You may be interested to know that Macmillan and Amazon.com have parted company, at least for now, over disagreements about the marketing and pricing of ebooks.  Here is a post from Macmillan describing their position.  I’ll keep an eye out for one from Amazon.

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• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Sandra Kasturi provided a link to this blurb about Chizine Publications. They publish speculative fiction of the literary and creepy sort.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This is a weekly opportunity to talk about books, music, and other things you enjoy.

• What are some of your favorite books?
• What are you currently reading?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What are you listening to now?
• What else is on your mind?

I’m currently listening to Second Chants by Reclaiming.  This is a very handy collection of Pagan chants and songs.

I’m currently reading Divine Misdemeanors: A Novel (Meredith Gentry, Book by Laurell K. Hamilton.  Merry Gentry is helping solve a rash of fey murders.

I’m currently rereading Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton.  This is dark fantasy with interludes of erotica, in which Merry Gentry gains the upper hand over some of her enemies.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-12-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-5-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-26-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-19-10
• Book Promotions

Here is an opportunity for a volunteer position as assistant editor of a speculative fiction magazine.  This is worth a look if you wish to gain editorial experience.

From Claire Massey, editor of New Fairy Tales

New Fairy Tales is seeking an assistant editor.

You can live anywhere in the world as long as you have a reliable internet connection. You must be passionate about fairy tales and related fiction.

Duties will primarily involve reading submissions and discussing them with the editor although there may be opportunities to do some marketing work too. Time-wise it shouldn’t take up more than a couple of hours a week, with perhaps a little more time required close to submission deadlines.

Unfortunately we can’t pay – the magazine run on a voluntary basis and tries to raise money for charity – but you will gain valuable experience working on a growing online magazine.

Please send an email to Claire at editor@newfairytales.co.uk detailing a little bit about yourself, your creative experience, and what you love to read.

Deadline: 15th February 2010

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This was Tuesday’s post, delayed.  The iBlog staff is working on the problem.

The nomination period for the Ursa Major Awards is now open, and runs through Feb. 28. These awards recognize excellent anthropomorphic material across a variety of categories.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This week’s featured cyberfunded creativity is a piece of urban fantasy.  You never know what could be around the next street corner …

Addergoole by Lyn Thorne-Alder

Addergoole is a contemporary fantasy story with erotic and dark-fantasy elements, a modern-day fairy tale of sorts, without the soft-glow filters to soften the harsh edges, without the safety of ”happily ever after” or even the security of knowing that the Prince on his white horse is the good guy. Read the rest of this entry »

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

The nomination period for the Ursa Major Awards is now open, and runs through Feb. 28. These awards recognize excellent anthropomorphic material across a variety of categories.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

The First Immortal by James L. Halperin.  Del Rey, 1998.  Hardback, 342 pages.  ISBN: 0-345-42092-6   Five stars.

The science of cryonics is relatively new, full of doubt and promise.  This book explores not only the core of the science but its many ramifications, and as such comprises one of the best pieces of science fiction I’ve ever read.  Reading it is like taking a trip through the future history of the universe next door.  I love it because I believe in infinite possibilities, and that’s really what this book is all about — tearing down all the old boundaries that limit human potential.

What makes it work is the way Halperin filters all that through the perceptions of several very remarkable characters.  Fortunately, most of them are related, and the author thoughtfully supplies a guide to “The Benjamin Smith Family Tree” in the front of the book.  At center stage, Ben wends his way through historical events that shape the whole world and personal events that shape the lives of himself and his family.  His experiences inspire him to invest in cryonic suspension for himself and his loved ones, and it pays off — nanotechnology allows them all to be revived in the future.  Yet that future is in peril from the very ease of existence, and it falls to the ones who remember hardship to save humanity from its own indulgence…

This isn’t quite the world I’d want to want live in, a similar complaint to one I levied against Halperin’s first book, The Truth Machine — but it is quite plausible.  Once again, the author got right a lot of subtle, picky little details that make the story fun to read as well as exciting.  For instance, the true secret of immortality lies between these covers, and it has nothing to do with the technology.  This is what science fiction should be, and it’s an amazing blend of the softest sociological and hardest of technological content.  When Halperin cranks up his “what if?” engine, stand back … and get ready to enjoy the show.

The First Immortal is a must-read for anyone interested in cryonics or immortality.  It holds broad appeal for fans of science fiction in general.  Most highly recommended.

