Priest Disembowels Award

I've been trapped in my office yesterday and today where Twitter is blocked. So, I missed the initial uproar and reaction to Christopher Priest's candid look at the recently-announced Clarke Award shortlist.

I wish I could have seen that reaction.

First, if you haven't already, read Priest's article yet, read it. I'll wait - it's long, but you need to read it all.

Done? Alright, good - no hellagood!

I'm not a big fan of awards, and I don't have the time or inclination to go into detail here. But I love Priest's reaction to the shortlist. I wish we had more of these - but only if they are of the same high quality as Priest's writing. It doesn't matter if you agree with him, think he was taking cheap shots and beating up puppies. It doesn't matter if the article invoked rage, sorrow, joyfull glee, or a reminder that you're behind on TPS reports again. It's good, balanced, writing, if rather sharp-edged. I very nearly laughed outload at times due to the harsh audacity through which Priest channels hs rage. And some of the quotes in this - priceless!

Miéville has already won the Clarke Award three times – which is not his fault...

For fuck’s sake, it is a quest saga and it has a talking horse.

Anyway, as you'd expect, reactions are stacking up around the intranets like lies on a political campaign (or comprises in a panel of judges?). [this is where I turn and look embarrassingly at the camera, or is that just insanely bad blogging fit for no award?]. I've gathered up a few of those reactions here, but I'm certian to be missing a few (EDIT: I'll be updating the list below as I find other reactions that interest me).

• Larry at the OF Blog
• John Scalzi
• Damien Walker
• Charles Stross - he's making t-shirts
• The Guardian
• Charles Tan
• Fantasy Book Critic
• io9
• Only the Best SFF
• Beauty in Ruins
• Cheryl's Musings
• Jeff VanderMeer
• Cat Valente
• John Scalzi (again)
• James Nicoll
• Fandom Wank

Tor and NASA in Collaboration

I generally avoid posting press releases and such on this blog because that just isn't my style or desire. But, I am a scientist who cringes at the state of science education these days and the relative lack of science inspiration in our society today. I'm also married to a PhD planetary geophysicist who does a lot of work for NASA and I imagine that some of my friends and acquaintances from grad school will be directly participating in this collaboration. So in this case, I'm happy to spread the news.

Tor/Forge Books and NASA Jointly Announce Publishing Collaboration  NEW YORK, NY (August 23, 2011) – In an effort to educate and encourage math and science education Tor/Forge Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, and NASA have embarked on a collaboration to publish a series of science based, commercial fiction books, referred to as "NASA inspired Works of Fiction" around concepts pertinent to the current and future work of NASA.  NASA will allow existing and new Tor/Forge authors to team up with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Subject Matter Experts (SME) to create scientifically accurate and entertaining novels in a distinctly unique way.

Tor/Forge and NASA hope that pairing scientists and engineers with the imprints’ award-winning roster of writers will raise awareness and inspire the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), in line with the President’s Technology Agenda.  They also hope to contribute towards the goal of attracting and retaining students in the above fields, thereby strengthening NASA and the nation's future workforce in a compelling manner. 

“When I was a boy, books by Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and their colleagues excited me, inspiring a lifelong fascination with space and the science and technology that would get us there,” said Tom Doherty. “From Fulton and his steamboat, through Alexander Graham Bell and Edison, to Silicon Valley and the advent of the internet, innovative Americans have built a future in which we lead the world.”                                                                          

GSFC’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) Office will host a select group of Tor/Forge authors – some of whom already write science based fiction – to learn more about science and space exploration. Authors will visit GSFC for a two day workshop in November consisting of presentations, facility tours and one-on-one sessions with SMEs. NASA contributions to the project will also provide access to their data, facilities, and educational design and evaluation experts."Ultimately this agreement will benefit taxpayers as we look for innovative ways to train students for the science challenges of the future," said Nona Cheeks, Chief of GSFC's IPP Office, which is managing the project's implementation.

The enormous popularity of science fiction is a key element in this collaboration to make these NASA inspired Works of Fiction a gateway to reach the general public and to generate awareness of the significant role NASA plays in everyday lives. Many people who work in the fields of science and technology credit science fiction as a significant inspiration for their career choice.

“It is my hope that in working with NASA in the creation of new stories of science and discovery we will inspire the next generation of explorers and inventors, because it all starts with the imagination – with stories and dreams of better things to come,” said Doherty.

For more information about NASA and this project contact Enidia Santiago-Arce at 301.286.8497, Enidia.Santiago-Arce@nasa.gov

Thoughts and Links

I don't typically do link posts these days, but I've seen a lot of fun and interesting things, so I decided it was worth a full post.

