A Post Of Things...

I was keeping this one under wraps for a few days because I didn't know if it was really going to happen, but it looks like it will now. You've heard me rave about Brandon Mull's Fablehaven books on my site before. If you haven't read them yet, I can't recommend enough that you go out and pick up copies of his first two books in the series. They're written for children/young adults, but can certainly be enjoyed by readers of all ages. They're a couple of my favorite young adult books to be written in a long time. It's fantasy/fairy folk/mythical creature story telling adventure delight all told with a complete air of pure fun. Well about a month ago, I got an email from Brandon Mull's publisher asking me if I would be interested in reviewing the third book which is due out on April 8th. It's called Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague. Now it looks like not only am I going to get to review it, but I'm getting an interview with Brandon Mull! Needless to say, I'm thrilled. So I'm letting everyone know in case you have any questions you'd like to ask. The interview is going to focus mostly on the third book in the series, but if you have any questions for him (I already have a couple from Deslily) I'll be more than happy to try to fit them in and see if I can get some answers ;)

I'm also back to trying to do a little bit of editing on my own book, A Sunset in Nowhere, that I wrote for NaNoWriMo and I'm really excited about it now! Why, you might ask? It's become a collaboration with Megan! I want to do a Stardust type of thing with it...the Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess version of Stardust that is. Megan is an amazing artist and she's done a comic in the past with a friend of ours as well as quite a few of her own creation. It's one of the many things that first attracted me to her. So she has my book now (in it's god-awful first draft) and she's going to start drawing some scenes that will be interlaced throughout the book. I can't wait to actually see some of my characters!! I have a few examples here of some of the pieces that she's given me, but none of her characters. I wish I had them to show you! The first two are a series of "hand drawings" that she's done for me...the first for our 1 year anniversary and the second for another anniversary. The third is a little Buddha that she drew me for Christmas this year. My photos don't do any of these justice.

And finally, I had to go download "Oh, you pretty thing" by David Bowie today and put it on my iPod because I couldn't stop singing it after I got my copy of Coraline in the mail from Subterranean Press! It's by far the most beautiful edition I've ever bought from Subterranean. I'm just blown away by it. The new McKean art is gorgeous, the Irish puppet production photos are incredible and it's signed by Gaiman and McKean :D And I got a really early copy...number 174 of 1000. There are still some copies left for sale on the website...go get it!!!

Tiny Revelations and Being Bad!

The results from Carl's Tiny Stories contest are in and the stories are all amazing. I have to give a big round of applause to everyone who participated in this one. I really enjoyed reading everyone's stories and the amount of effort put into these really shows. They were all top notch. Many were very touching and all of them were quite powerful. Elaine's (Quixotic) amazing story Father took home the top award, and rightfully so. Very touching, haunting, and something I can relate to. Great job ;)

For those not in the know, the contest was to write a story that was exactly 100 words and you could not repeat the same word twice! Very challenging. If you haven't tried it already, you really should. It was quite fun. My story was titled Jaden's Nakaya. Jaden was to be the main character of my NaNoWriMo story and Nakaya was the world in which it was set, but that idea has been laid aside for now and a new one has taken it's place...but I'll revisit them later. Here's my story:

His eyes shifted to an egg shell white – pupil and iris removed. Jaden was tranced.

He re-appeared where childhood ended. That dark memory when imagination could no longer play the savior.

It had worked until then.

Couldn’t face pain…always running…

Wicked thoughts awoken Nakaya, my bright world…I’m safe here, free. There are others – some like me, winged creatures, sparkling nymphs, things of water who create mystical sounds…All stolen away.

Bang…blood…sirens…funeral…

…It’s time to grow up…

…Gotta be the big boy…

Kaya’s gone forever…innocence lost.

I have a choice in this.

Beauty reclaimed.

The End! I'll pursue his story and go much further in depth in the future. It's so hard to tell a story in 100 words. I know what I'm saying in this story, but I don't know if anyone else would! I wanted to capture the imagination as a place of escape and how we often lose that or feel that we have to lose that as we grow older...how we're sometimes forced by "real life" to lose our imaginations...but I also feel that to an extent we have a choice...we can choose to use creativity as a means of expression and a means of escape and release...

OK, so enough with the heavy stuff...on with the being bad! I spent a lot of money on books and I only bought 2 of them! Both are pre-orders. Subterranean Press had to go and announce 2 really incredible books. The first is their new edition of Neil Gaiman's Coraline with an all new cover by Dave McKean. The book will also be signed and numbered, though they haven't specified if it will be signed by Gaiman and McKean or just Gaiman. It will also include a few new illustrations by Dave McKean and will have several full color photos of Coraline puppets from an Irish Puppet production of the book! If you preorder the novel, you are entered in a drawing to win one of three Coraline dolls made by puppeteer Mary Robinette Kowal! The other 2 dolls are going to Gaiman and McKean. How frickin' cool is that!