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• Book Review: The Pagan Book of Living and Dying
• Book Review: The First Civilizations
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• Book Review: Owlsight
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This was Sunday’s post that jammed for some reason.

Adrienne J. Odasso shares this news about a new market:

Although this isn’t a genre journal as such, I should begin by pointing out that the very aims of the project have pretty much guaranteed that the poetry and fiction (my own included) set to appear alongside the essays inDark Mountain Journal: Issue 1 are essentially speculative in nature. The Dark Mountain Project seeks to create a narrative for the potentially wild, uncertain future that we face – and takes joy in the prospect, rather
than anxiety or fear. What to do:

1) Check out the DMP’s main website. (Pay special attention to the Manifesto; it’s worth reading!)

2) If you decide you’d like to help with fundraising for printing costs on the first issue (we need about $7,000 – and yes, that’s a somewhat daunting sum, but we’re already approaching about 2/3 of the way there), go here to donate. The minimum amount, $10,
will secure you 50% off a copy of the journal when it goes to print, and the next level up, $25, secures you a copy. The perks get significantly better as you climb the donation-amount ladder.

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Marge Simon shared this news regarding Star*Line:

Just to let y’all know we’re full and closed for July/Aug 2010 and Sept/Oct 2010.

Bob Frazier gives the call for the December issue in the January/Feb NL which will be mailed shortly.

I’ll be reading for Jan/Feb through May/June 2011 in July.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This is a weekly opportunity to talk about books, music, and other things you enjoy.

• What are some of your favorite books?
• What are you currently reading?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What are you listening to now?
• What else is on your mind?

I’m currently listening to Road to Santiago by Heather Dale.  This is lovely folk music.

I’m currently reading Divine Misdemeanors: A Novel (Meredith Gentry, Book by Laurell K. Hamilton.  Merry Gentry is helping solve a rash of fey murders.

I’m currently rereading Sword of Ice: And Other Tales of Valdemar (Daw Book Collectors) edited by Mercedes Lackey.  This is an anthology of Valdemar stories by various authors.

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• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-12-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-5-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-26-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-19-10
• Book Promotions

Deborah Kolodji shares this news regarding the Haiku Society of America.

It’s not spec poetry, but I thought you might be interested in how the Haiku Society of America conducts national quarterly meetings. During the weekend, the officers will have a private business meeting of the executive committee, which satisfies the meeting requirement for their non-profit status.

In February, my local haiku group is hosting the meeting here in Pasadena, California. The last time the HSA had a meeting in Southern California was in the mid-to-late 1990’s. The other quarterly meetings for 2010 will be in Seattle (June), Mineral Point, WI (Sept), and Boston. Read the rest of this entry »

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This week’s excerpt introduces a fairly new piece of cyberfunded creativity from Cecilia Tan…

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles by Cecilia Tan

DGC is a serialized novel telling the story of Daron, a guitar player trying to make it in the face of a dysfunctional family, internalized homophobia, and the changing face of celebrity in the 1980s. It’s a story of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the era that brought us AIDS, MTV, and Just Say No To Drugs. It all starts when 19-year-old Daron, playing a low-rent gig in a heavy metal cover band, runs into an old friend, a much older and more successful musician he knew when he was a lot younger, whom he hasn’t seen since the guy got famous and moved away. Read the rest of this entry »

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Lyn Gardner shares the following news about her recent publications and other stuff you might enjoy reading:

The new issue of MindFlights just went live with ”Calendar of Cats” by Lyn C. A. Gardner.

Also, Cabinet des Fees: A Journal of Fairy Tales has just released Issue 9, January 2010, Scheherezade’s Bequest, with ”Waking Beauty” by Lyn C. A. Gardner.

There’s also a lot more fabulous work in these issues, for anyone who cares to stop by.

Thanks for reading,

Lyn G.

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Firebrands: The Heroines of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Ron Miller, text by Pamela Sargent.   Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1998.  Softcover, full-color glossy, 112 pages.   ISBN: 1-56025-164-6  Four stars.

This remarkable book covers the evolution of female characters in speculative fiction from the earliest days up through the 1990s. Here you will find knights, sorceresses, thieves, queens, pirates, starship captains, explorers, and ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. Some are human, many are not. Some are plausible, others fanciful. Beautiful, ugly, charming, horrifying, harmless, powerful: these are the women of science fiction and fantasy. Come and meet them.