• Apparently a few copies of A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin  (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) got shipped early by Amazon in Germany and fans are anxious, spoilers are appearing, and bunch of folks have their panties in a bunch. Oh well, I find it amusing, but I can see the issues.

• China Mieville created a monster for Mark Charan Newton - how cool is that!

• I can't say that I watch much many beauty pageants so it's through the links of others that I found out that the latest Miss USA show actually asked contestants if evolution should be taught in schools. As a scientist (and also as a religious person) I find the very concept horrifying and fear the future of a country that refuses to believe in science. Thankfully I'm not alone, and others are much more humorous than I - should math be taught in schools? (trust me, it's brilliant) Oh, and the actual winner was one of the few who stood up for evolution (and she's a big fan of George R.R. Martin).

• I posted a mini-review* of Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound) last night. The good folks over at @tordotfantasy retweeted the link. Apparently M.D. Lachlan (@mdlachlan) - a pseudonym for author Mark Barrowcliffe - didn't like that @tordotfantasy would tweet an ultimately negative review. I find that sort of public reaction fascinating, amusing and a bit troubling and unprofessional. I also find it troubling that @tordotfantasy quickly tweeted a link to a more positive review that Lachlan suggested. It's not so much that @tordotfantasy tweeted another review, it's the apparent influence that the author has. The inevitable question is do authors advocate for what reviews get tweeted (or not) for folks like this?

• I've always considered Orson Scott Card to be a real asshat, but this old article that is new to me really brings home the point - oh, and it's entirely possible that OSC didn't actually write Ender's Game, which it turns out is basically retelling of the life of Hitler (according to the article anyway).

*For me, a mini-review is something short and to the point. There is very little detail or supporting evidence, just my quick opinion of a book. Basically, either I don't have the time or I don't have the inclination to write a full review.

Some Interesting Sh!t

It's been a while since I've done a link post, but enough things have caught my eye over the past few days that I think it's worth it. So, enjoy!

• The Hugo Award nominations came out over the weekend and as usual people have been reacting - often negatively. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of awards in general, and I'm especially not a fan of the Hugos. But here are a couple of interesting reactions that have inspired me to comment.

• Check out this essay about authority, heroism, death and fantasy. It's long but interesting.

• It sounds as if George R.R. Martin has actually finished A Dance With Dragons (Book Depository, Powell's Books, Indiebound). I've always said I'll believe it when I see it, so until the book is in hand I'm in official denial that he killed Kong.

Life Discovered on Asteroid?

Well, there has been an announcement that a NASA scientist has found evidence for bacteria on three meteorites that point to an origin of life that is not Earth. Wow, this is big – even if it turns out to be wrong like the supposed bacteria found on a Martian meteorite back in the 1990s. This will be big new, it will dominate discussions, and we’ll see all sorts of religious nutcases come out against it. Sure, I’m friends with lots of planetary geologists (and married to one), and my view may be a bit different from most, but I love it. I’m setting up a metaphorical lawn chair, setting up the cooler full of beer and getting ready for a heck of a show.

Fatherly Advice

My son is still fairly young (he turns 3 in about 2 weeks) and I can't say how much fun he is. But of course there are some things I'm really looking forward to when he gets older. One of those things would be bestowing him the wisdom contained in this book, which I just received in the mail today.

Young Wizards Handbook: How to Trap a Zombie, Track a Vampire, and other Hands-On Activities for Monster Hunters by A.R. Rotruck (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound)

A Few Observations/Comments While in Bucharest

• Romanian men are so manly that it’s not uncommon for them to carry purses of their own.

• Many women carry around fans, though I doubt they still use them to speak another language like was done in places in the past (but I could be wrong since I don't speak fan). I used to think that fans were just for young girls in tourist shops.

• I watched a guy ask for salt to put in his beer. I’m not sure if this is a strange cultural thing, something to do with it being really, really hot, or if the guy was just weird. It bothered me.

• Adolescent courtship is the same everywhere – guys doing really stupid things and young women somehow pretending they don’t.

• I really like that women in Romania ‘check me out’, though it’s quite strange. This city is so safe that when passing a young woman on a street at 11:00 at night when no one else is around she looks at me, and not because I may be a threat. It’s probably the beard – it seems that in Romania only priests, Roma, and American tourists have beards.

• I went for a new experience tonight – I went to an ex-pat Irish bar. There were a bunch of old(er) guys at the bar and a few younger people on the patio. The most exciting thing was the cricket on TV. Engrossing, but not actually exciting. Tomorrow I think I’ll go back to Lipscani.

• I have now drank in Irish pubs in 8 different countries – none of which are Ireland.

