R.B. Lemberg's Blog, page 3

The Four Profound Weaves is going to be an audiobook!

I am very pleased to announce that my new agent, Mary C. Moore of Kimberley Cameron, has sold audio rights to my Birdverse debut, the Four Profound Weaves, to Tantor Media. I’m so happy there’s going to be an audiobook!

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

TWO starred reviews for the Four Profound Weaves

My upcoming Birdverse debut The Four Profound Weaves has received not one, but two starred reviews from trade journals: The Publishers Weekly, and the Library Journal. I couldn’t be happier.

Publishers Weekly (for full review, please click the link):

Lemberg’s outstanding debut novel expands on the short stories of the Birdverse that they have been publishing for about a decade […] Uiziya and nen-sasaïr’s journey is enthralling and frequently moving, as along the way they are repeatedly faced with the choice “to care or not, as all people do.” Lemberg writes deeply considered, evocative portraits of their characters, handling sexuality and gender especially well. This diverse, folkloric fantasy world is a delight to visit.

The Library Journal review (for full review please click the link):

Nebula-nominated Lemberg’s first novella, set in their deeply queer “Birdverse” universe, presents a beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage. Centering two older transgender protagonists in the midst of emotional and physical journeys highlights the deep, meaningful prose that Lemberg always brings to their stories.

The book will be published on September 4th; meanwhile, you can preorder it from Tachyon or from a variety of other book retailers, and/or put it on your Goodreads list.

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

Reddit AMA at r/Fantasy Today!

Some fine folks invited me to do a Reddit AMA on r/fantasy – I have been answering questions about Birdverse, my upcoming novella The Four Profound Weaves, worldbuilding, linguistics, recipes, and critters! I hope you will swing by and ask me more questions throughout the day of May 11, 2020.

The AMA link:  https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/ghqa6s/im_rb_lemberg_author_of_birdverse_stories_and/

Hope to see you there!

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

“To Balance the Weight of Khalem” in Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I have a new story for you – it is a fantasy novelette unconnected to Birdverse (for a change), titled “To Balance the Weight of Khalem“. You can read it for free online, and if you are so inclined, you can support BCS Magazine on Patreon. I love this magazine so much.

The new story is about a magical onion, migrations, hunger and food insecurity, and found families, and long travel. The main character is trans (they are still figuring out their identity), and there’s a queer romance with a were-ray love interest. This story is ownvoices on multiple aspects – the onion in particular comes from my life.

The story already received some wonderful reviews. Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews writes:

It’s a complex story of balance and of connection, people reaching people through food and fragrance, through moments of shared grief, through the ways their hurts contradict and the ways their hurts bind together, links in a chain crossing borders. […]It’s a beautiful story, stunningly built and intimately rendered. 

Maria Haskins highlights it at Curious Fictions:

A novelette about a magical onion, about war and immigration and loved, about the memories we carry with us, and the memories we’ve lost along the way. Reading Lemberg’s prose is like opening a treasure chest — it’s gorgeously rich and gleaming and there is a spellbinding, quiet power in the words. This is also very much, a story about food– about the scent and taste and nourishment and comfort food can bring us.

I hope you give this story a read, and, if you are so inclined, let me know what you think.

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

My ConFusion schedule

As you might have seen, Bogi is the Fan GoH at ConFusion this year (hurray!), so all three of us are going to ConFusion as a family. Mati is also coming.

If you are at ConFusion, please come say hi!!

Announcing: The Four Profound Weaves

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg

My novella The Four Profound Weaves is forthcoming from Tachyon Press in September 1, 2020. It is a story of two trans elders who must learn to weave from death to defeat a sinister ruler who murders rebellious women and hoards their bones and souls. It is set in Birdverse, my award-winning LGBTQIA+ focused secondary world.

Ann Leckie says: “This is one of R’s Birdverse stories, which I’ve recommended before. Their writing is lovely, their worldbuilding wonderful, their characters real and resonant.” Thank you, Ann!!

Tachyon designer Elizabeth Story did a wonderful job with the cover. Thank you, Elizabeth!! There are also gorgeous internal illustrations in this book, also by Elizabeth. And many thanks to my editor Jaymee Goh, and the managing editor Jill Roberts, who were terrific to work with. And of course, it was a pleasure to work with Jacob Weisman at Tachyon.

You can already preorder the book from Amazon, or directly from my publisher, Tachyon Press. The first 50 people to preorder directly from Tachyon will also get a small linocut of the cover, printed on the letterpress, all done by me. It’s going to be gorgeous!

The book also has a Goodreads page

D Franklin Defying Doomsday Award

I received good news recently that I am one of the two winners of the D Franklin Defying Doomsday award for my Strange Horizons essay “Sergeant Bothari and Disability Representation in Early Vorkosiverse.” The other winner is Ace Ratcliff.

Here is the writeup in Locus:

Twelfth Planet Press announced two winners of the 2018 D Franklin Defying Doomsday Award, given in recognition of “work in disability advocacy in SFF literature”: R.B. Lemberg for blog post “Sergeant Bothari and Disability Representation in the Early Vorkosiverse” (Strange Horizons 7/16/18) and Ace Ratcliff for blog post “Staircases In Space: Why Are Places In Science Fiction Not Wheelchair-Accessible?” (io9 7/31/18).

The prize is judged by Tsana Dolichva, Holly Kench, and Alisa Krasnostein, and sponsored by D Franklin.

I am really proud and thrilled to have won with this particular essay, which was painful and difficult to write.

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

New poem in Uncanny Magazine

I have neglected updating this website, but I’m trying to get back to it!

Today I have a new poem to share: “‘Eating Disorder’ does not begin to describe it” in Uncanny Magazine’s special issue Disabled People Destroy Fantasy. This poem is about an eating disorder – but also about Jewishness, the war, immigration, family history, and a bit about turnips. This work is a part of a larger, unpublished poetry manuscript titled Everything Thaws. I have no idea where to send it.

Thank you for reading.

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

FORESTS update!

I am writing with a happy update – Lisa M. Bradley and I have finished responding to all submissions, and we are now working on contracts. We are very excited — this anthology is going to be wonderful. Thank you to everybody who submitted work – there was so much wonderful poetry to consider, a testament to Le Guin’s enduring importance to so many of us.

We will announce the ToC once the contracts are finalized!

If you submitted work and have not heard back from us, please query ASAP at lembergsubmissions @ gmail

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.

Heads up: New byline

After many years of agonizing and hesitation, I am changing my byline from Rose Lemberg to R.B. Lemberg. This change reflects how my thoughts about my gender and gender presentation have evolved over the years, what I thought was possible, and what I thought wasn’t possible (more things are possible now! That’s good!)

What to call me – I now prefer R.B.

It’s a big change for me at this stage of my career, but a good one to commit to before my first Birdverse book (!!!!) is published in print (it’s a novella forthcoming from Tachyon Press – more detail soon!)

Please adjust your links:

My twitter is now: @rblemberg

My personal website: rblemberg.net

Patreon: http://patreon.com/rblemberg

Instagram: @rblemberg

I am likely to update this website more thoroughly this summer as schedule permits.

Originally published at R.B. Lemberg. You can comment here or there.