We had all sorts of grandiose plans for the 100th episode, but in the end it’s just the two of us, rambling. We do want to thank all of our listeners, guests, commentators and friends – anyone who’s said anything nice about the podcast at all – for your enthusiasm and support. That’s what will get us through the next 100 episodes!

Here is the basic info:
Tickets for the SF Awards Weekend are $40 and include all Locus events — including readings, a kickoff meet-and-greet, panels with leading authors, an autograph session, the lunch banquet, and the annual Hawai’ian shirt contest judged by the fabulous Connie Willis, who will MC the ceremony and present the Locus Awards — all followed by the Clarion West Party on Saturday night honoring Clarion West supporters, awards weekend ticket holders, and special guests. The events are held across the street from the Seattle Center, home to the SF Hall of Fame and the Experience Music Project, with excellent access to the light rail and trolley systems.

In addition, non-profit literary organization NW Media Arts is sponsoring special Awards Weekend writers workshops with James Patrick Kelly and Connie Willis at the nearby Richard Hugo House. Additional fees apply.* Click here to learn more.

Special room rates, $131 per night, will be available from Wednesday, June 13 through Sunday June 17 at the Best Western Executive Inn at 200 Taylor Avenue North, Seattle WA 98109, directly across the street from the Seattle Center and Experience Music Project/SF Museum. For hotel reservations, call Joseph Ambler at (206) 674-6616 and mention the “Science Fiction Awards Group”, or you may call the general number at 1(800) 351-9444. Please make reservations by May 4, 2012 in order to secure the special room rate. If you need to book additional days, please e-mail Locus or call us at (510) 339-9196 and we will arrange it for you.
Tentative Schedule:

Friday, June 15

Evening: Author readings by Connie Willis and James Patrick Kelly in the Whidbey-Shaw Room at the Best Western Executive Inn, presented by NW Media Arts and University Book Store. Followed by an evening meet-and-greet in the lounge.

Saturday, June 16

10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.: Panel with leading authors, topic TBA.

10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.: Panel with leading authors, topic TBA.

12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Autographing session with books available for purchase thanks to University Book Store.

12:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Locus Awards Lunch Banquet and Ceremony at the Best Western Executive Inn with M.C. Connie Willis, who will present the awards and judge the annual Hawai’ian Shirt Contest.

Evening: Clarion West Party in the Whidbey-Shaw Room at the Best Western Executive Inn.

Schedule is subject to change without notice. Don’t forget to wear your most outlandish Hawai’ian shirt to the Locus Awards!

Presented by NW Media Arts
SF in Seattle Fantastic Fiction Writers Workshops with Connie Willis & James Patrick Kelly

* Tickets will soon be available for workshops with James Patrick Kelly and Connie Willis at the nearby Richard Hugo House, which will be ticketed separately through non-profit literary organization NW Media Arts. Additional fees apply and workshop registration is limited. Check back later for information on purchasing tickets.

Thanks to 123-Awards.com and NW Media Arts for their assistance and sponsorship of the Locus Awards events.

I hope, though, that people will consider keeping supporting the project now that it has been funded. The Foundation says as part of its Kickstarter that:

Should we exceed our funding goals, there are several projects waiting in the wings:

•     digitizing and storing Locus’s immense and historic collection of audio author interviews, currently only on microcassettes and in imminent danger of degrading
•     cataloging the current book, pulp, and periodical collection housed at Locus
•     a fantastic but as-yet-to-be-announced project, one that would benefit many in the SF/F community from authors to fans to publishers

I think these are terrific projects and the first on the list – digitizing the audio collection, is a spectacularly good project. I’ve spent a lot of time at Locus HQ and Charles would always tell us that he had the original recordings for all of the interviews he did for Locus. It would be a spectacular primary resource for the field if they could be preserved for the future.

The goal of the project is to preserve these historic and irreplaceable materials, by stabilizing the archive and at the same time digitizing the photos, letters, etc., and creating a viewable gallery of as many of the materials as possible. The funding that the Foundation is seeking for this project will cover the cost of archival and preservation supplies such as acid-free tissue for interleaving documents, plastic sleeves for preserving significant photographs, acid-free folders for organization, acid-free labels and pens, a mid-range document and film scanner, long-term archival storage boxes, and finally, the cost of website construction to create a viewable gallery of the Photo and Ephemera Collection.

A collection like this is too important to be allowed to fall into disrepair. Please consider supporting the Kickstarter Campaign and the Locus Collection!

Hm. Now I think about it, there is one argument to go to WorldCon in August instead of World Fantasy in November: the best of the year. The WFC trip always plays havoc with prep for that. Something to ponder.

We would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this has caused Coode Street listeners. If the hosting problems continue we will look for a new service. We do have a new episode of the podcast, Episode 92 recorded with special guest Michael Dirda, recorded and ready to go. We look forward to sharing it with you as soon as we can.

So, how have things been? Well, the dominant thing has been my recurring ear infection. Without whining too much more, I basically have tinnitus and hearing loss in my right ear. Not happy making, and the kind of thing that kicks the heck out of my ability/willingness to focus and concentrate on reading or writing.  I see an ENT specialist tomorrow, so I’m hopeful it’ll be sorted one way or the other (I’m hoping the hearing loss can be dealt with).

This doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy. I have. I’m getting ready to ink the deal on a new project, which is nice. I also have a lot of work going on for most of the other ones I’m involved in.  I do need to clarify one thing. While I’ve made references to the fact that there won’t be any more print volumes of Eclipse, at least for now, there wil be a new incarnation of Eclipse announced shortly, and I’m completely committed to that and a possible return to print at some point.

I also solicited some new artwork this week. Dylan Horrocks and Kathleen Jennings are sketching witches for me. There’s no set plan for using the art at the moment, other than simply enjoying it, but it was a great feeling to ask for new art to be created.  I can’t wait to see the sketches when they’re done.

I have also been planning travel. I will be attending the Australian national science fiction convention in Melbourne this June. I’m going to be there for a week, and will mostly be holidaying with friends and maybe doing a little podcasting, before getting caught up in the con. It should be a great time. I’m also working out my travel plans for World Fantasy in Toronto.  It looks like I’ll go via Dubai, which will be economical, but I’m very sad not to be getting to Sydney and San Francisco. I’m unlikely to head to Chicago for WorldCon, but that’s not impossible. But I should not complain. Melbourne and Toronto will be a lot for 2012.

There’s likely more, but time for coffee!

• The Witches of Lublin (Audible); and
• the audiobook of Swordspoint (US information; UK information).

We would like to apologise for the audio quality of some of the podcast, which is a little below what we’d normally hope for.  Our primary recording of the ‘cast failed, but we were saved by our newly installed backup recording system.  We continue our hunt for improvements, but in the interim thank Ellen, and look forward to seeing you all next week.

Not sure where to next. I have some bits and pieces of TV to watch, a few comics to read, an ENORMOUS pile of books that I’m not looking at, and some other stuff.  I was pleased to see the new issue of Subterranean starting to appear. Bill’s magazine has consistently been amongst the frontrunners for quality fiction over the past couple of years, so more is welcome!

Novellas (Nebulas/Hugos)

• Martian Chronicles, Cory Doctorow (Life on Mars)

Novelettes (Nebulas/Hugos)

• Dying Young, Peter M Ball (Eclipse Four)
• Mercies, Gregory Benford (Engineering Infinity)
• Walls of Flesh, Bars of Bone, Damien Broderick & Barbara Lamar (Engineering Infinity)
• Creatures with Wings, Kathleen Ann Goonan (Engineering Infinity)
• The Ki-Anna, Gwyneth Jones (Engineering Infinity)
• The Vicar of Mars, Gwyneth Jones (Eclipse Four)
• Tourists, James Patrick Kelly (Eclipse Four)
• The Old Man and the Martian Sea, Alastair Reynolds (Life on Mars)
• Laika’s Ghost, Karl Schroeder (Engineering Infinity)
• A Taste of Promises, Rachel Swirsky (Life on Mars)
• Fields of Gold, Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
• Judgement Eve, John C. Wright (Engineering Infinity)

Short Stories (Nebulas/Hugos)

• Attlee and the Long Walk, Kage Baker (Life on Mars)
• Martian Heart, John Barnes (Life on Mars)
• The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees, John Barnes (Engineering Infinity)
• On Chryse Plain, Stephen Baxter (Life on Mars)
• The Invasion of Venus, Stephen Baxter (Engineering Infinity)
• The Beancounter’s Cat, Damien Broderick (Eclipse Four)
• Nine Muses, Emma Bull (Eclipse Four)
• Slow as a Bullet, Andy Duncan (Eclipse Four)
• The Double of My Double Is Not My Double, Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse Four)
• Thought Experiment, Eileen Gunn (Eclipse Four)
• Old Habits, Nalo Hopkinson (Eclipse Four)
• Story Kit, Kij Johnson (Eclipse Four)
• Tidal Forces, Caitlin R. Kiernan (Eclipse Four)
• Goodnight Moons, Ellen Klages (Life on Mars)
• First Principle, Nancy Kress (Life on Mars)
• Digging, Ian McDonald (Life on Mars)
• A Soldier of the City, David Moles (Engineering Infinity)
• Wahala, Nnedi Okorafor (Life on Mars)
• The Server and the Dragon, Hannu Rajaniemi (Engineering Infinity)
• Mantis, Robert Reed (Engineering Infinity)
• Larp on Mars, Chris Roberson (Life on Mars)
• Watching the Music Dance, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Engineering Infinity)
• Bit Rot, Charles Stross (Engineering Infinity)
• The Man in Grey, Michael Swanwick (Eclipse Four)
• The Panda Coin, Jo Walton (Eclipse Four)
• Malak, Peter Watts (Engineering Infinity)

Editor, Short Form (Hugos)

• Jonathan Strahan
  Books (5): The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six; Eclipse Four; Engineering Infinity; Life on Mars; Dangerous Ways: Mystery Novels by Jack Vance)
  Magazines (12): Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, Reviews Editor, Jan-Dec 2011 issues)

Semiprozine (Hugos)

• Locus: The Newspaper of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field  (Jan-Dec 2011 issues)

 Fanzine (Hugos)

• The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe (Episodes 32-82 published in 2011) (Episode list)

Fancast (Hugos)

•  The Coode Street Podcast by Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe (Episodes 32-82 published in 2011) (Episode list)

I encourage everyone to look at these and all of the other very fine works that are eligible for awards in 2012 and nominate the works that you loved!  Your nomination and vote are important and the more people that are involved, the better the awards are!

Edited: Edited to remove Live and Sassy from Fancast/Fanzine to match eligibility criteria.

Finally, as an aside to this post, my thanks to all for their kind birthday wishes. They were all enormously appreciated.

There are some possible exceptions. I don’t know that I want to include anything here about short fiction I’m reading for the year’s best because it conflicts with Last Short Story, and because it seems like a fairly poor idea.

I also won’t post about some novels. Every now and then manuscripts fall into my hands, legitimately (!), and it’s best not to comment publicly on them until a more appropriate time.

With those two caveats, though, here’s the rather passive amount of culture I consumed on a holiday Sunday when I slept as late as I have in three years, and when we did go swimming for a while.

I’m been watching the first season of Kelsey Grammer’s new political drama, Boss. For those unfamiliar with it, Grammer plays a mayor of Chicago diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition. The script is tight, the cast is good, and the stories work. I’m not 100% I love it, but I find myself compelled to keep watching, which is a good sign.

I also watched the final two episodes of season two of Downton Abbey. Somehow I seem to have watched most of Downton Abbey on planes – season one on the Reno/WorldCon trip and most of season two on the NYC/LA/World Fantasy trip – but I’d not quite finished till last night. It’s a real soap opera now, and I’m not as impressed with s.2 as I was with s.1, but it still the right thing for the day.

Finally, during 2011 I purchased an iPad. That lead to me dipping my toes into the world of comics. I’ve never been an active comics reader, having read a small number of superhero comics as child, then Neil’s Sandman and Dave Sim’s Cerebus later on in life. Everything else passed me by, but James Bradley had me check out and rather enjoy Warren Ellis’s Planetary, and it got me interested enough to dabble.

Yesterday I read the opening three issues of Grant Morrison & Sean Murphy’s Joe the Barbarian. I’d seen the omnibus in Planet, but don’t really want to get into acquiring physical comics, so was happy to read it on the iPad. The story, of a young boy going into some kind of insulin shock and either seeing or hallucinating a great universe-saving epic adventure is pretty cool, and the art is great (though I sometimes seem to find comics panels generally confusing). I also tried issue 1 of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso’s Spaceman. I think I want to re-read it before posting more on it.

That’s my culture for 1 January. I’m not expecting to add much to it today. It’s my birthday and I expect demands for my time will distract me from things, but we shall see.

On a serious note, we would like to deeply and sincerely thank everyone who appeared as a guest, commented on the blog, tweeted or blogged about the podcast, voted or nominated it for an award, said something nice about the podcast in passing in an elevator or at the bar – basically, everyone who has responded to it in any way. This first full year of podcasting has been a constant joy, surprise and delight and we’d like to thank all of the Coode St Community and wish you all a safe and happy celebration and the best year ever for 2012 (except for Mayans, who might be in for a bit of a torrid time).

I am currently reading for the 2012 volume, which will cover stories first published between 1 January and 31 December 2012. I am looking for stories from all branches of science fiction and fantasy: space opera to cyberpunk, fairy tales to the slipstream, or anything else that might qualify. If in doubt, PLEASE send it. Please note: This is a reprint anthology.

I work on a tight deadline, and need to see work as early as possible.  With that in mind, the submission deadline for this year’s book is 1 October 2012. Anything sent after this deadline will reach me too late. If a magazine, anthology, or collection you are in or you edit is coming out before 31 December 2012 please send galleys or manuscripts so that I can consider the stories in time.

Where possible, I prefer to receive book-length submissions in print. Anything else can be sent to me via email. I prefer .rtf or .doc files. PDFs are acceptable, but are inconvenient. I strongly suggest that authors check with their publishers that they are sending review copies out to me, as I don’t have the resources to follow-up every publisher to get material.

