Cover design by Jacob McMurray, art by Scott Eagle, the devilish surrealist. The first release from my newly woken Ministry of Whimsy Press, with information up soon on the site of our new protector, Wyrm Publishing. A planned October release in a limited hardcover edition.

Contributors include Michael Bishop, Gene Wolfe, Tanith Lee, Peter Straub, Stephen R. Donaldson, Michael Swanwick, Henry Kaiser, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Bruce Holland Rogers, Conrad Williams, Daniel Abraham, Ellen Kushner, Holly Phillips, Jay Lake, K.J. Bishop, Jon Courtney Grimwood, Sonya Taaffe, Tim Pratt, Sarah Monette, Rikki Ducornet, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Royle, Marly Youmans, Liz Williams, Brian Evenson, Steve Aylett, Cat Rambo, Richard Butner, and a ton of others….

And below, the original inspiration for the anthology, art by Eric Schaller (which will serve as the fronticepiece). I did a short piece based on the art for Secret Life Redux, which may or may not go in the anthology. Then Matt Cheney did a smart-ass piece based on the name of the art, Last Drink Bird Head, and then a lightbulb clicked on in my head. Now it’s a charity antho for literacy coming out just in time for World Fantasy. (Right now, plans are to have a party after the opening ceremonies, Thursday night, called Last Drink Bird Head that celebrates the release of Finch, Booklife, LDBH, a new Weird Tales, and, erm, some probable surprises.)

Er, of his art, that is. Eric’s just about done with the rough sketches that match up to the script I wrote and turned in to him last week. After this phase, once it’s all been gone over and approved, Eric will begin inking for real. (Here’s more info on the project, which is for Tor.com, and Eric’s blog.)

Here are four samples, with the text that roughly corresponds to the image. I really love the looseness of these drawings. Also note that the story itself has changed quite a bit in dramatizing it visually. I’ve had to write new scenes, discard some, compress and expand. It’s been a wonderful experience, because it’s made the story fresh for me again.

Mord and Wick in the strange elevator, but now Wick is facing away from Mord, and you can see Wick is wearing a slug on his back, in the slit in his uniform. Possibly we get closer in to Wick while they’re talking.

[Dialogue:]
Mord: Does it hurt?
Wick: No. It itches.
Mord: Like fleas.
Wick: No. Like a slug. It’s wet.
Mord: Wet’s better than dry, Wick. Dry crackles.

(more…)

(Prague is crazy, man.)

I was surprised a couple weeks ago to open my post office box and find a sharp-looking little package from Prague. Immediately all of the rich, fantastical memories of visiting that city flooded back–from an art exhibit with a huge wicker chair to a row of neon-glowing penguins, to alcoves and cafes set into gardens and courtyards. There’s a richness to the city that’s inexhaustible and charged with a mischievous imagination, and so it’s no surprise I suppose that a book titled The Tarot of Perfection by Rachel Pollack, published by Magic Realism Press, popped out of the envelope.

An Omnivoracious feature about Rachel Pollack’s two new books, one poetry and one prose…

(Mitch Steele, John Egan, and Tom Garcia with Stone 13th Anniversary Ale)

Mitch Steele at the amazing Stone Brewery in San Diego (home of my favorite beer, Arrogant Bastard) emails to say “That’s right, Stone 13th Anniversary Ale is coming out on June 29th, and it’s big, it’s hoppy, and it’s going to blow your mind. ”

- Stone 13th Anniversary Ale has 4.5 lbs of hops per barrel—more hops per barrel than any beer they’ve ever brewed (Stone 10th Anniversary Ale, revered by many as the quintessential hopped-up Stone Anniversary Ale, had 2.5 lbs of hops per barrel).

- This is the first time they’ve released the Imperial/Double Red style.

- This is the first time they’ve released a double dry-hopped beer in bottles.

- Stone 13th Anniversary Ale will be released in 22oz. bottles on June 29, 2009.

More info here. And, believe it or not, I’m getting a free bottle; I promise to report back as soon as I get it, be it morning, noon, or midnight. Thank the heavens (and the devil) for Matt Steele and his kindness in bestowing this beer upon me.