• Brandon Sanderson writes books that are far too heavy to carry around. Shorter books are much better reading for the park.

• I thought rollerblades were something of the early-90s. This is not true in Romania.

• Subways everywhere smell the same – some are just stronger smelling than others. Romanian subways are actually not anywhere near the strongest smelling I’ve been around (I’m looking at you London).

• My feet hurt.

World Cup at Work

On Twitter and elsewhere I make the occasional complaint about how corporate security sometimes blocks the strangest websites - such as a professional society that I'm a member of for work or NPR.org. But today I found the widget below on the webpage for employees. Yes folks, they are encouraging me to keep track of the World Cup. Sometimes working for a British-owned company has perks (unfortunately, one is not European levels of leave time).

The Terry Pratchett Anywhere but Here, Anywhen but Now First Novel Prize

Well, in my last post I mentioned that I don't usually post press releases around here - and that is still true, in spite of this being yet another press release post. The reason - I think many of my readers will be interested. And a secondary reason is that that based on the previous post and my not seeing it repeated on blogs that I frequent, I don't think many bloggers in my circle get these press releases. On to the info...

Sir Terry Pratchett and Transworld Publishers are proud to launch a new award for aspiring debut novelists, The Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now Prize. Transworld will offer the winning author a publishing contract with a £20,000 advance.

The award will be judged by the esteemed Sir Terry Pratchett, the wise Tony Robinson, the savvy Mike Rowley from Waterstone's and two members of the editorial team at Transworld Publishers.

Sir Terry Pratchett had this to say:

"Anywhere but here, anywhen but now. Which means we are after stories set on Earth, although it may be an Earth that might have been, or might yet be, one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time (see the illustration in almost every book about quantum theory).

We will be looking for books set at any time, perhaps today, perhaps in the Rome of today but in a world where 2000 years ago the crowd shouted for Jesus Christ to be spared, or where in 1962, John F Kennedy's game of chicken with the Russians went horribly wrong. It might be one day in the life of an ordinary person. It could be a love story, an old story, a war story, a story set in a world where Leonardo da Vinci turned out to be a lot better at Aeronautics. But it won't be a story about being in an alternate Earth because the people in an alternate Earth don't know that they are; after all, you don't.

But this might just be the start. The wonderful Peter Dickinson once wrote a book that could convince you that flying dragons might have existed on Earth. Perhaps in the seething mass of alternate worlds humanity didn't survive, or never evolved -- but other things did, and they would have seen the world in a different way. The possibilities are literally endless, but remember, it's all on Earth. Maybe the continents will be different and the climate unfamiliar, but the physics will be the same as ours. What goes up must come down, ants are ant-sized because if they were any bigger their legs wouldn't carry them. In short, the story must be theoretically possible on some version of the past, present or future of a planet Earth."

The deadline for submissions will be 31 December 2010 and a shortlist of six entries will be announced on the 31 March 2011. The winner will be announced by the end May 2011.

Entrants must be over 18, have no previous published full-length works of fiction and live in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth. Submissions should be emailed to: pratchettprize@transworld-publishers.co.uk

For full terms and conditions visit www.terrypratchett.co.uk

Dust off your quills and begin!

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter Collaborate for Two Books

I usually don't post strait up promotional materials or press announcemements - especially since a lot of blogs do a lot of it. But I got this interesting (and exciting) press release from Transworld earlier today that I want to post anyway.

Transworld Publishers are delighted to announce an exciting new collaboration between Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.

Sir Terry Pratchett first developed his vision of a chain of parallel worlds, The Long Earth, in an unfinished novel and two short stories in 1986, after writing Equal Rites, the third novel in what would turn into the hugely successful Discworld series. Now, at last, this long-gestating concept is to see the light of day in two as-yet-untitled books written in collaboration with Stephen Baxter, author of Flood, Ark and the Time’s Tapestry and Destiny’s Children series.

‘Our Earth is but one of a chain of parallel worlds, each differing from its neighbours by a little (or a lot) in an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And you can just step from one world to the next…’

The deal was brokered through Colin Smythe and Ralph Vicinanza and the first Long Earth novel is due to be published by Doubleday in spring 2012.

Additionally, Sir Terry Pratchett has recently completed I Shall Wear Midnight, the fourth in the Tiffany Aching books, to be published in September, and is already at work on his next Discworld novel for publication in autumn 2011. Number 37 in the series, Unseen Academicals, has just come out in Corgi paperback.