When sending material please put “BEST SF/F of the Year” on the envelope.

Jonathan Strahan
PO Box 544
Mt Lawley WA 6929
Australia

Email submissions, recommendations, or information on publications can be sent to me via email at: jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com.

NOTE TO PUBLISHERS

I am eager to see and be able to consider the work you are publishing. If you are producing a magazine, a chapbook, a collection or anthology with any original stories in it please let me know. While I prefer not to accept email submissions for book length works as a rule, I am happy to talk to publishers about making exceptions where necessary. The important thing, for me, is to make sure that I get to consider the best science fiction and fantasy published during 2011.

* I do not need to receive manuscripts from authors of stories from venues that it’s likely I already receive regularly (I get Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, Interzone, Postscripts etc, but not many of the smaller ‘zines and publications).

** If you are publishing online, please email me copies of your stories at (jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com). This is particularly important for stories published between October and December, which may otherwise be overlooked. I do not require print-outs of online publications (I regularly read Tor.com, IGMS, Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Fantasy, Apex etc online).

*** Please do not send an SASE. This is not a submission, and I’m unable to return manuscripts or respond directly to stories sent to me.

This morning, Perth time, at least, a bunch of participants in Australian podcasting joined together to record The Second Annual Boxing Day Super Mega Podcast. Participating were:

• Alex, Alisa, and Tansy from Galactic Suburbia;
• Ian and Kirstyn from The Writer and the Critic; and
• Gary and I from The Coode St Podcast.

Sadly, Grant from Bad Film Diaries couldn’t make.

What we ended up with was seven seven people talking, in a fairly organised manner about their highlights of 2011 and what they’re looking forward to in 2012.  Because I was doing the engineering  for this there was a stuff up and the first 20 minutes of the podcast were lost forever.  Alex and I did a quick do-over and new intro which we think works pretty well.  Either way, we all hope you enjoy it, and that you check out our individual podcasts which will be coming out in coming weeks and months.

PS: While this is not an episode of The Coode St Podcast proper, it counts as episode 81 as far as we’re concerned :)

NB: My apologies for a technical hitch about an hour into the recording.  You’ll know it when you get to it.

It is possible that the running order might shift, but the contents really shouldn’t. As always, there were stories I would liked to have squeezed in, ones that permissions weren’t available for and so on, but basically I’m very happy with the book and a little stunned that it’s volume six! Anyway, here without further ado is the table of contents for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six:

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
The Case of Death and Honey, Neil Gaiman, (A Study in Sherlock)
The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees, E. Lily Yu, (Clarkesworld, 4/11)
Tidal Forces, Caitlín R Kiernan, (Eclipse Four)
Younger Women, Karen Joy Fowler, (Subterranean, Summer 2011)
White Lines on a Green Field , Catherynne M. Valente, (Subterranean, Fall 2011)
All That Touches The Air, An Owomoyela, (Lightspeed Magazine, 4/11)
What We Found, Geoff Ryman, (F&SF, 9-10/11)
The Server and the Dragon, Hannu Rajaniemi, (Engineering Infinity)
The Choice, Paul McAuley, (Asimov‘s, 1/11)
Malak, Peter Watts, (Engineering Infinity)
Old Habits, Nalo Hopkinson, (Eclipse Four)
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong, K. J. Parker, (Subterranean, Winter 2011. )
Valley of the Girls, Kelly Link, (Subterranean, Spring 2011)
Brave Little Toaster, Cory Doctorow, (TRSF)
The Dala Horse, Michael Swanwick, (Tor.com, 7/11)
The Corpse Painter’s Masterpiece, M Rickert, (F&SF, 9-10/11)
The Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu, (F&SF, March/April 2011)
Steam Girl, Dylan Horrocks, (Steampunk!)
After the Apocalypse, Maureen F. McHugh, (After the Apocalypse)
Underbridge, Peter S. Beagle, (Naked City)
Relic, Jeffrey Ford, (The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities)
The Invasion of Venus, Stephen Baxter, (Engineering Infinity)
Woman Leaves Room, Robert Reed, (Lightspeed Magazine, 3/11)
Restoration, Robert Shearman, (Everyone’s Just So So Special)
The Onset of a Paranormal Romance, Bruce Sterling, (Flurb, Fall-Winter 2011)
Catastrophic Disruption of the Head, Margo Lanagan, (The Wilful Eye: Tales from the Tower Vol. 1)
The Last Ride of the Glory Girls, Libba Bray, (Steampunk!)
The Book of Phoenix (Excerpted from The Great Book) , Nnedi Okorafor, (Clarkesworld, 3/11)
Digging, Ian McDonald, (Life on Mars)
The Man Who Bridged the Mist, Kij Johnson, (Asimov’s, 10-11/11)
Goodnight Moons, Ellen Klages, (Life on Mars)

The book should be out in March. I’m yet to see a cover, but given the job they’ve done in the past, I can’t wait. It should be something special.

Note: If you have subscribed to The Coode Street Podcast via iTunes we’d like to encourage you to swap from our old link to the new official Podbean-hosted The Coode Street Podcast link. I’ve been cross-posting over the past few months, but plan to discontinue that and only post to the Podbean link in the next few weeks.

1. Introduction: Looking Under the Hat”, Jonathan Strahan
2. “Stray Magic”, Diana Peterfreund
3. “Payment Due”, Frances Hardinge
4. “A Handful of Ashes”, Garth Nix
5. “Little Gods”, Holly Black
6. “Barrio Girls”, Charles de Lint
7. “Felidis”, Tanith Lee
8. “Witch Work”, Neil Gaiman (poem)
9. “The Education of a Witch”, Ellen Klages
10. “The Threefold World”, Ellen Kushner
11. “The Witch in the Wood”, Delia Sherman
12. “Which Witch”, Patricia A. McKillip
13. “The Carved Forest”, Tim Pratt
14. “Burning Castles”, M. Rickert
15. “The Stone Witch”, Isobelle Carmody
16. “Andersen’s Witch”, Jane Yolen
17. “B Is for Bigfoot”, Jim Butcher
18. “Great-Grandmother in the Cellar”, Peter S. Beagle
19. “Crow and Caper, Caper and Crow”, Margo Lanagan

Under My Hat will be published by the completely marvelous Jim Thomas & co. at Random House Childrens’ in the US in October 2012 (just in time for Halloween!). I honestly feel this is probably the best book I’ve ever worked on, so I’m incredibly excited about this.

And routine, welcome and sometimes not, is settling in.  I find myself reading a chapter a night of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Sophie (and occasionally Jessica), while pushing ineffectualy at the pile of work I’d hoped to get through this week. Focus has been in short supply, though I have managed to get copyedits out for one book and I am working slowly on another. The problem is I need to finish that book ASAP and get proposals out into the world. Why? Well, even allowing for the disjointed nature of World Fantasy this year, I feel weirdly optimistic about things. I think there are books to be made and sold, if I can just tweak things a little.

I have been reading and watching. I’ve gotten through the opening episodes of both “Once Upon a Time” and “Grimm”, and like them about equally, which is to say a bit, but not a lot. I’ve also been half-reading things. With 2012 well under way, I’ve now finished reading an anthology and an issue of a magazine, which does make it feel real.  Last Short Story is firing up in the background, and I have other work to do! Recommended reading. Gah. Not going to think about that today.

This is becoming very rambly, but before I sign off I do have a recommendation. I picked up a copy of Patrick Ness’s widely-recommended and award-nominated A Monster Walks today. Taken by its brevity, I read it between lunchtime and now and can only say this it powerful, honest and beautiful, and that I recommend it without hesitation.

Busy days!

Note: If you have subscribed to The Coode Street Podcast via iTunes we’d like to encourage you to swap from our old link to the new official Podbean-hosted The Coode Street Podcast link. I’ve been cross-posting over the past few months, but plan to discontinue that and only post to the Podbean link in the next few weeks.

… and some of us got wet.

Note: Apologies for taking so long to get this cross posted here.

Note: As mentioned at the end of the podcast, this will be the last newly recorded episode until mid-November. The next three episodes will be interviews with Alastair Reynolds, Ian McDonald, and Kim Stanley Robinson recorded in Reno at WorldCon.

And as the rain comes down I have to do all sorts of bits and pieces.  Work on the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year is progressing well. The first twenty-four writers have been approached about their stories, and a remaining seven or so should be, either later today or tomorrow. I have had to omit Peter Straub’s wonderful “The Ballad of Ballard and Sandrine”, from Conjunctions, which I’d hoped to include but wasn’t available for contractual reasons. You should read it, if you can. That means I should meet my goal of having chosen the stories, contacted everyone, and finalised the contents as much as possible before leaving for World Fantasy.  I’ll be able to manage a lot of the process while away, and then can assemble the manuscript on my return home in early November. Progress!

We’re also off to see Steely Dan tonight. They’re touring with Steve Winwood and, while the timing is awful, I’m looking forward to it.  The rest of the day is getting ready for that, trip prep and working! Busy. Or at least my mind is.

It does touch on a practical seasonal issue confronting us, though. Over the past three weeks we’ve submerged ourselves in the topic of the best of the year process. It was interesting, if occasionally troubling, and it’s fairly well covered. We need something else. And yet, it’s October. Mid-October. This is the time when the “end of the year” process begins for us. I’m busily finalizing the table of contents for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and I just had the first contact from my editor at Locus about the recommended reading list. The next three months will be about nothing BUT the best of the year. I’m not sure how we’re going to stop that leaking through into the podcast. We shall see, though.

For me, I get the impression that there is buzz around someone or something when a number of unconnected positive mentions of a book come to my attention. This could be a good review on a website, a positive tweet or two, some anticipatory comments on a podcast.  It’s when the profile of something rises about the background noise or chatter that’s happening in media, social or otherwise, to the point where I become aware of it, and become aware of it in a positive sense.

An example of this is Christopher Priest’s The Islanders. Now, I know I said on the podcast that Priest generally doesn’t get much buzz, but this book is getting some. I’m pretty sure I discussed it with Paul Cornell and Al Reynolds at Worldcon. I noticed Ian McDonald tweet about it yesterday. Strange Horizons reviewed it and Adam Roberts commented (having previously reviewed it).  People are talking about it and it’s getting terrific reviews.

That’s buzz.  I don’t know if it’s the kind of buzz that adds up to sales, but it’s there.  I suspect it’s the kind of thing that drives marketing departments to distraction, primarily because it’s organic and difficult to control.

Oh, and a quick personal PS: I continue to struggle with a virus that has been kicking my ass since last week. I’m upright, but only just, so comms are slower than usual.

Some useful links following on from the podcast: Subterranean are publishing a best of Michael Bishop, and NESFA publish the collected ‘People’ stories by Zenna Henderson.

The first episode, recorded in a quietish courtyard of Nedland’s Elxir Coffee a month or two ago, is now online. We discuss ebooks, Borders and other publishing stuff. We should be recording a new episode shortly, but hope you enjoy this one!

The long trip to Reno for Renovation was well worth it, though mostly for the things that went on around the convention than for the convention itself. I got to spend some time in San Francisco with Ellen Klages, had a fantastic BBQ/ party up at Locus HQ, a fun road trip with Gary, Madeleine and Ellen to Reno, some great meals with friends, and all sorts of chats and discussions.

My hazy recollections of Reno are flashing lights, loud machines, people smoking indoors, a long boozy conversation with Ian McDonald in the dealer’s room bar (the one Reno innovation we could do with continuing); good conversations with Gary; recording podcasts with Ian McDonald, Al Reynolds, Stan Robinson, and Jo Walton; hanging out with local Perth-ite Andrew Bailey; lots of talking;  time with Bob and Karen;  a bet with Paul Cornell;  Lou winning the Hugo; hurriedly packing the Locus van to head back to Oakland; and the road trip back to Locus with Liza, Fran (who worked the Locus table incredibly) and Chloe.

I had a very pleasant day at Locus HQ chatting with Liza and the gang, where I actually packed one of the lamps I’d inherited from Charles to carry home (which I did successfully – I was very concerned about breaking it), before dinner with Amelia and then on to the merry-go-round that is modern plane travel to head home again.

It was, all in all, a good trip. I think it was worth it, though I possibly had an epiphany about WorldCon.  As much as I enjoyed the trip, I don’t think I actually enjoy WorldCon itself that much anymore.  The only events I attended across five days were panels I was on and the Hugos. So, although this is far from written in stone, I’m almost definitely going to skip ChiconV  (which is looking problematic from a distance) and LoneStarCon. Instead, I’ll be focussing on attending the Toronto and Brighton World Fantasy Conventions, which I do love.  I’ll likely be in London for WorldCon in 2014, but that’s more to do with the location than anything else.

So,  what now? I have to get the year’s best done by late October when the family and I fly BACK to the US again (whimper) for family events and World Fantasy. It should be a great time, though I’m a bit intimidated at the thought of more air travel.

And it was. We drove over to Oakland and spent Monday evening chatting and enjoying the company of old friends before Gary, Madeleine, Ellen and I headed back to SF, where conversation continued late into the night. Tuesday we were all up and packed early and headed out for breakfast at a small local place. Then we drove to Reno. The weather got perceptibly hotter as we approached Reno, but the conversation was fun and a good road trip was had by all. we got into town at about 6pm, registered, and then found a quietish bar in the enormous venue where we talked late into the night.

I expect to be tweeting while traveling, and possbily blogging.  There’s also some chance we’ll podcast, though don’t be surprised if there’s nothing next weekend.  Consider it a possible hiatus.  Anyhow, till the other side, g’bye!

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

As I write the big clock at RenovationSF says it’s five days and five hours till WorldCon.  What’s focussing my attention much more is that it’s about sixteen hours until I board a flight for Sydney. Tomorrow night I’ll dine with friends in Sydney, then on Sunday will fly on to San Francisco.  I’ll be tired and jetlagged, but  I’ll also be staying with a dear friend and preparing to see many more in the coming days.  It should be a wonderful week and a half.

