Lavie’s been in touch to let us know that he’s revamped and updated his web sote – it’s now a rather smart Wordpress affair, not dissimilar to this one!
Additionally – and I slap my own wrist for taking so long to post this here – Lavie’s anthology, THE APEX BOOK OF WORLD SF has now been published – see this interview with Lavie to find out more.
Lavie is nominated for one of Ann and Jeff Vandermeer’s Last Drink Bird Head Awards! He is up forthe International Activism prize, given ‘In recognition of those who work to bring writers from other literary traditions and countries to the attention of readers in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia…’ The winners will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention in San José and the luckyrecipient will receive a bird head figurine, a certificate, and chocolate. Fingers crossed (Lavie LOVES chocolate!)
And finally, we’re delighted to announce the sale of Lavie’s novella MARTIAN SANDS, to Jason Sizemore at Apex Publications, a long time supporter and advocate of Lavie’s work. The novella will appear some time next year or in early 2011.
And following on from the entry below, our other Angry Roboteer Lavie Tidhar has also been interviewed by Charles Tan over at his Bibliophile Stalker Blog. In this article, Lavie discusses his soon to be published project with Apex Books, anthology The Apex Book of World SF and his recently published novella (written with Nir Yaniv) The Tel Aviv Dossier. He also offers up some insight into his humdrum life out there in Laos!
What’s a day in the life of Lavie Tidhar like?
I’m practising the old Indian Bead Trick at the moment – you might know it better as the Needle Swallowing Trick that Houdini made popular. It’s when you swallow needles and thread and then bring them back out with the needles all threaded together. Wonderful illusion. I’m too chicken to put needles in my mouth though, so I’ve been using safety pins! Ha! Definitely not as glamorous.
Which is to say, very dull, really. I get excited if I go across the border to Thailand because they actually have supermarkets there! I think heaven is a supermarket, all clean and shiny and bright. And they have a Mister Donut!
Charles Tan’s excellent Bibliophile Stalker Blog has just put up a brand new interview with Aliette de Bodard conducted by Marshall Payne. In it Aliette talks about her background and, of course, her writing, and she also discusses the odd but fortuitous circumstances which brought about her first book deal…
You just signed a three-book deal with Angry Robot. What can you tell us about that?
Well, this was totally a case of serendipity. Last year, I was rather miffed when British Airways cancelled my flight home from World Fantasy, leaving me stuck in a shabby hotel with not much in the way of distraction. By sheer luck, there were also two people in the hotel: John Berlyne, who was setting up a new agency in the UK, and Marc Gascoigne, editor of the new HarperCollins Angry Robot. Together, they cajoled me into pitching the novel I had completed at the time (and which I’d had no intention of pitching at all, making for a rather flustered few seconds while I got my sentences under control).
And, as it turned out, the first became my agent, and negotiated a three-book deal with the second, for the novel in question and two sequels. It all feels very surreal, but there you have it.
The novel is called Servant of the Underworld, and is a fantasy-mystery set in Aztec times, featuring death-priest-cum-investigator Acatl (and ghostly jaguars, bloodthirsty gods and fingernail-eating monsters). It’s a wild, fast-paced ride through a blood-soaked land where the old gods are manifest, and quick to demand their due in all kinds of unpleasant ways. It’s due in print Spring 2010.
“It’s an irresistible question, because truly comprehending what goes on in someone else’s mind is impossible, intangible, and all the more fascinating for it. Truth is, I don’t always know where my own ideas come from. They seldom arrive fully formed, but tend to develop in a tree-like fashion, usually in need of considered pruning. But what makes us want to write in the first place?”
Freda’s novel Elfland, published by Tor Books is due for release mid-August.
Genre web site BSC has a fascinating interview with our man John Meaney, in which he discusses at length his two most recent novels, Bone Song and Dark Blood conducted by one ‘Professor Crazy’! Under the circumstances, JM talks a lot of sense!He also gives us some hints about his forthcoming works…
“No definite plans for another TristopolisWhite Bones. So it’ll happen at some point, I hope. book, though I’ve created an outline for one, called
Well, I thought I’d been ambitious with some of my previous books, but I’m really going for it this time. The book in progress is called Absorption, being book 1 of the Ragnarok trilogy. The trilogy ends a million years after the earliest storyline begins.
All right, for most of the story, the different timelines only span a couple of dozen centuries…
It’s set in the Pilots future history, but totally subsumes the previous four books in that setting, and you can read Absorption with or without knowledge of the other books.“
We delighted to be representing Brandson Sanderson in the UK on behalf of JABberwocky- and their latest newsletter, they offer up the following on Brandon’s new novel WARBREAKER…
“WARBREAKER by Brandon Sanderson is #24 on the NY Times Hardcover Fiction list for the week ending June 13, 2009.
