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The blog posts of Black Gate Managing Editor Howard Andrew Jones and Editor John O’Neill

The 2010 Bram Stoker Award Nominees

The 2010 Bram Stoker Award Nominees

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stoker-awardThe final ballot for the 2010 Bram Stoker Awards has been announced. The Bram Stoker Awards are given each year by the Horror Writer’s Association for Superior Achievement. The categories are Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Anthology, Collection, Non-Fiction, and Poetry Collection. The winers will be announced at the Stoker Weekend in Long Island NY, from June 16-19. The winners receive what is undoubtedly the coolest trophy the genre has to offer: a miniature haunted house designed by Gahan Wilson. The door even opens, with the winner’s name engraved on the inside. Man. I want one of these on my mantle so bad. Not bad enough to actually write a horror novel, but I wonder if I could get one on eBay. Well, eight more are going to be given out this June, so my chances are going up. The nominees include:

Superior Achievement in a Novel

  • Horns, Joe Hill (William Morrow)
  • Rot and Ruin, Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster)
  • Dead Love, Linda Watanabe McFerrin (Stone Bridge Press)
  • Apocalypse of the Dead, Joe McKinney (Pinnacle)
  • Dweller, Jeff Strand (Leisure/Dark Regions Press)
  • A Dark Matter, Peter Straub (DoubleDay)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

  • Occultation, Laird Barron (Night Shade Books)
  • Blood and Gristle, Michael Louis Calvillo (Bad Moon Books)
  • Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King (Simon & Schuster)
  • The Ones That Got Away, Stephen Graham Jones (Prime Books)
  • A Host of Shadows, Harry Shannon (Dark Regions)

The complete list is here. Congratulations to all the nominees! And don’t forget, eBay is a fine place to unload all those annoying trophies cluttering up your home.

John Klima Ends Print Version of Electric Velocipede

John Klima Ends Print Version of Electric Velocipede

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ev21-224John Klima, the editor of the Hugo-Award winning magazine Electric Velocipede, has announced that issue #21/22 will be the final print issue:

After much discussion, I’ve decided to dissolve my partnership with Night Shade Books. Our final issue together is issue #21/22, which went to the printer in November. It should be arriving at the Night Shade offices soon and be shipping out any time now. Please watch here for more details.

While Night Shade has done a good job in supporting the magazine from a production standpoint, they are not in the business of periodicals and as such our subscription numbers and individual sales have suffered to the point that it made no sense to continue with our current model. Night Shade wants to focus its energies on its core business of publishing and selling books….

Night Shade has graciously offered to pay the contributors whose work I had accepted for publication in the coming year as Electric Velocipede issues #23 – 25. After some discussion with the contributors, we are going to post the content of these issues online for the readers and fans of Electric Velocipede. We’re still working out the logistics on our side for how that will happen, so you’ll have to watch here for the final details. If this works as planned, the magazine will be completely online in 2012, opening for submissions towards the end of 2011.

Electric Velocipede is one of the finest small press genre magazines on the market.  It has published work by Jay Lake, Jeff VanderMeer, Neal Barrett, Jr, Paul DiFilippo, Liz Williams, Charles Coleman Finlay, Hal Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Tobias Buckell, Catherynne M. Valente, Marie Brennan, and many others.  It won the Hugo Award for best fanzine in 2009, and has been a four-time World Fantasy Award nominee.

Issue 21/22, a big double issue, contains fiction from William Shunn, Shannon Page and Jay Lake, Shira Lipkin, Jenna Waterford, Michaela Roessner, and many others. It is available for $12 directly on the website.

The complete announcement is here.

The Desert of Souls Now Available in Kindle Edition

The Desert of Souls Now Available in Kindle Edition

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desert-of-souls21Howard Andrew Jones’ first novel The Desert of Souls is now available in Kindle format through Amazon.com’s online store.

The Kindle edition is priced at just $11.99, a thirteen dollar discount from the hardcover.

Rave reviews continue to pour in for The Desert of Souls, including these recent comments from some well-known fantasy authors:

“A grand and wonderful adventure filled with exotic magic and colorful places — like a cross between Sinbad and Indiana Jones.” — Kevin J. Anderson

“Like the genie of the lamp, Howard Jones has granted this reader’s wish for a fresh, exciting take on the venerable genre of sword-and-sorcery!” — Richard A. Knaak

“Howard Andrew Jones spins an exciting and suspenseful tale in his historical fantasy debut. A rich, detailed tapestry — part Arthur Conan Doyle, part Robert E. Howard, and part Omar Khayyam, woven in the magical thread of One Thousand And One Nights.” — E.E. Knight

The upcoming Black Gate 15 will excerpt the first two chapters of The Desert of Souls. But don’t wait — order your copy today!