Have I been preparing? Well….yes.  I have packed (looks over shoulder at suitcase on floor of office). I have also got the day job to at least the point where I can be away for a short while, most projects are fine, and the reading is only a dreadful tsunami now.  I have new business cards for Gary and I for the podcast, and I’ve also posted the last podcast before WorldCon.  All is in hand (I think).

I have also read Snuff, the new novel by Terry Pratchett. It’s a Sam Vimes novel where Vimes, Sibyll, Young Sam and Willikins retire to Sibyll’s country home for a holiday. It goes as well as Vimes in the countryside ever does and, even allowing for a slightly bumpy start, I loved it a lot. One of my favourite books of the year.  I hope to finish reading two other novels between now and WorldCon, but who knows? Till then!

For the most part, all of that sort of preparation is well in hand. I fly out of here at about 10.00am on Saturday, and all is looking good for that. I do need to do a little panel preparation, but I have some time for that.  Oh, my schedule, should you be interested, is:

Renovation – Programming

Makes for a busy Friday, and I am not going to be able to make the Locus party, which I’m very disappointed about, but all of those should be fun. For those interested, I’m doing a signing or a Kaffeeklatch but will be round the Locus table in the Dealer’s Room a bit (if anyone’s interested, let me know in comments and I’ll set a time when I’ll definitely be there).  Other than that, it’s all pretty much set, unless you’re free for dinner Friday.

Thanks to Jen (thanks!), I’m reading Pratchett’s Snuff and keeping focussed. I’m late getting a new project out the gate this week, but I hope I can do that. Other than that, onwarrds.  I will try to post more meaningfully every day on the way to Reno and hopefully from there too.

We’re going out for dinner on Friday, but Saturday will be all about getting clothes and papers sorted. I’ll start the physical packing come Monday or Tuesday. It’s my preference to leave a suitcase on the floor of my office and just toss things in there as they occur to me. This trip is going to be a real adventure. I need some downtime to de-stress, so I hope it will provide that, and it means seeing some dear friends in Sydney, San Francisco and Reno. Gary and I are going to podcast like maniacs, and I’m hoping we’ll have new t-shirts ready for that.

There’s a lot of other stuff. I’m reading a new novel I can’t really name, but am enjoying a great deal, and just got another in the email last night. Some cool stuff! More posting soon.

What have I been up to lately, you ask? Well, apart from suffering from acute day job madness and a series of small maladies, mostly reading and working. All of the work on Under My Hat is pretty much done, and I’m now turning my attention to Edge of Infinity. I am also trying to work out what’s happening with two of my other projects, both of which I’m unsure about. I am working to delivering the next year’s best, which is contracted for, on schedule, but I need to determine what’s happening with it before I progress with it too much further. Same with Eclipse Five.  In related news, I quietly cancelled Cyberpunk. My thanks for everyone’s feedback/input, but in the end I couldn’t quite make it fly.

Oh, I should add a thank you to the World Fantasy Awards judges. I’m delighted Swords and Dark Magic is nominated, and hope to be in San Diego for the convention.  As I write the likelihood of that is good, though it is by no means certain. We’re trying to plan a quite expensive family trip to visit relatives in New York. If that happens, then I shall be at WFC. If not, I’ll be looking to re-sell a membership, probably not long after returning from Reno.  I think that’s unlikely though.

This week encyclopedist, writer, editor, and critic John Clute joined Gary and I to discuss the coming September launch of the third edition of the SFE, the history of the project, and the exciting SF Gateway project which is being launched by Gollancz at around the same time.

We’d like to thank John for joining us and, as always, hope you enjoy the podcast!

Sat 13 Aug: Fly to Sydney and overnight
Sun 14 Aug: Fly to San Francisco
Tues 16 Aug: Drive to Reno
Sun 21 Aug: Drive to San Francisco
Mon 22 Aug: Fly to Perth via LA and Brisbane arriving home on 24 August.

It must be official because the impressively well organised people from Reno have already sent me a draft programme so I will be on panels and around publicly, as well as looking to meet up with old friends and new during my stopover. Oh, and this trip shouldn’t impact on my attending World Fantasy.

The second, and still slightly secret piece of information is that I’ve agreed to edit a new science fiction anthology. The idea is that it will feature new hard SF/action adventure stories set in a settled, industrialised, pre-starflight solar system. There are still details to be confirmed, but it’s due at the publisher next July and should be out before Christmas, I think. Lots still to be confirmed, but I’ll let you know more as I can.

There has also been a lot of personal stuff which I don’t think I’ll go into in too much detail here. Suffice it say we had happy news, with my eldest daughter celebrating her birthday, and less happy news with her needing to go through some medication changes as a result of recent events. I think she’ll be fine, but it keeps life interesting.

Am I busy? I think so. Need to take care of family things while preparing the next year’s best for publication and getting the dreaded Cyberpunk ready to deliver pre-WorldCon.

This has been an odd weekend for me.  Gary’s been in Florida and we’ve not recorded a podcast for the first time in more than a year. It’s become part of the rhythm of my weekends, and everything seems a bit different without it. I’d meant to use the time getting caught up on work, but I haven’t really. I tinkered with this and that and spent time with the family.

Alisa dropped the pretty Aurealis Award round (and it is pretty), we took my mother out for her birthday, and we spent some time driving in the hills. Other than that, not so much. So, there’s still an ocean to do (won’t bore you with the details). I do have to find the name for the secret project which I’m tinkering with at the moment. Just as soon as an agreement is reached and there are details I’ll make it non-secret, but there’s still a chance it could become a non-project so I shall wait.

I did read my favorite anthology of the year this week, though. In October Candlewick will publish Gavin Grant and Kelly Link’s Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (you can see the ToC here).  It features fourteen pieces (12 stories/2 comics) by some terrific writers. I’m still going back and forth over my favorites but I adored Libba Bray’s “The Last Ride of the Glory Girls”, a Western about an all-girl gang of temporally-enhanced trainrobbers, Dylan Horrock’s novelette “Steamgirl” about (sort of) a steampunk girl hero on Mars, and M.T Anderson’s “The Oracle Engine”. Those three alone are strong enough to make this a wonderful anthology, but new stories from Kelly Link, Holly Black and others really do make it a book I’d recommend.  The only thing I found, when I reluctantly reached the end, was that I don’t know if I understand steampunk any better than I had at the start. I’m hoping someone like Jeff VanderMeer (who edited Steampunk and The Steampunk Bible) who has a really strong grasp of the subject might review it. In the meantime, there’s a lot here to read and edit and be distracted by so back to that,

The usual rules apply: bold those that you’ve read and italicize those that you own but haven’t read.

1. The Monkey’s Wedding and Other Stories by Joan Aiken
2. Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
3. The Kite of Stars and Other Stories by Dean Francis Alfar
4. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
5. Black Projects, White Knights by Kage Baker
6. The Best of J. G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard
7. Perpetuity Blues and Other Stories by Neal Barrett, Jr.
8. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
9. Occultation by Laird Barron
10. Mirror Kingdoms: The Best of Peter S. Beagle
11. The Collected Stories of Greg Bear by Greg Bear
12. The Chains That You Refuse by Elizabeth Bear
13. The Girl With The Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender
14. Lord Stink & Other Stories by Judith Berman
15. Trysts: A Triskaidecollection of Queer and Weird Stories by Steve Berman
16. A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti
17. Blooded on Arachne by Michael Bishop
18. One Winter in Eden by Michael Bishop
19. The Poison Eaters & Other Stories by Holly Black
20. Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges
21. From the Files of the Time Rangers by Richard Bowes
22. Streetcar Dreams by Richard Bowes
23. The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
24. Graveyard People: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories by Gary Braunbeck
25. Home before Dark: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories by Gary Braunbeck
26. Particle Theory by Edward Bryant
27. Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias S. Buckell
28. Bloodchild and Other Stories By Octavia E. Butler
29. Dirty Work: Stories by Pat Cadigan
30. The Night We Buried Road Dog by Jack Cady
31. The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll
32. Burning Your Boats: The Collected Short Stories by Angela Carter
33. Fireworks: Nine Stories in Various Disguises by Angela Carter
34. The Bloody Chamber: And Other Stories by Angela Carter
35.  Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
36. The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke by Arthur C. Clarke
37. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke
38. Novelties & Souvenirs, Collected Short Fiction by John Crowley
39. The Avram Davidson Treasury by Avram Davidson
40. The Enquiries of Dr. Eszterhazy by Avram Davidson
41. Driftglass: Ten Tales of Speculative Fiction by Samuel R. Delany
42. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick
43. Strange Days: Fabulous Journeys with Gardner Dozois by Gardner Dozois
44. Beluthahatchie by Andy Duncan
45. What Will Come After by Scott Edelman
46. Axiomatic by Greg Egan
47. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
48. The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World by Harlan Ellison
49. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison
50. The Collected Stories of Carol Emshwiller by Carol Emshwiller
51. Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
52. Fugue State by Brian Evenson
53. Harsh Oases by Paul Di Filippo
54. The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford
55. The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford
56. The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
57. Returning My Sister’s Face and Other Far Eastern Tales of Whimsy and Malice by Eugie Foster
58. Artificial Things by Karen Joy Fowler
59. What I Didn’t See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler
60. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
61. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
62. Burning Chrome by William Gibson
63. In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
64. Take No Prisoners by John Grant
65. A Separate War and Other Stories by Joe Haldeman
66. Last Summer at Mars Hill by Elizabeth Hand
67. Saffron & Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand
68. Things That Never Happen by M. John Harrison
69. The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert Heinlein
70. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
71. Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson
72. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard
73. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
74. Unexpected Magics: Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones
75. Minor Arcana by Diana Wynne Jones
76. Grazing the Long Acre by Gwyneth Jones
77. The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories by James Patrick Kelly
78. The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories by John Kessel
79. Night Shift by Stephen King
80. Different Seasons by Stephen King
81. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
82. Portable Childhoods by Ellen Klages
83. Scenting the Dark and Other Stories by Mary Robinette Kowal
84. Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories by Nancy Kress
85. Nine Hundred Grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty
86. Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumiere
87. Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
88. Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
89. Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
90. Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters by John Langan
91. The Best of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale
92. The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
93. The Compass Rose by Ursula K. Le Guin
94. The Birthday of the World and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
95. Red as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer by Tanith Lee
96. The First Book of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber
97. The Second Book of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber
98. The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti
99. Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
100. Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link
101. Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors by Livia Llewellyn
102. H. P. Lovecraft: Tales by H.P. Lovecraft
103. Breathmoss and other Exhalations by Ian R. MacLeod
104. You Might Sleep by Nick Mamatas
105. Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective by George R. R. Martin
106. Invisible Country by Paul McAuley
107. Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia McKillip
108. The Bone Key by Sarah Monette
109. The Best of Michael Moorcock by Michael Moorcock
110. Black God’s Kiss by C.L. Moore
111. The Cat’s Pajamas and Other Stories by James Morrow
112. Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian
113. Unforgivable Stories by Kim Newman
114. The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman
115. The Original Dr. Shade and Other Stories by Kim Newman
116. Monstrous Affections by David Nickle
117. The Best of Larry Niven by Larry Niven
118. I Am No One You Know: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates
119. The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
120. Zoo by Otsuichi
121. Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge
122. Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales by Norman Partridge
123. Night Moves and Other Stories by Tim Powers
124. Little Gods by Tim Pratt
125. Map of Dreams by M. Rickert
126. Holiday by M. Rickert
127. The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson by Kim Stanley Robinson
128. The Ant King and Other Stories by Benjamin Rosenbaum
129. Unacceptable Behaviour by Penelope Rowe
130. The Adventures of Alyx by Joanna Russ
131. Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Journeys by Ken Scholes
132. Filter House by Nisi Shawl
133. Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Rob Shearman
134. The Jaguar Hunter by Lucius Shepard
135. Trujillo and Other Stories by Lucius Shepard
136. Phases of the Moon: Stories from Six Decades by Robert Silverberg
137. Are You There and Other Stories by Jack Skillingstead
138. The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales by Angela Slatter
139. Crystal Express by Bruce Sterling
140. Ascendancies: The Best of Bruce Sterling
141. Houses Without Doors by Peter Straub
142. Magic Terror: 7 Tales by Peter Straub
143. Absolute Uncertainty by Lucy Sussex
144. The Best of Michael Swanwick by Michael Swanwick
145. Gravity’s Angels: 13 Stories by Michael Swanwick
146. Monterra’s Deliciosa & Other Tales & by Anna Tambour
147. The Ice Downstream by Melanie Tem
148. The Far Side of the Lake by Steve Rasnic Tem
149. Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree, Jr.
150. Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree, Jr.
151. In the Mean Time by Paul Tremblay
152. My Pathology by Lisa Tuttle
153. Ventriloquism by Catherynne M. Valente
154. The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance
155. City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
156. The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer
157. Strange Things in Close-up; the Nearly Complete Howard Waldrop
158. Dead Sea Fruit by Kaaron Warren
159. Everland and Other Stories by Paul Witcover
160. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe
161. The Very Best of Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe
162. Impossible Things by Connie Willis
163. Fire Watch by Connie Willis
164. The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth and Other Stories by Roger Zelazny
165. Impossible Stories by Zoran Zivkovic
166. The Writer, The Book, The Reader by Zoran Zivkovic

In the immediate aftermath Gary and I asked Locus editor-in-chief Liza Groen Trombi to join us in the pod to discuss the Nebulas, the winners, what happened to the Grand Master award, and other fun stuff. We hope you enjoy it, as always!

I should also report that this was one of two podcasts we recorded this weekend. In the other one, likely published next weekend, we chatted with the wonderful Karen Lord about all sorts of interesting stuff. See you then!

We had a small group of friends over for champagne and gossip while we watched and waited for “our” category (Best Anthology) to roll around. Last year was a great one here in Western Australia and Alisa (for her excellent Sprawl), Marianne and I (for Wings of Fire) , and just me solo (for Godlike Machines) were all up for Best Anthology.  which I think in itself was one of the best things about the awards.  As it turned out Marianne and I were delighted to hear that Wings of Fire had been given the award. We worked hard on the book, and it was especially pleasing to win an award with Marianne.

