We’ve just finished finalizing most of the Cheeky Frawg schedule for 2012-2013—in addition to our already-released titles this year (in e-book form) of the anthology ODD?, Amal El-Mohtar’s The Honey Month, and Stepan Chapman’s Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel The Troika (in partnership with Wyrm/Ministry of Whimsy.) Please check all three of those great titles out. Not on the schedule below:

—Jess Nevin’s The Encyclopedia of Victoriana, a book for which we are partnering with Neil Clarke’s Wyrm imprint.

—Cruel Paris by Claude Seignolle (a collection newly translated by Gio Clairval), one of France’s most respected fantasists, for which we are considering doing a limited hardcover edition and some other special touches.

—The ODD? anthology series, for which a new schedule will be announced soon.

Late September 2012:

Don’t Pay Bad for Bad & Other Stories by Amos Tutuola—A selection of previously uncollected and rare tales by the Nigerian master storyteller. Blurbed by Nnedi Okorafor. Introduction by Tutuola’s son and afterword by Matthew Cheney. (E-book only.)

October 2012

Tainaron by Leena Krohn. This World Fantasy Award finalist short novel by one of Finland’s most highly regarded writers is a personal favorite of ours, and we’re delighted to be able to bring it back into print.

November 2012

Jagannath: Stories by Karin Tidbeck—This amazing collection by a wonderful Swedish writer has received glowing blurbs from the likes of Ursula K. Le Guin, China Mieville, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karen Lord, and Karen Joy Fowler. Elizabeth Hand has written the introduction. We will have a book release party at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto, with the author in attendance. Preorder links will be available in September. (Trade paper and e-book.)

April 2013

Datura by Leena Krohn—The increasingly strange story of the going’s-on at The New Anomalist magazine and a very dangerous flower. Another wonderful short novel by a Finnish icon. Instead of sections, the book comes in three seed pods. Newly translated by Juha Tupasela and Anna Volmari. Funded by a generous grant from the Finnish Literature Exchange. (Trade paper and e-book.)

May 2013

The Explorer & Other Stories by Jyrki Vainonen—One of Finland’s best short story writers, Vainonen writes in a fantastical mode with an underlying hint of the macabre or disturbing. Newly translated by Juha Tupasela and Anna Volmari. Funded by a generous grant from the Finnish Literature Exchange. (E-book and possible trade paperback.)

September 2013

Dona Quixote: The Leena Krohn Omnibus—One great volume collecting Krohn’s novels Tainaron, Dona Quixote, Gold of Ophir, and Pereat Mundus (never before published), along with newly translated short stories, essays about Krohn’s work, and a complete bibliography. A publishing event. (Trade paper and e-book.)

We are reposting the call for submissions for the reprint feminist speculative fiction anthology we are editing for PM Press. The deadline for submissions has been pushed back to September 7. All other particulars remain the same, but the publication schedule has also been pushed back: to September of 2013. This gives us more time for research. – Ann & Jeff

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer are pleased to announce a call for submissions for a new anthology on Feminist Speculative Literature. This project will be published by PM Press under the guidance and co-publishing arrangement with Jef Smith of GeekRadical and is scheduled to be released in September 2013. The anthology will emphasize women’s speculative fiction from the 1970s onward, looking to explore women’s rights as well as gender/race/class/etc. from as many perspectives as possible. Although we already have stories and writers in mind we also know that we can’t see everything so are asking for submissions as well as suggestions. If in doubt, send it.

We will read submissions between June 15, 2012 and September 7, 2012. Any English-language story (or translation into English) previously published since 1970 on a website or in a print publication is eligible for consideration. Looking for reprints only (standard reprint rates apply). Prefer works under 10,000 words. Willing to look at all kinds of Feminist Speculative fiction, but mainly interested in work that pushes the boundaries, that is truly unique to the genre.