Links for a Slow Day

Work at the moment is boring me to death, so I’ve decided to distract myself and share with you some those disractions. So, what’s up around the blog – well, I’m about halfway through The Passage by Justin Cronin (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound). This is one of the huge $$ acquisitions that created quite the bidding war in the publishing industry a few years ago. One result is that it’s being pushed hard and is a book that you’ll probably hearing quite a bit about. So far I have to say that it is very good and I can see why it’s getting this level of attention (not sure about the million dollar+ advance though). Stephen King’s The Stand (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) with better writing and vampires (well, kinda-sorta vampires anyway) – but it’s even better than that. Anyway, on to a few links…

• Lightspeed, a new science fiction magazine – Why a New Science Fiction Magazine, and Why Now?

• An interesting post and an interesting anthology that I’d love to read: Give Me Something to Believe In: Spriritual Quests and the Search for Truth in SF and Fantasy – partially about Dark Faith anthology edited by Maurice Broaddus (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound)

• Author Jim C Hines on writing about rape

• Sam Sykes has a fun recap for the Phoenix Comicon – John Scalzi has several as well (don’t miss the one about Sam).

• On the subject of John Scalzi – write fan fic about John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton for a good cause.

• N.K. Jemisin rants about African American Sections in book stores and libraries and objects to her book being placed there.

• I recently reviewed Shadow’s Son by Jon Sprunk (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) – read the first chapter on-line.

• And for something more random and geo-related: A really spectacular sink hole opened up in Guatamala during the floods last weekend (hopefully no injuries occurred, as reported).
  
  

Order Speculative Horizons and Support the American Cancer Society

I received this message from fellow blogger and friend Patrick St. Denis:

Hey guys,

You may or may not know this, but my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. Fortunately enough, though it was extremely hard on the family, my mom went through chemo and surgery, and now she's doing great.

Still, witnessing how tough it was for her to get through this ordeal and feeling woefully inadequate in the support I was giving her through it all, I always promised myself that I'd try to do something if the occasion ever presented itself. And it did in the summer of 2008, when the folks at Subterranean Press invited me to compile and edit a speculative fiction anthology for them.

I accepted the gig, but only if a portion of the proceeds would go breast cancer research. Fast-forward today, and the pre-order page for SPECULATIVE HORIZONS has just gone up. And from now till May 21st, 10% of the cover price for each copy sold will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

So if you feel like supporting this worthy cause, please follow the link and place your order. Here's what the publisher had to say about the anthology:

Speculative Horizons is the newest in our series of short anthologies, helmed this time by Patrick St-Denis, best known for running Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, the place to go for fantasy news, contests, excerpts, and interviews.

Pat’s gathered an eclectic mix of contributors, including L. E. Modesitt, Jr. (with a new Recluce short story), C. S. Friedman, Tobias S. Buckell, Brian Ruckley, and Hal Duncan, who has written a story so wrenching it’ll rip out your heart and come back for your lungs.

If that’s not incentive enough to preorder a copy, until the end of day, May 21, 2010, we’ll be donating 10% of the price of each copy sold direct through SubPress to the American Cancer Society."

Don't do it for me, as I've been paid a flat fee to edit this book. So I'm not likely to see another dime unless we get multiple printings. Do it to help raise funds for cancer research. It beats buying a lame T-shirt, after all!

And feel free to spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, your blog, website, etc. The more copies pre-ordered, the more money will be donated to the American Cancer
Society.

Cheers,

Patrick

Well, Pat has long been a friend and supporter of Neth Space and I have say that I think this is great. First we are talking about high quality product from Subterranean Press and a very interesting collection of a wide-range of authors. I really want to see how this anthology comes together. And through May 21st 10% of the proceeds go to support the American Cancer Society. That’s a great deal for $20 (or $45 if you’re so inclined) – a deal that I encourage everyone to take advantage of. You can order your copy here.

More info about the book:

Speculative fiction is wide in scope and styles, and Speculative Horizons showcases the talent and storytelling skills of five of the genre’s most imaginative voices:

In C. S. Friedman’s “Soul Mate,” it’s love at first sight for Josie at the arts and crafts festival when she meets the handsome Stephan Mayeaux. It all sounds too good to be true until her newfound boyfriend starts to act strangely and unexplained occurrences begin to take place around her.

In Tobias S. Buckell’s “The Eve of the Fall of Habesh,” contragnartii Jazim must carry out one final assignment before the armies of the Sea People lay waste to the city he loves.

L. E. Modesitt, Jr. returns to the universe of his bestselling Recluce saga in “The Stranger.” A young herder’s existence will be forever changed by the unexpected arrival of the black-clad man recounting tales of angels living on the summit of the Roof of the World.

In “Flint,” Brian Ruckley introduces us to a young and inexperienced shaman who must venture into the spirit world to discover the source of the sickness which afflicts his tribe before they are all wiped out.

