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50% off all Books at Golden Gryphon Press

50% off all Books at Golden Gryphon Press

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wreckOne of my favorite small press publishers, Golden Gryphon Press, is having a 50% off sale.

Golden Gryphon was founded by Jim Turner, the esteemed editor at Arkham House, in 1997. When Jim died in 1999 his brother Gary took over, and over the past 13 years the imprint has published an extremely impressive array of titles, including 62 archival quality hardcovers, four limited edition chapbooks, and 13 trade paperback reprints.

They specialize in short story collections from modern authors, and their books have included some of the best collections of the past decade, including  The Dragons of Springplace by Robert Reed, The Robot’s Twilight Companion by Tony Daniel, Beluthahatchie and Other Stories by Andy Duncan, Strange Tides by Paul Di Filippo, Secret Life by Jeff VanderMeer, Wild Galaxy by William F. Nolan, and The Wreck of the Godspeed, by James Patrick Kelly.

Unlike most small presses, Golden Gryphon works very hard to keep their prices in line with regular hardcovers, and their books range from $20 to $24.95 — meaning you can nab virtually all of these titles for $12.50 or less during their sale.

More details on the sale are here [Link no longer active], and you can see Rodger Turner’s checklist of all their titles at SF Site. I would suggest you move quickly, however. The sale is for a limited time, and a handful of their most famous titles, such as Think Like a Dinosaur by James Patrick Kelly, The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant and Other Stories by Jeffrey Ford and The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross, are already sold out and out of print.

Morlock Returns

Morlock Returns

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travellers-rest-coverIf you’ve been missing Morlock, you’re in luck, because he’s back.

James Enge’s iconic character has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention lately. If you missed out on the news, Enge’s first novel, Blood of Ambrose (starring Morlock) was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. His third novel, The Wolf Age (starring Morlock) recently received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly.

Now it turns out that The Wolf Age is Pyr’s one-hundredth title, an event certainly worth celebrating, and what better way to celebrate than with a new Morlock novelette?

I’ll let the official Pyr release from Jill Maxick take over from here:

In honor of this burgeoning Morlock fan base, and to commemorate The Wolf Age’s status as Pyr’s one-hundredth title, Pyr is issuing a free, exclusive, ePub novelette called “Travellers’ Rest.” Featuring a cover by artist Chuck Lukacs, “Travellers’ Rest” is an 8,500 word original novelette, written for Pyr, which takes place before the events of Blood of Ambrose. It is available on the Pyr website, as a free download in ePub format and will also be available via Kindle. (Two previously published Morlock short stories that take place many decades after the events of The Wolf Age — “A Book of Silences” and “Fire and Sleet” — are available on the Sample Chapters section of the Pyr website.)

For those of you without an e-reader, the HTML version is here.

What are you waiting for?

Take Advantage of Holiday Discounts at Lulu.com

Take Advantage of Holiday Discounts at Lulu.com

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luluI got a reminder from Lulu.com this morning that the window for placing Holiday orders in time for Christmas is closing.  Thanks Lulu!

Plus, they sent me the handy coupon at right.  It’s good for 20% off any order (up to a total of $100 savings) until Dec 31, 2010.

I hope I don’t get in trouble for sharing it. Probably not.  But if anybody locks you in a small room and shines a bright light in your face and demands to know where you got this coupon, remember these handy phrases: “I’ll talk!  It was Gordon van Gelder.”

Or just go get your own coupon online, at their Daily Deals page.

startling-storiesLulu is the leading Print on Demand (POD) publisher. Need a reminder of all the great titles available at Lulu?

Over the past year we’ve told you about the two volumes of The Clayton Astounding reprints, Vagabonds of Space and Planetoids of Peril.

For gamers, there’s the new role playing game of heroic rodents, Hyperborean Mice, featuring grim swords & sorcery action… with talking mice.

For short fiction lovers, there’s G.W. Thomas’ terrific Dark Worlds magazine, featuring tales of modern adventure fantasy, and the new incarnation of pulp magazine Startling Stories, from Wild Cat Books (shown at left).

And don’t forget Charles R. Saunders’ latest Imaro novels, The Naama War, and The Trail of Bohu.