Submissions up to 10,000 words should be sent in a Word or RTF document attachment to femspecfic at hotmail.com. Please cut-and-paste the first three paragraphs into the body of your email and include prior publication information, but no need to include any biographical information about yourself. If you prefer, use snail mail by sending your work to POB 38190, Tallahassee, FL 32315, USA. Snail mail submissions should be marked on the outside of the envelope as for Feminist Spec Fic consideration. No SASE is required if you prefer email response. All submissions will be responded to no later than September 15, 2012; please do not query about a submission prior to that date. Those sending in their suggestions—thanks so much, and thanks for understanding that we will not have time to reply.

Payment will be on publication, at standard reprint rates of one to two cents per word, against a share of any royalties from the North American or foreign editions, as well as one contributor copy.

(Ann here: if you post questions as comments, I will do my best to answer in the comments as soon as possible – thx!)

UPDATE – Please limit the number of unique submissions per writer to 3 stories. If you plan to send more than one, make sure we see the top, best 3 stories that fit this theme, thanks!

Many of you may have seen the disappointing and sad and just plain stupid post by Marvin Kaye, editor of Weird Tales today—except wait! It was deleted (screen capture here). You may also have seen N.K. Jemisin’s great post about it.

Of course, there’s also an apology, including this really blithe and stupid comment from the publisher (yeah, this is all hilarious, John):

John HarlacherReply08-20-2012
Also, the website was hacked and he didn’t write that.

No, that’s not true.

Ann VanderMeer, my wife, was the editor-in-chief before being forced out by Marvin Kaye and his financial backer John Harlacher. She tried to be a team player because they offered her a role picking one story by a new writer every issue. This appealed to her because of her ongoing commitment to up-and-coming writers and new voices—it seemed like she could still do some good work. But ever since a meeting with Kaye and Harlacher in New York in June, it had become obvious that she would be extremely uncomfortable working with them. Although they did not consult with her on editorial decisions, they did mention during that encounter that they planned to publish an excerpt from a YA novel written by the wife of a film director about “the last white person on the planet trying to survive in a world of black people.” This seemed deeply problematic on the face of it, and Ann was kind—perhaps too kind—but adamant and firm in saying that they shouldn’t do this. Ever. During this meal, a startling lack of understanding about international fiction and other subjects was also evinced, to the point that afterwards both Ann and I wished we had not stayed for the entire meal. It was one of the worst experiences we’ve ever had. Still, Ann believed that John Harlacher had gotten the point and that perhaps a lesson had been learned. Clearly not.

Ever since that evening, Ann has been planning her departure, complicated by a few previous commitments to writers. Kaye’s plan to go ahead with publishing this excerpt has led to this statement of resignation on Ann’s part. I know from talking to her today that she is deeply upset about this entire situation—that it troubles her greatly and it also is personally devastating given that the new vision for Weird Tales seems to be so against everything that she envisioned for the future of the magazine. I am just quite frankly livid and utterly enraged.

We are also sickened by the fact we all didn’t just walk out of that dinner, the situation complicated by the fact that no one could hear what everyone else was saying and so none of us had the full picture until afterwards. We are clear on the fact that such a situation will never happen again.

This is Ann’s statement in leaving Weird Tales in any capacity.

Due to major artistic and philosophical differences with the existing editors, I have resigned from Weird Tales as a senior contributing editor, effective immediately. This resignation has been in the works for several months, ever since I was removed as the editor-in-chief, but was delayed by my commitment to writers whose work I had accepted for the magazine and to whom I felt a responsibility. I will, as always, continue to be an advocate for exciting new writers at Weirdfictionreview.com and my various anthologies.

The World Fantasy Award finalists have been announced, and two anthologies co-edited by Ann and me are up: The Weird and The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities.

In addition S.J. Chambers and I are up for The Steampunk Bible.

We’re all extremely grateful for the acknowledgment of these books, each of which was lovingly and meticulously put together, and each of which had many, many moving parts. Hundreds and hundreds of creators are represented in these three books. And as I said on facebook this morning, I’m going to send my WF Award nomination pin to Gio Clairval in recognition of her amazing translation work for The Weird.