The second book that I bought is Lye Street by Alan Campbell. This book sounds amazing. It's a prequel to a book called Scar Night that is available now that has gotten wonderful reviews and has been compared to Neil Gaiman and Charles Dickens. I'll be picking up that one soon. Lye Street won't be released until January 2008, so I have plenty time to read Scar Night first. The main reason I ordered Lye Street (aside from the fact that it sounds cool) is that Dave McKean did an incredible wrap around cover for it! I love it. That one's only $25 for a signed hardcover which really isn't bad for a Subterranean Press edition.

Alright...that's all I got!

I'm Overwhelmed With Cool Stuff!

So first of all, I get home and see that I won the contest for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge and will be the recipient of an Endicott Studio Tshirt and a signed Print from Terri Windling. How frickin cool! I chose Tree Woman and Child. I love that print. It's beautiful. Congrats to Quixotical and Marina as well, two more winners! By the way...Endicott Studio is a wonderful thing and they donate to a lot of children's charities and need money to continue to support themselves. I highly recommend that if you have a little extra, contribute to them. In return for your contributions you can get beautiful Terri Windling prints and Endicott Studio tshirts that are really cool!

Then, I got my grab bag from Subterranean Press. I ordered one of these $99 grab bags and was hoping that I wasn't getting ripped off. I definitely didn't get ripped off. 9 beautiful, mostly signed and numbered editions came very quickly worth over $450 dollars. Wow. Here's what I got:

Charles Stross' Missile Gap (Deluxe Hardcover Edition)
David J. Schow's Havoc Swims Jaded (Deluxe Hardcover Edition)
The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg (This one's gorgeous!)
Dead Names: The Dark History of the Necronomicon by Simon (Signed, Limited, Numbered)
Kealan Patrick Burke's Currency of Souls (Signed, Hardcover, Numbered)
Tim Powers' A Soul in a Bottle (Signed, Limited, Numbered)
James P. Blaylock's 13 Phantasms (Chapbook)
Peter Crowther's The Spaces Between The Lines (Deluxe, Numbered, Hardcover)
Terry Lamsley's Made Ready & Cupboard Love (Signed, Limited, Numbered)

Ready for this one......I nearly lost my breath when I saw it:

Mirromask by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean (Signed, Limited, Numbered, and BEAUTIFUL)

I know this book alone costs $125 because I thought of buying it (but couldn't bring myself to since I already have the regular copy). I was blown away that they put this in a grab bag. All of the books sound great.

And finally, I also got an Email from booksprice.com offering me a free book. I chose Storm Front by Jim Butcher (The first in the Dresden series). They're a really great site! I checked them out. You type in the book, cd, game or dvd that you're looking for and they show you a list of different retailers and who has what for the best price. Great tool for us book buying addicts! :D

What a great treat of a day after complaining about losing all of my books yesterday! Gotta love that positive karma :)

Some Fun Book News

This post is mostly about Subterranean Press. You'd swear that I work for them, but I don't...they won't even send me ARCs which I would happily review ;)

I was very excited to wake up this morning and see that M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman shall be coming out this summer from SubPress. Even more exciting is that they have a limited edition that will be signed by Neil and Gahan Wilson, the artist who is doing the artwork. They are also numbered. So I pre-ordered it. It is a collection of short stories for "all ages". The price is normally $60, but if you buy it today and mention the newsletter in the special instructions box, you can get it for $48 dollars. But only today. And that is precisely what I did.

The second book that I ordered through them is The Space Boy by Orson Scott Card which is coming out in August. Artwork is done by his cousin (or nephew...can't remember). This one is limited to 2000 copies of the limited edition and is signed and numbered by the author.

SubPress' newsletter also mentions 2 new books forthcoming from John Scalzi. The first is Old Man's War which is a Hugo nominee (or was..not really sure) and the second is The Ghost Brigades. I keep advertising for John Scalzi on here, but I've yet to read one of his books! What can I say, he just sounds like an author I would like. I think this mostly because of Carl's review of The Android's Dream which sounds right up my alley.

SubPress is also carrying a free online magazine with all kinds of cool stuff including short stories by Poppy Z. Brite, John Scalzi, and Joe R. Landsdale. Very cool.

If you order any book from SubPress between now and Friday, they will enter your name into a drawing for 2 very rare editions of Stephen King books that they have published. Free stuff rocks!

Finally, on Endicott's blog, they have published a review of China Mieville's Un Lun Dun. It sounds great. I really want to read this book. I've hears so much about it and it's all good. Plenty of people are comparing him to Neil Gaiman, a connection which is once more maid in this article on Endicott's blog.

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your week got off to a good start.

Anna, the Gym, and DeLint

Sorry, I really tried not to mention Anna Nicole Smith in this blog, but my God! This trial is like a damn circus. I've never seen anything like this. I feel like I'm watching Judge Judy. By the way, the judge actually did apply for a "judge judy" type show, but was denied. I guess this is his big break. The majority of this trial has absolutely nothing to do with where her body is buried. The video, Daniel's father testifying over the phone, the judge....it's nuts. Throw into that Brittney Spears' latest escapades and you really start wondering what the hell role models exist anymore for young girls. This is what fame has become these days. Geesh.

