a daily basis? Not this curmudgeon.

Then I started using Facebook and became an addict. On a basic level, yes, the appeal was that I could keep up with my friends despite being frantically ...

A Report on the Living Dead (A Memoir of the Last Days)

In looking at all possibilities for my collection The Third Bear (cover above), I found a very old story I wrote when I was 16, "A Report on the Living Dead," which is up on my parody of author sites, VanderWorld. Given the popularity of zombies, here's the first bit and a link to the rest. I, um, abjectly apologize to the French for this piece. In my defense, I was very young. It's pretty silly. (Erm, not right for the collection, either.)

***

"I dream badly–accursed kings and queens and...

Got a Question? I've Got an Answer (maybe)

I'm here anyway all day laboring away on various projects, attention fragmented, so if you've got a question–burning or otherwise–feel free to ask it. These days we tend to think writers should be experts on more than just writing, so in addition to writing/editing/publishing questions, I'll field any questions you have about Nabokov, Edward Whittemore, Angela Carter, Decadent literature, mushrooms, squid, music, alien babies, weightlifting, Byzantine history, noir, and movies.

Excerpt and News – Buy Finch While There's Still Money?

Victoria Blake at Underland Press emailed me the other day to let me know that Finch is about five days away from being printed and shipped–just about right, timing-wise, for the book to reach the distributor and then be sent out to the various chains, indies, and online stores that have ordered copies. It looks like chain bookstore distribution will be solid, but you can preorder it now through Amazon or Indiebound and make my little freelancer's heart beat a little less frenetically...

LAST DRINK BIRD HEAD FOR CHARITY: Party, Pre-Orders, Awards, and More

So, here're details and the spiel about Last Drink Bird Head, but it's a spiel for a good cause, so please read–and please spread this link through your own blogs. We'd love to sell out this hardcover edition well before publication and give ProLiteracy a nice check for the holidays. Thanks! (Also note that this is the first new project from my Ministry of Whimsy Press, marking a return from its hiatus.) – Jeff

What Is Last Drink Bird Head?

That's the catalyst editors Ann and Jeff VanderMeer p...

In the Dragon's Jaws: The Immaculate Interrogation of Jesse Bullington

First of all, I want you to know that we will find out the truth.

If that were the case your first question would not be such a bald-faced lie.

What's with the damn moustache?

This isn't the Sceptered bloody Isle, this is America, and in America it is not spelled "moustache," it is spelled "dandy whips," and "it" is "with it." I suggest you get with the same. Also, I wear a beard now.

Would you rather be dead?

That's how we know we're alive.

What the hell were you thinking, man?
Money money...

Linky Link Linkage for a Wednesday

(Next week, I'll be starting a new book feature for this blog called "In the Dragon's Jaws.")

Just a quick run-down of a few links for your lazy Wednesday afternoon…

- For Omnivoracious, I interviewed Eoin Colfer about his forthcoming Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, which included questions like "Were you aware there are easier ways to potentially receive a massive public beating than attempting to write a book as part of another author's iconic series? Is it just that you've never...

Aidan Doyle: International Man of Mystery

(Full story here.)

For the past few months, Aidan Doyle, who I first met at Clarion South, has been traveling the world—countries like China, Mongolia, Russia, Estonia, Finland. He's done more than a bit of travel writing for various places, but also keeps a blog here where he's been posting about his experiences. Really interesting stuff.

Here's Aidan at an undisclosed location picking up mad skillz, and a few teaser photos from his travels below the cut.