For the full list of nominees, click here.

Still teaching at Shared Worlds, but I’d like to point out:

—There’s one week to vote in the Millions Award, for which I was a judge to select the finalists.

—I am the judge for an Omnidawn fiction chapbook contest that has a really great prize.

–Clockwork Phoenix has done a Kickstarter and needs extra funds to consolidate the great support for their project.

(Returning students seeing each other again for the first time in a year)

Today was registration day for Shared Worlds, with the 53 students coming in from as far away as Japan, France, and Germany. It was a hot, hectic day, but also very relaxing and fun—in terms of seeing everyone getting along, and for the returning students renewing old friendships while also keeping the new students in the loop. We haven’t had much in the way of cliques, and we’re happy about that. This is also the most students we’ve had, in this, the fifth year of the program. In year one, we had 20 students.

More soon on Shared Worlds, but I wanted to make readers in the Carolinas aware of three great events:

July 25, Wednesday—Hub City Bookstore (downtown Spartanburg, SC)—6pm, NYT Bestseller Naomi Novik, gaming expert and writer Will Hindmarch, and World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer will be reading, signing, and answering questions.

July 31, Tuesday—Hub City Bookstore (downtown Spartanburg, SC)—6pm, NYT Bestseller Tobias Buckell, PKD Award finalist and Amazon Writer-in-Residence Karin Lowachee, Shirley Jackson Award-winner Nathan Ballingrud, and Hugo Award winning editor Ann VanderMeer will be reading, signing, and answering questions. More info on both Hub City readings here (although the time listed there is wrong and Baggott will only be participating in SW via Skype.)

August 4, Saturday–Malaprops (downtown Asheville, NC)–7pm, NYT Bestseller Tobias Buckell, PKD Award finalist and Amazon Writer-in-Residence Karin Lowachee, Shirley Jackson Award-winner Nathan Ballingrud, awesome writer and gaming expert Will Hindmarch, World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer, and Hugo Award winning editor Ann VanderMeer will be reading, signing, and answering questions. (Join us in the pub across the street afterwards, too.) More info at the bookstore site.

(Core samples I have taken, which tend to manifest as organisms; thanks to Eric Schaller for his help with taxonomy, although all mistakes are my own.)

I am in New Hampshire at the moment, with a short break hanging out at Matt Cheney’s house before driving on to Newport and then to Richmond, Virginia, with the goal of winding up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, by Friday—in preparation for teaching at the Shared Worlds teen SF/F writing camp for two weeks.

Stonecoast: Memory and Fantasy

It’s been an eventful and fun time on the road thus far. I started out in Maine, giving a presentation at the Stonecoast MFA program and then doing a reading that night. I had a wonderful time. The Stonecoast house is near the water and the grounds are lovely. I stepped out of the car and all of the stress in my body just left me…and then came back as I came to realize we wouldn’t be able to print the notes to my presentation. But someone—someone miraculous whose name I’ve lost—managed to do a kind of split screen thing where the slides showed up for the audience and my notes, on the same computer, just showed up for me…

(Art by Myrtle Von Damitz III)

The presentation was on Memory, History, and Fantasy: Urban Landscapes and Characterization, focusing on my novel Finch—basically swooping down from an eagle-eye view to a street-level view to talk about the ways in which characterization and settings interact. It’s not presented like Finch is the be-all and end-all, as that would be presumptuous, and indeed I told the audience that what I was about to show them was predicated on an ideal of the novel, including thoughts I’d had about it since publication. Since it was an MFA group, I thought I’d just bring it re the complexity and have the visual element and some bullet point lists strewn throughout help make it not too dense.

