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John Scalzi returns to the Old Man’s War universe for his next fantastic installment. Following on from The Human Division, which was told over thirteen episodes, this time Scalzi tells his story over four novellas and once again demonstrates his total mastery in whatever form or perspective he chooses to tell his stories. Have firming […]

Trigger Warning author Neil Gaiman shared a beautiful friendship with the late Sir Terry Pratchett. During a conversation event with The Guardian books editor Claire Armitstead, he reminisced about one of his favorite memories with Pratchett. Click here to watch a video that features Gaiman recalling one of the last “out of the blue” conversations he had with Pratchett.

Since Pratchett’s passing, the world has been in mourning. Not too long ago, an anonymous graffiti artist painted a mural to honor Pratchett in London. Several authors have spoken out including The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood, Old Man’s War series author John Scalzi, and Little Brother author Cory Doctorow.

Bestselling author John Scalzi has inked a substantial book deal with Tor Books.

The sci-fi author will write thirteen books – 10 adult and three young adult titles – over the next 10 years for the publisher. The deal, reportedly $3.4 million, was led by Ethan Ellenberg of Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. Titles will include a new far-future space opera series, as well as sequels to “Lock In.”

“Well, now I know what I’m doing for the next decade,\" said Scalzi in a statement. “And that’s a good thing. In an era when publishing is in flux, this contract with Tor will let me spend more of my time doing what readers want me to do: writing books and making new stories for them to enjoy. It also gives both me and Tor a stable, long-term base to grow our audience, not only among established science fiction and fantasy fans, but among readers of all sorts. Science fiction is mainstream culture now, and there are so many people discovering just how much there is to enjoy in these stories of ours. We have much more to share. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Author and Writer Beware co-founder Ann Crispin has passed away.

Making Light posted the sad news and novelist John Scalzi shared a tribute to the science fiction writer. Earlier this week, she posted a final message for readers and writers on Facebook:

I want you all to know that I am receiving excellent care and am surrounded by family and friends. I wish all aspiring writers the will to finish and a good contract. Please continue to monitor Writer Beware and be careful who you sign with. Victoria Strauss and Richard White are there to help.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Friends of science fiction author Jay Lake have united to raise money for his battle with cancer. They have already doubled the original fundraising goal of $20,000 for Lake (pictured).

As various levels of funding were reached, fellow science fiction writers unlocked special fundraising treats. For instance, author Patrick Rothfuss shared an excerpt from his high school novel and novelist John Scalzi sang a lost Bob Dylan song.

Here’s more from the fundraiser: However, a new technology is becoming available—one that may offer his doctors a better option for treating the cancer. We’re trying to raise funds to allow Jay to have whole genome sequencing. There is a small possibility that the results of such a test, which is more comprehensive than conventional genetic testing of tumors, may suggest a treatment path that Jay’s doctor’s may not have considered, and that could be life saving. It’s a really small chance, and Jay knows that. For this fundraiser, we have asked some science fiction and fantasy writers to donate an “Act of Whimsy” which they will share with the community as we reach milestones in our fundraising.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

If you're seeking formulaic and uninteresting fan fiction, then this is not the book for you. But if you're looking for adventure, romance, and death-by-ice sharks, then John Scalzi's your man. Ensign Andrew Dahl is assigned to the Intrepid, a laudable starship with a nasty reputation for death and chaos. Low-ranking officers are always, always [...]

I don't reread books often; I just don't have the time. But this is one book that will get reread annually, if not more often. While the bulk of Redshirts is a comedic romp that gleefully skewers the conventions of sci-fi television, the three codas at the end provide depth and poignancy to what has [...]

Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas John Scalzi

First off, I read and enjoyed the hell out of this book BEFORE I knew just how much I loved John Scalzi.

I enjoyed this book so much, I want to go read his other stuff, even though it's pretty standard SciFi which is not a genre I tend to read unless Han Solo is on the cover. (Not that I don't enjoy SciFi when I do read it, it's just something that's lower on the list of genres I enjoy, so I just tend to not pick it up.)

ANYWAY.

So the basic premis is that (Andy) Dahl, (Maia) Duvall, (Jimmy) Hanson, Finn, and Hester are all new crew members on the Intrepid, the Capital Ship of the Universal Union.