Talk to any cop working for Homicide, Narcotics, or Vice, and they’ll tell you that they get the worst cases imaginable. But in Hal Duncan’s “The Death of a Love,” you realize that they have nothing on Erocide.

Links O’Stuff

So, as usual, here I am saying just how busy I am. Part of it has been very satisfying (my garden is looking pretty great), but the rest has just been exhausting. Busy with work, busy at home, life decides to throw me a curve ball that nobody saw coming, but I persevere. I hope I can even find some reading time soon (in the last week, I’m guessing I’ve only managed 2 or 3 hours of reading). I’m almost finished with Kraken by Miéville (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) – just one more evening should do it. Maybe tonight, maybe I’ll take a break from work this afternoon, or maybe I won’t get to it until next week. We’ll see, but I hope to have a review up soon.

I’ll be traveling to St. Louis for a few days and then I’m hoping things will slow down enough for me to breath, sleep and read. Of course the reality is that I’ll probably come back with even more responsibilities and be busier than ever. *sigh*

Anyway, onto some interesting links:

• NPR’s Fresh Air has an interesting story all about ebooks, Amazon, publisher, the iPad, etc. I only heard parts, but it sounded informative.
  


• I have 299 followers on Twitter. Let’s see if we can bump that over 300.
  


• What happens when a snarky social columnist attends a books signing for authors of SFF/urban fantasy/paranormal romance and records everything on Twitter?
  


• Corvus Books is a new independent publisher imprint of Grove/Atlantic with a very promising looking catalog for SFF fans. Authors include Jeff VanderMeer, Chris Beckett, David Wingrove and Tim Powers.
  


• And because I’m a geologist and lots of cool geological things have been going on lately…a video of that volcano in Iceland that no-one can properly pronounce. You can actually see shock waves from the explosions. And to go with it, a link to a collection of some great pictures of the eruption.
  
  
  

Hey There Cthulhu

Awesomeness via Tor.com

The SFF Literary Pub Crawl

Welcome to the (updated) SFF Literary Pub Crawl. It was almost 3 years ago that I started my Questions Five interview series, which has had 31 participants (and more to come). I’ve always used a blend of repeat questions with questions specific to the author I’m interviewing – and all have been an attempt at humor that gives authors a chance to have fun with questions they’ve likely never seen before and blatantly plug a project.

It didn’t take long for me to begin asking questions about food and alcohol, with a favorite question that essentially asks to recommend me a pub – probably owing to my fascination and love of the pub culture of Britain and Ireland.

So, I’ve decided that to embark on a related theme – the SFF Literary Pub Crawl. Below I’ve share the recommendations from those interviews mentioned above – I divide first by location and then by the author making the recommendation. Surprisingly enough, not every author is alcoholic with a list of favorite drinking establishments, so some have submitted coffee/tea houses as well. As with any decent pub crawl, an end simply isn’t in sight, so I’ll continue to ask the question when I feel like it and I encourage all authors, editors, publicists, bloggers, and generally anyone who bothers to read this to share their recommended put to include in the SFF Literary Pub Crawl. Try to limit recommendations to just one or two and be sure to tell us why it’s a favored pub/ drinking establishment and a link if possible.

On to the pubs/drinking establishments:

Austin, Texas, USA

Ari Marmell: This is a surprisingly tricky question for me, because I’m actually not a drinker. I’ve been to a few clubs in Austin for various shows, but never actually for the sake of just hanging around and having a few drinks. (I’m more of a coffee shop guy for that sort of thing.) So as far as a pub/club, I’d say Prague is the coolest one I’ve been to in Austin, if only because of the ambiance; it’s got a really nifty feel and aesthetic to the place.And if I may stretch the definition to include the aforementioned coffee shop, I’ve never found any better than It’s a Grind. It’s local to Austin, and it’s absolutely fantastic. Wonderful ambiance and people, and their blended mochas are what the gods drink when they want a special treat in place of their usual ambrosia.

Brighton, England

Jasper Kent: The Shakespeare’s Head. It has good beer (of the warm, brown variety), serves about a dozen different kinds of sausages (except Sundays – boo!) and it’s within spitting distance of me. It’s not to be confused with the other Shakespeare’s Head, on Spring Street, which is good but not as good.

Brussels, Belgium

Jeff VanderMeer: An unnamed 16th century pub in Brussels where Ann tells me I wound up singing with a Frenchman at the top of my lungs. I don’t remember any of it, except that it was glorious.

Capitola, California, USA (south of San Francisco)

Gail Carriger: Well, this is me, so you're getting tea houses instead. My favorite is Bloomsbury Tea Room, in Capitola. If you're ever out driving Hwy 1 up the California coast you should stop in. It's a wonderful fusion of fresh California style ingredients coupled with a cozy British high tea aesthetic.