Arabian Culture Myth as Fantasy: Tor.com interviews Howard Andrew Jones

Arabian Culture Myth as Fantasy: Tor.com interviews Howard Andrew Jones

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desertofsoulsWe ran out of bubbly grape juice by Friday morning, but that hasn’t stopped the non-stop celebration of Howard Andrew Jones month here at the Black Gate rooftop headquarters.

Today we’ve been clustered around computers reading the lengthy and far-ranging interview with Howard at Tor.com, which covers Howard’s literary inspirations, his research methods, and how long years toiling for Black Gate molded him into the literary titan he is today:

Are there other novels that inspired this series? Perhaps in unexpected ways?

Tthe books I’ve read the most times are probably Leiber’s collection of Lankhmar stories, Swords Against Death, and Zelazny’s Amber books… I can’t imagine that Leiber and Zelazny haven’t had a lasting influence upon me. I love the world building and pulp noir sensibilities of Leigh Brackett, queen of space opera, who was writing of Firefly-like characters twenty and thirty years before Han Solo every reached the silver screen.

How would you say your career as an editor at Black Gate has helped shape you as an author?

That’s an interesting question. I suppose it’s gotten me to think about the starts to stories even more than I was already. I see a lot more beginnings than I do endings, to be honest. That’s just the way it works when you’re reading submissions. The biggest impact, though, probably comes from the number of people I’ve had the privilege to meet thanks to Black Gate’s John O’Neill… I think my writing career would have had a much harder time getting launched without my work with the magazine and the Harold Lamb collections.

The complete interview (and an absolutely smashing photo of Howard in a paisley shirt) is here.

Are Joe Abercrombie’s Novels “Poison to Both the Reader’s Mind and Culture?”

Are Joe Abercrombie’s Novels “Poison to Both the Reader’s Mind and Culture?”

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Leo Grin
Leo Grin

So I’ve been enjoying the fascinating debate on modern epic fantasy between Leo Grin and author Joe Abercrombie. It opened with Leo’s absorbing essay on what he sees as the profound flaws in modern fantasy in general:

I used to think I was a fan of the genre known today as fantasy, and specifically the subgenres of High Fantasy and Sword-and-Sorcery… But it was only recently, after decades of ever-increasing reading disappointment, that I grudgingly began to admit the truth: I don’t particularly care for fantasy per se. What I actually cherish is something far more rare: the elevated prose poetry, mythopoeic subcreation, and thematic richness that only the best fantasy achieves, and that echoes in important particulars the myths and fables of old. This realization eliminates, at a stroke, virtually everything written under the banner of fantasy today.

And in writers like Joe Abercrombie in particular:

Think of a Lord of the Rings where, after stringing you along for thousands of pages, all of the hobbits end up dying of cancer contracted by their proximity to the Ring, Aragorn is revealed to be a buffoonish puppet-king of no honor and false might, and Gandalf no sooner celebrates the defeat of Sauron than he executes a long-held plot to become the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, and you have some idea of what to expect should you descend into Abercrombie’s jaded literary sewer.

Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie

Joe has responded to this description with typical humor:

That sounds … kind of interesting to me, actually, but I dimly percieve that Leo doesn’t like it.  Your mileage may vary, of course.  But why all the fury, Leo?  Relax.  Pour yourself a drink.  Admire your unrivalled collection of Frank Frazetta prints for a while.  Wrestle the old blood pressure down.  When an old building is demolished to make way for a new, I can see the cause of upset… But books don’t work that way.  If I choose to write my own take on fantasy, what gets destroyed?

As he has done in the past, Leo lays the blame for many of the ills of the modern era on liberals.

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C.S.E. Cooney’s Jack of the Hills is Available Today

C.S.E. Cooney’s Jack of the Hills is Available Today

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jack-of-the-hillsJust to prove that Howard Andrew Jones isn’t the only Black Gate staff member with talent the size of a planet,  we’re proud to announce that our website editor C.S.E. Cooney has published her book Jack of the Hills today through Papaveria Press.

Papaveria Press was founded by Erzebet YellowBoy. Along with The Winter Triptych by Nicole Kornher-Stace (also appearing today), Jack of the Hills is the first book in Erzebet’s new Wonder Tales line of elegant paperbacks.

Jack of the Hills is a collection of two celebrated tales, “Stone Shoes” and “Oubliette’s Egg.” It is 69 pages and available in print, epub and mobi editions.

Jack Yap once had his mouth sewn shut for talking too much. His brother Pudding has to wear stone shoes or he’ll just wander off. Will little obstacles like these keep the boys out of trouble? Not for the twinkling of an eye. There is magic in the hills, shapechangers and monsters, and Jack Yap has a hankering to meet them all and maybe kill a few. What he and Pudding find in the hills, however, changes both their lives, taking them out of the country and into the cruel and wonderful world, where witches and princesses await. Sometimes they are even the same person.