At that and much more.  Support your favorite small press publishers, and get some great gifts at the same time. How cool is that?

Apex Magazine 19 arrives, featuring C.S.E. Cooney

Apex Magazine 19 arrives, featuring C.S.E. Cooney

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apex19I’m very jealous of how punctual this magazine is. I suspect a pact with demonic forces.

The new issue of Apex has arrived, featuring fiction from our own marvelous C.S.E. Cooney, with her short story “Pale, and from a Sea-Wave Rising,” as well as less interesting people like Nick Wolven, with “Radishes,” and Erzebet YellowBoy, with the reprint “At the Core” (from Fantasy Magazine, 2006.)

The issue also includes two poems: “Flourless Devil’s Food” by Shweta Narayan, and “Cancelled Flight” by W.C. Roberts.

Apex Magazine 19 is sold online for $2.99; it’s also sold in a downloadable, pay-what-you-want edition through Smashwords, and in a Kindle edition (for 99 cents). Previous issues are available through their back issue page.

C.S.E.’s complete story is online. Here’s the first line:

Aquilo Vickery Makepeace, anatomy student, was looking for corpses when he found the undine.

I like it. We last profiled Apex with their November Arab/Muslim issue, the October issue and in August (also featuring C.S.E. Cooney).

Apex Magazine is edited by the ethereally beautiful Catherynne M. Valente. To join the Apex Army and donate, subscribe, or help spread the word, visit their online store.

“The Word of Azrael” Selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

“The Word of Azrael” Selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

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yearsbest2011Matthew David Surridge’s novellete “The Word of Azrael” has been selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011 Edition, edited by Rich Horton.

Congratulations, Matthew!  “The Word of Azrael” has been praised in many places since it appeared in Black Gate 14. Here’s what Rich said in his Locus magazine review in the August issue:

Even better is Matthew [David] Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael.” It concerns Isrohim Vey, who sees the Angel of Death on a battlefield and as a result is spared — more a curse than a blessing — to search again for the Angel. His search almost takes the form of a catalog of sword & sorcery tropes, his many adventures told briefly but with style and an ironic edge. Surridge both celebrates and winks at the genre. It’s very entertaining, clever, and even thought-provoking.

…

Read More Read More

Crossed Genres 25 Arrives

Crossed Genres 25 Arrives

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crossed-genresCrossed Genres, the online magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy with a twist, has just published its 25th issue.

Crossed Genres is edited by Jaym Gates and Natania Barron. This issue includes five complete works of fiction, including “We Shall Overcome,” by Nicole Givens Kurtz, and “The Gift” by Christie Yant, as well as stories by Jaymee Goh, Arthur Carey and Jacob Edwards.

The wonderful cover art (left), “Balloons,” is by Margaret Hardy.

Crossed Genres is published monthly; this is the first issue with the new editorial team. The magazine was previously edited by Bart R. Leig and K.T. Holt. The first issue appeared in September, 2008.

The genre (or theme) changes each issue. The genre for the current issue is “Celebration;” the genre for issue #27 (to be released January 1, 2010) is Tragedy. Submissions for Issue #27 will be accepted until midnight December 31. The next two genres are Superhero and Mystery.

Congratulations, Jaym and Natania! Here’s to many more.

NASA Announces Mysterious News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

NASA Announces Mysterious News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

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imagesOkay, this is pretty cool. Freelance Black Gate operative John C. Hocking leaks word to us that NASA has announced a press conference this Thursday regarding an “astrobiology finding.” The prestigious journal Science has also “embargoed details” until the conference:

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery;
Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EST On Dec. 2

WASHINGTON — NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.

Anyone who follows these things regularly knows they usually lead to some announcement about fossilized remnants that might once have been bacteria, maybe, in some rock in the arctic that once maybe came from Mars. Lame.  They hardly ever announce that alien life is hours away from totally devouring downtown Pittsburgh, or knocking over skyscrapers in Tokyo or anything like that.

But you never know. What does “embargoed details” mean? Does it involve suited men in late model sedans, monitoring the activities of journalists who don’t respect the government’s requests to “keep a lid” on this? We can only hope. ‘Cause that would be cool.

