we’ve been offered a spot in an ad with some other publishers — it will be 4 books on a page with some text and the covers — in a national pop culture mag. Cost is $9,100. Anyone want to pay up? Come on, what else are you going to do with Aunt Aggie’s bequest?
(We will give you some books, and, er, stand you a drink or two when we next see you.)
There’s a reason for this search buried in our Writer’s Daily Planner. So happy belated birthday George. It’s the 25th iteration of the year 1984 and we the citizens of Oceania thank you for your prescience.
George Orwell holds a significant place in contemporary literature. His politically charged masterpieces, “Animal Farm” and “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” introduced an entirely different approach to issues such as freedom and totalitarianism, and remain fresh and relevant today.
Eric Arthur Blair, later known as George Orwell, was born on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, Bengal, then a British colony in India. As The Literature Network explains, his father, Richard Walmesley Blair, worked for the Indian Civil Service and his mother, Ida Mabel Limouzin, stayed at home with Eric and his two sisters, Marjorie and Avril.
By Frank Marcopolis courtesy of Creative Commons. He’s split the story into two: part one is here, part 2 TK.
“Can Erik and Batu revolutionize convenience retail? And what about all those zombies? ”
- Is the All-Night Convenience a metaphor for life itself? If so, how?
- What other symbols are used in the story (if any)?
- Is a new style of retail, one that will usher in a revolutionary era, on the horizon?
- Do you believe in ghosts? Zombies? Dog ghosts? Why or why not?
- Do you sleep in pajamas?
- What themes/issues/whatevers from the story do YOU want to talk about?
I’d love to know your thoughts. Listen to the story, and let’s discuss in the comments section.
Great piece about the only woman beer inspector in the UK (thanks Michael, Erin!). Apparently 80% of women in the UK haven’t tried real ale. How is this possible? Ok, so stout is no longer prescribed when women are pregnant, but still, come on! Next round, here’s some advice:
“The other thing is that women are more sensitive to bitter flavours,” says Annabel, “so if a woman’s first experience of real ale is a very bitter pint, she may never go back to it.” Better to start with something more floral, such as Caledonian Deuchars IPA or Theakston’s Old Peculier.
Steve Berman has put out the first issue of a new magazine, Icarus, through Magcloud, one of those Web 2.1 long tail site thingies where you can publish what you like on any scale. Since niche mags are dying off like dinosaurs after a meteor crash, it will be interesting to see how this develops.Not sure if we will put out LCRW through them the way we did with Lulu; the ebook + zine format ($5 vs. $13) works quite well at the moment.
Not sure if you can subscribe or not, but you can preview and order the first issue here:
Icarus is the first magazine devoted to gay-themed speculative fiction and writing - from fantasy to horror to science fiction, and all the weird tales that fall between the cracks. Our first issue features short stories by Jeff Mann, Joel D. Lane, Jameson Currier and Tom Cardamone; interviews with Dan Stone and graphic artist Peter Grahame; poetry by Lawrence M. Schoen; plus book reviews, an article about the Gaylactic Network, and brief happenings in gay publishing. Icarus is published by Lethe Press.
We’re having an internet nofun time with all our @smallbeerpress.com emails not working. Boo. Old emails: info @ lcrw.net for instance still work. One of these years we will change over prop’ly, one of these years.
Update: snafu all untangled and everything is working again!
IndieBound just added a list widget so that people can have multiple wish lists (one for family, one for, er, friends?).
Of course we abused it right away to make a list of Small Beer books. Actually, Small Beer Press books, will have to go back and make a small beer booklist later. Copy and paste at will.
Michael Northrup’s firstnovel, Gentlemen, just got a review in the NYTimes and Michael, well, he’s a funny guy, so: lifted from his site:
I am having a contest on my website to celebrate the review of Gentlemen in today’s New York Times Book Review. The money line of the review is the last one: “Northrop’s first novel is creepy, yet it has what can pass for a happy—or at least satisfying—ending.” Yet it could be so much moneyer! That’s where you come in.
