Ann here, just posting briefly to say thanks to Michelle Richmond for such great guest blogging. Next week, Fabio Fernandes!

I also wanted show off the cover of the Czech edition of The New Weird, pictured above. The first foreign edition of anything with my name on it. I’m very excited. Laser Books (Martin Sust, editor) is the publisher. And, here is the cover art for the pirates antho, design still forthcoming:

Also note that the International Horror Guild Award finalists have been announced. I’m a judge and can tell you we worked very hard in coming up with this list.

In other news, Shared Worlds is happy to announce that Will Hindmarch will be joining the guest lecturers (including Tobias Buckell and Ekaterina Sedia). For those readers not familiar with Will, he is a Chicago-born freelance writer and designer with experience on more than fifty books as an author, developer, or graphic designer. In 2007, Will co-founded the gameplay-and-story outfit, Gameplaywright.net, with Jeff Tidball. He is also a proud contributor to the book, Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media, edited by Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, available from MIT Press. Will’s writing has appeared in The Escapist, Atlanta magazine, Everywhere magazine and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. In 2007, he was a judge for the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Competition. In 2004, he and his wife moved to Atlanta, sight-unseen, like carpetbaggers, so he could become a professional lunatic for White Wolf Game Studio, serving as the developer of the flagship World of Darkness Storytelling Game, Vampire: The Requiem.

In connection with Shared Worlds, workshop director Jeremy Jones interviewed Jeff, mostly about Steampunk.

Finally, just so you know Jeff’s still alive, here are some photos he took recently to chronicle his recent activities. (He heads off to Shared Worlds Saturday and I get some well-earned peace…Remember that he and Buckell are reading at Malaprops on July 31.) Some of these photos may be cryptic. I’m happy to provide context if you have questions… (Also, thanks to Matt Staggs for many, many things.)

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As mentioned, I’ll be disappearing from the internets through the first-second week of October. (Except through the magic of a few pre-scheduled posts on weekends.) During that time I’ll be finishing up my new novel (longhand/typewriter), teaching at Shared Worlds at Wofford College, and, with Ann, going to the Czech Republic as guests of Parcon and for the release of the Czech edition of New Weird, followed up by a book tour of Romania in support of the Romanian editions of New Weird and the Predator novel. Ann is very excited as this will be our first foreign book tour together as co-editors–should be a lot of fun.

So, in light of that I have put together what I think will be a diverse and fascinating guest blogging schedule over the summer for your entertainment and edu-macation:

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As I may have mentioned previously, I will largely be offline during the rest of July, August, and September as I finish up my new novel, Finch. (Although guest bloggers will be here all during that time.)

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Starting next Tuesday, my blog will feature a different guest blogger each week through October 10. The excitement kicks off with a celebration of the fiction of noir master Jack O’Connell (with posts by the author as well as Ellen Datlow, Ron Hogan, and Kelly Shaw). That will be followed by NYT bestseller Michelle Richmond, Tiptree Award-winning fantasist Catherynne M. Valente, Soft Skull editor Richard Nash, fantasist and children’s book author Vandana Singh, satirical SF novelist Minister Faust, Brazilian critic Fabio Fernandes, crime novelist Meg Gardiner, Romanian editor and publisher Horia Ursu, Russian-born novelist Ekaterina Sedia, publicist Matt Staggs, short story writer John Langan, and writer-editor Cat Rambo. Come visit and experience what promises to be a lively and diverse discussion.

I’ll post more information on Monday morning. As of July 8, I’ll be pretty much off the internet for three months.

P.S. And, over at Omnivoracious, Richard Morgan will be blogging.

The New York Times Papercuts Blog has posted a list with notes of the music Ann and I have been listening to recently. Everything from Ray Davies* to Willard Grant to The New Pornographers to Supersystem. Check it out.

What’ve you been listening to? And why do you like it or hate it? What’s the soundtrack to your life right now?

*JB’s gonna hate that one.

These old Indian comics were one of the three pillars of my childhood reading, the other two being Tintin and Asterix & Obelix. We lived in the Fiji Islands, which had a large Indian population. I’d buy these from the corner Chinese grocery store, about a quarter-mile from the beach. At least, that’s my recollection. It’s also possible we bought some of them in India. Most are based on famous historical figures or on Hindu or Buddhist religious stories. Some of the interior art is not of as high quality, but the covers are great. I’m turning 40 next week and have been indulging myself by going through some childhood favorites.

Here are some more images and details of interiors.

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I’ve just posted my latest Pop Culture Report both here and on Amazon’s book blog, Omnivoracious. For those who haven’t seen the others, it’s a DIY come-into-my-house-and-look-at-some-recent-cool books kinda thing. Check out the version on Amazon, where I’ve posted links to all of the books mentioned in the report.

Feel free to embed the video on your own blog or site with your own comments about the books I’ve reviewed. And let me know here what you think, too. The more attention these video features get, the more able I am to continue doing them. (Small apology this time around: a lightning strike or two during the filming caused a couple of hiccups.)

Here’s the direct link to it on YouTube.

Artist Zach Taylor has been working on preliminary sketches for a Torture Squid comic book/graphic novel. I’m providing him with a rough textual treatment for him to use as the basis for the storyline. We haven’t sought out a publisher–we’re going to finish it first. (Zach, btw, has created some great Evil Monkey for President swag, based on my EM persona, available here. Check it out.)

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Yes, that’s right, Secret Lives is now out. Mine were shipped right from the printer. The publisher will be shipping out orders shortly. Our preferred bookseller is Ziesing Books, because the book idea originated with them. You can order it from them here.

Here is a short video detailing some of the book’s special features, including unusual end papers…(Mr. Matt Cheney, pay attention, sir.)

Any questions? Please let me know.

(The cover of the Shriek limited, art by Ben Templesmith, design by John Coulthart; extras include The Church’s Shriek CD, a DVD of the Shriek movie, and some other surprises; possibly, Ambergris stamps.)

I’ve got a mile-wide grin on my face right now. I just received the 45-minute CD of music The Church recorded as a soundtrack to my Shriek novel. It will accompany the limited edition of Shriek forthcoming from Wyrm Publishing.

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