Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 31
May 2, 2012
Getting Up to Speed: Jackson and Locus Awards, New Work, The Weird
Ann and I are just back from a vacation on Vancouver Island, following the Victoria Steam Expo, at which we were guests. It was an amazing trip, with lots of hiking—including an epic seven-hour journey up a mountain on an island. At one point, crawling up a ravine choked with giant logs, I think I felt as far away from the human world as I’ve ever been, and it was glorious.
Now we’re slowly getting back up to speed, and I thought I’d share some updates. As you may have seen, The Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities is a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and Ann and I are finalists in the category of Best Editor for the Locus Award. In addition, The Weird is on Kirkus’s recent list of top May releases, and is a Barnes & Noble pick for May as well.
Expect a lot more media coverage, as well as special features on Weirdfictionreview.com, where next week we will post an incredible interview with Amos Tutuola’s son and excerpt from his work, among other cool stuff. (And don’t forget to check out the great stuff our managing editor Adam Mills’ put together the past two weeks, including a Kathe Koja interview.)
In terms of upcoming events, Ann and I will be at BEA in NYC in early June supporting The Weird, and I’ll be teaching at Stone Coast in Maine early in July, before heading over to the Shared Worlds teen writing camp. (In August, I may be taking on a new journalism secret mission that should be a lot of fun.)
As for fiction, I’ve been on kind of a tear lately. I’ve currently got a new short story, “No Breather in the World But Thee,” out and about, a reprint in both the forthcoming Fungi antho from Innsmouth Press and John Joseph Adams’ alt-worlds anthology. I also just sold a major novelette, “Komodo,” to the major new UK mag Arc, which will see print soon. Three other stories are in progress: “Death of a Mycologist,” “The Last Redoubt,” and “Madness, Mountains,” the latter a retelling of Lovecraft’s classic from the point of view of a blue collar female assistant not mentioned in the original story.
Novel-wise, I have made further progress on the Southern Reach series that began with Annihilation, the novel I completed last month. I’m now well into the next book in the series, Authority, which looks at things from the other side of the border. For those who missed my post about Annihilation, it’s about an expedition into a strange wilderness area called Area X, which 20 or 30 years before was the site of some kind of event which closed it off from the rest of the world, the invisible border only able to be breached in one place. The narrator is a biologist on the expedition. Authority is from three points of view—the main one being the new “Control” for the secret Southern Reach project, which is responsible for sending in the expeditions. The series is very personal to me, as it takes the wilderness of North Florida as it basic setting, and the characters are not the typical types.
I’m also making some progress on two other novels, Borne and The Book Murderer, while working on a couple of anthology projects with Ann. In general, Ann is doing more anthos herself while I re-focus on the fiction.
Nonfiction-wise, progress continues on the WONDERBOOK illustrated writing book project and I’ve turned in a long essay on fakes to the New Haven Review that I think will become a short book. Also expect my book reviews in the Guardian, LA Times, and B&N Review soonish.
As for our other publishing projects, expect announcements soon about Odd and Leviathan being somewhat delayed—mostly because of wanting to pay maximum attention to the feminist SF antho I posted about yesterday. Cheeky Frawg is also slowing somewhat as we transition from the publishing model we had intended to pursue—e-book only—to more of a hybrid that includes print books. We still plan to publish titles by Amos Tutuola, Karin Tidbeck, and Leena Krohn this year, for sure. We’re also clearly moving toward becoming a specialist in Finnish fiction, with some digressions into other areas—almost all of it to do with translations of some kind.
I plan to blog more often over the summer, but expect stops-and-starts, as I’m committed to my fiction at the moment. I have experienced a burst of rejuvenation like nothing I’ve ever known before.
Getting Up to Speed: Jackson and Locus Awards, New Work, The Weird originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on May 2, 2012.