While they're excited to be at such a prestigious posting they quickly realize a few things-- the Intrepid has a startling high death rate. Away missions are suicide, unless you're a senior officer. Decks six through twelve have an even more unusually high death rate in battles. Every so often, things stop making sense and you find yourself saying the stupidest things, then it stops.

They meet Jenkins, who tells them what's going on, and warns them to steer clear of THE NARRATIVE.

But Dahl has a few ideas up his own sleeve and is tired of what's happening, and is going to fix it.

This book is in no way, shape, or form about the nameless red-shirted crew members on Star Trek who die right before commercial break so Shatner can get all dramatic. Nope. nope. nope. Not at all.

It's an entertaining premise, but I was worried going into it-- was the premise enough to carry the entire book? Or would it be a joke that got old in 50 pages but I still had to slog through the rest?

NO WORRIES. It's a joke that holds. Part of the reason is that Scalzi creates real characters and real relationships. Even though it's satire, it has much more depth and meaning than I was expecting. It's a great look at making your life (and death) matter, the art of writing, and taking charge of your destiny. All while being really funny. (I want a science box!)

With the exception of Star Wars, I'm not a huge SciFi nerd. I've never actually seen an entire episode of Star Trek (any version.) I haven't watched that much SciFi TV since SeaQuest went off the air. But Scalzi didn't just dash off a 314 page joke. He wrote a really good, really funny meta-story.

I mean, when one of the officers gets clued in to what's going on? BRILLIANT. (And hilarious.)

So, while this is part send-up, part love letter to cheesy SciFi, it's also a really good story, so you don't need to be well-versed in your cheesy SciFi to enjoy it.

I mean, it's a book that makes me want to read more in a genre I typically skip.

Like I said on the top, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Book Provided by... my local library

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The 2012 Hugo Award winners have been revealed, honoring the best science fiction and fantasy writing of the year. 1,922 ballots were cast during the voting process.

Below, we’ve linked to free samples of all the winners–including the complete text of the winning novella, novelette, short story and graphic story. Be sure to check out John DeNardo‘s SF Signal blog, winner of the best fanzine award.

Here’s more about the awards:  “The 2012 Hugo Award winners were announced on Sunday evening, September 2, at the at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago. The ceremony was hosted by Chicon 7 Toastmaster John Scalzi.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Science fiction novelist John Scalzi will release the next book in his Old Man’s War series as a digital episodic novel. The Human Division serial will begin in December.

Tor senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden outlined the strategy in the release: “The Human Division will be an experiment: an episodic novel, released initially in digital, serialized form. Currently the plan is to publish these episodes weekly between December 2012 through February 2013. Like the episodes of a good high-end cable drama, each one will have enough internal integrity to work as an enjoyable chunk of story on its own, but each will advance a ‘season’-long storyline as well.”

The book will be released in traditional formats next year, once the experiment has concluded. Hayden hopes that the price for the complete serialized novel will be “about the same as buying the full eBook.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Science fiction novelist John Scalzi will release the next book in his Old Man’s War series as a digital episodic novel. The Human Division serial will begin in December.

Tor senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden outlined the strategy in the release: “The Human Division will be an experiment: an episodic novel, released initially in digital, serialized form. Currently the plan is to publish these episodes weekly between December 2012 through February 2013. Like the episodes of a good high-end cable drama, each one will have enough internal integrity to work as an enjoyable chunk of story on its own, but each will advance a ‘season’-long storyline as well.”

The book will be released in traditional formats next year, once the experiment has concluded. Hayden hopes that the price for the complete serialized novel will be “about the same as buying the full eBook.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

...when class is fully integrated into an understanding of the difficulty setting of the Game of Life, I think the arguments get much clearer.

The question: "I'm a poor white guy; should I fight against systems of privilege?"

The answer: "Because you'll benefit from it. The more equal things are, the better off you are."

For rich white guys who ask the same question, well, they're clearly on the other side, so they don't need an answer.

All too often, Straight White Men do not see that their setting is easier, and they assume that those struggling against bigger challenges are simply poorer players. At first this is innocent — the Straight White Men are focused on surviving the game themselves, after all. They didn’t design it. But the “easy” setting’s invisibility breeds arrogance, not the humility necessary to acknowledge that you’re “winning” the game because a. the game is easier for you and b. the game itself is designed to benefit you most. The fact that privilege robs us of empathy and humility is nearly as poisonous as the advantages it brings, because humble, empathetic people would not gleefully skip through difficulty while leaving others to suffer.