I'm going to the gym today. I'm making myself. I officially have tickets and hotel reservations in Mexico for May 22nd, so I really have to get into shape. No more belly!! I need to start watching what I eat more too. Not just to look good for the beach, I just want to get healthy all the way around. I'd be much more comfortable with myself and you never know, it may even help my migraines. I've had a migraine for the past 5 days. That's crazy, I've never had headaches for this long of a streak. None today yet, knock on wood.

Subterranean is publishing a very cool sounding chapbook by Charles DeLint with illustrations also done by him by the name of Old Man Crow. It's about a man trying to decide if he's a person dreaming of being a crow or a crow dreaming of being a person. 18 bucks for the limited edition, 80 bucks for the deluxe, signed and numbered editions. They also announced another book in the works by De Lint for a fall release date by the name of Promises To Keep.

A Few Notes on an Early Weekend

Today was officially Friday for me, and a short one at that. I'm leaving tomorrow to visit a friend in Florida for the weekend and will return on Monday afternoon. So if the blogs appear to be slim this weekend, that is why. It's Mardi Gras weekend down here, and things have been rather quiet for it being so. I haven't been to any parades yet, but I've driven down Veteran's many times while parades are going on. It's been really empty out there. Not entirely sure why. Just not as big of a crowd as usual. Though I haven't been uptown yet, and I'm sure the parades there may be bigger in attendance. Throws have gotten better from what I understand this year. Lots of Fleur de Lis beads, and I heard that glass beads are making a come back. Pretty cool. One float that I saw being transported the other day that was hilarious had a giant Ray Nagin on it holding a chocolate bar. That was great. Sorry to those not from New Orleans if this paragraph made absolutely no sense.

In other news, Subterranean Press has posted a slew of new titles being published soon. Very excited about the Orson Scott Card and Charles De Lint books.

The blog officially went over the 1000 visitors mark today and is only a month and a half old, so thanks to everybody who stops by to read and leaves the occasional comment. I feel cyber loved....scary

A few goodies from Subterranean Press

Subterranean Press has quite a few goodies to offer right now. I've mentioned them before on this blog. They are a wonderful publisher that publishes special, limited, numbered, and/or signed clothbound editions of great books.

First up is an author I heard about from Carl V. by the name of John Scalzi. This book is entitled You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: John Scalzi on Writing. It sounds like a hilarious educative book on Writing: one that I may check out. Carl V. recommended this writer to me when I was complaining on my blog about not being able to write. Sub Press is offering a Signed, fully cloth bound limited edition for $35. How cool!

Next up is Orson Scott Card's novel Saints. It was originally released way back in the day titled A Woman of Destiny. But Card did not like that title and did not like the cover art for the novel. This new edition has a cover (and a beautiful one I may add) that was chosen by Card. It got a great review from Publisher's Weekly and the Trade edition is still available from Sub Press for $35. This was the first purchase I made through them, and it truly is a beautiful, high quality book. And it came signed by Orson Scott Card with "To Chris: Trying to Find Home" handwritten by Mr. Card. Finding home is a central theme of this book. The book is currently going into it's second printing through Sub Press. Lettered and Limited editions are sold out.

And how excited was I when I saw that Sub Press also has another brand new Card novel on it's way. I know nothing about it except for what the description on the website says. It's titled "The Space Boy" and will be released in August. Limited edition at $35 (2000 Hardcover, signed copies) and the Lettered edition at $150 (26 Leatherbound, signed copies). I think I may have to settle for the Limited. It's also an illustrated book which makes me excited. Love the Sci-fi art.

Next up is A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin from the Song of Fire and Ice series with numerous (over 70) illustrations by Tom Canty. This book is a little more pricey...o.k., alot more pricey. $260 for the limited edition (448 signed, numbered hardcover copies in slipcase) and $410 for the lettered edition (52 signed copies, housed in a custom slipcase, with artist remarque (small illustration)). The art for this book looks amazing. I don't think I'll be affording this one though.

Finally, Subterranean has an awesome magazine that is published I believe quarterly entitled Subterranean. Go figure. They are six bucks an issue, which is a steal to me. Issue 5 has Orson Scott Card's short story entitled "Mazer in Prison" which focuses on Mazer Rackham from the Ender series after the first Bugger war. Mazer in Prison was first showcased in Orson Scott Card's online magazine called Intergalactic Medicine Show. That's a great magazine by the way. Brand new "enderverse" story in each issue written by Card along with other great Sci-Fi and Fantasy short fiction. Usually an audiobook and a few more extras are also included. And the art is amazing for each story. Intergalactic Medicine Show is only $2.50 an issue and I highly recommend it to everyone. The point I was trying to get to was that Orson Scott Card said that the enderverse stories would never be published in a print format, only available through the online magazine. But here's your chance to get one of the stories in print.

And no, Subterranean Press paid me nothing to write this....back to Heroes