May 1, 2012
Feminist SF Antho Kickstarter
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the kickstarter Jef Smith is running for a feminist SF antho Ann and I have agreed to edit. As the kickstarter states, we consider this antho to be a contribution to the ongoing conversation and the long and complex history of feminist literature. We plan to take suggestions, have already begun outreach through email, and also hope if time permits to have at least a limited open reading period (for reprints). Our research for The Weird has given us leads on a fair amount of international fiction and authors as well–work that didn’t necessarily fit the focus of that anthology.
We’re also aware there is no way to get this completely right, if that makes sense. But we hope to make an honest and comprehensive effort, and to use web supplements and other online resources to make the antho the focal point of attention for existing feminist anthos and the websites of individual writers of note.
Ann and I are intensely excited to re-read the work of so many writers we love and to put together something that’s of use.
Feminist SF Antho Kickstarter originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on May 1, 2012.
April 17, 2012
Victoria Steam Expo: Featuring Hugo Finalist Steampunk Bible and More!
Just a reminder that Ann and I are guests of the Victoria Steampunk Expo this weekend, on Vancouver Island. Ann will be giving some insight into her new antho, Steampunk Revolution, and I’ll be giving some anecdotes about putting together the Steampunk Bible. You can find the full slate of guests, including the Foglios and Abney Park, on the event’s website.
Speaking of The Steampunk Bible, in addition to it being a Hugo Finalist, the book has just been named the nonfiction book of the year by Steampunk Chronicle.
Hope to see you in Victoria!
Victoria Steam Expo: Featuring Hugo Finalist Steampunk Bible and More! originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 17, 2012.
April 16, 2012
Where is Story? Story is…Everywhere
Thesis: This entry from C.W. Hart, Jr’s A Dictionary of Non-Scientific Names of Freshwater Crayfishes (Astacoidea and Parastacoidea), Including Other Words and Phrases Incorporating Crayfish Names contains all of the elements needed to inspire and create fiction. Therefore, story exists all around us, everywhere, and is inhibited only by the limitations of the imaginations that surround it.
Discuss.
***
Shrimp “(A) crevice, first a spron frey, then a shrimp, then a sprawn, and when it is large then called a crevice.” ASTACIDAE [U.K.] Randle Holme (ca. 1688), quoted by Phipson, 1883:435. [I was unable to find this quotation in Holme.]
“One of the courses was whole crevisses in a rich sauce….The guest of honor…muttered… ‘What do I do now?’ …[B]ecause I had struggled before with the same somewhat overrated delicacy…I winked at him and said, ‘Watch me.’ I picked up a shrimp between my left thumb and forefinger….” [France: Dijon] Fisher, 1943 (1954): 430 (Noble and Enough); and:
“The season for shrimps is short, and Madame Mossu paid well for all the boys and old men could find in their hundred icy streams.” [Switzerland: Chatel St Denis] Fisher, 1943 (1954):506 (I Remember Three Restaurants); and
“A light curry of shrimps or crayfish tails.” [Unspecified locality] Fisher, 1943 (1954):708 (W is for Wanton).
Fisher’s apparent lack of attention to her crayfish/shrimp food-stuffs is puzzling, considering she is (was) an important figure in gastronomy. In the first reference she speaks of ecrevisses and shrimps as if they are the same animal; in the second she is undoubtedly speaking of crayfishes that live in the streams of Switzerland; in the third she paradoxically distinguishes between shrimps and crayfishes. I suppose, like so many people, she just didn’t care. See also crawfish, crayfish and ecrevisse.
Where is Story? Story is…Everywhere originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 16, 2012.
April 11, 2012
Booklifenow.com–The Relaunch!
I've been super busy with deadlines, but I wanted to pop up briefly to encourage people to head on over to Booklifenow.com, which relaunched this week. The site, after a good 18 months of great stuff following the release of my writing book Booklife, had gotten kind of moribund, despite Jeremy L.C. Jones' heroic contributions…and that was in no small part due to just not having the time to manage the site along with everything else. This became even more painfully obvious after Ann and I launched Weirdfictionreview.com.
So we've turned the site over to Morgan Dempsey and her great crew. They've given it a crisp new look–and I think you can look forward to great content there for some time to come. Go check it out!
