George R. R. Martin poleca książki

This amuses me. The reach of GRRM.

A few days ago he was kind enough to post a list of books and authors he recommends for people waiting impatiently for his next book. Happily, I'm one of them!

That's nice enough, but I had to chuckle when the list made the Huffington Post!

And, even further afield, it's on this Polish website! Fortunately, Acacia (and Pride of Carthage) is published in Polish, as Akacja, so I'm in this cover shot with some rather prominent authors:

So if I end up big in Poland it's surely all George's fault.

Mandria Cartaginei

Anyone have connections in Romania?

I ask because I've just seen the Romanian version of Pride of Carthage for the first time. It's called Mandria Cartaginei: Romanul Lui Hannibal and it looks like this:

I like it, but I'm worried about getting my hands on a copy. Never got one from the publisher and, sometimes, I never do. Hey, I'd even buy one if I could figure out how to.

LEYA Has Been Good To Me

A little while back I announced that the very cool Brazilian publisher LEYA had signed an uber-deal for all 22 of George RR Martin's Wild Cards collaborative series of novels (including the one I'm helping to wrap up right now). That still makes me shake me head. 22 books in one deal?...

I can now announce another deal with them that I'm very happy about.

LEYA has also had the incredible wisdom to acquire the Acacia Trilogy for the Brazilian market! Hurrah! I'm going to Brazil! Or... my books and my characters are, at least. Maybe I'll get there myself some day.

This is an entirely new market for me. Saída de Emergência published the series wonderfully in Portugal, but Brazil is a different territory. Here's hoping the LEYA books look as lovely as Saída de Emergência editions!

No Return

A few days ago I mentioned a story collection from a former student at Stonecoast.

Before that an anthology edited by two former students.

Today, I'm pleased to point you toward a novel by a former Stonecoast student, Zachary Jernigan!

His debut novel, No Return pubs today from Night Shade Books.

What's the book about? Lots of weird stuff. Click over and get the details. Here, I'll just point to what I myself had to say. I wrote:

"A visionary, violent, sexually charged, mystical novel -- No Return challenges classification. Clearly, Zachary Jernigan has no respect for genre confines. His tale of gods hanging in the sky and a “constructed man” with glowing blue coals for his eyes and a motley band of fighters navigating a harsh landscape peopled by savage creatures and religious zealots… Well, it’s pure genius. Here’s hoping it’s just the first of many such works from this guy."

Now, only the authors own credit for all this publishing success, but I will submit that there's something very good in the water of Coastal Maine. Aspiring writers of speculative fiction - check out the Stonecoast MFA Program!

In Search of and Others

Just a few days ago I mentioned a newly published anthology edited by some former Stonecoast students of mine (Futuredaze: An Anthology of YA Science Fiction). Well, today I get to mention another!

The marvelous Will Ludwigsen has just published a collection of short stories called In Search of and Others. I don't know if I've read any of these stories or not, but I loved the stuff I read of his when he was at Stonecoast. Quirky. Humorous. Gothic.

Here's the jacket copy:

A house inches eight hundred miles to confess its horrible crime. The last resident of a mental institution discovers he's not alone. A middle-schooler performs an experiment to determine how much time we fit in dreams. Boys looking for wonder find more than they're expecting in the Adirondacks with Charles Fort. A detective learns everything he's ever wanted to know...and some things he hasn't. In Will Ludwigsen's short stories of strangeness and mystery, the universe has a way of being weird in just the ways we need it to be. There are answers to many of our deepest questions...and they're usually far more personal than we expect. What are you in search of? And what is in search of you?

Hey, wait, I definitely did read that story about a house inching eight hundred miles to confess a horrible crime! It's terrific.

Publishers Weekly gave the collection a starred review, saying:

In this hauntingly beautiful collection of nine reprinted and six original stories, Ludwigsen issues an invitation to look past preconceived notions of self and ways of being, and to take a journey to the dark side of imagination. “The Speed of Dreams” begins as a lighthearted tale told from the perspective of a teen girl but takes an abrupt turn to a resonating and viscerally powerful conclusion. “We Were Wonder Scouts” echoes the irrepressible spirit of a Heinlein protagonist while twisting it ever so slightly. The variety of viewpoints and alternation between short and long stories allow the reader to catch a breath just before being pulled deep beneath the surface of chilling wonder. Each story’s concepts remain fully accessible while still challenging the reader, and exquisite craftsmanship makes this a timeless classic for those seeking asylum from formulaic prose.

Congrats, Will.