In the meantime, the anticipation shall doubtless be far more delicious than the actual announcement, but that’s OK. We have until Thursday to dream that maybe, this time, they’ll announce that alien life has touched down in Oklahoma, and they’re willing to trade advanced tech for more Chuck Berry CDs.

Wumpus Tales Now Open to Submissions

Wumpus Tales Now Open to Submissions

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wumpustales2Attention all fiction writers looking for markets! Alexander G. Tozzi, publisher of the new magazine Wumpus Tales: A Magazine of Bizarre Fiction, tells us it is now open to submissions:

Ideally we hope to fill its pages with stories reminiscent of concepts you might find in an 80’s computer game, where aliens guzzle brain juice in a satellite cafe, wizards cheat at poker while their familiars operate pyramid schemes, and zombies delight in smashing each other’s tombstones.
       We also want stories taking place in real life, though with some element of the genres worked in, such as a girl who enchants a rival’s makeup so that it turns her into a beast. Right now we are scouring every market list we can find, trying to get added. Submissions are the only thing keeping Issue Number One from being printed, and we hope that authors will read our guidelines before sending anything.

We’re looking forward to reading those stories (especially the one with the zombies!), so all you aspiring writers, get to work.

The website and submission guidelines are here.

Subscribe to Black Gate? Get a PDF Version for just $2.95!

Subscribe to Black Gate? Get a PDF Version for just $2.95!

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black-gate-12Are you a current Black Gate magazine subscriber? If so, you’re eligible to purchase PDF copies of your favorite issues at $2 off regular price — just $2.95 per issue.

High-resolution PDF versions of Black Gate are regularly $4.95 each, and are now available in the same quantities as print subscriptions: 2 issues for $9.50, 4 for $17.95, or 6 for just $25.95.

However, subscribers to the print version can now buy PDFs for just $2.95 for single issues. Discounts are offered for subscriptions as well: $5.50 for 2 PDF issues, $9.95 for 4, and just $14.25 for 6!

Those who purchase a 4-issue print sub and a 4-issue PDF sub at the same time can now save even more, and receive the PDF subscription for just $7.95 — a $10 savings off regular price.

Issues currently available in PDF format are BG 11, BG 12, BG 13, and our big double issue, BG 14 — 384 pages, still priced at the regular cost of $4.95. Oppressed house elves are currently hard at work, painstakingly converting our earlier issues by hand, and PDF subscriptions to future issues are available as well.

You can get all the details on our subscription page. Act now, and help us afford that big Christmas office party!

Great Gift Ideas For Geeks and Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

Great Gift Ideas For Geeks and Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

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honey-monthI love being interviewed.  Especially on weeks when Jack Nicholson isn’t talking to the press.  I tell my wife, “I was interviewed more often than Jack Nicholson this week.”

Alice is rarely impressed. “I don’t like Jack Nicholson,” she tells me. But I keep it up, in the hopes that it will win me some lovin’.

I was interviewed by SF Signal for their regular Mind Meld column, along with people less famous than me, like Jeff VanderMeer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick, Martha Wells, David B. Coe, Jaym Gates, Brenda Cooper, Mike Brotherton, A. Lee Martinez, and other international celebrities and rock stars like that.  The topic was Great Gift Ideas For Geeks and Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans, and here’s what that VanderMeer guy said about some book about honey by Amal El-Mohtar:

The Honey Month – This beautifully illustrated volume of short fictions and poems takes as its inspiration the author’s tasting of 28 different kinds of honey, one per day. Each tasting leads to a different literary creation, but she begins each entry by describing the honey in terms that will be familiar to wine connoisseurs. To top it all off, Oliver Hunter’s finely rendered color illustrations make encountering such rich, heady prose even more delightful…. The book’s a slim 73 pages for a reason: like the honey described, any more and it would be too rich for most readers. As it stands, however, The Honey Month is the perfect length, and the perfect gift.

I tried to buy a copy of The Honey Month from Amal at Wiscon, but she wouldn’t sell it to me (I think because I was more famous than her). Now that she’s had a book blurbed by VanderMeer and done, like, the most popular interview in the history of Black Gate, I expect all that to change. And maybe a brother can buy a simple book, know what I’m sayin’?

You can read the complete SF Signal article here.