Booklifenow.com–The Relaunch! originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 11, 2012.
April 9, 2012
Victoria Steam Expo III: Join Us on the Ferry Over, and the Festivities Thereafter!
Ann and I are among the guests of honor for the Victoria Steam Exposition III in Victoria on Vancouver Island April 20-22. We're very much looking forward to it. We'll be coming over to Victoria via the Victoria Clipper out of Seattle, on the April 20th 8am ferry from pier 69. We're told a lot of con attendees may also be on the ferry, and we look forward to meeting people on the way over. Let's call it a mini pre-con on the seas if it all works out right. (ferry mini-con idea copyright: jukka and the finns)
There's also an absinthe tasting that night you can sign up for, and we plan to be at that as well. If all goes well, we'll be giving an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at our Steampunk-related projects over the weekend as well. But, again, we're mostly looking forward to meeting people and saying hi, so don't be shy.
You can find out more about the expo at this webpage. They also have a blog.
Victoria Steam Expo III: Join Us on the Ferry Over, and the Festivities Thereafter! originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 9, 2012.
April 8, 2012
The Steampunk Bible: A 2012 Hugo Award Finalist!
S.J. Chambers and I are thrilled that our The Steampunk Bible is up for a Hugo Award in the best related work category. The book contains over 200 full-color images and about 60,000 words of text exploring all aspects of this retro-futurist impulse. We're thrilled about the honor in large part because The Steampunk Bible represents the work of hundreds of creators, represented through images or quotes and references in the chapters. Many, many thanks to everyone who was kind enough to share their creativity and opinions with us. Special thanks to Jake von Slatt of the Steampunk Workshop, who went above and beyond, as well as Matt Staggs and Leslie Henkel (you guys know why).
Check out the full ballot via my report for Omnivoracious–congrats to all. You'll be able to vote soon, and we hope you'll consider voting for The Steampunk Bible.
Below you'll find the grand finale of my and SJ's celebration last night (Ann took the photos).
The Steampunk Bible: A 2012 Hugo Award Finalist! originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 8, 2012.
April 4, 2012
Steampunk Revolution – Announcing the TOC
I am pleased and very excited to announce the final TOC for my new upcoming anthology – Steampunk Revolution. This book is forthcoming from Tachyon Publications later this year. This anthology is the next logical step, the evolution of this thought-provoking and still wildly popular genre. We're rebooting the steam-driven past in order to start the revolution now.
—Ann VanderMeer
Here's a sneak peek at the cover:
And full TOC in alphabetic order:
Fiction
"Smoke City" by Christopher Barzak
"On Wooden Wings" by Paolo Chikiamco
"To Follow the Waves" by Amal El-Mohtar
"The Seventh Expression of the Robot General" by Jeffrey Ford
"Sir Ranulph Wykeham-Rackham" by Lev Grossman
"Beside Calais" by Samantha Henderson
"Ascencion" by Leow Hui Min Annabeth
"The Effluent Engine" by N.K. Jemison
"Goggles (c.1910)" by Caitlin R. Kiernan (original)
"The Heart is the Matter" by Malissa Kent (original)
"Urban Drift" by Andrew Knighton
"Arbeitskraft" by Nick Mamatas
"An Exhortation to Young Writers" by David Erik Nelson, Morgan Johnson, and Fritz Swanson
"Peace in Our Time" by Garth Nix
"Possession" by Ben Peek
"Clockroach" by Cherie Priest (new expanded version)
"Salvage" by Margaret Ronald
"Nowhere Fast" by Christopher Rowe
"A Handful of Rice" by Vandana Singh (original novelette)
"White Fungus" by Bruce Sterling
"Beatrice" by Karin Tidbeck (first time in English)
"Abraham Stoker's Journal" by Lavie Tidhar
"Mother is a Machine" by Catherynne M. Valente
"Study, for Solo Piano" by Genevieve Valentine
"Fixing Hanover" by Jeff VanderMeer
"Harry and Marlowe and the Talisman of the Cult of Egil" by Carrie Vaughn
"Captain Bells & the Sovereign State of Discordia" by J.Y. Yang
Nonfiction
"Towards a Steampunk Without Steam" by Amal El-Mohtar (new expanded version)
"From Airships of Imagination to Feet on the Ground" by Jaymee Goh (original)
"Steampunk Shapes Our Future" by Margaret Killjoy (original)
"The (R)Evolution of Steampunk" by Austin Sirkin (original)
Steampunk Revolution – Announcing the TOC originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 4, 2012.