Simply write your own ending to the sentence: “Northrop’s first novel is creepy, yet…”
For example, Northrop’s first novel is creepy, yet so is Northrop. So much fun! So much easy! Just leave your entry as a comment on my site. The winner will be picked by a celebrity guest judge and will receive amazing prizes! (You know, kind of.)
It took a while to organize but we’ve just posted Michael’s great picture of Greer Gilman’s Cloud & Ashes. These angled shots give a much better idea of what one of our books look like and this, thanks to Kathleen Jennings’ wonderful cover, is one of the more beautiful ones we’ve put out:
The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories (2008). He edited Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology (2006) and Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology (2007), and The Secret History of Science Fiction (forthcoming from Tachyon) with James Patrick Kelly. He teaches American literature, science fiction, fantasy, and fiction writing at North Carolina State University.
Well, maybe more like Your Rich Pal Who Likes To Directly Support the Arts’s Name Here. The Interstitial folk have had the great idea of sending out a direct call for support for their new anthology in Tweeterland, Blogistan, Flogistan, and Facebukia. And in case those countries are not on your usual paths, here’s the goods:
We live in a world of niche marketing. The Interstitial Arts Foundation brings artists together to tear those barriers down.
The first volume of Interfictions, published in 2007, was hailed as “A phenomenal collection…engrossing and provocative” (Hipster Bookclub) that “belongs on the nightstand of anyone interested in the development of contemporary short fiction” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
This second volume features original work by a whole new set of writers who joyfully explore the big imaginative spaces between conventional genres. And this time, we’ll be reaching out to even more readers by publishing a series of free stories on the new Interfictions 2 Annex online!
What can you do to help? This extraordinary collection of interstital fiction needs your financial support. We’re asking you to sponsor not just a book, but an idea - the idea that artists need to be able to express themselves freely and directly to their audiences, without the restraints of conventional genre limitations.
Here are some ways you can help us publish Interfictions 2:
SUPPORT AN INTERFICTIONS 2 STORY
$500 pays one author for a 10,000 word short story
$375 pays one author for a 7,500 word short story
SUPPORT THE INTERFICTIONS ONLINE ANNEX
8 stories will be available only online, with one appearing every week from August until November 2009.
$400 covers author honoraria for the entire Annex
$50 pays one author for an Annex story
SUPPORT THE NUTS & BOLTS OF ACTUAL BOOK PRODUCTION & PROMOTION
$400 covers typesetting fees
$200 buys Interfictions 2 a magazine ad
$100 prints up promotional postcards
$25 sends out five copies to reviewers
Your Choice: Gift amount of your choosing supports the IAF’s General Fund
Become an Interfictions 2 Sponsor with a gift of $500 or more, and we’ll list you as a Sponsor on our Friends of Interfictions 2 web page. And if your gift of $500 or more is received by June 30, 2009, your name will be published in the printed anthology!
Your gift of $499 or less will get you listed on a Friends of Interfictions 2 web page as a Booklover, and Booklovers who donate between $375 and $499 by June 30, 2009 will have their names published in the printed anthology. Individual supporter names will not be linked to specific stories or work.
SUPPORT A STORY, GET A BOOK!
We’ll also send signed copies of both Interfictions and Interfictions 2, signed by editors Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak, to supporters who contribute $375 or more. In addition, Sponsors of $1,000 or more can choose to receive a signed limited edition print of Connie Toebe’s “Moonlight“, the art used on the cover of the first Interfictions.
Or you can mail your check along with the 2009 Gift Form to P.O. Box 35862, Boston, MA 02135. Contributions of any size are most welcome.
The IAF is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, so your contribution will be fully tax-deductible. But more importantly, when you make a gift to the IAF, you can bask in the knowledge that you are helping to build a new work of literature that can change people’s lives.
Thank you for your continued support. Please feel free to link to or pass on this page to anyone else you think might be interested in art without borders!
Warmly,
Ellen Kushner
Vice President & Co-Founder,
Intersitial Arts Foundation
The first volume of Interfictions, published in 2007, was hailed as “A phenomenal collection…engrossing and provocative” (Hipster Bookclub) that “belongs on the nightstand of anyone interested in the development of contemporary short fiction” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