What I’d like to add to John’s and Meghan’s furthering of Life on the Lowest Setting, the metaphor of privilege as a function of how easy or difficult life is based on character aspects, is that class does indeed count.  If you’re a highborn mage instead of a lowly farmer’s son who happens to have a small knack for casting magic, you’ll receive all the best teachers, all the best training in the arcane arts, will have access to all of the materials you might need to cast a spell, which can be quite expensive.  Or likewise, if you’re a highborn knight, you’ll receive all the best armor and weaponry and training in arms and defense, whereas the pub master’s kid will mainly know how to throw a punch and will swing wild without any really access to training.

Those are material considerations–the wealth aspect, or knowledge resources–to which a person of a certain socioeconomic identity generally has little access.

But class cultural considerations can also severely restrict some people, by learning your place, by taking direction because that’s what you were rewarded for, rather than learning to plan and set goals, rather than being among peopl

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13. Interesting posts about writing – w/e September 2nd 2011

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Posted on 9/2/2011
Blog: An Englishman in New Jersey (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  fiction, writing, april henry, john scalzi, nathan bransford, rachelle gardner, useful links, elizabeth spann craig, juliette wade, kim wright, karen sandler, jennifer brozek, robert p. kaye, elaine isaak, Add a tag

(Read more ...)

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14. ‘Old Man’s War’ To Be Adapted by ‘The Perfect Storm’ Director

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By: Maryann Yin, on 2/24/2011
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  science fiction, Fantasy, Adaptation, John Scalzi, David Self, Hugo Award, Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, Wolfgang Petersen, Zoe's Tale, Add a tag

John Scalzi‘s Old Man’s War will be adapted by The Perfect Storm director, Wolfgang Petersen. According to Deadline,  David Self will write the script and produce for the science fiction adaptation.

Scalzi discussed the news on his blog: “The movie that is eventually made of Old Man’s War will be an adaptation of the book — not the book itself. The filmmakers are going to have to make changes…I wanted filmmakers I felt could best adapt what I wrote.”

Scalzi is a two-time Hugo Award-winning writer. After releasing Old Man’s War (2005), he followed up with three sequels: The Ghost Brigades (2006), The Last Colony (2007), and Zoe’s Tale (2008).

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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15. Would you pay twice for the same book?

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By: Scott Laming, on 4/8/2010
Blog: Bookfinder.com Journal (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  digital rights, john scalzi, Rights: Copyright, digital downloads, Randy Cohen, copyright, ebooks, Add a tag

It's funny to think about but that is what we have to do currently if we want the same book in two different formats. It has always has been the case, and we never really questioned it because just say you bought a hardcover copy of The Grapes of Wrath, but years later wanted to re-read it while on vacation.  You might very well buy a copy of the paperback, so you don't get your nice hardback all soggy when you fall into the pool while reading it on an air mattress.  You had two copies, someone had to print them, ship them and stock them and you payed for both of them.

Now, what about digital books?  You bought the hardcover, should you pay if you want to have a digital copy as well?

This exact debate has been flaring up again and again in publishing and reading circles for the past several months (years?) but really got going when the New York Times journalist Randy Cohen wrote in his Ethicist column that downloading a pirated copy of a book you already purchased new is pretty much O.K.

An illegal download is — to use an ugly word — illegal. But in this case, it is not unethical. Author and publisher are entitled to be paid for their work, and by purchasing the hardcover, you did so. Your subsequent downloading is akin to buying a CD, then copying it to your iPod.

Then  one of my admittedly favorite authors, John Scalzi chipped in his two cents on his Whatever blog and essentially agreed with Cohen. 

If that work is out there online, and the guy who just bought an authorized version — thus paying me and the people who worked on the book — downloads it for his personal use, am I going to be pissed at him? No, I don’t really have the time or inclination. Maybe it would have been marginally more ethical for the fellow to have, say, scanned in each individual page and OCR’d it himself, thus making the personal copy he’s allowed to make under law, rather than looking for it online. And maybe I’d ask him how it was he got so knowledgeable in the ways of the dirty, dirty undernet, where pure and innocent books are exposed to bad people, and suggest to him that he get his computer checked for viruses. But at the end of the day, he did pay me, and paid my publisher.

