Monthly Archives: June 2010

Science fiction

Wednesday AM

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So far Wednesday looks like it’s not going to dawn easily.  I have had this intermittent ear infection thing going on for some time, and it came back yesterday. I woke with my right ear feeling blocked and sore. Hearing dropped to about 50% of its usual level and tinnitus showed up soon after. Yay. That seems somewhat  better this morning, but now I’ve got mild dizziness. Not enough to be falling down or feeling nauseated, but enough to be a little unsteady and to leave me feeling unsure about the day ahead.  Yay. I need to get booked in to see the doctor again, but haven’t arranged that yet.

In almost equally happy news I also woke – at 3.45am! – to find that the girls had gone through all of the hot water last night, so a cool not-even-lukewarm shower was all that was on offer on what is quite a cold, wintry morning.  To say that my mood this morning is neither sunny nor overly optimistic as a result of the dizziness and cold shower is a reasonable summation of things.

Still, all is not glum. I had a nice hot breakfast, realised it was Swords and Dark Magic on-sale date in the US, read a pretty solid Rich Horton review of Wings of Fire (this was esp welcome as Rich hasn’t seemed overimpressed with my anthos of late), and pondered a few book projects.  Were it not for the dizziness and being up and awake nearly an hour and a half early this would be an ok morning.

Oh, and the awesome Katie may have found a reason to go to Columbus. Who would have thought that was possible? (I know, other than hanging with Ellen K, which is worth it in itself).

Science fiction

The New Space Opera 2

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This morning Perth time it was announced that The New Space Opera 2, an anthology that I co-edited with the fabulous Gardner Dozois, had emulated the success of its predecessor and won the Locus Award for Best Anthology. There’s no doubt in my mind the kudos for this achievement lie with the contributors, the cover artist, the publisher and my co-editor.  Still, I am delighted. My sincerest thanks to everyone involved and to all of the Locus voters. I am honored.  I was asked to provide a short acceptance speech, which is reproduced below:

Thank you. I’m delighted and honoured to hear that The New Space Opera
2 has won the Locus Award. I’d like to thank all of the voters,
everyone at Locus, Diana Gill and the wonderful team at HarperCollins,
the contributors to the book and, most importantly my friend and
colleague Gardner Dozois, who really did all of the hard stuff on this
book.

The New Space Opera 2 winning this award may be, I think, the most
important moment in the 20 years I’ve spent editing science fiction.
It is a pure quill science fiction book aimed straight at the very
heart of our field and, considering that we stand at point where the
centre has not held and science fiction is shattering irrevocably into
a thousand fascinating and individually worthwhile pieces, it is
heartening to know that such a book still has value and still has a
purpose.

It’s my sincerest wish that Gardner and I get to do more of these
books, but whether we do or not, this book and its Locus Award winning
predecessor stand, for me, as a statement about how the past of our
field can still connect to its future.

Podcasts

Episode 8: Live with Gary K. Wolfe and Jeremy Lassen

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The Windup GirlEditor and publisher Jeremy Lassen of Night Shade Books joins Gary and I for a new podcast as our second ever guest. Jeremy and Gary were in Seattle at the Locus Awards/Science Fiction Hall of Fame weekend while I was still pottering around after breakfast while one kid was off at swimming lessons in Perth.

I once again showed mylack of technical skills in the audio arena, but we discussed:

  • the Locus Awards and being in Seattle;
  • Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl and understanding science fiction in  21st Century world;
  • how science fiction still isn’t dying;
  • rescheduling Eclipse Four; and
  • a little bit on gender and the SF Hall of Fame (more to come here!).

There’s probably some other stuff, but we recorded this this morning and I’m not going to re-listen to the whole thing. We hope you enjoy it as always and will see you next weekend!

Science fiction

Godlike Machines

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For those of you following along at home, we are having genuine progress with my long-delayed anthology, Godlike Machines.  Originally due for publication in 2008, it has been delayed at the publisher for some time, but yesterday brought the copyedits of the book, which is very exciting.  There’s also a cover (I’ve seen a draft but not the final), and if all goes smoothly, there will be copies of the book at Aussiecon 4. At the moment the book is only available to members of the SF Book Club, but I remain hopeful that we can get it out to a larger audience. It features original hard SF novellas by Stephen Baxter, Cory Doctorow, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, and Sean Williams, and a reprint by Greg Egan “Hot Rock” (it was to have been original to the book).

More news as it transpires, but this book is coming out this year, and honestly there was a time when I wasn’t sure it was going to happen at all – I’m excited and very pleased.