For the next two weeks, Rick Klaw will be guest blogging, starting today or tomorrow. (We’ll be in France for Utopiales starting next week.) He’ll tell you a little about himself to start off, I’m sure, but I’d like to tell you something about him too. In addition to being a friend, Rick has been an editor, writer, bookstore guru, and much more. Here’s what he’s been up to currently: “When not playing with books, Rick Klaw produces reviews and articles for The Austin Chronicle, Moving Pictures, RevolutionSF, Sf Site, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and other venues. His brief forays into short fiction have appeared in Electric Velocipede and Cross Plains Universe. Klaw’s writings were collected in Geek Confidential: Echoes From the 21st Century (MonkeyBrain).”

Rick has some great “bookless” interviews lined up in addition to a ton of other stuff. I hope you’ll welcome him and his unique viewpoint, which should make for entertaining, cool, and interesting reading.

For those of you we’ll see at Utopiales–looking forward to it. For the rest, see ya after Nov. 10th.

Jeff

I’m going to stop blogging for a couple of weeks while Ann and I are in France as guests of Utopiales. Rick Klaw will be blogging here during that time (see post above).

Just a few notes.

- Due to the power of saved drafts, I will be posting to the Amazon book blog during the time I’m away. Features on David Lubar’s weenies, the Emerging Writers Network, Peter LaSalle’s new collection, and Antony Johnston’s Wasteland comics series will run between Monday and Nov. 10, along with interviews with George RR Martin on Dream Songs and The Church about their reading habits. Among other cool stuff.

- Nov. 1 my latest SF Site column will go live, featuring a fascinating interview with Peter Crowther from PS Publishing.

- Nov. 5 (or thereabouts) my indepth review of The Arrival by Shaun Tan will go live on Bookslut as part of my comics column.

- Nov. 5 (or thereabouts), Amazon will post its best-of-the-year lists, including my list of the top 10 SF/F books of the year. When I get back, I’ll blog about that list, and the ten books that didn’t, but could’ve, made the list.

And in other news, Apex Digest will be publishing Hal Duncan’s interview with me about Shriek: An Afterword in, I believe, one of their next two issues.

Also be on the look-out for the release of Heliotrope, with my Shadow Cabinet column.

Riley approximating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel…

Why is Jackson still being so cute? Something is definitely up.

…in support of his new book. More photos here and here–from Luis Rodrigues.

Showing the power of the internet–and the power of Ben–it looks like the mighty Peek will probably have a piece in the New York Times, because of his novel Black Sheep.

…did I expect these two brawlers to lie down side-by-side. Wonder if they’re ill. Jango and Jackson, like peas in a pod. Something horrible must be about to happen…

Jeff

A short post on David Michael Slater’s children’s books.

Jay’s posted a preview of his upcoming issue of Heliotrope, which includes a revival of my Fantastic Metropolis Shadow Cabinet and a revival of Jeff Ford’s Virtual Anthology.

Jeff

In support of the short story, and specifically those talented writers who are currently “bookless,” which is to say those writers who are at that stage of their career where a collection or novel is a year or more away, I’m doing a new feature called Conversations with the Bookless, of which this is the third installment. (The first two were with Rachel Swirsky and Nathan Ballingrud.) The fact is, if you don’t have a book out, it’s harder to get attention and it’s harder for reader attention to crystalize around you. I hope these interviews introduce readers to some of the great talent that, in the coming years, will be amazingly and bountifully bookful.

Paul Jessup is a relatively new writer who seems to specialize in surreal fantasy, sometimes with experimental touches. At times, this experimentation works and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s good to see someone willing to take chances, and someone with this much enthusiasm (in both his fiction and his discussions of fantasy). I think Jessup is now coming into his own, and stories like “The Adventures of Petal, The Paper Doll Pirate,” forthcoming in Fantasy, strike me as both entertaining and different.

(more…)

Here’s the conclusion of my interview with the fantasy firm of Sanderson, Ruckley, Miller, & Abercrombie, on Amazon. And here’s the link to my initial blog post.

Jeff