Other friends won during the evening – Tansy, Helen, Margo, and Kirstyn among many. Congratulations to them all! More than one person pointed out how similar the results were to the recent Ditmar Awards, and how good it was to see a convergence of popular and critical opinion looking back at last year’s Australian SF/F scene.

And, since I’ve not seen it online elswhere, the full list of winners:

Kris Hembury Encouragement Award: Jodie Cleghorn
Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award: Helen Merrick
Best Science Fiction Novel: Transformation Space, Marianne de Pierres
Best Science Fiction Short Story: The Heart of a Mouse, K.J. Bishop
Best Fantasy Novel: Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts
Best Fantasy Short Story: The February Dragon, LL Hannett & Angela Slatter (joint winners) Yowie, Thoraiya Dyer
Best Horror Novel: Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott
Best Horror Short Story: The Fear, Richard Harland
Best Anthology: Wings of Fire, Edited by Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. Jablon
Best Collection: The Girl With No Hands, Angela Slatter
Best Illustrated Book / Graphic Novel: Changing Ways: Book 1, Justin Randall
Best Young Adult Novel: Guardian of the Dead, Karen Healey
Best Young Adult Short Story: A Thousand Flowers, Margo Lanagan
Best Children’s Fiction(told primarily through pictures): The Boy and the Toy, Sonya Hartnett (writer) & Lucia Masciullo (illustrator)
Best Children’s Fiction (told primarily through words): The Keepers, Lian Tanner

PS: Yes, we know it’s ridiculously long! Sorry. We’ll do better next time. Probably. No. Really. Well, possibly.

The nice thing is that the weather in Perth is finally turning towards a convincing facsimile of autumn – cool mornings and cooler nights – which means I’m feeling more and more like reading. I’m beginning to get a little momentum on reading shorts and even reading a novel or two. While I’m making my way through the online stories at the moment, I’m also reading and enjoying James A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes. It’s very much old school space opera, but it hits the spot right now.

There are a lot of things sitting in the background – proposals to write, taxes to do, oceans of home maintenance, and travel to plan (!) – but for this thirty minutes a little blogging and some Locus work is enough.

I have to say I’m delighted to get to continue working with Jason, Jeremy, Ross and the team at Night Shade. They’ve been fantastic collaborators on this project since we started work on the first volume back in mid-2006, and I look forward to continuing the series for many years to come.

When we realised the anniversary was coming up we planned to do all sorts of things, but as is pretty much our trademark, we haven’t quite gotten to it. We still might. But in the interim, should you be motivated please feel free to leave any questions or subjects you might like us to discuss, or just birthday wishes, in the comments thread to this post.

And, importantly, thank you to all of you who have listened, commented, or guested on the podcast.  We’re looking forward Coode St Year 2.0 already.

It started a few weeks ago when:

• they spoke to Kij Johnson about her writing;
• then they reviewed the book; and
• finally they interviewed me!

Coming up next time will be a discussion with Jim Kelly and Mike Swanwick about their stories from the book.

I’m really grateful to Gregory and Brad for doing this, even if I’ve been too much of a coward to listen to the review :)

Perhaps the most delightful thing, though, is that when I look down the ballot (you can see it here) is that if I stop to congratulate all of my friends on the ballot I’d have to pretty much reprint it, so congratulations to all!

That said, I’m especially delighted to see Al Reynolds’ “Troika” from Godlike Machines on the ballot. I’d been worried that given it only had limited availability it might be overlooked, so this was wonderful news.  I’m also thrilled to see Gary Wolfe nominated for Bearings and to see Locus up for semi-prozine. It seems particularly appropriate that a collection of Locus essays, Locus itself, and someone who he helped so much should all be up for awards at a convention where Charles Brown is the posthumous guest of honor.

There are also two other Australians on the ballot. Congratulations to my dear friend Shaun Tan and to Australian SF legend Sean McMullen for making the ballot.

Also to Ian, Ted, Liz, Rachel, Jim, Kij, Peter, Mike, Lou, Ginjer, Gordon, Sheilia, John, Ann, and, well, everyone, congratulations and good luck! I hope to be in Reno for the big night, so will see you all there!

The 2011 Ditmar Awards, for Australian SF:

Best Novel

• Power and Majesty, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Voyager) ***
• Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson (Hachette)
• Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Pan Macmillan)
• Stormlord Rising, Glenda Larke (Voyager)
• Walking the Tree, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot)

Best Novella or Novelette

• “The Company Articles of Edward Teach”, Thoraiya Dyer (Twelfth Planet)***
• “Acception”, Tessa Kum (Eneit)
• “All the Clowns in Clowntown”, Andrew McKiernan (Brimstone)
• “Bleed”, Peter M. Ball (Twelfth Planet)
• “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines (Twelfth Planet)

Best Short Story (tie)

• “All the Love in the World”, Cat Sparks (Sprawl) ***
• “She Said”, Kirstyn McDermott (Scenes From the Second Storey) ***
• “Bread and Circuses”, Felicity Dowker (Scary Kisses)
• “One Saturday Night With Angel”, Peter M. Ball (Sprawl)
• “The House of the Nameless”, Jason Fischer (Writers of the Future XXVI)
• “The February Dragon”, Angela Slatter & Lisa L. Hannett (Scary Kisses)

Best Collected Work

• Sprawl, Alisa Krasnostein, ed. (Twelfth Planet) ***
• Baggage, Gillian Polack, ed. (Eneit)
• Macabre: A Journey through Australia’s Darkest Fears, Angela Challis & Marty Young, eds. (Brimstone)
• Scenes from the Second Storey, Amanda Pillar & Pete Kempshall, eds. (Morrigan)
• Worlds Next Door, Tehani Wessely, ed. (FableCroft)

Best Artwork

• “The Lost Thing” short film (Passion Pictures) Andrew Ruhemann & Shaun Tan ***
• Cover art, The Angaelien Apocalypse/ The Company Articles of Edward Teach (Twelfth Planet) Dion Hamill
• Cover art, Australis Imaginarium (FabelCroft) Shaun Tan
• Cover art, Dead Sea Fruit (Ticonderoga) Olga Read
• Cover art, The Girl With No Hands (Ticonderoga) Lisa L. Hannett

Best Fan Writer

• Alexandra Pierce, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus***

• Robert Hood, for Undead Backbrain
• Chuck McKenzie, for work in Horrorscope
• Tehani Wessely, for body of work including reviews at Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus

Best Fan Artist

• Amanda Rainey, for Swancon 36 logo

• Rachel Holkner, for Continuum 6 props
• Dick Jenssen, for cover art of Interstellar Ramjet Scoop

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium

• Galactic Suburbia podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayer Roberts, & Alex Pierce

• Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus, Alisa Krasnostein et al., eds.
• Bad Film Diaries podcast, Grant Watson
• Terra Incognita podcast, Keith Stevenson
• The Coode Street podcast, Gary K. Wolfe & Jonathan Strahan
• The Writer and the Critic podcast, Kirstyn McDermott & Ian Mond

Best Achievement

• Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, Rachel Holkner, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, & Tehani Wessely, Snapshot 2010

• Helen Merrick & Andrew Milner, Academic Stream for Aussiecon 4
• Amanda Rainey, cover design for Scary Kisses
• Kyla Ward, Horror Stream and The Nightmare Ball for Aussiecon 4
• Grant Watson, Media Stream for Aussiecon 4

Best New Talent

• Thoraiya Dyer

• Lisa L. Hannett
• Patty Jansen
• Kathleen Jennings
• Pete Kempshall

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

• Tansy Rayner Roberts, for A Modern Woman’s Guide to Classic Who

• Leigh Blackmore, for Marvels and Horrors: Terry Dowling’s Clowns at Midnight
• Damien Broderick, for editing Skiffy and Mimesis: More Best of Australian Science Fiction Review
• Ross Murray, for The Australian Dream Becomes Nightmare

The Tin Duck Awards (Western Australia’s fan-voted awards) were also presented during Swancon 36/Natcon 50:

Written, Long Form

• Seer of Sevenwaters, Juliet Marillier (Roc)

Written, Short Form

• “Signature Walk”, Pete Kempshall

Professional Art

• Cover Design of Sprawl, Amanda Rainey

Professional Production

• Sprawl, Alisa Krasnostein, ed. (Twelfth Planet)

Fan Art

• tie: “Fallen Angel”, Christina Lorenz; Swancon Thirty Six Logo, Amanda Rainey

Fan Written

• Reviews at ASiF!, Tehani Wessely

Fan Production

• Galactic Surburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Also, almost forgot to mention. Sincere congratulations to my pal Lou Anders for Pyr Books’ publishing the PKD Award winner too!

I touched base to mention the happy Aurealis, Ditmar, Tin Duck, Chronos, BSFA and Shirley Jackson awards news (short version: *very* happy), but didn’t mention other bits and pieces.  I certainly didn’t mention a whole bunch of good reviews (I’d meant to) like this one from Jason Nahrung for Engineering Infinity, The main thing happening now, though, is Swancon. I’m happy (delighted!) to be an invited guest. I’ll be easier to find at Swancon than ever before, and am on more program items than I think I’ve ever been at a Swancon. So please come to the con, have fun, and if you’re interested come see me. Here’s my schedule:

Thursday 21 April
8.30pm: Panel -Writer/Editor/Reader Relationship (w/Ellen Datlow)

Friday 22 April
9.30am: Not if You Were the Last Short Story on Earth (panel)
3.00pm: Mega Podcast – Read/View or Die (recording live)

Saturday 23 April
8.30am: Breakfast with Editors (w/Ellen Datlow & breakfast!)
10.30am: Social media for Writers (panel)
11.30am: How to Judge a Book by its Cover (panel)

Sunday 24 April
10.30am: Casting Your Pod (panel)
2.00pm: Sean Williams (interview)
4.00pm: Remembering Eidolon (panel)

It was a mixed week. On Tuesday the finalists for the  Aurealis Awards were announced by the administrators. I was delighted that Godlike Machines and Wings of Fire were shortlisted for Best Anthology. It’s Marianne’s first major SF award nomination, so it’s really special. I was also delighted to see so many friends nominated – congratulations to them all.

Friday I went to lunch with some work colleagues and then was either overcome by a virus or food poisoning. I was quite ill for the rest of the day, and through a good part of Saturday. I did wake around 1am Saturday, though, and saw that the Ditmar Awards nominations were out. While none of my editing work made the ballot, I was very pleased to see The Coode Street Podcast nominated for Best Fan Publication in Any Medium.  Gary and I are having a lot of fun recording the podcast, and it’s wonderful to see it recognised like this.  I was also delighted to see so many friends and fellow podcasters make the ballot. Again, congratulations to one and all!

The Swancon awards administrators also posted the Tin Duck Awards nominations – these are the Western Australian SF awards – and both The Coode Street Podcast and the Boxing Day Super Mega Podcast – made the final ballot. Again a great pleasure to see the main podcast pick up its third awards nomination, and a pleasure to see so many find nominees.  Congratulations again to everyone!

I had hoped Saturday would be productive work-wise, and Sunday too – Marianne’s going away next weekend and I need to get things done – but illness and family support wiped out Saturday and Sunday is under threat.  Still, things are getting done! More soon.

Oh,  and thank you! The Coode Street Podcast has been nominated for a 2011 Ditmar Award. Thank you to every one who nominated and congratulations to our fellow nominees from Galactic Suburbia, Bad Film Diaries, and The Writer and the Critic!

Note: We have moved The Coode Street Podcast to a new hosting service. Please consider updating your subscription to this iTunes subscription link, or use the embedded player below. We will continue to copy the podcast here and to the old iTunes subscription for a while, but it would help if you updated. Thanks!!!

Starting without an agenda (or in truth any kind of plan at all) we discuss science fiction criticism and the search for the modern essay, the digital age, Locus online, awards seasons, Reza Negarestani’s Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials, The Secret Life of Laird Barron, and the forthcoming Key West Literary Seminar (it’s about the literature of the future this time out).

As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast!

ETA: If you’re having difficulty downloading the podcast, please try the player below.

I do seem to be flitting from thing to thing, though, seemingly unable to commit, which is frustrating. I have a stack of anthologies here, some edited by dear friends, that I’ve dipped into but haven’t read enough of yet to really comment upon. I think my album of the year so far is The Tallest Man on Earth’s The Wild Hunt (and my thanks to James to the recommendation), with the very REM-like new Decemberists album a runner-up. I’ve also watched a lot of Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, and Castle. So the year goes.

We started early on Friday afternoon getting the girls ready for the evening. Toula was coming over to hang out with the girls, which meant Marianne and I could head over to Kings Park to see Tim Minchin.  It was a fabulous night. The weather was perfect, and we got a decent spot on the lawn near the Pioneer Womens Memorial.  We sat and chatted – I swear we’ve almost forgotten how — then Minchin started and was hilarious, provocative, and interesting. There was an intermission, during which they played Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing on the big screens, and before you know it we were being kicked out for the long walk back to the car to with “White Wine in the Sun” ringing in our ears. Just wonderful.

Saturday started slowly.  There was breakfast and shopping and stuff. I did paperwork while Sophie had a friend over on a play date.  Then mum came over to watch How to Train Your Dragon with the girls, and we set off for dinner at The George with Margo, Lev, Sophie and James. It really was a remarkably enjoyable evening, and if the restaurant never really exceeded adequate, it didn’t seem to affect the evening. We left late — jetlag finally wearing out our visitors — but were delighted we’d had the chance to see everyone.

Sunday was supposed to be my big work day. I’d recorded the podcast with Gary on Saturday, so lots of other stuff to focus on. However, a plan was hatched. We’d all go swimming (Jessica had a lesson, but free swims were on offer), then pick up Keira, grab dim sum, and then head off to the Hyde Park Community Festival. Swimming went well, we picked up Keira (a brief sojourn during which Sophie fell in love with KJs cat), and then headed out for lunch where disaster struck. A careless waiter set an open pot of fresh Chinese tea down on a chopstick, and it overbalanced, soaking Marianne and Sophie in boiling hot Chinese tea.  Both were in shock and both got quite nasty scalds, though not enough to see them headed to doctors. Copious cold water, aloe and other stuff seems to have seen them both right, but it did end the day abruptly.  We had a quiet family movie night together during which we watched a mediocre Barbie film, then bed.

