Tuesday, July 31, 2007

John Kessel, Master of Science Fiction

The Masters of Science Fiction series kicks off on ABC this Saturday night with John Kessel's Nebula Award-winning story "A Clean Escape." (8/7c)

ABC.com says:
In "A Clean Escape," set not too far in a post-Apocalyptic future, psychiatrist Dr. Deanna Evans (Judy Davis) interrogates a distinguished, if befuddled, man (Sam Waterston) who appears to be suffering from a lapse in memory. Why can't he remember - and why is it so important that she uncover the secret he holds deep inside?

***

[Holding secrets deep inside is very bad for your digestion and uncovering them may require a very painful surgical procedure. -Ed.]

The series is comprised of four episodes with all-star casts, written by real sf writers, and filmed by reputable directors. They're going for a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits kind of feel, with Stephen Hawking narrating (voice/delivery seem appropriately deadpan/robotic).

The series finale is based on Harlan Ellison's "The Discarded." Harlan co-wrote the screenplay and has a much-enjoyed cameo under an impressively weird faceful of latex prosthetics. Other stars include Brian Dennehy and John Hurt, with Jonathan Frakes (a.k.a. Riker, Jean-Luc Picard's "Number One") directing.

Finally saw the Masters of Horror version of Tiptree's "The Screwfly Solution." Creepy and surprisingly faithful to the text. A little sexed-up, but hey, it was for cable.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Upcoming Ellen Klages sightings

After her mysterious writing hiatus in an undisclosed location, Ellen's back on the road with her NoCal tour for Portable Childhoods. Here are her upcoming readings:

Monday, July 16th, at 7 p.m.
Cody's Books
1730 Fourth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.559.9500


Tuesday, July 24th, at 7 p.m.
Book Passage
51 Tamal Vista Blvd
Corte Madera, CA 94925
415.927.0960


Thursday August 2nd, 7 p.m.
The Booksmith
1644 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-863-8688

***

The Book Passage event will be filmed and posted online by international media website Fora.tv, which posits "there are brilliant ideas, expressed everyday in public discussions and events, all over the world. Don't miss them." So if you can't hear Ellen read in person, thanks to Fora.tv you can check her out in cyberspace. Very science fictional (or sfnal, for you genre geeks).

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Books hot on the presses

Yes, two books off to our printer today: Shatterday by Harlan Ellison and The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick. These are exceptional collections by two of the finest short story writers that science fiction has ever produced. And I get to work with them. It's kind of amazing to check your voice/email and have a missive from a legend. Usually a barbed and/or exceedingly witty missive. I file away all of the best ones. I know, I'm *still* a fangirl.

Also today: very nice pre-pub buzz for the Swanwick collection from Andy Wheeler's blog and a great review from Dave Truesdale at Tangent Online for The Asimov's SF 30th Anniversary Anthology.

And no, I haven't forgotten the wedding photos. Prepare to be amazed.

Jill

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Most. Beautifully. Dorky. Wedding. Ever.

A little post wedding recon from our pals Frank Wu and Susan Palwick. Thank god they blogged so eloquently because I am absolutely brain dead. Happy, but brain dead. Jacob and Rina head off to ReaderCon tomorrow. Next week we get back to saving the world.

(Note that Frank and Susan both mention that Jacob and Rina took the Green Lantern oath, which was, understandably, a huge hit.)

Jill