Hal Duncan wears me out with his long blog posts–here’s to rumors of a book of his entries so I can enjoy them in a less frenetic context–but you should definitely check out his latest, entitled “Ethics and Enthusiasm,” which analyzes the whole bruhaha re the SFFE group and touches on the same things mentioned by Evil Monkey in this post.

One thing I found interesting was his point about a writer correcting a reviewer on a point of fact. I talk about this in Booklife–as the only time a writer should consider, either him or herself or through a third party–finding a way to get a fact correction out there. (And, yes, part of Booklife is giving out advice hard-earned from this very imperfect human being who has, of course, responded to reviews at times.) It’s not really important in the context of Hal’s post, but it does reflect one reality about the internet and the new wave of home-spun journalism; in this new context, I think you’re going to see more writers engaging in some form of fact correction. For better or worse.

As for SFFE and the whole issue…I see nothing review-wise on the SFFE site that I’d call any better than mediocre. It’s just…boring. On the other hand, it’s harmless and if they wind up doing a good job of promoting interesting work, more power to them. On the other other hand, I’m not a big fan of snarky negative reviews while being totally uninterested in websites or magazines that only post positive reviews. I’m also not interested in reviews where the reviewer makes him or herself more important than the text.

As for the rest of what I want or don’t want, it’s all here.

I just got around to doing a partial rewrite of the Services section of this blog, updating it to include my wife, Ann, and a more complete list of what it is we do under the moniker of VanderWorld Creative–everything from creativity workshops to fan dancing. Okay, no dancing, but we’ve developed a pretty extensive resume when it comes to teaching, speaking engagements, and individual critiquing. Among other services. This is stuff we love to do, and we’ve gotten very good at it.

Later this week, in fact, Ann will be doing a creativity workshop for World of Warcraft in Los Angeles, teaming up with Cat Rambo for that particular event. Next spring, with Victoria Blake, we’ll host a Booklife conference on sustainable careers/creativity in Portland, Oregon, while Ann and I host a more secluded Booklife retreat in St. Augustine, Florida. (More information on both at Booklifenow, when it goes live.)

(more…)

Today, K. Tempest Bradford is starting her write-a-thon on behalf of Clarion West. As a graduate of Clarion and an instructor at both Clarion and Clarion South, I can tell you that all three versions of the workshop offer an invaluable service to SF/F writers. It’s not just the workshop–although that’s paramount–it’s also about the value to the community, something that I think manifests itself most strongly at Clarion West because of their location in Seattle.

I’m sponsoring Tempest to the tune of $100. You should too–especially since Amazon has given Clarion West a matching grant. Here’s more information, right from Tempest… – Jeff

(more…)

(“OMG. The fumes from Sir Tessa’s Soy Sauce & Random Collected Liquids Exhibition are killing me.”)

I just posted an Omnivoracious feature about Sir Tessa’s Star Wars punch-out-and-play post. It being a Monday morning, I screwed up the Omniv URl, so here’s the tiny URL for that, should you need it: http://tinyurl.com/laq5o6. But the action’s all on Silence Without, with some truly freakin’ hilarious stuff. I love in particular this ‘n’ this:

But go check out the whole thing. I mean SHE ACTUALLY SETS THINGS ON FIRE! I don’t think you can ask for more on a Monday…

Grandson, Mr. R, seems to be punking it up in Amsterdam. He’s already got that jaded look about the eyes, like he’s seen it all, and found it wanting. This kid is going to break some hearts. He’s already been kissing women’s knees in public parks. Cute now. Not cute if it continues into his teens. LOL.

Someday, I’m going to find a way to use this photo as the cover of a book. Maybe I’ll write The Further Ironical Adventures of Mr. R, Abroad.

(See it better-bigger by clickin’ here.)

Jacob McMurray has come up with an awesome cover for my short story collection, out from Tachyon in 2010. Back cover text is placeholder, of course. I’m currently selecting the contents, with a due date of turning the manuscript in July 1st.

***

It made its home in the deep forest near the village of Grommin, and all anyone ever saw of it, before the end, would be hard eyes and the dark barrel of its muzzle. The smell of piss and blood and shit and bubbles of saliva and half-eaten food. The villagers called it the Third Bear because they had killed two bears already that year. But, near the end, no one really thought of it as a bear, even though the name had stuck, changed by repetition and fear and slurring through blood-filled mouths to Theeber. Sometimes it even sounded like “seether” or “seabird.”