Monday. Definitely work on Monday. That was the plan. I was up at 6.00am and plugged my way through email and a few other issues. The projects on hand are progressing well, though I wish a few other things were coming together a bit better. Post work session we headed off to Hyde Park for wandering, lunch and fun. A mostly decent time was had by all. Got home in time for a bit of r’n'r before Sophie’s drama class.  Tongight: either more Castle or Abercrombie’s The Heroes on Lev’s recommendation. Tomorrow? Back to the office.

Oh, and I continue to dip my toes into the idea of getting back into vinyl for music. Hmm,

I first saw Shaun’s art when he asked if we were looking for artists for Eidolon back in about 1992. He went on to be our art editor for most of the ’90s, and we stayed friends. I’d visit him in Farnley Street and see the work he was doing, and like everyone else, followed his books. I remember seeing the initial work done for The Lost Thing, uncolored and untextured tests he showed me in hotel rooms at different World Fantasy Conventions around the US and if, at any time since I first met him you’d said he would one day hold up an Oscar, I don’t think I’d have been surprised.  A lot of hard work, an enormous talent, and above all an incredible personal vision all lead to what happened in LA yesterday. It wasn’t really surprising at all. Wonderful, yes. Definitely.  And to think, he’s still only 37. I wonder what he’ll do in the next 10 or 15 years. I can’t wait to see. Congratulations, my friend! Well deserved.

Edited to correct link to audio file for second time. Apologies.  You can also try this direct link.

Today will very much be a work day. If the timing’s right I’ll go swimming with the girls, but then I need to get on with taxes, editing and other stuff. I have a story ms. that popped through my mail to read, proposals to turn around, and general prep.  Busy, busy.  We did have a lovely visit from Robin and Toula last night, and that gave the weekend some shine. Much better than sitting around watching TV.

I should likely report in on what I’ve been reading, but that continues to be all over the place. I’m going back and forth between Garth Nix & Sean Williams’ Troubletwisters and Michael Swanwick’s Dancing with Bears, two very different novels that I’m enjoying for very different reasons, while alternately being engaged and annoyed by a bunch of anthologies. Busy times!

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
“Slow as a Bullet”, Andy Duncan
“Tidal Forces”, Caitlin R. Kiernan
“The Beancounter’s Cat”, Damien Broderick
“Story Kit”, Kij Johnson
“The Man in Grey”, Michael Swanwick
“Old Habits”, Nalo Hopkinson
“The Vicar of Mars”, Gwyneth Jones
“Fields of Gold”, Rachel Swirsky
“Thought Experiment”, Eileen Gunn
“The Double of My Double Is Not My Double”, Jeffrey Ford
“Nine Muses”, Emma Bull
“Dying Young”, Peter M Ball
“The Panda Coin”, Jo Walton
“Tourists”, James Patrick Kelly

You can see the subtle but classy cover (and incidentally pre-order the book) over here. I should also add that I am already reading the first stories for Eclipse Five (heck, I’ve bought one!)

For the most part we’ve spent the last couple days either working or hiding from the heat, occasionally catching up on Oscar nominees like True Grit, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, and so on, most of which were terrific. We have five of the Best Picture nominees to see, and don’t really want to see several of those, but may anyway.

The kids are back to school this week which may increase overall productivity and balance, but not before we see Sufjan Stevens on Thursday and Amanda Palmer on Friday. There are also, believe it or not, holidays and house repairs to plan. Busy times, as always.

Against a background of all of this happy news, Gary and I jumped into the pod to discuss slippage, why I hate the term ‘specfic’ and lots and lots of other stuff (including the happy news of our BSFA Award nomination and why Adam Roberts deserves chocolate, or at least a good stiff drink). We failed to keep it under an hour, but we tried. As always, we hope you enjoy it and that you’ll join us again next week!

Gary and I started recording the podcast very much on the spur of the moment, and have kept it very simple and straightforward which in turn helps to keep it fun. And it is fun. Getting nominated for an award for it is a little like being nominated for going on holidays, really.

I’ve not had the chance to talk to Gary about the nomination, but no doubt we will do so this weekend. Until then, my thanks (and I’m very sure Gary’s too) to the BSFA and my congratulations to our fellow nominees, Paul, Abigail, Adam and Francis.  I wish I could be at Eastercon to buy you all a drink to celebrate!

On a serious note, we also discussed Tehani Wessely’s After the Flood Queensland Flood ebook. Please do support it, and the Queensland flood victims, by donating $A10.00 and getting a copy of the ebook. Also, if you like the book give some thought to going back to Fablecroft’s site in April and buying the physical book too.

I’d also mention The Coode Street Podcast for Best Fanzine. It is very much an unpaid labour of love by Gary Wolfe and I, and we think sits well in the fanzine tradition. You can hear all thirty episodes here.

BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 4 (Night Shade)
Mirror Kingdoms: The Best of Peter S. Beagle (Subterranean)
Fritz Leiber: Selected Stories (ed with Charles N. Brown) (Night Shade)
The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories, Walter Jon Williams (Night Shade)
Subterranean Online, Spring Issue
Hard Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance (ed. with Terry Dowling) (Subterranean)
Legends of Australian Fantasy (ed. with Jack Dann) (HarperCollins)
Wings of Fire (ed. with Marianne S. Jablon) (Night Shade)
Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (ed. with Lou Anders) (Harper Eos)
The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (Night Shade)
Godlike Machines (The Science Fiction Book Club)
The Best of Larry Niven (Subterranean Press)
Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field, Reviews Editor (Jan #588 – Dec #599)

BEST SEMIPROZINE

Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field,  Liza Groen Trombi (Jan #588 – Dec #599) (NB: I worked as Reviews Editor on these issues.)

BEST FANZINE

The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe

BEST NOVELLA

“Return to Titan”, Stephen Baxter (Godlike Machines)
“Return: An Innkeeper’s World Story”, Peter S. Beagle (Subterranean, Spring)
“The Enchanted: A Tale of Erith”, Cecelia Dart-Thornton, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow/Now is the Best Time of Your Life”, Cory Doctorow (Godlike Machines)
“The Magic Word”, Jennifer Fallon, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“Tribute to Hell: A Tale of the Tainted Realm”, Ian Irvine, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“Twixt Twilight and Water: A Tale of Sevenwaters”, Juliet Marillier, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“Alone”, Robert Reed (Godlike Machines)
“Troika”, Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines)
“Crown of Rowan: A Tale of Thrysland”, Kim Wilkins, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“A Glimpse of the Marvellous Structure (And the Threat it Entails)”, Sean Williams (Godlike Machines)
“The Spark (A Romance in Four Acts): A Tale of the Change”, Sean Williams, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)

BEST NOVELETTE

“The Fool Jobs”, Joe Abercrombie, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“Under the Moons of Venus”, Damien Broderick (Subterranean, Spring)
“The Mad Apprentice: A Black Magician Story”, Trudi Canavan, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“The Dark Road: An Obernewtyn Story”, Isobelle Carmody, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“A Wizard of Wiscezan”, C.J. Cherryh, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Corsers’ Hinge: A Lamplighter Tale”, D.M. Cornish, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“Goats of Glory”, Steven Erikson, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“What We Take When We Take What We Need”, Daryl Gregory (Subterranean, Spring)
“Brownian Emotion”, Tom Holt (Subterranean, Spring)
“The Undefiled”, Greg Keyes, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Sea Troll’s Daughter”, Caitlin R Kiernan, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Deification of Dal Bamore”, Tim Lebbon, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe”, Tanith Lee, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“In the Stacks”, Scott Lynch, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Naturalist”, Maureen McHugh (Subterranean, Spring)
“Red Pearls: An Elric Story”, Michael Moorcock, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix”, Garth Nix, (Legends of Australian Fantasy)
“A Rich Full Week”, K. J. Parker, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Bodhisattvas”, Gord Sellar (Subterranean, Spring)
“Dapple Hew the Tint Master”, Michael Shea, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“Dark Times at the Midnight Market”, Robert Silverberg, (Swords and Dark Magic)

BEST SHORT STORY

“Sobek”, Holly Black (Wings of Fire)
“Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company”, Glen Cook, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Singing Spear”, James Enge, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“The Miracle Aquilina”, Margo Lanagan (Wings of Fire)
“A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet”, Garth Nix, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“Elegy for a Young Elk”, Hannu Rajaniemi (Subterranean, Spring)
“The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic, 1942″, Kim Stanley Robinson (The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson)
“Thieves of Daring”, Bill Willingham, (Swords and Dark Magic)
“Bloodsport”, Gene Wolfe, (Swords and Dark Magic)

Renovation, this year’s WorldCon, has put the 2011 Hugo Nominating Ballot online. You are eligible to nominate if you were a member of Aussiecon or are a member of Renovation. No matter what you’ve read, or what you choose to nominate, please do nominate. The awards are only as good as the nominations received so your views are important!

6 Jan: Edited to correct error on title of Garth Nix’s novelette.

New Year’s Eve was busy. Woke at 1.30am, and didn’t get back to sleep. We were up and out early buying all of the party stuff and getting ready. Run, run, run all morning, and then a frankly not fun time out at Mirrabooka staying out of the house for a bit before getting home for a pre-party nap. The NYE party was lots of fun with good friends, good chat, and more than one drink. Made it to bed at 2.30am.

New Year’s Day was sloooow. Didn’t wake till 10am, and then was, um, somewhat hung over.  Sophie had a friend over, and Jess visited her nan. I read the digital edition of Locus, and was generally unproductive. Watched more Fringe in the evening.

And then there’s today, the 2nd. I turn 47 today. I woke at 5.00am, got up and made myself a coffee. Jessica was already up playing with Barbies. I surfed the net, did some stuff, was delighted to see the Hugo noms are open, and Jess sort of clicked, realised the day and wished me Happy Birthday.  Today there’s a family lunch and we’re going to the movies in the early evening. No work today, I think. Maybe.

Today the girls are going shopping and I have a load of stuff to do. There’s the Feb columns sitting around to edit for Locus, the short fiction recommended reading list still to complete as it was delayed again, the io9.com writing comp. entries to finish reading, the Locus year-in-review essay to write, and of course Eclipse Four to edit and deliver by Jan 15.

We also need to get ready for a New Year’s Eve party this week, which I’m looking forward to, and some other stuff.  Good thing this is my week off to relax, before heading back to the day job next Tuesday.

How did Christmas go, you ask? Well, it was ok. Christmas Eve was mostly spent quietly at home.  My dear friend and once-Eidolon compatriot Jeremy G. was in town visiting family, so he dropped by for a lovely chat over a few drinks. It happens far too rarely, so I’m looking forward to him coming back in April for Swancon.

The young ‘uns were abed by the time he left, so Marianne and I watched dumb lifestyle TV while wrapping presents.  Things drifted far too late, as there were iPods to be configured and other details to be managed.  Having been up too late, we were then dug out of bed by a very excited Jessica, who found incontrovertible proof of the existence of Santa in the almost finished glass of milk and plate of cookie crumbs on the kitchen table. Sophie wasn’t quite as convinced, but so it goes.

Presents were opened and were mostly very well received. I got season 2 of Fringe,  season 3 of Big Bang Theory, a James Taylor cd,  vols 2 & 3 of the Bloom County collected set,  a new wallet, and a wii golf game which was good. Esp. happy about Fringe, which Marianne and I just started watching.

After presents I got breakfast made,  we Skyped my sister and her partner in Melbourne for a bit, then kids dressed and we headed off to the Hilton for a family Christmas lunch with my mother and sister.  It was nicely set up and despite the girls being in a somewhat subdued mood, we seemed to have a good time. The magician put on by the hotel was fairly well received, but the Santa was a hit.  Presents were again exchanged and this time I made my big score, the Springsteen Darkness box, which is probably what I wanted the most. We then headed home for a detoxing after too much food and drink, with a brief stop at mums.

I confess, dear readers, I napped for a bit, but woke to chaos so a light dinner was made before packing the girls off to bed. Marianne and I then started into season 2 of Fringe, which already (we’re four eps in) is better than season 1.  We had originally planned to take the kids to the movies on Boxing Day, but my mother is a traditionalist and despite our having had a Christmas feast the day before, planned her own for Sunday, so we were headed there for the day. First though I grabbed breakfast, recorded the Super Mega Boxing Day Podcast (which was lots of fun to do), and helped get the girls martialled for the day. It was lovely, as it always is. My brother was there, as was my Aunt, who we see to rarely. The girls swam in the small paddling pool outside while we ate, drank and made merry. It was a little hot, but it was all in all, a lot of good fun, and probably better than Xmas Day.

Once we were home, the girls were off to bed after dinner so Marianne and I could watch the Dr Who Christmas Special. Frankly, while I don’t know if they would have enjoyed it, there’s no reason they couldn’t have watched it. It was delightful in parts (I loved the flying fish), but overall was oddly disappointing. Matt Smith’s Doctor has become a pointless fop, while Amy Pond, who now gives the series so much of its energy, was reduced to playing a pair of legs in a fetish outfit in the special, which was hugely disappointing. The play on a Christmas Carol was fun, but there was a lot of misogyny too, which also was disappointing. I think I’ve fallen out of love with Matt Smith, remain a Pond fan, and hope Season 6 will offset a sort of disappointing Special.

After that, we watched Fringe, which was much better.  And for today – well, it’s 7am and the sun is literally burning my shoulders at the moment, so I’m heading inside in a minute. I think we may take the girls to the movies, though I’m not sure. There are also some post-Christmas sales, but I have an ocean of editing work to do and not much time to do it before I head back to work next week. I think it’s back to work time now.

This morning, Perth time, at least, a bunch of participants in Australian podcasting joined together to record a Boxing Day Super Mega Podcast. Participating were:

• Alex, Alisa, and Tansy from Galactic Suburbia;
• Grant from Bad Film Diaries;
• Ian from The Writer and the Critic; and
• Gary and I from The Coode St Podcast.