Scalzi does go on to, correctly, explain that there are limits to this and that an Audio book differs in that the reader and sound editors need their share, and obviously you can't download the Kite Runner movie because you bought the book, but in general both of these gentleman bring up the interesting point that a digital copy of a book you legally bought is essentially the same as making a cassette tape copy of that The Who - Live At Leeds record you wanted to preserve from the ware you knew you were going to inflict on it by playing it 3000 times.

So you know how I feel, tell me know your position while we wait for the lawyers to tell how this will end.

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16. Nebula, Nebulae

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By: Matthew Cheney, on 2/19/2010
Blog: The Mumpsimus (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Best American Fantasy, Jeff VanderMeer, John Scalzi, Barzak, JPK, Add a tag

Dear Nebula Voters,

I know what your real purpose is with the nominees for this year's award.  Don't think you can hide your secret, conspiratorial goals from me!  I know what you really want to do is cause me immense angst by putting some of my favorite people up against each other in your various (nefarious!) categories.  You know when it comes to awards I root for the people I know and like before I even consider anything else, because of course the people I know and like are all the greatest writer in the world, but what am I supposed to do when you, for instance, put VanderMeer up against Barzak in the novel category?!

I'm safe, at least, with the short story category.  Jim Kelly is the only writer I know well there, so obviously he should win.  Novelette is worse -- Paolo Bacigalupi is the one person whose short stories have caused me to write a long essay, and he's a really nice guy (well, as long as you don't burn lots of hydrocarbons in front of him.  I tried digging an oil well at the World Fantasy Convention in 2005, and he threatened to punch me).  Rachel Swirsky I've communicated with regarding Best American Fantasy (we reprinted her story "How the World Became Quiet: A Post-Human Creation Myth" in BAF 2, and all of the BAF contributors feel like family to me, even if I never talk to them, which is mostly what makes them feel like family...)  And then there's Mr. Bowes, who once attacked me with a stiletto-heeled shoe when I suggested that Cats is not the greatest musical of all time.  I've forgiven him, even though Starlight Express is obviously the greatest musical of all time, and in learning forgiveness, I have learned to appreciate the man himself, and so of course I want him to win as much as I want Paolo and Rachel to win.  Maybe they all can.  (Voters!  Coordinate your efforts to please me!)

Novella is actually easy, too, because the only person there I've met is John Scalzi, and he's alright, even if I remain dead to him.

But the novel category ... it's killing me.  I'm going to have to freebase my entire collection of pill-bottle cotton tonight just to calm my aching soul.  Not only are Messrs. Barzak and VanderMeer, two of my favorite people, present there, but Paolo Bacigalupi is hanging out in that category as well, and so is China Mieville with The City & The City, a book I adored.  And though I don't know Cherie Priest, I know her editor, who is also one of my favorite people, and thus is, by definition, the greatest editor in the world.

Okay, Nebula voters -- I give up!  Uncle!  Please please please start nominating more works by mean, nasty people I don't like!  Or at least people I don't know!  I'm working hard to be a recluse, so it shouldn't be all that difficult to locate more people I don't know.  It will save me agonized nights of writhing on the floor, my loyalties pulling me in all directions, my heart torn asunder.

What's that you say?  It's not all about me?  Yes, I've heard that before, many times.  Conspirators always deny their conspiracy.  I know the truth, though, and in the immortal words of Bob Dylan: "I don't believe you!"

Meanwhile, congratulations to all!

Sincerely,
Patient #45403892, New Hampshire State Home for the Criminally Bewildered

PS
Whoever has my tinfoil hat, you'd bett

1 Comments on Nebula, Nebulae, last added: 2/20/2010

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Sean said, on 2/20/2010 7:22:00 AM

I have to say that the list is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, i havent read as many (any) of them outside of the YA catagory. The Andre Norton Award is a toss up between Ice (great book if you havent read it) and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairlyand in a Ship of Her own Making. Both were fantastic, though the latter was produced as a donate-what-you-can project on the authors website. I think that's novel enough to earn it some points (and it was great). I'll be interested to see who wins.

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17. Hugo Thoughts

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 3/19/2009
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  free book, Hugo Awards, John Scalzi, Add a tag

posted by Neil

The Hugo nominations are in. 

