I am back from Norwescon and it went very well. I didn’t take any pictures, but hope to post some things about the convention later in the week. But not tomorrow, when a certain big announcement will be taking up all my time. (Insert unmysterious music here.)
In the meantime, my latest Buffy rewatch is up on Tor.com: it’s Valentine’s Day in Sunnydale, and that means bad things for Xandelia.
If it’s Tuesday, my Buffy essay must be up at Tor.com. It’s called “The Wonderful World of Oz,” (it’s about “Phases”) and if the overall lycanthrope vibe pleases you on this fine spring morning, consider having a look at my baby werewolf has two mommies story, “The Cage,” also at Tor.
This weekend I will be appearing at Norwescon in Seattle. I will be reading from Blue Magic, which is out in one short week (I hope to have a few advance copies to give away to lucky con-goers!) Here’s the rest of my schedule:
Friday, 10 am – Adventure Stories
Swashbucklers, pirates, oh my? What makes an adventure story different from other science fiction and fantasy stories? And, do most adventure stories get the action right?
Friday, 11:30 am A.M. Dellamonica reads Blue Magic
A reading from the sequel of the Sunburst Award-Winning Indigo Springs (Rated PG)
A.M. Dellamonica
Friday, 2 pm Interview and Q&A with Guest of Honor Stephen Baxter
Not gonna be there? Want me to ask Baxter something? Comment soon, comment often!
Saturday, Noon, The Blogger Effect
Has blogging ruined the fine art of editing? What do we gain (and lose) with publishing spontaneous writing? There is a growing network of SF/F professional and aspiring writers connected via a variety of blogging communities. Is it breaking down the barriers between pro, amateur, and fan-ficcer? Does it function as an informal online writers’ workshop, a support group, or a black hole of cat-vacuuming?
Saturday 3 pm Autograph Session
Saturday, 6 pm. What I Wish Someone Had Told Me
Established SF/F writers discuss lessons they learned the hard way that they wish someone had told them when they were first starting out.
I’m extremely pleased to announce that Jim Frenkel of Tor Books has bought the first three books in my next ecofantasy series. We haven’t quite settled on a title for the series yet, but the first book’s working title is CHILD OF STORMS and it takes place on Stormwrack, the same world as my story “Among the Silvering Herd,” which features adventuress Gale Feliachild and a handsome young sailor named Garland Parrish.
The first book is tentatively scheduled for release next year. I’m revising it right now.
In Tuesday Tor news, my Buffy rewatch this week is “A Very Unhappy Birthday, Take One.” Tor.com, as I’ve mentioned, also has the first chapter of Blue Magic up, if you want a peek. (The giveaway of five copies of Indigo Springs and Blue Magic ARCs ended Friday, I’m afraid, but I think you can safely expect other opportunities to win copies.)
This week’s BtVS rewatch on Tor.com is a grab bag of fun (but not so crucial) episodes like “Inca Mummy Girl” and “Lie to Me.” I’m going to do this periodically–gather up a few of the smaller building blocks of each season’s arc, rather than try to inflate each into its own towering essay. If one of these is your favorite, go add a comment! Tell me I’m a cad for ignoring your special eppie!
Seriously, the fannish discussions that have spilled out in the comments threads on these rewatches have been every bit as cool as the posts themselves. Right now, for example, we’re debating whether the early episodes had too much of a YA feel, and which TV shows (of the non-soap opera variety) were the first to do season-long arcs. Gardner Dozois has suggested The Fugitive. Anyone got anything earlier?
I’m a few weeks ahead on these posts, so my mission this week is to rewatch “Phases.” Which, I realize in retrospect, had an undeniable influence on my one werewolf story, “The Cage,” at least to the extent that there’s a baby werewolf mentioned in the Oz story.
It’s now 35 days until the Blue Magic
I am happy to announce that my story “The Sweet Spot” will appear online at Lightspeed Magazine in the not too distant. This is the fourth of my Proxy War series (the squid stories, in other words) to see print, and the second featuring the character of Ruthless from “The Town on Blighted Sea.”
In the meantime, if you’d rather talk Buffyverse, Love is a Path Marked by Bloody Footprints is up at Tordotcom.
And Mrissa’s short review of Blue Magic on LJ points out, quite rightly, that it’s a better read if you’ve read Indigo Springs