It was seven people talking, in a fairly organised manner about their highlights of 2010 and what they’re looking forward to in 2011. We all hope you enjoy it, and that you check out the individual podcasts that will be coming out in future weeks and months.

What did I do? Well, there’s so much that it’s a blur. I almost don’t remember which books I worked on during the year. The vagaries of publishing are such that there are often long delays before a book appears, so for example, while I write this on Christmas Eve a number of the books I’ll have out in 2011 are already finished and put to bed. Still, this year eleven books and one magazine  issue that I edited were published.   This was what came out:

1. The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 4 (Night Shade Books, March)
2. Mirror Kingdoms: The Best of Peter S. Beagle (Subterranean Press, March)
3. Fritz Leiber: Selected Stories (ed with Charles N. Brown) (Night Shade Books, April)
4. The Green Leopard Plague and Other Stories, Walter Jon Williams (Night Shade Books, April)
5. Subterranean Online, Spring Issue (April)
6. Hard Luck Diggings: The Early Jack Vance (ed. with Terry Dowling) (Subterranean Press, June)
7. Legends of Australian Fantasy (ed. with Jack Dann) (HarperCollins Publishers Australia, July)
8. Wings of Fire (ed. with Marianne S. Jablon) (Night Shade Books, May)
9. Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery (ed. with Lou Anders) (Harper Eos, July)
10. The Best of Kim Stanley Robinson (Night Shade Books, August)
11. Godlike Machines (The Science Fiction Book Club, September)
12. The Best of Larry Niven (Subterranean Press, December)

I don’t think I’ll ever have that many books out in a single year again, but I’m proud of each and every one of them in different ways, and would like to thank everyone at Eos, Voyager, Subterranean and Night Shade for being wonderful to work with, patient, and making the books themselves look so wonderful.

I also worked as reviews editor for Locus, working on my hundredth issue, and completing my thirteenth year with the magazine. The Locus team – Liza, Kirsten, Amelia, Fran, Tim, and Carolyn – are a fantastic group and it’s always great to work with them. One special thing in 2010 is that I got to share a little of my World Fantasy Award with them. It was presented ‘for editing anthologies and magazines’. Locus is the only magazine I did editorial work for during 2009, so the award is in part for them, which pleases me greatly.

The year wasn’t all about editing, though. I was busy at the day job, too, and owe Patrick, Drew and Garth my thanks there as well.  The family and I travelled to Dunsborough and Melbourne, and I had a surprisingly good time in Columbus. I made new friends, saw old ones, and it all spun dizzyingly past. Gary and I recorded thirty-one podcasts!! Oh, and there were awards. The Aurealis, Locus and World Fantasy Awards all came home this year, as did a number of awards nominations (Hugo, Ditmar etc). My thanks to everyone involved with those too.

I hope to say more about 2010 in coming days, but for now I just want to wish everyone I’ve worked with, met, seen, or talked to during the year a wonderful holiday season and a safe and successful new year!

I want to give major props to Locus editor-in-chief Liza Groen Trombi.  This was something that has been on our plate for years, and which Charles I know struggled to work out a solution to. It’s been Liza’s baby over the past year, and getting it to this point is a major, major achievement. The future is coming!  You can find out more about Locus Digital Editions here.

As I’ve detailed here before, I continue to battle an ear/sinus infection which has rather laid me low. I’m now taking antibiotics in pills big enough to choke a horse.  Marianne too has been completely wiped out by a virus of some kind that’s caused all sorts of bronchial issues. Having slept most of Wednesday and Thursday, she then spent Friday and Saturday coughing so much she can’t sleep, so she’s tired, sick, utterly miserable, and unable to do much of anything. This has meant the cooking, the cleaning, and everything else has fallen to me, which is understandable but doesn’t make things easier.   And then there’s Jessica. She’s mostly been well, but having had no seizures in  almost a year she suddenly had one three weeks ago, then two (one in the evening and one in the morning) on Tuesday, the first time she’d had two seizures so closely together.  That is a much more serious concern, and we’re off to see her neurologist on Monday to discuss options to help her.

Along with that I received copyedits of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Five, which are progressing well, and yesterday the monitor on my main work computer died. I had to temporarily swipe the one from the kids’ computer just to test the machine itself was ok.  I had hoped to get some work done yesterday on other editing, but with the need to drive children places and with the dead monitor, I ended up seeing a few friends in the afternoon while Marianne rested.

Today is Sunday here in Perth. I should record a podcast, edit, and dig around for the receipt on the monitor. Instead, the girls have a drama performance at 11.00am so I need to sort their costumes, get them through breakfast, dressed and ready, and over to the hall for 10.00am, then meet up with family for the show. Then home and maybe a hurried podcast recording, possibly doing the tree, and then getting dinner ready.

*Spelling error corrected as per P.Hollo

Neither of which is the serious one.  As some of you know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while my eldest has occasional seizures, and she’s just been through several. Having not had a seizure for a year, she had one three weeks ago and then two in the past 24hrs. It’s all a bit scary, truthfully, but likely not an enormous deal. She’s been exhausted as a result, and will see her neurologist on Monday. In the meantime we’re keeping a close watch on her and hoping all will be well.

Most of the other things happening are fairly trivial by comparison. Having delivered the year’s best three weeks ago, I’m waiting on the copyedits. Having turned it in so early I’m confident we’ll have a couple weeks to go over them, but you never know. The copyedits are almost certain to overlap finishing up Eclipse Four, which frankly has been the most difficult in the series to work on so far. I think the final book will be a good one, but it has called into question the viability of the whole enterprise again (even though I do love it).

Once Eclipse Four is laid to rest I can focus on The Best of Joe Haldeman, Cyberpunk, and Under My Hat. Busy busy. There are also the proposals I mentioned earlier, which will go out in the New Year. Oh, and I’ve been working behind the scenes to compile the short fiction section of the Locus recommended reading list, which comes out in February. Lest you think I simply put it together myself randomly, it actually involves collating votes and opinions from about ten people and is a little tedious to do, but worthwhile once done.

Have there been highlights? Yes there have! I finally got a copy of Godlike Machines – I bought it from abebooks.com and happily recommend them as a possible source – and I’m very pleased with it. I think it’s probably the best book I had published this year, though I’m a notoriously poor judge of these things. I greatly enjoyed recording the podcast with Gary, John and Cheryl that went up earlier this week. Lots of fun. I’m now reading Jo Walton’s fabulous Among Others, and am thinking it might be a good discussion basis for the next podcast. It’s very good, and Gary’s already read it. Hmmm.

January 2011

* de Bodard, Aliette • Harbinger of the Storm • (Angry Robot, tpb)
* Parker, K. J. • The Hammer • (Orbit, tpb)
* Robson, Justina • Down to the Bone • (Gollancz, hc/tpb)
* Walton, Jo • Among Others • (Tor, hc)
* Wolfe, Gene • Home Fires • (Tor, hc)

February 2011

* Courtenay Grimwood, Jon • The Fallen Blade • (Orbit, tpb)
* MacLeod, Ian R. • Wake Up and Dream • (PS Publishing, hc)

March 2011

* Barnes, John • Daybreak Zero • (Ace, hc)
* Hardinge, Frances • Twilight Robbery • (Macmillan Children’s Books UK, nvl-ya, hc)

April 2011

* Black, Holly • Red Glove • (McElderry, nvl-ya, hc)
* McIntosh, Will • Soft Apocalypse • (Night Shade Books, tpb)
* Okorafor, Nnedi • The Akata Witch • (Viking, nvl-ya, hc)

May 2011

* Miéville, China • Embassytown • (Ballantine Del Rey, hc)
* Nix, Garth, & Sean Williams • Troubletwisters • (Scholastic Press, nvl-ya, tpb)
* Scalzi, John • Fuzzy Nation • (Tor, hc)
* Swanwick, Michael • Dancing With Bears • (Night Shade Books, hc)

June 2011

* Reynolds, Alastair • Blue Remembered Earth • (Gollancz, hc)

July 2011

* Goonan, Kathleen Ann • This Shared Dream Called Earth • (Tor, hc)
* Gregory, Daryl • Raising Stony Mayhall • (Ballantine Del Rey, tpb)
* Stross, Charles • Rule 34 • (Orbit, tpb)

August 2011

* Harrison, M. John • Pearlant • (Gollancz, hc/tpb)

January 2011

• Adams, John Joseph, ed. • Brave New Worlds, (Night Shade Books, anth, tpb)
• Strahan, Jonathan, ed., Engineering Infinity, (Solaris US, anth)

February 2011

• Lansdale, Joe R., ed., Crucified Dreams, (Tachyon Publications, anth, tpb)
• Saberhagen, Joan, ed., Golden Reflections, (Baen, anth, hc)
• Weber, David, ed., Worlds of Honor #5: In Fire Forged, (Baen, anth, hc)

March 2011

• Guran, Paula, ed., Vampires: The Recent Undead, (Prime Books, anth, tpb)
• Gustainis, Justin, ed., Those Who Fight Monsters, (Hades/EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy, anth, tpb)
• Rambo, Cat, Paul Tremblay & Sean Wallace, eds., Worlds of Fantasy: The Best of Fantasy Magazine, (Prime Books, anth, tpb)
• Strahan, Jonathan, ed., The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Five, (Night Shade Books, anth, tpb)

April 2011

• Datlow, Ellen, & Terri Windling, eds., Teeth: Vampire Tales, (Harper, anth, hc)
• Farr, Russell ed., Dead Red Heart (Ticonderoga, anth, tp)
• Grzyb, Liz ed., More Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga, anth, tp)
• Sedia, Ekaterina, ed., Bewere the Night, (Prime Books, anth, tpb)
• Strahan, Jonathan, ed., Life on Mars: Tales of the New Frontier, (Viking, anth, hc)

May 2011

• Anderson, Kevin J., ed., Nebula Awards Showcase 2011, (Tor, anth, tpb)
• Strahan, Jonathan, ed., Eclipse Four, (Night Shade Books, anth, tpb)
• Wentworth, K. D., ed., L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume XXVII, (Galaxy, anth)

June 2011

• Datlow, Ellen, ed., Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three, (Night Shade Books, anth, tpb)
• Datlow, Ellen, ed., Supernatural Noir, (Dark Horse, anth, tpb)
• Hartwell, David G., & Kathryn Cramer, eds., Year’s Best SF 16, (Harper Voyager, anth)
• Horton, Rich, ed., The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy: 2011 Edition, (Prime Books, anth, tpb)
• Kushner, Ellen, & Holly Black, eds., Welcome to Bordertown • (Random House, anth, hc)
• Martin, George R. R., ed., Wild Cards: Fort Freak, (Tor, anth, hc)

July 2011

• Datlow, Ellen, ed., Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy, (St. Martin’s, anth, hc)`
• Dozois, Gardner, ed., The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-eight Annual Collection, (St. Martin’s Griffin, anth, tpb)
• VanderMeer, Jeff, & Ann VanderMeer, eds., The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, (Harper Voyager, anth, hc)
• Watson, Howard, ed., The Charmed Pot, (PS Publishing, anth, hc)
• Wilbur, Rick, ed., Future Media, (Tachyon Publications, anth, tpb)

August 2011

• Beagle, Peter S., & Joe R. Lansdale, eds., Urban Fantasy, (Tachyon Publications, anth, tpb)
• Guran, Paula, ed., The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2011 Edition, (Prime Books, anth, tpb)
• Harris, Charlaine, & Toni L. P. Kelner, eds., Home Improvement: Undead Edition, (Ace, anth, hc)

September 2011

• Ciriello, Dario, ed., Panverse Three  (anth, tp) 
• Datlow, Ellen, ed., Blood and Other Cravings, (Tor, anth, hc)

No date

• Dozois, Gardner & George R. R. Martin, Down These Strange Streets (Viking, antho, hc) 

I am currently reading for the 2011 volume, which will cover stories first published between 1 January and 31 December 2011. I am looking for stories from all branches of science fiction and fantasy: space opera to cyberpunk, fairy tales to the slipstream, or anything else that might qualify. If in doubt, PLEASE send it. Please note: This is a reprint anthology.

I work on a tight deadline, and need to see work as early as possible.  With that in mind, the submission deadline for this year’s book is 1 October 2011. Anything sent after this deadline will reach me too late. If a magazine, anthology, or collection you are in or you edit is coming out before 31 December 2011 please send galleys or manuscripts so that I can consider the stories in time.

Where possible, I prefer to receive book-length submissions in print. Anything else can be sent to me via email. I prefer .rtf or .doc files. PDFs are acceptable, but remain highly inconvenient. I strongly suggest that authors check with their publishers that they are sending review copies out to me, as I don’t have the resources to follow-up every publisher to get material.

When sending material please put “BEST SF/F of the Year” on the envelope.

Jonathan Strahan
PO Box 544
Mt Lawley WA 6929
Australia

Email submissions, recommendations, or information on publications can be sent to me via email at: jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com.

NOTE TO PUBLISHERS

I am eager to see and be able to consider the work you are publishing. If you are producing a magazine, a chapbook, a collection or anthology with any original stories in it please let me know. While I prefer not to accept email submissions for book length works as a rule, I am happy to talk to publishers about making exceptions where necessary. The important thing, for me, is to make sure that I get to consider the best science fiction and fantasy published during 2011.

* I do not need to receive manuscripts from authors of stories from venues that it’s likely I already receive regularly (I get Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, Postscripts etc, but not many of the smaller ‘zines and publications).

** If you are publishing online, please email me copies of your stories at (jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com). This is particularly important for stories published between October and December, which may otherwise be overlooked. I do not require print-outs of online publications (I regularly read Tor.com, IGMS, Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Fantasy, Apex etc online).

*** Please do not send an SASE. This is not a submission per se, and I’m not able to return manuscripts or respond directly to stories sent to me.

Everything is all pretty much finalised, though I’m waiting on some bits and pieces and the copyedits, but here is the table of contents for the new best of the year. It’s due out in March and you can pre-order it here.

