Yesterday was the first day back at the office, and it looks like I’m going to be (appropriately) be kept busy there. For some reason my boss actually thinks it’s a good idea that I work for my salary, which is both perfectly reasonable and possibly ill-advised. Who knows…
Anyhow, I’m trying to work out a path forward so that I hit as many of my deadlines as possible in coming months. Marianne is proving indispensable, but I have a LOT of stuff due before Christmas. I think TV and casual reading just took a dive till the New Year. From here on out it has to be focussed. I have a year’s best due in December (thank goodness I’ve already picked some stories for it) and a bunch of anthologies and bests ofs. You might not notice it, but 2010 will be my busiest year yet.
Oh, and I have to get invites for Eclipse 4 out. None have gone yet because I need to ponder the details of the book a little, though I did invite two people at Montreal who I hope will come through next year.
Well, I’ve returned home, stunned by jetlag, and basically been buffetted from pillar to post for the rest of the week. Tomorrow I head back to full-time employment and, presumably, some kind of normality. I think I’m only just beginning to adjust, but commitments are dragging me forward, so no doubt I’ll be right in time to head back to the US for World Fantasy.
I’d love to tell you about the highlights – the bar at the Intercontinental, dinner with friends, memorials for Charles and so on – but time is drawing a veil over such things. Work beckons. Eclipse 3 is in the hands of the publisher. Most of the special issue of Subterrean is too. Swords and Dark Magic (aka Conquering Swords) is due on the 30th, and Legends of Australian Fantasy too. I also need to be read, read, reading for the Leiber, Robinson, Haldeman and year’s best volumes. There’s more, but it can wait. Busy as always!
I’ve just returned from Sydney, San Francisco, Montreal and Melbourne. There’s way too much to report to fit into one post (and I’m awful at recording events), but one of the highlights was accepting the Hugo Award on behalf of Ted Chiang, whose brilliant short story “Exhalation” from Eclipse Two, was honored by the members of the World Science Fiction Society in the Best Short Story category. I love the story and was delighted that it won.
The Hugo results were announced the day after I delivered Eclipse Three to Night Shade Books for an expected October 2009 publication (it should be out for World Fantasy). There might be some tiny changes but the table of contents for the book is:
The Pelican Bar, Karen Joy Fowler
A Practical Girl Lotion, Ellen Klages
Don’t Mention Madagascar, Pat Cadigan
On the Road, Nnedi Okorafor
Swell, Elizabeth Bear
Useless Things, Maureen F. McHugh
The Coral Heart, Jeffrey Ford
It Takes Two, Nicola Griffith
Sleight of Hand, Peter S. Beagle
The Pretender’s Tourney, Daniel Abraham
Yes We Have No Bananas, Paul Di Filippo
Mesopotamian Fire, Jane Yolen & Adam Stemple
The Visited Man, Molly Gloss
Galápagos, CaitlÃn R. Kiernan
Dolce Domum, Ellen Kushner
I’m also delighted to be able to show you the cover for the book, which was done by the late Richard Powers (1). It’s a peach. It’s the one on right in the trio of images above. Oh, and yes, there will be an Eclipse Four! I’ve not had a chance to work anything much out about it yet, but it looks like it’ll definitely happen. More on it soon.
I should note that, while the cover image is final, there are changes to be made to the cover text. The names on the front etc will change since this tentative design was completed. I’ll get the final up here when it’s done. Still, it looks v.cool!
Edited 23/08/09. Author Ellen Klages has changed the title of her story from “Lotion” to “A Practical Girl”.
Well, I’m almost home. It’s been eighteen days and I’m sitting in the Qantas Lounge at Sydney Airport, killing a couple hours before my flight. It’s been a difficult but rewarding trip. Very little business done, but I did get to see people in Montreal, deal with some things in Oakland for Locus, and see friends here in Melbourne. All in all, worth the trip, though I’m tired and ready for home. I’ve got a quiet week ahead which will, no doubt, be eaten alive by other commitments, but that’s how that goes. I’m aiming for a slow reintroduction to real life, but we shall see.
Well, WorldCon is over. Congratulations to all of the Hugo winners, especially Ellen Datlow. Very, very well deserved. It’s been a long and difficult week for me, mostly for personal reasons I suspect. Nonetheless, it was good too see everyone and I’m allowing that I should be able to look forward to going to San Jose later in the year. Right now, though, I mostly want to get home. Still another week before that happens, though. Great friends in Melbourne will help, though. More soon!
