I've got three bits of bragging to do.
First, the Intergalactic Medicine Show signing was a solid success. We sold out the anthology over the course of the night. Alas, I only sold one copy of Bitterwood; that's all the store could get their hands on, apparently. I see that Amazon has switched from "in stock" to "usually ships in 2-3 weeks." I was told that Solaris was about to order another printing; I guess this print run has almost sold out. Anyway, I could write more about the signing, but fellow signers Ed Schubert and Scott Roberts have both written about it on their blogs, so click on their names if you'd like to see photos, etc.
Second: I'm finally in a Best of the Year anthology! Rich Horton has selected my story "Silent as Dust" published in January at IGMS for inclusion in the Fantasy: Best of the Year 2009 anthology. You can read the full table of contents here. Until now, I've never even got an honorable mention in any "Best of" collection. Now I wish I'd written more short stories this year.
Finally: Dragonforge is on the long-list of nominees for the David Gemmell Legend Award. After Christmas, visitors to the website can vote on books on the long-list to determine which books wind up on the short list. The short list will then be judged by a panel of pros, and the winner announced next summer. While voting hasn't started, if you go now and sign up as a member of the site, you have a shot at winning all the titles on the long list. That's about 70 books; an impressive collection by any standard. After you sign up, you can discuss books in the forum. So, if you had a favorite--say perhaps a book about a lovesick dragon, a woman who was raised as a dragon, and a world-weary dragon-hunter--you could use the forum to tell folks how swell the book is.
I have no clue if I stand a shot at this thing. There are best selling authors on the list who will probably shoot to the top of the voting fairly quickly. Still, it's an honor just to be on the list.
4 comments:
Congratulations, sir, on the nomination, and especially on the Best Of appearance.
As a member of the Science Fiction Book Club, each year I have Dozois' Best Of annual available to me, and in most of the last 20 years, I have gone ahead and purchased it.
I'll say now that I had been very surprised in 2006, when I saw that Dozois chose not to include your story "To the East A Bright Star," among his selections, let alone among his Honorable Mentions. Especially considering it was published in the magazine he used to edit.
While I've enjoyed each story of yours I've ever read, "Star" remains in my opinion one of the best stories of this most recent half-decade, up in the heavy company of "Beyond the Aquila Rift," "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," and "Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck."
Having known some of your short stories, and having become recently acquainted with the impressive world-building skills you display in the book and a half that I've read so far of the Bitterwood cycle, I have to say that despite what I see as a recent snub, I fully expect to see your name in such collections and on such lists in the future.
Thanks, Ras. I, too, was a little surprised not to at least earn an honorable mention for "To the East a Bright Star." But, Gardner had actually rejected the story when he was editor of Asimov's. A few years later I tweaked it and resubmitted after the editorial switch to Sheila Williams. Perhaps he remembered his original reasons for disliking it, whatever they were. Maybe he's just read too many "comet hitting the earth" stories over his long career.
James; Good to hear that the signing was a success for you guys. I know that makes the store managers happy, which means more events like this one in the future.
I went to the signing thinking it was just OSC doing a discussion / signing for his new Ender novel, but I was happily surprised when I found out the true story behind the signing. I just wish I had been able to hang around long enough to get a copy of the anthology and get it signed, but the wife and kids were waiting on me to get dinner, so I had to skip out after the discussion. I had a great time though listening to you and Scott Roberts discuss your stories and the readings from each of them. I'll pick up a copy of the anthology, and Bitterwood as well, here in the near future.
Congrats on being selected for a "Best of" anthology, and thanks for traveling over here to G'boro for the signing.
Thanks, Fiber. The event was a lot of fun, though I felt a little like the microphone was out to get me. Feedback city. Hope you enjoy the books!
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