Water Cooler - Friday, October 22, 2010

Random bits and pieces from the speculative fiction world.

Top of the list this week: Don't purchase books from Dorchester. Yes, apparently they are not compensating their authors. Bad form! Read the story here. Good luck to those authors who are trying to get their rights and compensation straightened out.

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Geeky signage! (How can I go from serious to stupid? I do it because I can.) I like this one to attach to all my posts. You can find a ton more here on Flickr.

Edit: Apparently the picture is not inclined to show up. Lame. I'll leave you the link.

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Since I reviewed a couple of series this week, I thought I'd point out another. Steven Till reviewed Pillars of the Earth.

My biggest concern going in was how they were going to fit a 900 page book into the span of eight hours. I was impressed with the amount of information they crammed into such a short time period without really losing anything. Overall, I’d give the series a A- .

I may have to give that a look.

While I'm at it, SQT's first impressions of Spartacus:BaS Season One.

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UK cover art for Steven Erikson's The Crippled God, the final book of his Malazan series.



Pretty sharp cover. Suvudu provides the synopsis here.

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Solaris released their 2011 publishing line up.

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Tor is hosting a Pyr giveaway contest.

The Official Rules: To enter, leave one comment on this post—duplicates won’t count—by Saturday, October 23, leave a comment in Facebook, or reply on Twitter. The 5 winners will be chosen randomly. Please check your email on October 23rd and 24th; if we don’t hear back from the winner in 24 hours, another winner will be chosen.

Hurry!

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Barnes and Noble announced they will be selling the Nook at Walmart.

The popular NOOK devices are expected to arrive on Walmart shelves beginning as soon as October 24, in advance of the holiday shopping season.

The NOOK eBook Readers will be prominently featured as the premier eBook Reader in the consumer electronics area. Many Walmart stores will feature a NOOK-branded eReading area where shoppers can see and touch a demonstration device.

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Kudos to Jasper Kent's new marketing strategy: Vampires that don't sparkle.

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Like multiple links in one easy to find spot? Grasping for the Wind does them daily! I envy his tenacity.

Genre Reader does a frequent "Today in Fantasy" post that is always nicely done, as well.

For an industry perspective, check out Eric's Friday Round over at Pimp My Novel.

Or Nathan Bransford's This Week in Publishing.

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That's all I've got for today. What sort of news are you interested in?

Have a great weekend!

Heard at the Water Cooler

Oye. Grab a coffee for this one.

I've been in "research mode" since the Crohn's let up. I tend to read non-fiction much slower than fiction (absorption factor), and it tends to take me out of the creative writing frame of mind; hence, no writing updates lately. I am moving at the end of the month; my mother is coming to visit a week later, and Raine is coming to visit immediately after that - so I might be a little quiet over here.

Be that as it may, I have overheard some interesting things, so I thought I'd share.

FANFIC - Big buzz this past week. I even wrote a post about it. It was more of a rant, and I think that I'll pass on ranting at you just yet on this blog.



I will summarize my thoughts as so: I have been at least a decade in creating characters and lands, they are very much alive in my head, I am very much emotionally invested in the concepts and as such I am extremely protective of them.

As a writer, I would prefer to inspire you to do your own, as I was inspired. The thought that someone else thinks they could write my characters, or my universe, better than me - well, it's not flattering to me. At worst, if it's not flat out plagiarism, it is insulting.

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Book Porn - I've been buying antique books on a whim these past 6 weeks, while picking up some inexpensive paperbacks to add to my library. Anyone interested in seeing those finds? Just curious.



And yes, Raine, I know your thoughts on this. ;-)

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Ewok Karaoke. My last little holdover from Star Wars Day last week.

Missed Star Wars? Here's the fastest version ever told.

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Orbit Books and Marjorie M Liu.

Over the next three months, Orbit will be releasing the entire Hunter Kiss series, starting with The Iron Hunt. To celebrate, I’ve been asked to do a series of video “Bookcasts” about the novels, and what it was like writing them.

Say! That's pretty cool. I must say, Liu is .. uh, she's kinda hot. And the Great Wall of China? Double sexy cool points in my book.

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Wait, there's more! Do you think that kids might find reading more interesting, if there were more toys like this?



Full article on Salon.com.

I. Love. It.

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Interesting news from Cherie Priest:

Likewise, this winter — namely the end of January, 2011 — you can also expect my debut foray into urban fantasy – Bloodshot. You may recall me recording my progress here, calling it my “fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue.”

Apparently this cover is an anomaly because it doesn't feature a "demonic tramp stamp." (I like 'em, but I'm a man. This cover is still pretty sharp, though.) Read the rest here.

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I wasn't cool enough to warrant an official press release. (Now look. I like my anonymity. This is the stuff we get to joke about when I get published and so forth. Indulge me.)

However, a couple years ago, I was introduced to Pat's Fantasy Hotlist through George R.R. Martin's blog. He's there on the blogroll, so if you watch those (do you?), you'll see the announcement in multiple locations.



Anyway, Pat has been working for some time on editing an anthology. It's finally all set. Most importantly, a portion of the proceeds will benefit breast cancer research, so I am inclined to make sure you know about it.

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Let's see. There's a blog meme floating about (I'll pass on this one).

Some new cover art (should see the latest Vincent Chong, wow).

Adrian Tchaikovsky doesn't believe in Superman. (Great post.)

Tyra Banks is going to write a novel.

Tad Williams finished his 4th book (last in the current series). I just picked up one of his books, will be reading that soon.

Angry Robot label was purchased by Osprey in the UK.

Conan is on TBS (old news) and visited Google (funny as hell).

Some folks are trying to raise money to save Legend of the Seeker.

N.K. Jemisin at Wiscon 2010.

Exclusive interview with recent Arthur Clarke award winner China Mieville has people talking (he's going to do a space opera).

Happy Belated Birthday, Sam Sykes.



Last, but not least, Rest in Peace Frank Frazetta.

Heard at the Water Cooler

Just a couple things I heard... er, read... while floating about the internet yesterday.

Lauren Panepinto, over at Orbit Books, released the cover for The Neon Court by Kate Griffin. She had this to say. Nice looking cover. Very static-y! Bzzt!!

The Neon Court is the 3rd book in the The Matthew Swift Series, behind A Madness of Angels, and The Midnight Mayor (which was just released). Neon is due out in hardcover in March 2011.

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Jonathan Oliver, at Solaris Books, announced two new commissions.

The first is two novels from James Lovegrove for "...Redlaw, a science-fiction, vampire tale that promises to be dark, compelling and exciting; and Dust, an apocalyptic science-fiction story on a grand scale."

The second is Gary McMahon, for The Concrete Grove, the first book in "...a horror/urban-fantasy trilogy."

I can see Raine getting all excited about new scary stuff to read.

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Fans of Guy Gavriel Kay should note a couple of interesting posts.

The Speculative Scotsman (that's such a cool name for a blog) did a nice article on GGK's recent cover art.

And Pat, (Pat's Fantasy Hotlist), shared some news regarding GGK's Under Heaven, here. I admit I followed the links to Guy's blog about the "behind the scenes" from his writer's desk. Interesting, to say the least.

That's all for this post. Just a few things I found interesting yesterday, thought I'd share. Good hunting.