Dublin, Ireland

Peadar Ó Guilín: Most of them are ridiculously bad: giant sports games on every wall and pop music loud enough to murder the conversation we used to be famous for. Our ancestors even had a god of eloquence, once upon a time, did you know that? I miss him.So, for the real experience, you need to find what we call an “old man's” pub. If you walk through the door and half the stools aren't occupied by lads with pitted red noses and beer mustaches, then you should take your custom elsewhere.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Brian Ruckley: This is my kind of interview. It’s obviously absurd to try to narrow Edinburgh’s titanic array of drinking establishments down to a single recommendation, but given how long I spent on the haggis question I should probably try.I think the best I can come up with for you is the Bow Bar. There are two reasons: one, it’s a small, friendly pub with a mix of locals and visitors (but mostly locals), good beer and a startling array of whiskies if you’re into that kind of thing; two, it’s just round the corner from Edinburgh’s sf/f bookshop, Transreal Fiction, so on a rainy afternoon (it rains a lot in Edinburgh, but don’t let that put you off visiting) you can potter around the bookshop, have a chat with the owner, buy a few books and then retire to the pub to settle into a corner with a drink and read. Lovely. Also, if you lose track of time and end up drunk, there’s a chip shop within staggering distance to supply you with haggis and chips: a perfect end to a perfect day.

Glasgow, Scotland

Hal Duncan: Easy one. It has to be Stravaigin, on Gibson Street, in the West End. Funny enough, they have the_second_best_ way to serve haggis, because they're basically a gastro pub with a restaurant in the basement, and haggis is one of the staples of their menu. They tend to do a sort of Scottish fusion cuisine -- lots of game and seafood but influenced by recipes from around the world. As pub food goes, you can't beat it -- top-quality grub but in a really informal atmosphere. Also their cocktails are to die for. And I mean proper cocktails -- Bloody Mary, White Russian, Dry Gin Martini, Mojito and suchlike. None of those crappy 80s cocktails with nudge-nudge wink-wink sexy names, mixed by the pitcher from a couple of random spirits, a splash of Cointreau and a half bottle of Bailley's. No, we're talking cocktails for the committed lush. Martinis so dry you know the vermouth pretty much just got _shown_ to the gin: look, gin! Meet Mr Vermouth. Oh, dear, looks like Mr Vermouth can't stay. Bye, Mr Vermouth.Also Stravaigin is within staggering distance of my house. And I'm a very good native guide, you know. I'll show you round _all_ the best seats in the pub, for payment in the form of booze.

Lisbon, Portugal

Jeff VanderMeer: The Chinese Room (sic) in Lisbon, Portugal, which our friend Luis Rodrigues introduced us to, because it has more amazing airplanes and bric-a-brac while remaining sophisticated of any place on Earth. [Possibly the Chinese Pavillion – Pavilhão Chinês]

London, England

Joe Abercrombie: You could try the Phoenix Artist’s Bar off Shaftsbury Avenue, where a glittering array of genre writers are often to be found arguing with their editors over that most eternal of literary questions – whose round it is. It has the added advantage of being right next to several of the UKs biggest bookstores. Once you are drunk enough, I therefore recommend you stumble outside and buy any and all copies of my books that you can find. The dizzy rush of excitement you’ll experience will be far superior to anything you can get in a pub. Honest.

Kate Griffin: Well, I kinda don't drink, owing to expense and taste and the fact that I never really had much fun doing it. But I do have fond memories of the Sherlock Holmes, which is to the north of Hungerford Bridge, and the Castle on Pentonville Road has a very nice roof terrace in the summer, which almost redeems the fact that it's on the Pentonville Road. If you're after drink + fun, may I heartily recommend Cafe Kick on Exmouth Market, which is a sports cafe. This essentially means a lot of football, many photos of men in bad shirts looking mud-splattered, much booze and, best of all, bar footie. Many, many hours have been happily whiled away playing bar footie in Cafe Kick.

Los Angeles, California, USA

Charlie Huston: [Note: Charlie used to support his writing habit by tending bar in New York City] I hate pubs – they are places people drink cocktails in stem glasses.My favorite bar at the moment is the Lost & Found in L.A. It’s in a strip mall with a cleaners and across from a grocery store. It has a pool table and popcorn machine – things I value in a bar.[Note: right after answering this question, Charlie caught a ride to a nearby dive bar – Tallyho Cocktail Lounge in Scottsdale, Arizona]

New York, New York, USA

Jeff VanderMeer: The Brandy Library in NYC that Gabriel Mesa introduced my wife and me to; because it is set up like a real library and the lighting is magnificent and the liquids contained therein are insanely amazing.