Books Being Read: The Eclectic List, for Your Perusal
It's been a busy week of deadlines and I've been more active on facebook than here, but I've wanted to post some photos of the books I'm reading or have set aside to read, because I think all of these titles are fairly fascinating. Some of them are perfect for dipping into, like the nature titles. The Tim Robinson books are magnificent in that regard—the finest I have ever read. Others like the Nabokov and the Perec are re-reads: books that certainly deserve and reward the effort. Dalkey Archive Press continues to bring us great translated works, and you can see a Michael Cisco title peeking out there. The Vanishers also looks quite intriguing. Rondo I've started and it's very promising. Click through the links to check out more about all of them.
What book piles are you currently working your way through?
Fiction from Georgia edited by Elizabeth Heighway
Walaschek's Dream by Giovanni Orelli
Transparency by Marek Bienczyk
Dadaoism: An Anthology edited by Justin Isis and Quentin S. Crisp
Lectures on Russian Literature by Vladimir Nabokov
A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar
Engines of Desire by Livia Llewellyn
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose MacAulay
Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage by Tim Robinson
Stones of Aran: Labyrinth by Tim Robinson
Ice Trilogy by Vladimir Sorokin
Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
Walking the Wrack Line: On Tidal Shifts and What Remains by Barbara Hurd
Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination by Barbara Hurd
Entering the Stone: On Caves and Feeling through the Dark by Barbara Hurd
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction edited by Brit Mandelo
The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits
Books Being Read: The Eclectic List, for Your Perusal originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on April 4, 2012.
March 31, 2012
Orbit Books to Release Limited Edition “Remix Novel,” Rule 35 by Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist Charles Stross
Huh. Interesting. Orbit will be releasing Rule 35 from Charles Stross. According to Alex Lencicki at Orbit, it’s a “limited edition 150-copy remix” of Rule 34, the novel that just made the Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist list.
From the press release: “Stross’s futuristic detective novel is being enhanced by the addition of another viewpoint character known as The Cyber Curmudgeon, who has a twitter handle of PissOffMyLawn, infects cyberspace, watching from afar: a voyeur of the action, almost like a one-man Greek Chorus, with a catch phrase of ‘I might have a point!’ The Cyber Curmudgeon’s taunting infuriates another of the novel’s characters and complicates the job of DI Liz Kavanaugh. The remix proceeds from there. Here at Orbit we don’t want to divulge too much, but we’re enthusiastic about this incredibly imaginative new version of Rule 34.”
Special features of the limited edition:
—A deluxe hardcover binding made from the pulped remains of only the freshest, most recently remaindered novels by New Wave-era writers.
—A bookmark ribbon designed by Damien G. Walter that he will pre-soak in the tears of writers who never made it to the big table.
—Endpapers featuring Sheri Tepper’s whimsical drawings of winged ponies framed by a horrific Boschian-style global-warming tableau.
Rule 35 also will include a foreword by China Mieville entitled “Did Something Happen I Am Completely Unaware of While I Was Busy Writing My Next Mind-Blowing Novel?” and an afterword composed of the recently transcribed cursing of the writer Mark Billingham (a preview of his forthcoming book, tentatively entitled Listen, I Met a Total F—ing W—er At the Lit Fest).
Stross has apparently said he’ll split his earnings from the limited edition into contributions to two organizations: The International Foundation for Literary Judges with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Save Our Curmudgeons League.
Orbit Books to Release Limited Edition “Remix Novel,” Rule 35 by Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist Charles Stross originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on March 31, 2012.