.
Artwork and text combine flawlessly to present a history of the genres and motifs herein. Pictures appear in all sizes from thumbnails to full-page spreads. Each is accompanied by a blurb which gives the character’s name, the title(s) of fiction presenting her and its copyright date, the author of said fiction, and a brief description of the character. Analytical text discusses the importance of key works, the introduction of particular motifs, and the changing styles of portrayal over the history of speculative fiction. After a brief introduction, chapter one covers the beginnings to the 1930s, chapter two covers the 1940s to 1950s, chapter three covers the 1960s to 1970s, and chapter four covers the 1980s to 1990s. An “about the authors” section provides fascinating background material; the index, while printed in a teeny font, makes the book much more useful as a reference text.

.
Overall, I’m impressed. The quality of artwork varies and for some characters I prefer depictions from other sources, but many are quite striking. It is of course impossible to include all deserving characters/authors in a work of this type, but Miller and Sargent have done a fine job of representing the relevant trends and their attention to detail is gratifying. The characters presented here include not just heroines (female love-object of the hero and/or reader) but also heras (women of great resourcefulness who have their own adventures) and I was delighted to see the steady progression from the former towards the latter over time. This book really shows how much speculative fiction has changed since its beginnings, from the passive Animula to the formidable Cordelia Naismith.

.
If you enjoy panels on “Women in Speculative Fiction” such as I and many other folks present at conventions, then you will love Firebrands. It is suitable as a reference for such panels and also for articles or papers on the same topic. It also makes a terrific gift or coffee-table book. Feminists, writers, artists, and femmefans will all enjoy it. Highly recommended.

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• Book Review: The First Civilizations
• Book Review: Flesh and Silver
• Book Review: Owlsight
• Book Review: Message from the Sparrows

This is about the time many folks start slipping.  Don’t despair!  Amazon.com has some resources for keeping your new year’s resolutions this season.  There are books and tools for exercise, eating right, and organizing your space.  Also check out materials for going green. If you’re running out of ideas to keep your goals on track, look for some outside assistance.

And if you’re still on track — huzzah!  You rock!

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Stephanie Rose Bird shares some news about her new book:

I just wanted to share the fact that my newest book, The Big Book of Soul: The Ultimate Guide to the African American Spirit, has been released by Hampton Roads Publishers distributed by Red Wheel Weiser Press. This is a unique book built around the concept of feeding the soul and tapping into soul through the arts, herbalism, crafts, rituals and
ceremonies.

The book is featured here.

I will be interviewed on ABC 7 11 a.m. News on February 3rd about the book and its recommendations to pursuit drumming as a method of tapping into soul. A drumming circle TBA will also be featured during this interview. Tune if in you are in the area. It might also be online. I’ll keep you posted.

Stephanie Rose Bird

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• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

This is a weekly opportunity to talk about books, music, and other things you enjoy.

• What are some of your favorite books?
• What are you currently reading?
• What kind of music do you like?
• What are you listening to now?
• What else is on your mind?

I’m currently listening to Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Once More, with Feeling.  The soundtrack from ‘musical’ episode of Buffy is hilarious.

I’m currently reading Changing the World: All-New Tales of Valdemar edited by Mercedes Lackey. This new Valdemar anthology contains fantastic stories, some featuring characters introduced in previous anthologies.

I’m currently rereading Queen of the Darkness (Black Jewels, Book 3) by Anne Bishop.  This is dark fantasy in which a world is broken … and remade.

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• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-12-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 3-5-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-26-10
• Discussion: Friday Favorites 2-19-10
• Book Promotions

Nicola Griffith shares this news:

I can’t wait to tell you: the Lambda Literary Foundation has hired a web producer. We’re hoping to launch a brilliant, brand new LambdaLiterary.org within a couple of months. I hope many of you will join us: volunteer to write reviews, do interviews, send us news, tell us about upcoming book releases (and conventions and awards and, well, everything). Eventually we’ll start paying — sooner rather later, I hope.

All the news is here.

I think this is going to change the face of LGBT lit. I really do. Please let others know. I’m really excited.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”

Bruce Boston shared this piece of news recently:

Reviewer J. L. Comeau has selected my collaborative poetry collection
DOUBLE VISIONS for her 2009 Tomb Top Ten.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Older Writers’ Grant
• Excerpt: “Wonder City Stories”
• Read my poem “The Cost of Tears” in Torn World
• Author News: Stephanie Rose Bird
• Book Release: “Neither Here Nor There”