Nottingham, England

Mark Chadbourn: I would certainly recommend going to The Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham - you not only get good beer and food and good company, you also get great atmosphere and an unforgettable history lesson. The Trip is the oldest pub in Britain. You can tell that the moment you stoop through the tiny medieval doors into a maze of small rooms where you could lose yourself for quite a while. The rear part of the pub is actually carved out of the rock and there is a tunnel leading to an underground labyrinth that links vast sandstone caves running beneath Nottingham. Right overhead, Nottingham Castle towers. The Trip was founded in 1189, when King Richard the Lionheart announced the crusade against the Saracens in the Holy Land - hence the pub name. If you're looking for ghosts, there are supposed to be several here. But watch out for the locals - they may try to entice you into one of the medieval pub games, particularly swinging a small hoop on a rope on to a horn fixed to the wall. It looks simple, but is fiendishly hard - and the locals ensure a constant supply of free beer betting against unwitting visitors. It's also one of the favourite watering holes of Britain's fantasy authors, and when the annual Fantasycon is in town (usually September) you can find many of them propping up the bar. You can find out more here: http://www.triptojerusalem.com/

Mark Charan Newton: An easy one! The Alley Cafe - www.alleycafe.co.uk - in Nottingham. I'm a vegetarian; this place serves vegetarian food, locally sourced, freshly prepared, and stunning. Not only that, but the bar is funky, and has a good mix of people and ages. It's tiny though, and you end up sitting close to other people, which really shakes us Brits out of our preference for personal space. So, good food, good people, decent DJ at the weekend - what more can you want? (Don't say meat.)

Palo Alto, California, USA (south of San Francisco)

Blake Charlton: Antonio’s Nut House in Palo Alto: closest thing you’re going to get to a dive bar anywhere near Stanford University. So…not very divvy, but still it makes a respectable attempt. The place is covered with pool tables, stools, knick-knacks, neon signs, and strange Americana. The jukebox alternately rocks out Jonny Cash and Dr. Dre. A Mexican restaurant shares one side of the bar and you can get good enchiladas until around 11pm. The floor’s covered with peanut shells because they’re free on the house. You just have to fish them out of a barrel that’s in a cage with a giant gorilla suite. The gorilla used to be automated to move when someone came near, but too many of the non-regulars would freak out and jump away from the gorilla and into a pool game. Best part is the crowd, which is about one third town locals, one third Stanford grad students, and one third bar hopping types (some bikers) from up and down the peninsula. Sometimes a glut of undergrads will take it over, and that’s kind of a drag (unless you are one, I suppose.) But normally conversation topics range from quantum physics to football to Desperate Housewives to beer. Actually, everyone’s always talking about beer. I like the high geek ratio and that everyone in the place is pretty different and that they mix with each other, especially around the pool tables and dart boards.

Pilsn, Czech Republic

Jeff VanderMeer: The Pub in Pilsen, Czech Republic, where you get a tap at your table and can pour your own fresh beer—no preservatives or additives—and they have electronic scoreboards for every table at every The Pub in the country…and after four or five pints you definitely want to be at the top of the scoreboard. We spent an amazing night there with our Finnish friends Jukka, Tero, and Juha, Hal “The Wonder” Duncan, Alistair Rennie, Ian MacLeod, and several others…at the end of which I pretended to be Czech to the family from Montana at the next table.

Sonoma, California, USA (north of San Francisco)

Gail Carriger: Then there's Fiorini's cafe off the square in Sonoma, wine country. Real, authentic Italian pastries, tea in a proper pot, and wonderful coffee if you bend in that direction.

An American Blogger in Canada

So my trip to British Columbia for work is done and now I’m happily back at home. Ironically, it was snowing here in Arizona this morning and officially colder here than it was in British Columbia (though the actual mine site may have been slightly colder). I really don’t have that much to say about it all since work dominated my time.

Kamloops was fairly unimpressive. The town itself was just a bit boring. It sounds like there are great things to do around the town, but I didn’t have the time to visit them and it was really the wrong season to enjoy them. Vancouver is a great city, and I wish had longer to explore both the city and the surrounding environments. It’s definitely a place I hope to visit again. I didn’t do much – hit the Canada Line from near my hotel and the airport and took it to the Waterfront. I walked around the city center a bit – Canada Place, Gaslights District, etc. The weather was perfect: clear and warm, the cherry blossoms were just past peak. Then I had a nice sushi dinner (it was odd to find Bible verses on the chop sticks wrapping) and a beer or two in the Gaslight District. Steamworks Brewery was fairly unimpressive – next time I will have to make it to Granville Island, whose beers I was far more impressed with when I was laid over at the airport.