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
“Elegy for a Young Elk,” Hannu Rajaniemi
“The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains,” Neil Gaiman
“Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots,” Sandra McDonald
“The Spy Who Never Grew Up,” Sarah Rees Brennan
“The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue,” Holly Black
“Under the Moons of Venus,” Damien Broderick
“The Fool Jobs,” Joe Abercrombie
“Alone,” Robert Reed
“Names for Water,” Kij Johnson
“Fair Ladies,” Theodora Goss
“Plus or Minus,” James P. Kelly
“The Man With the Knives,” Ellen Kushner
“The Jammie Dodgers and the Adventure of the Leicester Square Screening,” Cory Doctorow
“The Maiden Flight of McAuley’s Bellerophon,” Elizabeth Hand
“The Miracle Aquilina,” Margo Lanagan
“The Taste of Night,” Pat Cadigan
“The Exterminator’s Want-Ad,” Bruce Sterling
“Map of Seventeen,” Christopher Barzak
“The Naturalist,” Maureen McHugh
“Sins of the Father,” Sara Genge
“The Sultan of the Clouds,” Geoffrey A. Landis
“Iteration,” John Kessel
“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn,” Diana Peterfreund
“The Night Train,” Lavie Tidhar
“Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale),” Ian Tregillis
“Amor Vincit Omnia,” K.J. Parker
“The Things,” Peter Watts
“The Zeppelin Conductors’ Society Annual Gentlemen’s Ball,” Genevieve Valentine
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window,” Rachel Swirsky

Saturday was another hot, sunny day. We’re well into barbecue season, but I know summer is here because cricket is dominating the airwaves. I woke early and watched my first session of the Ashes. Hussey and Haddin worked solidly, while the English bowlers toiled well, but with no success.

For reasons I don’t recall, dear sweet eldest daughter was in a fairly foul mood. This meant she stomped around and was difficult, and ultimately made it impossible for me to record the usual podcast with Gary. There is a recording of sorts, but it’s mostly unusable, due to interruptions and poor sound quality. We may try again later today.

I made lunch and then we took youngest to her sibling group, which sounds like it was a lot of fun. She went up to The Maze, apparently, and had all of the sort of fun she doesn’t have when we go places as a family (which is the point). We tried to take Jessica out to do some Xmas shopping, but she was uncooperative so, after some grocery shopping, we staggered in the front door of the house, hot, weary, and annoyed.

After a break we drove Marianne to her band gig. We’d been to the most recent one and were skipping this one for timing reasons, though it turned out we should have been there. Jessica’s mood seemed to lift as we sang along in the car to songs from Wicked – a musical she loves but is resolute that she does not wish to see – as we drove out to collect Sophie.  She had had a ball.

From there it was home, dinner, family movie night (the movie was  Steve Martin’s Cheaper by the Dozen, which was mostly inoffensive), and then girls to bed. I collapsed in front of TV with a glass of wine and the laptop to pass some time, waiting for Marianne to get home.

It turned out she’d had a good gig, and got an award. A surprise one out of the blue.  I’m very proud of her. She works hard with/for the band and loves it very much.

I was browsing the Night Shade site this morning and stumbled over this.  It seems to be the cover for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Five, though I’ve not confirmed that. You can pre-order the book, though.

Saturday was an annoying day. We’re going through assorted variations on rebelliousness and difficulties with young ladies of a certain age, so what could have been a simple, enjoyable day became much more stressful than it needed to be. Such, is a parenthood.

I podcasted with Gary early, before heading out for lunch at an old haunt of Marianne’s and mine, That Food Co in Bayswater.  The weather was warm and humid, making it less than ideal, and the cafe was warmer and stickier. We had a frankly ordinary meal, before heading out to the Margaret River Chocolate Co. This should have proven more successful than it did. After that we picked up some groceries and a movie for Family Movie Night.

I had intended to spend time reading, if I could. Instead I bounced around, not really reading anything. This seems to be the mode I’m in right now. I did spend a little time skyping with my sister in Melbourne, which was good. We then had dinner, watched a fairly awful Eddie Murphy comedy, and the day came to a close.

Today is Sophie’s school fair. It should be fun. I need to do some work before heading out around noon, but if the power stays on that should be fine.

• In 2009, I posted my first and only blog post at Tor.com;
• In 2008, I delivered The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Vol. 3 to Night Shade;
• In 2007, I was working on the Locus recommended reading list and my mother was in hospital with heart trouble. I also was expressing my doubts about the 1st release of the Kindle. Hm. I might have been wrong about that (looks at own Kindle);
• In 2006, I was asking why the heck Microsoft called it the Zune, and expressed optimism about new books from Greg Egan and William Gibson;
• In 2005, I was reading reviews of the now sadly defunct Best Short Novels series, working on the 2006 volume, and pondering Bruce Holland Rogers email subscription service for his short stories; and
• In 2004, I was bothered about how anthologies should or shouldn’t be structured and being dismayed at the then new Australian government’s social policies.

Two things struck me re-reading those blog posts: I always seemed busy and I rarely seemed happy. I wonder if that’s telling.

There is, of course, a lot still to be done. There’s copyedits to get through, a cover, and we’re still nailing down permissions (we have emailed agreements, but I won’t really rest easy till we have the signed permissions themselves), so respite but no rest for a few weeks.

I will, once all of the permissions are nailed down, post the table of contents for the book here. I’m really quite happy with it.

Jason pointed out that prior to 2009 the deadline had been November 5, with me typically delivering in late October so I could go to World Fantasy without work hanging over my head. The date had changed to December 5 in 2009, and was drifting a little again for 2010. Jason made it clear that I had to make the December 5 deadline, and if I could get the book in earlier then that would make things much easier.

I stopped, I looked and I panicked. I’d read a lot, I had lists and notes and stuff, but I didn’t have a table of contents, and I didn’t have much else either. I had, in short, quietly let myself become complacent because I had, oh, six weeks to get things done in.  I revised my target delivery date. It seemed to me if I could get the book done by Monday November 15 I’d only be ten days past the old deadline, and would beat the new one by more than four weeks.

To meet this I would need to finalise the table of contents, get writers to agree to their stories being reprinted, get permissions sorted, write an introduction and story notes, and prepare the manuscript for the publisher.

I panicked.

I calmed down.

As I write it is nearly 4pm on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 10. I have selected the final table of contents (well, I’m quibbling over one story), notified all of the authors and received emailed confirmations from all but two of them, arranged for contracts for 23 of the 29 stories to go out, and assembled 22 of the 29 story manuscripts. I have also engaged Marianne to standardise / cleanup the story files and assemble the story notes that I already have written for previous books.

From here, to meet my own self-imposed deadline, I need to write a 1,500 wd introduction on Saturday (while also podcasting with Gary and having family movie night with the kids), and write/review 29 story notes on Sunday. If, by 5pm Sunday I have that done then all I have to do is suck the whole lot into Scrivener,  work out the running order (I’m thinking on that now), add the introductory materials and recommended reading, and then spit out a manuscript. Once that’s done, a quick spell check and it heads out the door to the publisher.

Can I make it? I think I can. If I don’t, I can take the following weekend to get things finalised, but I’m hoping the Nov 15/Nov 16 will be it. Wish me luck.

HOLY CR@P. I WON A WORLD FANTASY AWARD!!!

There literally is almost no way I can communicate to you how strange, startling and wonderful that is.  I want to thank everyone — from the judges and WFC organisers to all of the people who contributed to the books that led me to being eligible.

I’d especially like to thank all of the contributors to Eclipse Three (which I suspect is the main reason for the award), my friends and publishers Jason Williams,  Jeremy Lassen, Ross Lockhart etc at Night Shade Books (I’d not only not be doing this without them, but would never have had the chance without Jason’s support), and my mentors and friends through the years: Eric Harding, Peter McNamara, Jack Dann, Charles N. Brown, Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber, and many others.  And of course Marianne, Jessica and Sophie. It’s really their award. I could not do any of my editing work without their love and support.

I’d also like to congratulate Karen Joy Fowler, whose story “The Pelican Bar” was a highlight of Eclipse Three, which won the WFA for Best Short Story. I was possibly more delighted by that, than by my own win.

Having got that out of my system, I’ve got to say I had a grand trip and that principally comes down to the kind hosts I stayed with and the friends I saw. My especial thanks for Nick and Adrian, Ellen,  Liza & the gang, and Gary, who were fine hosts and made my stay in their respective parts of the world a real joy.  I won’t go through all of the friends I saw on the trip – they know who they were – but it was magical seeing them.

And now I’m back. Friday was jetlag day. Saturday I moved to being 95% complete on the table of contents for Year’s Best 5, recorded a podcast, and followed up on Eclipse Four. This morning I checked in with everyone on Under My Hat, edited the December columns for Locus, edited the podcast because of a dumb error on my behalf, and did some more reading.

What next? Well, I have several proposals to write, a short story comp to judge, next month’s columns to think on, recommended reading to launch, and lots more.  Things are going to be very busy here between now and year’s end. This if, of course, not new.  I’m lucky.

Edit: Podcast edited to remove final 3 mins not intended for release.

The afternoon wandered into early evening and I headed to the bar. It was buzzing, and I spent some time with Gary, Peter, the newly arrived Farah, Holly, Delia and many other lovely people. Alisa and I then grabbed dinner at a nearby brew pub before heading back to the bar and more chatting, chatting, chatting (Sophie would not have liked it). I was meaning to be in bed at a reasonable hour, but I wasn’t. Jeff Ford waylaid me as I headed to bed, then it was 1.15am. Today there’s a board meeting, lunch and so on. Should be fun/interesting.

Wednesday started early. I was up at about 4.45am so I could be ready to leave at 5.30 for the airport. Kirsten was kind enough to drive us, so Liza and I got there on time. I’d purchased an extra seat on the flight which necessitated some messing around on check-in, but the flights were comfortable and as easy as any I’ve had. Liza and I talked work and other stuff, even doing some work, as we flew from Oakland to Chicago. Tailwinds were sufficient to get us in a half hour early but they were also sufficient to keep our connecting aircraft in Minneapolis. Three hours drifted by in an airport bar, where more chatting and work went on.

We did, eventually, get into Columbus though, where we quickly met up with Alisa then Cecelia, Gary, Ellen and a bunch of the World Fantasy crowd. Some pink drinks were had, then dinner too. I left the bar at midnight so I’d be sure I’d be up for my 8.30 breakfast with David today. After that, who knows? Dealer’s room, podcasting and such. I’ll try to report back as the day goes on, but a good start to Columbus already!

Still, once she picked me up at the airport everything looked up. We headed over to a brew pub for dinner with Eileen Gunn and John Berry, who were heading home to Seattle immediately after dinner. It as lovely seeing them, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with Eileen in Ohio. We then headed back to Ellen’s house where we sat and talked for another couple hours, and then I crashed.

Monday started slowly. I pottered around downstairs at Casa del Klages before we headed out to a lovely seafood restaurant for lunch. I need to get the name of it from E. The views were stunning, looking out over the Bay and Alcatraz, and the food superb (I had Steelhead Salmon cook in lemon butter -yum). We then pottered around Fisherman’s Wharf, before doing a little shopping then heading back to Ellen’s to meet up with Amelia.

Readers of this blog should have no problems remembering Amelia, who has been a dear friend for a long time (Jessica once, I recall, wanted to marry her). We chatted and caught up, walked over to very nice Peruvian restaurant for a relaxed dinner, then Amelia and I drove up to Charles’s house where I’m staying till we leave for Ohio.

We stayed up a bit longer, chatted and reminisced, and then she headed home and me to bed. I’ve been up for an hour and am going to go sit out on the back deck and think about Charles for a bit. Later today, the Locus people (!) and Bob & Karen (!). Tomorrow, Ohio.

This is always an interesting time. You’re poised, like a diver on a precipice, waiting to start things. You know roughly what to expect, how it will likely play out, but have no idea what will actually happen. It seems like that the thirteen days between my sitting here drinking coffee and my coming through the arrival gate over my right shoulder at noon on Thursday will be a long time. It will go by in a flash. There will be dinners, bars, talking, some uncomfortable flights, good bits, bad bits, but when I get off that final plane on the way home it will have seemed to have taken no time at all. Hopefully it will have been fun, though.

What do I think will be highlights? Hmm. Dinner tonight with Nick, Adrian, Rob, Cat and Terry. Staying with EllenK. Seeing Amelia. The Locus folk. Bob and Karen(!). Gary. Alisa. The people. The World Fantasy Award banquet. I’m a freaking nominee!! How cool is that? I shall sit in the room, having eaten plastic banquet chicken, surrounded by friends, and enjoy the moment of being a nominee. No idea how it will turn out, and happy about that. I think others will win, but it’ll be great to just be there and enjoy it. I also hope to do some podcasting. It might be kept on file rather than posted immediately, but there should be WFC podcasts. And lots more.

I’m sure there will be other stuff, and I’ll blog bits of it. Miss lots of it, and see you on the other side.

What else?

I am, however, all packed. I could leave in 30 minutes if I had to (which I happily don’t). I’ll have an early lunch with Marianne then spend some time with the family, before hopefully getting an early night. In the interim I’m piecing together some WFC social plans and getting into the swing of that. It should be a great time, though this is the first time I’ll be at a WFC without either the Aussie contingent or Charles. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.

Now, I could tell you all of the people I cannot wait to see, but I’d leave someone out and that would be bad. I can’t wait to see everyone, especially if we’ve already made plans.  It should be a lot of fun.

Hmmm. We need a new webcam and some other stuff. Back in a bit.

Saturday 1 pm Panel A13: Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2010. Kathryn Cramer, Ellen
Datlow, Jonathan Strahan (m), Paula Guran, Gardner Dozois

There is a general AUTOGRAPH RECEPTION at Friday: 8-11:30PM in the Regency Ballroom. Although I’ve been to many World Fantasy Conventions, I’ve never actually gone to one of these. However, right now I have no dinner plans for Friday night. If I remain free, I shall be there too.

I can tell I’m almost at that point. Alisa Krasnostein flew out for World Fantasy last night. Part of my attention went with her. Emails are coming in about plans, or not, and I’m thinking about what goes into my suitcase. I leave in 50 hours, but part of me has already left.

