Matt Ruff's Blog, page 18
March 30, 2020
Author Stories podcast with Hank Garner
Last Thursday I recorded an interview with the Author Stories podcast, hosted by Hank Garner. The podcast is up now, and you can listen to it here.
March 28, 2020
88 Names podcast, episode 3: Cory Doctorow
On of the 88 Names podcast, we talk to science-fiction writer, journalist, and activist Cory Doctorow, author of such books as For the Win, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother, and the recently released story collection Radicalized. As a founding editor of Boing Boing, “a directory of mostly wonderful things,” Cory is also one of my go-to guys when I need help researching obscure internet trivia, which proved useful during my final draft of 88 Names. (You can read Cory’s review of the novel here.)
March 27, 2020
AMA on Reddit today at 9 Pacific/noon Eastern
I’m doing an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit today! The AMA will go live on the r/books subreddit at around 9 AM Pacific/noon Eastern time, and I’ll be in to start answering questions once I finish with my Creative Mornings event.
Update: The AMA is now live! You can start posting your questions here.
Update: I’m logging off for the evening, but I’ll check back over the weekend and try to answer any late-arriving questions on the AMA.
March 26, 2020
Território Lovecraft
Today, a Portuguese translation of Lovecraft Country is being published in my mother’s native country of Brazil, by Editora Intrínseca.
This isn’t my first Brazilian edition—that would be Macacos Malvados, Companhia das Letras’ 2008 edition of Bad Monkeys—but this is definitely one of those days when I really wish Mom was still around. She’d have been proud.
The translation is by Thaís Paiva, and the cover art is by Jarrod Taylor.
March 23, 2020
Creative Mornings virtual event, this Friday
Earlier this month, I was scheduled to make a public appearance at Creative Mornings, a breakfast lecture series for artists and other creative people. After the original event was postponed due to the coronavirus, my hosts went back to the drawing board and worked out a way to hold the event remotely.
We’ll be using Zoom, a free videoconferencing app. The software downloads automatically the first time you try to join a Zoom meeting, but I would advise installing it in advance and making sure it works properly on your computer. You can do this by joining a “test meeting” by clicking this link.
This month’s Creative Mornings theme is “identity,” which fits rather neatly with 88 Names. I’ll be talking about how I came to write the book, and how its depiction of life in virtual reality has turned out to be much more topical than I’d expected. This will be followed by a moderated Q&A session with the audience.
Registration for the event is free, and you can sign up here. The meeting opens at 8:30 AM Pacific Time—you’ll click this link to join—and will conclude around 10.
If you’re unable to attend, don’t worry, a recording of the event will be available afterwards. And if you have questions that don’t get asked at Creative Mornings, you can always check out my Reddit AMA, which starts at Friday noon Pacific Time on the r/books subreddit.
March 18, 2020
Also on sale this week…
In addition to , this week brings a brand new audiobook edition of my 2008 novel Bad Monkeys, narrated by Gary Tiedemann, Emily Woo Zeller, and Greg Tremblay. You can find it in these online stores:
Apple • Audible • Google • Kobo • Libro.fm
A reminder that there is also an audiobook edition of 88 Names, narrated by Ewan Chung:
• • • • Libro.fm
…and an audiobook edition of Lovecraft Country, narrated by Kevin Kenerly:
Apple • Audible • Google • Kobo • Libro.fm
My other four novels are not currently available in audio format (it’s the publishers’ call, not mine), but I’ll keep you posted when and if that changes.
March 17, 2020
88 Names podcast, episode 2: Yours Truly
In today’s of the podcast, host Blake Collier chats with me about 88 Names and related topics.
This seems like a good time to thank everybody who made this podcast possible: Blake Collier, who first suggested the idea to me last November; our producer Darryl Armstrong and his colleagues at Threaded Zebra Agency; our host site, Rise Up Daily; Tyler Huckabee, who wrote us ; our ; and our .
I’d also like to thank the folks at HarperCollins: my editor, Jennifer Brehl; my production editor, Lydia Weaver; my publicists, Rachel Elinsky and Tom Hopke; and my friend in high places, Jonathan Burnham.
Stay tuned for episode three, in which we interview Cory Doctorow!
88 Names on sale today!
It’s here! If you can buy the book from your local indie bookstore, I’m sure they could use the business right now, but if that’s not practical, here are some order links:
Print: Bookshop.org • IndieBound • Powell’s • Amazon •
Ebook: • • Kindle •
Audiobook (narrated by Ewan Chung): • • • • Libro.fm
If you’d like a signed or custom inscribed copy, you can order one from Secret Garden Bookshop (206-789-5006 / bookshop@secretgardenbooks.com).
March 13, 2020
88 Names podcast, episode 1: Brandon Oldenburg
The of the 88 Names podcast is now live. Join host Blake Collier and I as we talk to Brandon Oldenburg, the Academy Award–winning director of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Flight School, “a studio of artists and technicians, fearlessly exploring the unknown in films, games, VR, AR and whatever lies in the wide and boundless sky.”
If you have a VR headset, you should check out Manifest 99, the Emmy Award–nominated VR story/experience I mention during the conversation. And the Flight School website has a page devoted to the immersive WWI experience War Remains, including this making-of video that will give you a sense of how dedicated VR installations look and work.
The podcast’s next episode, in which Blake interviews me about 88 Names, will drop next Tuesday, aka book publication day. Stay tuned!
March 11, 2020
Book tour scheduling changes
Due to the coronavirus outbreak here in the Seattle area, there have been a number of changes to my upcoming book tour schedule:
* Emerald City Comic Con has been postponed, so I will not be signing books there this Thursday.
* My appearance at Creative Mornings has been postponed from this Friday to Friday, March 27. Because of this, the start time of my March 27 Reddit AMA has been pushed back from 9 AM Pacific to noon Pacific.
* My March 19 appearance at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR, has been rescheduled for July 1.
* My March 21 appearance at Sunriver Books & Music in Sunriver, OR, has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 30.
* My March 22 appearance at Roundabout Books in Bend, OR, has been changed to a “virtual appearance” via Skype. I will also be visiting the store in person on Sunday, May 31.
For now, my other events are going forward as scheduled. Please check my appearances page for the most up-to-date information.
Finally, a reminder that if you’d like a signed or personally inscribed copy of 88 Names, or any of my other novels, you can order one through my local indie, Secret Garden Bookshop (206-789-5006 / bookshop@secretgardenbooks.com).