Did a bit of reading – I finished up The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) just before leaving and read Soulless by Gail Carriger (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) while on the trip. Now I’m reading King Maker by Maurice Broaddus (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound). Expect the reviews to start arriving early next week.

Links to Stave Off….

It’s been a mix of a ‘blah’ kind of week and extremely hectic with lots of work to do. And I’m not finding near enough time to watch curling. Anyway, here are a few links.

As the picture shows, I got mail from Patrick Rothfuss – how cool is that? I won prize in for donating to his Heifer International Worldbuilder’s charity fundraiser, which raised nearly $200,000. I got a signed copy of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound, my review) – free signed books are always cool, but I wish it were a book I didn’t already have. Not that I’m complaining.

SyFy is Time Magazine’s third worst corporate name change.

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) won’t be published in the US until Spring 2011 at the earliest – hopefully there’s still a chance of 2010 release for the UK.

A snarky interview with authors Blake Charlton and Gail Carriger.

I was mind-melded again at SFF Signal – this time about SFF TV shows that should be remade. I have no qualification for this at all, so I attempt humor.

Mark Charan Newton has an idea, a crazy idea. It’s an opportunity for writers to plagiarize remix his fiction. Personally, I’m holding out for Pride of Newton and Zombies – clearly a best-seller.

Author Sam Sykes interviews some bloggers (supposedly I’m in line – last I believe). An aside – what would you do if you found out that this guy lives in the same area as you?

And last, since I am a geologist and landslides are cool…

Links that Happened While Amazon Failed

So I wanted to start this week out with a good, efficient go at work. Well Amzonfail over the weekend pretty much ended that, but here are a few other things of interest that happened (didn’t Apple make some announcement last week?).

• Steven Erikson is blogging (sort of) – we’ll see where this goes.

• RIP Kage Baker – I really enjoyed her books and short stories, she’ll be missed by many.

• I’m in another Inside the Blogosphere over at Grasping for the Wind – Who introduced you to the love of reading?

• Suvudu takes on George R.R. Martin Detractors (again). This time he asks for support from A Dribble of Ink, The Wertzone, and Jeff’s Fantasy Review. I predict this will end in a flame war (because I am just that good).

• The Speculative Scotsman and Floor to Ceiling Books are two new blogs that I’m enjoying.

Snow Day Links

I’m looking out of my office window to beautiful blue skies reflecting on the snow covered trees and 10 inches of new snow. Storm number 2 is expected tonight with another 12 inches or so of snow. And the big storm gets here on Thursday. 2-4 feet of snow are expected with that one. Preschool is canceled and my wife and I will take turns working and playing until school is back in session (my guess is it won’t be until next week). So, it’s a snow day and I’ll need to get some work done, so it’ll probably be quite around here until next week. Enjoy!

• World’s collide when two Arizona book bloggers meet (not really, just a fun coincidence that surrounded the Brandon Sanderson signing last November). Plus a giveaway for a signed copy of The Gathering Storm.

• Charlie Huston comes to terms with not having a new book in the next 2 years – now, can the readers?

• Adam at The Wertzone celebrates the 20th Anniversary of The Wheel of Time. The Eye of the World was published in January, 1990. I started reading The Wheel of Time about 15 years ago – reading this series led me to the internet to talk about books. Which lead me to participate more and more on forums. Which let me to my love of the SFF genre. Which led me to start a blog. The Wheel of Time will always be special to me.

• Matt Stover has some new on-line digs.

• Bloomsbury still insists on white-washing cover art. Shame, shame, shame.

• Some interesting thoughts on racefail in SFF from author N.K. Nesmin. As the above link indicates, there is still a long way to go.

• Toby Maguire as Bilbo Baggins (please, please, NO!)

• “You keep using that book. I do not think you know what it means.”

• In case you haven’t heard – Kage Baker is battling cancer. And the outlook is grim. Wish her well.

• Congrats to Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer on their engagement

Some Links to Keep Your Mind Off of Being Back at Work

Are you lamenting being back at work? Waste some time…

• It’s comic book appreciation month over at Temple Library Reviews

• Pyr is nominated as publisher of the decade – I have to agree, they do great stuff

• Tor has a new podcast: The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

• Go buy the Sci Fi Songs by John Anealio CD – great original songs inspired by SFF books and movies.

• Realms of Fantasy is doing a “Women in Fantasy” issue – men need not apply. What do you think – lots of discussion going on at Jim C. Hines’ blog.

• Rumors are that Kirkus Reviews may come back to life.