Wednesday, June 30, 2010


A huge thank you to Michael Swanwick (and Jacob) for rearranging the history of publishing for my birthday (scroll down to "Tachyons"). Whatever will I do with my new found wealth and power? Probably climb some more mountains...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Publishers Weekly Loves de Lint

Check out this nice review of The Very Best of Charles de Lint in Publishers Weekly:

The Very Best of Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint, Tachyon (IPG, dist.), $15.95 paper (428p) ISBN 978-1-892391-96-4
Contemporary fantasist de Lint built this winning compilation with help from his readers, who voted on their favorite stories. The result is an outstanding and widely varied collection of 29 tales. The delightfully light-hearted "Pixel Pixies" adds magic and mischief to innocent online interactions. ("If you're lucky, [the pixies are] still on the Internet and didn't follow you home.") "Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood" investigates the nature and meaning of memories. The heart-wrenching "In the House of My Enemy," later developed into the novel The Onion Girl, narrates the decisions made by a pregnant girl with an abusive past. Longtime fans and newcomers alike will fall in love with de Lint's graceful, poetic language and characters like "an old man who wore the shape of a red-haired boy with crackernut eyes that seemed as bright as salmon tails glinting up the water." (Aug.)


Is it August yet?

Monday, June 28, 2010

We Never Talk About My Locus Award

...oh wait, yes we do. Congratulations to Peter S. Beagle, his story "By Moonlight" from the collection We Never Talk About My Brother has just won the Locus Award for Best Novelette!

Check out the rest of the award winners here.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Publishers Weekly gives Third Bear a Gold Star

Well, actually it's a red star on the website, but the idea is the same. Check out this nice review of The Third Bear from Publishers Weekly:

VanderMeer's seventh collection (after Secret Lives) is a fine introduction to one of our very best contemporary practitioners of the fantastic. In the dark "The Third Bear," an isolated medieval town is beset by a monster that uses the bodies of its victims to create a grisly work of art. "Finding Sonoria" concerns a down-on-his-luck PI hired to find a country that issued a postage stamp but apparently does not exist. The intensely surreal "The Situation" takes place in a company torn by bizarre office politics and dedicated to body modification and the construction of beetles and flying manta rays. "The Goat Variations" is a sophisticated alternate history in which a newly elected U.S. president is briefed on a startling scientific breakthrough with origins not of this world. Fans of slipstream and the interstitial will relish VanderMeer's superb prose, overwhelmingly odd situations, and fascinating, eccentric characters. (Aug.)

Monday, June 21, 2010

Summer Stories and Summer Films

The Ottawa Citizen just posted some summer reading suggestions, and gave The Very Best of Charles de Lint a shout out:

Ottawa fantasy writer Charles de Lint has a unique perspective, creating a fantastic urban world populated with artists, musicians, booksellers, scholars, runaways and, well, magic. With The Very Best of Charles de Lint, the author, who is also a musician, has created a greatest-hits set with a twist. To determine which stories to include (from a body of work spanning 25 years), he asked his fans for their favourites via Facebook and Twitter. The resulting volume is more than 400 pages of the finest urban fantasy fiction of the past three decades, characterized by de Lint's deep and passionate humanism.
You can see the rest of the summer recs here.

And don't forget that this Thursday, June 24th SF in SF presents an Asian Film Night. Come see The Bride With White Hair and A Chinese Ghost Story at The Variety Preview Room. There will be free popcorn, a cash bar, and all proceeds and donations go to the Variety Children's Charity.

582 Market St. @ Montgomery
1st floor of The Hobart Bldg.
Doors Open 5:30PM
Films start 6:30PM

Friday, June 18, 2010

Advance Praise for Best of de Lint

It's not out untill August, but here's a little something to get you psyched for The Very Best of Charles de Lint.

From Green Man Review:

There are a number of stories here -- quite an impressive number of them -- that are simply perfect. By that, I mean that they hit the mark they've aimed at. (And de Lint never aims low.) They've achieved the intended effect. An artistic balance has been achieved between lyricism and clarity of language, consistent and well-developed characterisation that propel the plot at a good pace...And it's easy to miss that exquisite feat of craft in sheer enjoyment of the story, and the set of feelings the author has evoked.


Read the rest here

Monday, June 14, 2010

Hellnotes Reviews Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror

Brian Sammon's over at Hellnotes.com has just posted a fantastic review of Darkness:

I can’t recommend this book high enough and no, that’s not just the rabid fanboy inside me talking. This is my serious critic’s voice. I know it doesn’t translate well in the written word, but trust me. I give my highest recommendation for this book.

Now where did I put that sponge for my drool?


Read the rest of the review here, and remember, Tachyon always encourages fanboys and fangirls to drool over our books. Just make sure they're out of the bookstore first, shop owners don't like their merchandise soggy.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

SF in SF Presents a Mysterious Author Reading

Like detective novels? Good! This Saturday, June 12th, Science Fiction in San Francisco welcomes mystery authors Deborah Grabien and Seanan McGuire to the Variety Preview Room.

From SF in SF:

Deborah Grabien is the author of the Kinkaid Chronicles series. Her detective, J.P. Kinkaid, is the aging guitarist with a hugely successful rock band. Kinkaid suffers from multiple sclerosis, a condition he shares with his creator whose personal experience informs her writing. Grabien has also written a number of supernatural thrillers based on old ballads. Her latest novel, Dark’s Tale, is a middle grade book about a young cat who is abandoned in Golden Gate Park and has to fend for himself.

Seanan McGuire’s detective is even more unusual. October Daye is a fairy changeling. The criminals she chases down often have more than a few tricks up their sleeves. McGuire burst onto the scene last year with Rosemary and Rue, a book that won her a place on the ballot for the prestigious John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. A second October Daye novel, A Local Habitation, is now available, with An Artificial Night coming soon. Meanwhile, masquerading as Mira Grant, McGuire has produced FEED, a hard-bitten political thriller set in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.

Doors and cash bar open at 6PM
Event begins at 7PM
As always, proceeds to go Variety Children's Charity

Friday, June 04, 2010

Rose Fox's Advice for Young Writers and Editors

Rose Fox over at Publishers Weekly's Genreville has shared some advice for people looking to break into the publishing business. Some of the networking advice only applies if you live in New York, but the rest of it is good sense for anyone:

...network network network. Get to know the people you want to work with and for. Read their blogs and comment intelligently. If possible, study with editors you admire; at the very least, take some Mediabistro classes or something. Most importantly, practice every chance you get. Work for free to start your resume, and then get away from working for free as quickly as possible. Be prepared to jump at any opportunity, and to go with the flow of an unconventional career path if it will get you where you want to be.


Read the Rest of the article here.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Ellen Datlow (and Sophie) at Pretty Scary

Find out what's new with Ellen Datlow in her interview at Pretty Scary. Topics include our Datlow anthology, Darkness, and Lovecraft Unbound. Ellen's newest collaborator is the adorable Sophie (pictured here); looks like she's also providing tech support.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

More award noms!

Kage Baker's The Hotel Under the Sand has been nominated for the Mythopoeic Award in Children's Literature!

In case you don't already know:

The Mythopoeic Society is a national/international organization promoting the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythopoeic literature through books and periodicals, annual conferences, discussion groups, awards, and more.
It's always great to see people enjoying Hotel as much as we do!

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

This just in

This just in: Shambling Towards Hiroshima has been nominated for a Theordore Sturgeon Award!

Congratulations to James Morrow, and best of luck!