There’s much I’m looking forward to. I believe there’s Mexican food waiting for me in Sydney with Nick, Adrian, Cat, Rob, Deb, Chris and Terry on Saturday. Sunday is the big hop across the Pacific (can it really be my 32nd?) and then I’m staying with Ellen for a night before heading over to Oakland late Monday. I’ll be seeing Amelia for dinner with E, then sleeping at the place formerly known as Charles’s.

Tuesday will be Locus folk and Locus work during the day, and a very, very welcome dinner with Bob and Karen that night. Wednesday Liza and I fly to Ohio together, and then there’s dinner with Alisa (yay!), Gary (yay yay!) and everyone else and the convention.

I will, of course, intend to stay in touch during this part of the trip and the follow on week or so, but I most likely won’t. I’ll try though.

On a related note, I’ll be travelling next weekend so we’re not sure if we’ll get a podcast recording session, but we will make every effort to do so. And if we don’t, we’ll make up for it in Columbus!

At the same time I am busy Really Trying Quite Hard to read a lot. I’ve been making my way through piles of anthologies, collections, and such, discovering some wonderful stories while still looking rather desperately for ‘Awesome Science Fiction’ which seems a little thin on the ground this year.

I am also developing a new Sekrit Projekt, which is actually proceeding quite well, while working on Eclipse Four, Under My Hat, Cyberpunk, two single author collections, and the best of the year. Busy times, and only likely going to  get busier given that I’m heading to the US in a touch over two weeks for World Fantasy.  

I fly out on Saturday 23 October and spend some time catching up with dear friends in Sydney, then a couple days in the Bay Area where I’ll stay with Ellen K and the Locus crew (a night at the house will be interesting) and grab dinner with Bob & Karen, then on to Columbus for the convention, before spending a night with Gary in Chicago. Should be quite the trip, delivering me home on November 4 with a month to finish the year’s best and other stuff  before Christmas!

And amongst all of that I’m reading Howl’s Moving Castle for the first time when I really should just be reading short stories…

Given that, I thought I’d grab a question raised by the estimable Fabrice D. about Eclipse Four.  Many moons ago, on their Original Anthologies – 2010 thread, he asked:

What will be the flavour of Eclipse 4? [The first three being three very different books, my favourites in the "3" being, on the SF side: "It takes Two" (that will probably end on my Hugo nomination ballot ), "Useless Things" and "Galapagos". On the fantasy side: "Sleight of hand", "The Pretender's Tourney" and of course (being a Frenchman and an admirer of Rousseau's paintings), "The Visited Man"].

A good question, indeed. When Jason Williams and I first conceived of the Eclipse series the idea was to produce a very broad series of books that simply gathered together ‘good stuff’.

The first volume was very much that sort of thing, I think, but it lacked a consistent feel or focus.  The second volume was pushed very much towards SF, as I’ve discussed here before. The third volume was different again. Responding to the criticism the series had received, I cast my net wider and ultimately I think produced a better book. It’s less centre-of-genre in many ways, but has a consistent feel to it and an overall high quality of stories that helped make it the most successful volume, critically and commercially, so far.

Given that it’s also the one I’m happiest with overall, my intention is to very much continue the series as a follow-on from Eclipse Three.  The volume I’m working on now, Eclipse Four, is intended to be a direct follow-on from that book. It will feature some of the same writers, and hopefully will feel similar to Three.  I’ve already bought stories for it from Andy Duncan, Emma Bull, Gwyneth Jones, Peter M. Ball, and others, and am waiting on a stack of submissions so I can wind it up by Christmas, and get it ready for May 2011.  When it’s done I’ll definitely get a ToC up here.  Hope that answers the question.

With that in mind, I have decided I am now engaged in the “Really Trying Quite Hard” Reading Catch Up.  It encompasses the essence of the effort without going overboard.  Now, back to reading.

Engineering Infinity

I’ve spent a reasonable part of 2010 working on anthologies that will see print during 2011. The first of these, and one of my favorites, is Engineering Infinity, a hard SF anthology that I’ve edited for Jonathan Oliver at Solaris Books.

I’ll be honest and say that one or two of the stories in the book stretched my definitions of hard SF somewhat (though it’s all ‘pure quill SF’ Gardner). I’m very happy with the end result. It’s my first book to be published in the UK and will be out in January (close to simulataneously in the US, UK and Australia), just in time for my 47th birthday.  Here’s the ToC:

1. Introduction
2. Malak, Peter Watts
3. Watching the Music Dance, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
4. Laika’s Ghost, Karl Schroeder
5. The Invasion of Venus, Stephen Baxter
6. The Server and the Dragon, Hannu Rajaniemi
7. Bit Rot, Charles Stross
8. Creatures with Wings, Kathleen Ann Goonan
9. Walls of Flesh, Bars of Bone, Damien Broderick & Barbara Lamar
10. Mantis, Robert Reed
11. Judgement Eve, John C. Wright
12. A Soldier of the City, David Moles
13. Mercies, Gregory Benford
14. The Ki-anna, Gwyneth Jones
15. The Birds and the Bees and the Gasoline Trees, John Barnes

Well, most urgently, I have to deliver The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 5 in early December (heck, I expect to get asked about names for the cover shortly and I’m nowhere near ready to hand over that information!).  That means reading a LOT of anthologies, collections, and magazines and FAST. Also chasing down those end-of-year stories I might otherwise miss.

All of this reading  will also directly inform the work I will be doing on compiling the Locus Short Fiction Recommended Reading list, which I expect to start work on in early November when I get home from Ohio. There is also a chance that I may end up doing a panel on the ‘Year in Review’ at World Fantasy. Having been admonished by Sophie, aged 8, that it wouldn’t hurt if I prepared for my panels, I’m eager to be as well-read as I can be when that time comes round.

All of this means I need to read, read, read! And I am.  There’s oceans still to read, and I’m still actively seeking recommendations. Feel free to email me if you’ve seen a story you liked and let me know. I’m reading reviews, checking blogs and Twitter feeds for story recs, but I’d love yours.  Really. I have thousands of stories to read and I’m not going get through them all, so your recommendation would help.

As to how I’m getting through everything? Well, first I’m reading a LOT. Fast (which is not how I read usually). I’ve also been in touch with my colleagues at Not if You Were the Last Short Story on Earth, and it seems we’re working out some deadlines and incentives so we can all get as much covered as possible (that means four or five more sets of eyes looking at things). I’m also considering getting an intern to help. Hmm. An intern. Anyone interested?  I believe we may be tweeting some of our story reading progress, but that’s still up in the air.

In the meantime, could you pass me that book…

I met someone else – well, two someone elses – and they’ve kept me away from you longer than I’d ever intended. One listens to my short idle thoughts, the other listens to me natter for ages with my pal Gary. But I’ve not forgotten you, even through these months of neglect.

I’ve been in Melbourne. Went there for WorldCon. Conventions fall into two groups: those that energise you and those that drain you. Having been home for almost a week I think I can classify Aussiecon 4 as a convention that drained me.  Not because it was a bad con, or because I had no fun, but because it was busy and demanding. There are some things I’ll treasure as I look back on it, though: the evening at Alex’s house with Tansy, Alisa, Tehani and everyone; long, unexpected and delightful breakfasts with Stan; dinner and lunch and more with Bob and Karen; the Melbourne Aquarium with Barbara, mum, Marianne and the girls; the room service party with Garth, Anna, Shaun, Chris, Chris, Deb, Marianne, and Liza; some real time to talk with Liza; a last minute coffee with Steve; a terrific Voyager party, and an unexpected meeting. All of those were awesome.

And then there were the Hugos. What an honor and delight! As you know, dear blog, I’ve loved the Hugos forever and never once imagined I’d be nominated. The past three years have been a giddy time indeed, in Denver, Montreal and now here.  It was close this year. I know just how close, and that’s even more pleasing. The Hugo voters, my community, rewarded my work more than I ever could have expected.  I was pleased to see Ellen win after another terrific year (even if I hope you can forgive me a tiny twinge of disappointment at not quite making it), and look forward to the years to come. I never take the Hugo voters for granted and assume nothing, but I’m far from done editing yet.

And that’s about it, dear blog. I hear Godlike Machines is printed, the Engineering Infinity copyedits are in my inbox, The Best of Larry Niven is around the corner, there’s a teetering tower of reading for the year’s best and cyberpunk books, people to follow up for Eclipse 4 and Under My Hat, and proposals to write. Busy, busy, busy.

Oh, and Columbus! There’s Columbus. In just seven weeks! Eek.

I especially want to say something about the Hugos, but not right now. For the moment, it was an honor and a delight to be nominated, a surprising joy to have come so close to winning, and I take my hat off to the winner (congrats Ellen!).  The fan community has been exceptionally kind and supportive to me, and I can only be grateful and happy.

While I may podcast today, the other big thing is to decide if I go to World Fantasy or not. Today is the crunch day. I have bookings being held. I suspect if I lose them, any chance of finding acceptable flights go with them. I have no idea as to the right decision. Every permutation makes me anxious, so it may come down to the toss of a coin (I kid you not).

Meanwhile, Aussiecon departure in 48hrs.  Yay!

Well, it’s complicated. A portion of it has to do with being a ‘person of size’ to use the South West vernacular. I’m tall and overweight. This means leg room and seat width, especially on long flights, are critical. I’ve spent more than one hideously uncomfortable 14hr trans-Pacific with the edge of a metal entertainment unit digging into my shin and, frankly, I’m never going to do that again.  So I spend too much time obsessing about that.

I also have friends who I see to rarely, and a trip to World Fantasy provides a chance to stop and visit. There’s the Locus crew (Liza, Kirsten, Amelia, Carolyn, Fran, etc), Bob & Karen, EllenK, and others in Oakland/SF, and there’s Gary in Chicago. Visiting either city is very attractive to me, and choosing one over the other is always hard.

And then there’s the airlines, with costs, routes, and other things. I could bore you witless on aspects of luggage, seating preference, etc etc.  They all add up to a lot of decisions, and all of them contribute directly to either making you more comfortable, your trip easier, or make your trip impact on others less.  You get all of that into ny head, and it goes round and round and round. After a while, staying home can seem like the best (easiest) option.

Oh, and I come from a family of worriers. :)

I’d be landing at SFO to be met by Charles and whomever drove him over that day (Jenny, Amelia, Liza, someone). Most likely he’d meet me holding a copy of the pages of the latest issue of Locus, which he’d thrust into my hands so I could get a sneak peek. Although the *only* thing I could possibly want would be a shower, Charles would nonetheless have lunch planned and shopping and whatever else (dr’s appts, buying gas, anything), as we drove around the Bay.

Eventually I’d end up clomping down the stairs to the dreaded murphy bed and a weekend or so of sitting around and talking and drinking and laughing and reading, of a little shopping, some restaurants, and such. I think that time – the days before WorldCon – are my “happy place”. I have such fond, fond memories of them. The parties we’d have, the things we’d do, which were at least as much the attraction of going to the US as any convention we might have gone to.

Those days are gone. I have friends in the Bay Area who I love to see, and the house is still there too, but that all ended in July 2008. The conventions are emptier now, the trips to the US a little less exciting, and I get angry that it didn’t have to have happened so soon. I wish I were on that plane….

The 2009 World Fantasy Awards ballot for 2010 has been announced and I am stunned to be on the ballot. My sincere thanks to all. Also my roaring congratulations to all of my fellow nominees:

Novel
Blood of Ambrose, James Enge (Pyr)
The Red Tree, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Macmillan UK/ Del Rey)
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland)
In Great Waters, Kit Whitfield (Jonathan Cape UK/Del Rey)

Novella
The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Kage Baker (Subterranean)
“The Lion’s Den”, Steven Duffy (Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo)
The Night Cache, Andy Duncan (PS)
“Sea-Hearts”, Margo Lanagan (X6 )
“Everland”, Paul Witcover (Everland and Other Stories)

Short Story
“I Needs Must Part, the Policeman Said”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 12/09)
“The Pelican Bar”, Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse Three)
“A Journal of Certain Events of Scientific Interest from the First Survey Voyage of the Southern Waters by HMS Ocelot, As Observed by Professor Thaddeus Boswell, DPhil, MSc, or, A Lullaby”, Helen Keeble (Strange Horizons 6/09)
“Singing on a Star”, Ellen Klages (Firebirds Soaring)
“The Persistence of Memory, or This Space for Sale”, Paul Park (Postscripts 20/21: Edison’s Frankenstein )
“In Waiting”, R.B. Russell (Putting the Pieces in Place)
“Light on the Water”, Genevieve Valentine (Fantasy 10/09)

Anthology
Poe,  Ellen Datlow, ed. (Solaris)
Songs of The Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois, eds. (Subterranean/Voyager)
Exotic Gothic 3: Strange Visitations, Danel Olson, ed. (Ash-Tree)
Eclipse Three, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade)
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny: From Poe to the Pulps/From the 1940s to Now, Peter Straub, ed. (Library of America)
The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction: Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology, Gordon Van Gelder, ed. (Tachyon)

Collection
We Never Talk About My Brother, Peter S. Beagle (Tachyon)
Fugue State, Brian Evenson (Coffee House)
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales, Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (Penguin)
Northwest Passages, Barbara Roden (Prime)
Everland and Other Stories, Paul Witcover (PS)
The Very Best of Gene Wolfe/The Best of Gene Wolfe, Gene Wolfe (PS /Tor)

Artist
John Jude Palencar
John Picacio
Charles Vess
Jason Zerrillo
Sam Weber

Special Award – Professional
Peter & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
Ellen Datlow for editing anthologies
Hayao Miyazaki for Ponyo
Barbara & Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press
Jonathan Strahan for editing anthologies
Jacob & Rina Weisman for Tachyon Publications

Special Award – Non-Professional
John Berlyne for Powers: Secret Histories
Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, & Sean Wallace for Clarkesworld
Susan Marie Groppi for Strange Horizons
John Klima for Electric Velocipede
Bob Colby, B. Diane Martin, David Shaw and Eric M. Van for Readercon
Ray Russell & Rosalie Parker for Tartarus Press