One of the central ideas of the presentation is that spaces and buildings are not neutral, inert things in novels—or shouldn’t always been seen as such. That in fact structures are important opportunities in fiction, related to characterization. I tie this into the following idea, a note from the presentation: “Everything we see around us, whether functional or decorative, once existed in someone’s imagination. Every building, every fixture, every chair, every table, every vase, every road, every toaster. The world we live in is largely a manifestation of many individual and collective imaginations applied to the task of altering reality.” I like to pull back to the abstract level here because it helps the audience to envision these elements as not inert but as kinetic and alive at the level of idea and metaphor.

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So I’m on the plane headed for Stonecoast, where I will give a presentation tomorrow afternoon and then do a reading in the evening at the Brunswick Inn (Maine) at 7pm, I think. The presentation will include a sneak peek at Wonderbook, the creative writing book I keep nattering on about—above find a snippet from the lifecycle of a story diagram Jeremy Zerfoss has created for me.

After Stonecoast, I’ll be at ReaderCon—my schedule is in a blog entry below this one.

In addition, I’ll be reading with Shared Worlds guest writers in Spartanburg, SC, at the local indie bookstore the last week of July, and introducing more writers the first week of August there as well–I’ll post the exact details in a day or two. Also, August 4, Shared Worlds writers Tobias Buckell, Karin Lowachee, Will Hindmarch, Ann VanderMeer, Nathan Ballingrud and I will be appearing at a SF/F extravaganza hosted by Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, at 7pm. Please drop by!

As for other upcoming gigs, Ann and I will definitely be at World Fantasy in Toronto, which will feature a book release party for Karin Tidbeck’s Cheeky Frawg release Jagannath.

Next year, Ann and I will be keynote speakers for a SF symposium at the University of South Florida, and I will be a guest of honor for the Steampunk World’s Fair.

More news soon…

Here at Cheeky Frawg, we’re getting more and more excited about the fall release of Swedish author Karin Tidbeck’s debut English-language collection Jagannath, which will be available in e-book and trade paperback formats. We hope to have a book release party at World Fantasy Convention in Toronto, and there is a possibility that the author will be able to attend.

Check out these advance blurbs!

URSULA K. LE GUIN: “I have never read anything like Jagannath. Karin Tidbeck’s imagination is recognisably Nordic, but otherwise unclassifiable–quietly, intelligently, unutterably strange. And various. And ominous. And funny. And mysteriously tender. These are wonderful stories.”

CHINA MIEVILLE: “Restrained and vivid, poised and strange, Tidbeck, with her impossible harmonies, is a vital voice.”

KAREN JOY FOWLER: “Tidbeck has a gift for the uncanny and the unsettling. In these wonderful, subtle stories, magic arrives quietly. It comes from the forests or the earth or was always there in your own family or maybe exists in another realm entirely. It arises from the pages as you read, leaving you slightly dazed and more than a little enchanted.”

KAREN LORD: “The mundane becomes strange and the strange familiar with near-Hitchcockian subtlety. I loved Tidbeck’s clean, classic prose. It creates beautifully eerie music for a twilight domain.”

Under the cut, find more information about this excellent book–out in November. I’ll have some advance reader copies at ReaderCon. (In other news, we have the translation of Finnish writer Leena Krohn’s novel Datura and will have a pub date for it shortly, along with a pub date for a collection by Amos Tutuola.)

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Stepan Chapman’s incredible 1997 novel The Troika, winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, is now once again available to readers—in e-book form. Originally published by my Ministry of Whimsy Press, this new, definitive author’s version has been published as a joint venture of Ministry of Whimsy (now an imprint of Neil Clarke’s Wyrm Publishing) and Cheeky Frawg. Neil has a post about how to order it. (Thanks to my Ministry partner back in 1997, Tom Winstead, for making it possible to publish the book.)

When it came out, the novel was perhaps the most reviewed science fiction novel of the year, garnering a ton of critical praise. It was also the first independent press title to ever win the PKD Award. Beneath the cut, find a teaser from my original introduction to this new e-book edition…

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