(Art by John Coulthart)

io9 has just posted our gi-normous feature on The Art of Lovecraft: Artists Inspired by Lovecraft, published by Centipede Press. We interviewed Ian Miller, Bob Eggleton, John Coulthart, John Picacio, Harry O. Morris, and Jerad Walters (the publisher) for the feature, and it includes more than 20 selections from the book in a really cool gallery format. Please spread the word–it’s an important volume, and one of the most beautiful books we’ve ever seen. (See also this piece on the book.)

Below find “outtakes from the interviews that we couldn’t fit into the feature.

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Some linkage for you this morning, to be followed later by some follow-up on our io9 art feature, on The Art of Lovecraft book we love so much. In the meantime, feel free to add your own news or bizarre links in the comments. Self-promotion is acceptable.

First off, Steampunk gets a long and creatively written rave in the LA Times. Paul Di Filippo is having his story from the anthology, “Victoria,” podcast. And this weekend, a feature on the antho along with Ann reading a brief excerpt from Molly Brown’s story will appear in/on the Tallahassee Democrat/website.

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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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My interview with Michael Phillips about e-books and fiction generally. He’s definitely a fan of the darker stuff, whether dark fantasy or dark mainstream. Phillips has a physical disability and has to use e-books, so he has a somewhat unique perspective.

Excerpt:
Amazon.com: Are there any books you can’t get in e-book form? Which ones are on the top of your wish list?
Michael Phillips: Too many. Michael Cisco, for instance, is a brilliant writer, but none of his stuff is available. I’d love to read Steven R. Donaldson, but he’s not available either. Even the Harry Potter series isn’t available. Sometimes audio books fill in the gaps, but they’re not always available either, or they’re abridged. Also, hearing an audio book just isn’t the same as reading the written word. Words and paragraphs paint their own pictures, written text has a certain beauty.

Per my post on current favorite fantasists in the short story form, Matt Staggs has now taken it upon himself to do short interviews with all of the writers on the list. Which should provide readers with more and fascinating information. First up is Kate Bernheimer.

I’m not sure the excerpts below can really convey the funny that is 30 Rock. I know Ann and I are late to the party here, but this story of the performers, writers, and others associated with a Saturday Night-like NBC show is brilliant. We just watched the first season on DVD, the second on on-demand, and it was like comedy crack or something. Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Tracy Jordan, and the others on this show are great choices. The plotlines are complex, yes, but also often surreal, as when Jordan hallucinates seeing this weird blue creature for an entire episode. I think this is what I really love about the show: it gets so darn strange at times. If you haven’t already seen 30 Rock, check it out.

(Cover art to the amazing Tin House: Fantastic Women volume, guest-edited by Rick Moody)

In thinking about reading for Best American Fantasy, two things really stood out for me: (1) the Tin House: Fantastic Women volume was the most spectacular single issue I read, holding up and in fact becoming more luminous and deep with each re-read and (2) most of the short fiction I’ve read recently that I’ve been most passionate about has come from female writers.

So I thought I’d post a list of the newish or under-appreciated short fiction writers I’m most excited about these days, who just happen to be women (with a few notes). These are writers who exclusively or sometimes write fantasy in all of its various and diverse forms. For me, this is where the true energy in non-realistic short fiction is coming from–and hopefully for many of them, soon, in novel form, too.

I’ve tried not to include obvious choices like Kelly Link, Kathe Koja, Karen Joy Fowler, M. Rickert, Theodora Goss, Ekaterina Sedia, Rikki Ducornet, Catherynne M. Valente, Margo Lanagan, Elizabeth Hand, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Elizabeth Bear, or Kage Baker, all of whom are familiar favorites to most readers. My list does not include writers known primarily for their novels. I’m also sure there are a few I’m leaving out, so please forgive me. Regardless, I highly recommend you check out all of these writers and buy the Tin House volume. It’s great all the way through.

Jeff

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Check out the latest from Enter the Octopus, the blog of Matt Staggs, whose links posts have already become the stuff of legend.

An interview with Andrew Cooper, who just made his first fiction sale.

A review of Chabon’s A Gentleman of the Road

And, of course, the links Inferno-blitzkrieg that is…Matt’s Bookosphere

Every once in awhile my Amazon feature on Joe Nigg’s How to Raise and Keep a Dragon still gets a comment from a kid, like this one:

I have NO IDEA of how to get the FULL address of where the Mushussu dragons are sold. I don’t know the cost either.My mom, though, is willing to pay for a live one. PLEASE TELL ME AS MUTCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN ABOUT IT!!!! P.S. I LOVE dragons!

So I’ve finally had to reaffirm that dragons are imaginary in a comment of my own. Sigh. Well, I guess with global warming and world famine on the way, it’s time for kids everywhere to be disillusioned in preparation…

In an odd confluence of chance, I was just about to post about how This American Life on Showtime has been sooo much better in its second season than its first when I get an email from Michael Phillips, who was featured in this episode.

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