Multiple-award-winning fantasy author Patricia A. McKillip, whose novel Solstice Wood is a finalist for this year’s Mythopoeic Award, told SCI FI Wire that the book is a modern-day sequel to her novel Winter Rose, whose events occurred in the same small village a couple of centuries before.
I’m off to Readercon in the morning. I posted my con schedule here, if you’re interested. If you’re at the con and see me walking by, come say hello (even though your instinct might be to run away, or run to your room to arm yourself with weaponry). If you’re not at the con and you see me walking by, run, it’s an evil clone!
Strange Horizons is having its annual fund drive. Give a little, why don’t ya?
June’s acquisitions include:
July 5 —
Multiple-award-winning SF and fantasy author Michael Swanwick, whose novella “Lord Weary’s Empire” is a finalist for both the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and the Hugo Award, told SCI FI Wire that the story is about Will, a young fey on the run who finds shelter in the subway system beneath the Tower of Babel.
To raise money for his impending relocation to England, where he intends to take up a secondary career as a housesitter, F&SF author Matthew Hughes is auctioning off some items that may be of interest to collectors. He’s going to hold a number of auctions over the next few weeks. First up:
Lot 1 — Fools Errant hardcover: this is the original 1994 Maxwell Macmillan Canada edition, signed, in near mint condition — it’s unread but it’s been moved around from time to time — and dust-jacketed. Only 750 copies were printed, and most of them went to Canadian libraries.
Lot 2 — Black Brillion proof: this is a Advanced Reading Copy paperback, with no artwork on the cover, signed, in mint condition.
Lot 3 — Magazines: a complete set of my magazine appearances from recent years. In total, there are twenty-one stories, sixteen from F&SF, Two from Asimov’s, two from Postscripts, and one from Interzone. Each story is signed on the page where it starts. As a bonus for completists, I’ll also throw in signed copies of my two stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and a Czech and Russian edition of F&SF with a couple of my pieces.
HOW TO BID
For each of the three lots, e-mail a bid to mhughes[at]mars.ark.com, and put AUCTION and the LOT NUMBER in the subject line. I’ll post the latest bids (assuming they keep coming in) daily, or more often if there’s a lot of action. There will be no time limit (I’m not Ebay); when bids stop coming, I’ll sell to the highest. There will also be shipping costs.
For more information, visit Matt’s web site at http://www.archonate.com.
D’oh! I just realized that I completely forgot that June is Slush Writer Appreciation Month. But I guess everyone else forgot, too. I didn’t catch on like I’d hoped it would.
Well, although I was thoughtless and forgot, I truly do appreciate all of you who submit stories into that great pit we call the slush pile. After all, if it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have this cool job. So, thanks!
Okay, so I cut my head open with a power saw today.
I had a very productive day prior to the incident, making a lot of progress toward the completion of my ongoing porch-repair project. Everything went smoothly, except that the skies became overcast and there was some drizzle. Fearing a downpour, I moved the table saw so that it was underneath the second floor porch, right in front of the cellar steps. As it happened, there was no cause for alarm, as it never progressed past a slight mist of rain. I managed to cut more than fifty balusters without injuring myself; strangely enough, it wasn’t the power-tool portion of the table saw that damaged me–it was the table itself.
After calling it quits, I packed everything away, stowing most of my equipment in the cellar, but I left the table saw out because, well, I sure as hell can’t get it down the steps by myself. So when I went back upstairs after depositing my equipment, I introduced my forehead to a metal arm of the table saw. It didn’t really hurt that much (though it’s kind of aching now), but it did, as the title of this post indicates, start gushing blood. It stopped soon enough, after some ministrations, though I felt the need to go get some of that liquid bandage stuff to minimize the chance of scarring. But looks like I’ll probably have a lovely wound to show off at Readercon this weekend.
So there you have it. That’s how I spent my Independence Day. What did you all do?
Incidentally, isn’t it a bit ironic that it’s illegal (pretty much everywhere) to set off fireworks, considering that we’re doing it to celebrate our independence?