Alright, I’m in Grasping For the Wind’s Ask the Bloggers series and question #2 can be found here. This question is about how I got started blogging. You’ll ignore my horrible typos, since I apparently had a few errors in there. Sorry about that. Anywho! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Well, it’s over and I’m late with this (sorry). The winners of each category are: Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins; Fourth Estate) Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press) Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007) Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007) Best Related Book: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press) Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Charles Vess Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures) Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who “Blink” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC) Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell Best Editor, Short Form: Gordon Van Gelder Best Professional Artist: Stephan Martiniere Best Semiprozine: Locus Best Fanzine: File 770 Best Fan Writer: John Scalzi Best Fan Artist: Brad Foster I’ll be honest, I expect Chabon’s book to win, even though I haven’t read it yet. I didn’t say that, but I figured that considering how well it has done thus far and considering its content and general appeal, it had a darn good shot. Still, it was up against some good competition (such as Robert J. Sawyer’s Rollback and books by three of the greatest writers currently out there–John Scalzi, Ian McDonald, and Charles Stross). In any case, congratulations to the winners! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
I know he has absolutely nothing to do with speculative fiction, but he passed away recently due to complications with pneumonia and I felt like mentioning it. He was a hilarious man and he will be sorely missed. It came as a shocker to me because I would have never thought it could happen…but it did and now one of the great comedians of our day is no longer with us. May he rest in peace. Thanks. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
YWO, a website for young writers that I co-own, has officially opened its very own merchandise store here. We have shirts, hats, and loads of things. We’re also going to be doing non-YWO stuff, like shirts with funny phrases and what not. Check out our RPG Line for starters. Lots of things are going to be added to our store over the next few months, but for now, feel free to pick up a YWO t-shirt, hat, or mug. Also check out our awesome ambigram line, which features a really cool logo created by one of our members (Carraka). It’s a beautiful creation. Oh, and I should mention that proceeds from sales go to making YWO a better place. Covers hosting fees and, if we’re lucky, we’ll get to host some contests with real prizes! So, help us out and buy a shirt. And spread the word about our site and our store. Thanks! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
I’ve decided to add some new features to this blog and discuss a couple things you may have noticed.First, on the right there you’ll see some contributors. Those folks are people who have been most generous in offering their talents for blogging while I’m away in a couple weeks. I appreciate their help. If you’re interested in guest blogging for WISB, just let me know. Send me an email (you can find my email on the left there in the My Links section). As for new features: I’m going to occasionally put up a random link to a website I’ve found that might be of interest. There are two coming up. This will likely be irregular. If you have a neat site you’d like me to blog about, send me an email and I’ll check it out. Doesn’t have to be specfic related, it just has to be really interesting. No guarantees I’ll blog about your site, but it’s worth a shot.I’m also going to start doing something similar that I’ve been doing, but hasn’t been named anything yet. The website one is called “Website Found”, obviously, so the video one will now be called “Video Found”. Perhaps you have a good video you’d like me to see? Well, email me. So that’s that. Enjoy what’s coming up (there may be other things that I can’t think of, but for now that’s it). And I mean it, if you want to guest blog, email me.
Two new SF fiction markets, which look like they’re going to be awesome. First we have Federations from John Joseph Adams: Genres: Science Fiction only. Original fiction only, no reprints.Payment: 5 cents per word ($250 max), plus a pro-rata share of the anthology’s earnings and 1 contributor copy.Word limit: 5000 words. (Stories may exceed 5000 words, but $250 is the maximum payment per story, and stories 5000 words or less are strongly preferred.)Rights: First world English rights, non-exclusive world anthology rights, and non-exclusive audio anthology rights. See my boilerplate author-anthologist contract, which spells out the rights in detail.Reading Period: November 1-January 1, 2009Response Time: Most rejections will be sent out quickly, but stories that I like may be held until January 31 before a final decision is made.Publication date: May 2009Publisher: Prime BooksSubmission Instructions: Email your story in rich-text format (RTF) to John Joseph Adams at federations.anthology@gmail.com. Include the title of the story and your byline in the subject line of the email. I’ll be writing something for this one once I can think of a story interesting. Looks like something right up my alley though. Then there is Footprints from Jay Lake. I’ll try thinking up something for this, but no guarantees. Right now all I have are humorous ideas, which might work. Can’t copy and paste for some reason, so you’ll just have to click the link. Ther you go!