This is the second straight book from Brandon’s to make the NY Times list following THE HERO OF AGES (Mistborn #3) which was #21 in November. The performance of WARBREAKER is in some ways more impressive because it’s a single-volume stand-alone fantasy in a series dominated market, while the previous book was the concluding and eagerly-awaited final volume of a trilogy.
WARBREAKER is published by Tor in the US. It is a Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club and is forthcoming in audio from both Recorded (unabridged non-dramatic) and Graphic Audio (abridged dramatic). It sold in the Czech Republic (Talpress) and Poland (MAG) ahead of publication, and with other books by Brandon selling in some 16 languages we look forward to many more sales for WARBREAKER in upcoming months.
Warbreaker received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly (‘extraordinary and highly entertaining’) and Library Journal (‘essential reading for fantasy fans’) and was a 4 1/2* Top Pick for Romantic Times (‘compelling, superb, highly entertaining’) and other good reviews have come in from Booklist, The Onion/AV Club, The Deseret News and all the major sf review sites.”
We hope to have some news on Brandon’s UK dealing before too long! Watch this space!! And watch the space underneath to see Brandon discussing WARBREAKER and hinting about his nest solo project (via SFSignal).
Amazon.com’s Omnivoracious blog has just added a feature interview with our newest client (and recipient of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award) Ian R. Macleod.
Conducted by Jeff Vandermeer, the interview has Ian discussing his work in general, Song of Time in particular and even mentions his work in progress, entitled Wake Up and Dream…
“It’s set in an alternate version of Golden Age Hollywood. The main character is a seedy unlicensed matrimonial private eye called Clark Gable. Forget the talkies — this is about the feelies.”
Ellen Datlow has posted the table of contents and the fantastic cover art for her upcoming anthology Lovecraft Unbound, over on her livejournal page.
The book is to be published by M Press in October and features a fantastic line up of authors – including Michael Chabon, Joyce Carole Oates and our own rising star Lavie Tidhar. His story is entitled One Day, Soon and was previously mentioned by the author in this interview that appeared on the Apex Book Company web site last October.
Amanda is to be interviewed by Roz Kaveney at the next BSFA monthly meeting. The event takes place at The Antelope Tavern at 7pm on April 22nd and you’d be a fool not to be there!
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And here are a couple of links to an in-depth, two-part Lou Anders’ article on the Tor.com website all about Chris’s work….
Ian McDonald reflects on the digital doppelgangers that our growing use of the net is bringing about…
‘I’m in bits. Pieces of me are all over the place.
My history is on Wikipedia, my photos are on Flickr, my petty rants are on Livejournal, my indiscretions are on Facebook, my globetrotting is stored on half a dozen travel sites, my likes and dislikes profiled and my reading recorded on Amazon.
And I’m a part-time mage in World of Warcraft. Well, I’m not. But it might be fun. More fun than Second Life, where I could be some tedious avatar and hang with boring people.’
That indispensable and very excellent genre site Suvudu has put Five Questions to Peter V. Brett, author of The Painted Man, published here in the UK by Voyager and soon to be released in the US by Del Rey under the title The Warded Man. This superb fantasy has now sold into ten territories and negotiations are afoot for further sales. Book two in the series, The Desert Spear is due out later this year.
‘An absolute masterpiece… for me, the novel was literally “unputdownable,” and certainly deserves to be the next Big Thing in dark fantasy.’ — Horrorscope (Australia) on The Painted Man.
Michael Cobley, whose forthcoming novel Seeds of Earth will be a highlight of Orbit’s schedule for the first quarter of the coming year, has written a piece for the Fantasy Book Critic web site detailing his pick of this year and his tips for the next. And on the horizon for Mike…
“Seeds Of Earth, the first part of my Humanity’s Fire space opera trilogy, steps fully-fledged onto the world stage in early March. I hope to be doing a reading or two in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and there will also be the odd competition for goodies and so forth. Eastercon, the UK national SF convention, takes place in Bradford from April 10th to the 13th, and I shall be there, saying hello, signing anything that’ll stay put long enough, and going in search of The Perfect Curry! Also in March, I’ll be submitting volume 2, The Orphaned Worlds, before diving headlong into the final part, The Ascendant Stars.“
Lavie’s been in touch to let us know that he’s revamped and updated his web sote – it’s now a rather smart Wordpress affair, not dissimilar to this one!
“It’s an irresistible question, because truly comprehending what goes on in someone else’s mind is impossible, intangible, and all the more fascinating for it. Truth is, I don’t always know where my own ideas come from. They seldom arrive fully formed, but tend to develop in a tree-like fashion, usually in need of considered pruning. But what makes us want to write in the first place?”
Genre web site BSC has a 
WARBREAKER by Brandon Sanderson is #24 on the NY Times Hardcover Fiction list for the week ending June 13, 2009.
Ellen Datlow
Here’s a fascinating interview with 
‘I’m in bits. Pieces of me are all over the place.
Reviews are coming in now for 
That indispensable and very excellent genre site 