At the recent San Antonio WorldCon, Gary was joined by special guest co-host Kij Johnson and award-winning author John Kessel (both long time friends of the podcast) to discuss the works of the late, great Alfred Bester.
Our sincere thanks to both Kij and John. As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast!
About a month ago Ellen Klages and Andy Duncan were kind enough to appear as guests on the Coode Street Podcast. We had a lively and engaging discussion about writing, publishing and collaborating. A significant portion of the discussion centered around the publication of their forthcoming Tor.com novella, “Wakulla Springs“.
Well, the story is set to be published in early October, but you can pre-order the ebook now (for $1.99).
Tor.com has been doing an incredible job with the artwork it’s provided for their short fiction, and the art for “Wakulla Springs” is no exception. My hat’s off to Irene Gallo. My only regret with this one is that there isn’t going to be a print version of what looks to be a truly lovely package.
T-45 days according to an internet thingy I was playing with this morning: that’s how long it is till I fly out for London, Brighton, and the 2013 World Fantasy Convention. I’m at that stage where everything seems a bit chaotic and, if I let myself, I could get lost in trying to work out all of the details of the 15 days I’ll be away. Marianne and the girls will be staying home, so it’s another solo trip for me, though I will be staying with and traveling with friends when I’m there. It should be fun.
My schedule for the trip is very much up in the air, though I do want to keep it as open as possible. I have tentatively agreed to appear on two panels at World Fantasy. The convention has been very kind in offering me the opportunity to appear on programming, so I feel I should prepare for that. I also will be doing a little business. All else should be friends and fun.
What do I have on before then? Well…I should get my special issue of Subterranean magazine wrapped up, for a start. Most of the stories are in, so I need to line up some art and bits and pieces, then get it delivered. I also need to get a LOT of reading done for The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year. It’s due in December, so I need to work on the intros and start contracting stories too. Along the way I want to get some ground work in on two other books, and get some advance work done on the next round of projects.
It is, of course, important I do this now because December itself will be chaotic. I will be working on the Locus Recommended Reading issue, and short fiction recommended reading list. Then there’s Christmas, New Year and my birthday. Some days I feel like it’s March next year already…
Recorded live in San Antonio, Texas at  LoneStarCon 3, this week’s episode sees our intrepid podcasters once again depending on the vagaries of hotel internet connections and Skype calls to bring you the very best in science fiction podcasting.
This week Gary and Jonathan are joined by Malcolm Edwards, Managing Director of Orion Books, and David G. Hartwell, senior editor at Tor.  In a freewheeling discussion, these two enormously experienced and respected giants of the science fiction publishing industry discuss contemporary publishing, editing, and their deep and abiding love for science fiction.
We would like to thank David and Malcom for joining us, and hope you enjoy the podcast. We would also like to thank everyone who nominated The Coode Street Podcast for the Hugo Award this year (it’s greatly appreciated) and send out our sincere congratulations to all the 2013 Hugo Awards winners.
Last weekend I sat in on a discussion with Malcolm Edwards and David G. Hartwell about science fiction, publishing and editing. It’ll form the basis of an upcoming episode of the Coode Street Podcast, and I strongly recommend it. We can give too much attention to the aging white male demographic in SF, but these two men really have achieved remarkable things and lived through fascinating times. The editors of The Shadow of the Torturer, Mythago Wood, Empire of the Sun, Neuromancer, and many, many more: iconic books that evoke worlds when you hear their titles mentioned.
During the discussion, Malcolm and David touch on how difficult it can be for a writer to make their living from writing SF in 2013. David mentions that for a long period of time there were possibly five people in the field making a full-time living from writing SF, and that we may be returning to those days. Publishing is sufficiently complex that I don’t know if that will prove to be true or not, but I was struck by David’s comment that at one time writing SF was a holy mission, a passion that drove writers, almost regardless of economic benefits (or the lack thereof). And I wondered, is that still true for writers today? I think it is, I suspect it is, and I bet I could point to a number of writers for whom I believe it is true, but I think I want to find out. I’m considering doing a new limited series of short interviews/podcasts to ask that very question: why do you write SF and do you feel a burning passion to do so? I think the answers would be fascinating…