Walter Jon Williams has announced that he’s just sold his new novel, Implied Spaces, to the guys at Night Shade for “the largest advance ever offered by Night Shade Books”. I think this is terrific news. I love what Jer, Jason and the posse are doing, really like Walter’s novels, and think he’s been writing completely out of the box lately. I’ve no doubt that the posse edition of Hardwired will be swell, but I can’t wait to see Implied Spaces.

Well, we’re heading down to the wire. I get on a plane with the family in about ten days, and will be in Oakland in twelve or thirteen. There’s a lot of organising and such to do, but we’ll get there. In the mean time, China Mieville’s Un Lun Dun showed up in the post yesterday (thanks Chris!), so it’s jumped to the top of the ‘to read’ file.  It’s YA, which took me by surprise. I’ve also started Peter Watts Blindsight, which so far is terrific. I am trying to work out what I’ll read on the plane. I’m figuring the kids will run the laptop batteries down watching movies, so I might take something like one of the Jonathan Stroud novels along. I want a mass market paperback, or at least something small enough that it won’t end up on my chin when the person in front puts their seat back. Of course, I’ll plan to do a pile of work on the plane, but I won’t. Maybe in Oakland…

I was saddened to hear that my friend and colleague Cheryl Morgan has decided to end her successful and widely admired online semiprozine Emerald City. I’ve long enjoyed Cheryl’s reviews and commentary, and will miss seeing a new Emerald City every month. I’ve no doubt she’ll move on to something bigger and better, but I’m sorry to see it go.

A very quick Vance Treasury update. We’ll have galleys of The Jack Vance Treasury for WorldCon, which is pretty exciting.  I’m looking forward to getting a copy to George, and out to some reviewers. I feel like I’ve spent the last twelve months working on a lot of things that haven’t come out, so getting Best Short Novels recently, and knowing that copies of the Locus Press year’s bests and Eidolon will be at WorldCon feels really good. I think I need to seem some projects reaching fulfilment right now.

Lou Anders has some good words for the covers for the Locus Press year’s bests. There were some bumps along the road to Damascus, but I think John Picacio’s art is very fine indeed, and the Locus folk (hi Liza, hi Tim) ended up doing a terrific job.