It's a great nomination list. I hesitated when I was told that The Graveyard Book was nominated -- I turned down a Hugo nomination for Anansi Boys a few years ago. But this time, after a few days to think, I accepted, and I'm glad I did, mostly because it's really astonishingly nice company to be in. The kind of company where I don't feel like I'm in competition: Neal Stephenson, Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross are friends (I've known Charles since, what, 1984? 1985?) and John Scalzi and I have boatloads of mutual friends, and I love his blogging, and, they're all great writers and damn, the award could go to any book on the list and I'd feel happy.

As Mr Scalzi says, "I am extremely happy with this category, and I feel pity for you Hugo voters, because this is a hell of a slate to choose from."

It's traditional to put nominated work online -- I've always made sure that short stories were up for free for voters (and everyone else) to read. Not sure yet if that'll happen with the text version of The Graveyard Book yet (I have to talk to my publisher), but in the meantime voters (and anyone else) can watch (or listen to) the whole book at http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx for nothing at all.

Labels:  Hugo Awards, free book, John Scalzi

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18. plan four....?

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 4/4/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  John Scalzi, nodding dogs, merrilee Heifetz, Leonardo da Vinci, agent, Add a tag

Merrilee, my literary agent, is out here for a couple of days, so that we can figure out what I have to do this year. We do this every eighteen months or so, and it helps both of us, I think. It got a bit confusing yesterday evening, after plan one was completed, when the phone rang and I suddenly found myself agreeing to write a couple of films I hadn't planned for earlier that afternoon. So now we're into plan two. (Plan three: lock me in a cupboard and let me out when everything is written.)

Over on John Scalzi's blog is a terrific piece about convention etiquette which should be spread around. I read it and just kept nodding, like one of those toy dogs in cars (do they still have those?): http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=581

Here's a remarkable little film clip about Leonardo da Vinci which Bob Morales just sent me, that left me going "Oh, of course," at the end.

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19. How To Find 1,000 True Fans For Your Novel

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By: Jason Boog, on 3/12/2008
Blog: ThePublishingSpot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Promotion, Kevin Kelly, 1000 True Fans, John Scalzi, True Fans, Add a tag

Looking for readers? 

It's hard to support yourself as a writer, and the Internet is swamping the world with content. How do you find fans in an over-populated literary universe?

Recently web guru Kevin Kelly proposed a new model for achieving artistic success in the Age of the Internets. As he outlines in  “1,000 True Fans,” a novelist just needs to find a thousand dedicated readers ("True Fans") who will each spend at least  $100 a year on your books/t-shirts/audiobooks/readings.

That idea made me really excited at first--a way for all sorts of starving writers to support themselves and keep writing. Niche writers, fan fiction, science fiction, and obscure poets could all survive and books would never die.

I'm still inspired, but the excellent (check out Agent to the Stars if you don't believe me) novelist John Scalzi has a little bit of reality for aspiring writers. It's not that easy to end up in Happy Happy True Fan Land, and it took Scalzi ten years to make it all work. Just read this essay:

"I became a strong-selling author (”Strong selling” = six figure total units sold in 2007) in a literary genre well-known for its fandom. Which is to say that before I could lay an arguable claim to having 1,000 “true” fans, I needed to create an overall audience of at least tens of thousands of readers/fans."

 

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20. Books at Bedtime: Night and Day

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By: Aline Pereira, on 7/27/2007
Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Children's Books, Picture Books, Leo and Diane Dillon, Mitsumasa Anno, Books at Bedtime, reading to children, Eric Carle, Akiko Hayashi, All in a Day, Amo, Corinne Albaut, Gian Calvi, Nicolai Ye Popov, Night and Day, Raymond Briggs, Ron Brooks, Zhu Chengliang, Add a tag

Here are two books for sharing which take children on a good-night (and good morning) journey all around the world. They both celebrate differences in customs and lifestyles, and emphasise what we all share as members of the human race…

The first, for very young children, is The Nights of the World by Corinne Albaut and illustrated by Amo, which focuses on five children from different parts of the world, who all sleep in different kinds of beds. When the magic sliding window is opened, readers can see what their days are like too, and although their activities may be different, they all laugh and enjoy playing games – then close the shutter again, and they all are quiet and go to sleep!

The second is All in a Day by Mitsumasa Anno in an amazing collaboration with nine other well-known artists from all around the world: (more…)

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Emily Jiang said, on 7/31/2007 10:50:00 AM

Very cool bring-the-world-together themes. Can’t wait to check them out!

Marjorie said, on 8/1/2007 2:47:00 AM

Thanks, Emily. Do let us know what you think.

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