Here’s what Ellen Kushner, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Thomas the Rhymer, said about Jack of the Hills:

Stunningly delicious! Cruel, beautiful and irresistible are C.S.E. Cooney’s characters and prose. Just when you thought fantasy had devolved into endless repetition, ’Jack o’ the Hills’ blows us all over the next hill and into the kingdom beyond. C.S.E. Cooney is a rare and exciting new talent. Whatever she offers us next, I’ll waiting in line to read.

You can order your copy here.

BookPage Reviews The Desert of Souls

BookPage Reviews The Desert of Souls

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desert-of-souls2Howard Andrew Jones’ novel The Desert of Souls will be released Tuesday, Feb 15.

But the early reviews have begun to appear, and it’s obvious the excitement surrounding the book is already starting to build.  Here’s an excerpt from the review at BookPage:

In the space of the first two sentences… Howard Andrew Jones has captured the reader. By the end of the first page — and in my case, the first paragraph — the crisp, evocative imagery has gripped one’s attention… that grip only tightens in the pages that follow.

The Desert of Souls has been described as Sherlock Holmes meets the Arabian Nights meets Robert E. Howard. The comparisons are apt, and in the case of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous duo, overt. The martially adept Captain Asim partners with the erudite Dabir, a scholar whose principle weapons are his piercing intelligence and keen observations… Fantastic adventure ensues. Though this is only the first book, the tandem of Asim and Dabir shows great promise to be worthy of the “great fictional duos” mantle worn by the likes of Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Bilbo and Gandalf, and even Kirk and Spock.

The rich tapestry of 8th-century Baghdad recalls some of Scheherazade’s most engaging tales, and the supernatural horrors faced by Asim and Dabir during the course of their adventures could just as easily have menaced the likes of Conan, Solomon Kane or Bran Mak Morn…. At its heart, Jones’ work is a great read — a page-turner in its purest form. As such, The Desert of Souls is a powerful place — it can wreck sleeping schedules, cause chores to be neglected and, best of all, make one yearn for the next installment.

The complete review by Michael Burgin is available here. You can pre-order The Desert of Souls at Amazon.com and other fine bookshops.

Kicking Off Howard Andrew Jones Month

Kicking Off Howard Andrew Jones Month

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desertofsoulsIt’s the start of Howard Andrew Jones Month here at the Black Gate blog.

You have to do something pretty special to get a whole month, even if you’re Managing Editor of Black Gate. But publishing your first two novels — The Desert of Souls and  Plague of Shadows — from two different publishers, not to mention writing an essay for John Scalzi’s “Big Idea,” holding your first book signing, conducting a sweepstakes, getting picked up by the Science Fiction Book Club, publishing an original online story, being the subject of a multi-part interview, writing the Afterword for Robert E. Howard’s Sword Woman, appearing in Black Gate 15 (twice), being a guest blogger, and writing regular columns here at Black Gate, all in the same month… yeah. That will do it.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be telling you more about the incredible Howard Andrew Jones, starting with the breathless reviews for his first novel The Desert of Souls, a classic Arabian Nights fantasy and “a page-turner in its purest form” (BookPage), on sale Feb 15. It’s the best novel I’ve read in many years, and you’re not going to want to miss it.

First Jetpacks. And Now a Robot Orders a Scone

First Jetpacks. And Now a Robot Orders a Scone

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anybots22It’s been a good week for the future.

Just a few days after we announced the tardy arrival of jetpacks (finally!) here in the 21st Century, a robot was spotted ordering a scone in Mountain View, California.

Yes, a real robot. This future overlord of humanity was manufactured by Anybots, Inc. (also of Mountain View), and was caught on camera purchasing a pastry at Red Rock Coffee by Aaron96121, who posted this amusing 5-minute video on YouTube.

Anybot specializes in “telepresence robots,” that are controlled remotely and allow people to attend meetings around the world. They are mounted on a motorized base and can be controlled from any computer through a web browser.  They also have built-in video and voice capability, and reportedly retail for $15,000 – $30,000.

They’re also decent tippers, if the video can be believed. This particular robot was fetching a scone for its current master, an Anybot engineer, doubtless before returning to its normal routine of plotting the eventual overthrow of mankind.

As one astute commenter at YouTube posted, “I for one welcome our scone-eating robot overlords!”  Amen to that, brother. As long as I get a jetpack.

Fantasy and Lightspeed

Fantasy and Lightspeed

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bgfantasy2John Joseph Adams is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), The Living Dead 2, The Way of the Wizard, Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse.

Forthcoming work includes the anthologies The Book of Cthulhu, Brave New Worlds, and The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination.

And guess what else? He is now the editor of Fantasy Magazine and Lightspeed Magazine, the critically-acclaimed online short fiction magazines published by Prime Books.

Here are the guidelines for Fantasy.

…

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