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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Winners of the Jacqueline Carey/David Gunn giveaways!!! Plus Misc. Tidbits...

Congratulations to Kathleen Yohanna (California), Ben Wienburg (Ohio), and Tonya Metz (Virginia) who were all randomly selected to win a SET of Jacqueline Carey’s Imriel Trilogy including copies of “Kushiel's Scion”, “Kushiel's Justice” and “Kushiel's Mercy”, all thanks to Hachette Book Group USA!!! “Kushiel’s Mercy” is out now and I think it’s the best one in the trilogy :) So click HERE for Fantasy Book Critic’s review of the book and a bonus interview with Jacqueline.

Congratulations also to Amina Tutton (UK), F-Xavier Bornes (France), and Susannah Southurst (UK) who were all randomly selected to win the UK SET of
David Gunn’sDeath’s Head” and “Death’s Head: Maximum Offense” thanks to Transworld, and to Tricia Algieri (Rhode Island), Billy Comello (Mississippi), and Richard Reiss (New York) who were all randomly selected to win the North American SET of “Death’s Head” and “Death’s Head: Maximum Offense” thanks to Del Rey!!! “Death’s Head: Maximum Offense” is out now and you can read Fantasy Book Critic’s review HERE.

In news, I apologize for the lack of updates. Time has been limited and instead of news updates, I’ve been concentrating on reviewing books and doing interviews :) So, the following is brief and probably pretty outdated:

1) Official Press Release — Jeff VanderMeer Named Assistant Director of “Shared Worlds” Creative Writing Program:

Author
Jeff VanderMeer has been named Assistant Director of Wofford College's Shared Worlds Creative Writing Program. This innovative two-week program brings high school students and authors, artists, designers and scientists together in a unique, collaborative learning environment. Guided by course instructors and guest authors, students will design their own imaginary worlds, learning the art of creative writing in a dynamic “hands on” fashion. In addition to helping with the program, VanderMeer will also teach during the two-week period. Critically acclaimed writers Tobias Buckell and Ekaterina Sedia will also be part of the Shared Worlds experience.

“As far as I can tell,” said VanderMeer, “this is one of the only programs of its type in the country. It's an exciting catalyst for energizing young people to use their imaginations in a creative and mind-expanding ways. Director Jeremy Jones has put together a really wonderful program that's also a lot of fun, and I expect to learn a lot from the students, as well.”

Jones, a lecturer at
Wofford, emphasized the general benefits of the experience. “This camp is designed to be an interdisciplinary creative writing camp. Students work on problem solving skills, and they leave with an enhanced knowledge of how to work together and how to contribute to a group.”

VanderMeer has taught at the
Clarion Workshop (University of California, San Diego) as well as at the Brisbane Writers Festival in Australia, Trinity Prep School in Orlando and many other schools and universities. An award-winning fantasist, his work has been translated into over 20 languages, with short fiction featured on Wired.com's GeekDad, among others. VanderMeer has collaborated on short films with rock groups like The Church, has had his fiction adapted for promotional purposes by Playstation Europe by filmmaker Joel Veitch, and writes for the Amazon book blog “Omnivoracious”, io9.com, and The Washington Post. His online nonfiction has been name-checked frequently by the likes of the LA Times, Boing Boing, and many more. With his wife Ann VanderMeer, the fiction editor for Weird Tales, he is the co-editor of Best American Fantasy, Fast Ships, Black Sails; Steampunk, New Weird and many more.

Wofford College is an independent liberal arts college located in Spartanburg, SC. Shared Worlds will be held on campus from July 20 through August 2. Student slots are still available.

For more information, visit
http://sharedworlds.wofford.edu/ or the official press release: http://www.wofford.edu/newsroom/story.aspx?id=40072.

2) In the mood for epic fantasy packed with romance, action, and intrigue? Where politics and piety collide, consuming a mighty country and imperiling the world? Strong-willed female characters who inherit a mysterious green gem ultimately revealed to mend broken bones and broken hearts, protect against missiles, and render its wearers undetectable? Then look no further than
Candace Talmadge’s Green Stone of Healing series which has been described as “a gripping page-turner” and is recommended to those “who love deep intricate stories, full of mystery and action, dripping with power struggles and battles for dominion.” The best thing about this series is that you can read the first three books—The Vision, Fallout, and The Scorpions Strike—online, absolutely free, HERE :)

3) If you haven’t been over to
Newsarama in a while, then you probably haven’t seen their spiffy new design which I really like :) As usual, they have a good mix of articles including this short interview HERE with Dean Koontz regarding the Dabel Brothers adaptation of his novel, “Frankenstein: Prodigal Son”. Speaking of Koontz, Wizard Universe also has a short interview HERE.

In personal news, our son Zane Asher turns THREE this Saturday!!! In celebration, all three of my sisters are visiting from Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri, and this week and the next is basically all about Zane :) Talk about spoiled ;) Yesterday we went and watched
Kung Fu Panda. Children’s animation movies normally range from average to forgettable, but there are exceptions and Kung Fu Panda is one of them. A really fun, action-packed film that I enjoyed just as much as Zane did :)

In other news, I just purchased that bad boy above :) An 80gb PS3, Blu-Ray disc playback capability, Metal Gear Solid 4, and the new Dualshock 3 wireless controller, all for five hundred bucks! A great deal if you can find it :) Been wanting to get my hands on a PS3 for a long time now, so if you suddenly don’t hear from me the next few weeks, months or whatnot, well, you now know why :D

4 comments:

Mark Newton said...

Happy Birthday to Zane! Now when are you going to get him his own blog so he can start reviewing kids' fiction...? :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Robert!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZANE!!!! (awesome pic by the way)

FixB said...

Happy birthday Zane !
And thanks for the giveaway :) :)
It's terrific !!

Robert said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! We had a great time :D

Mark, maybe in another couple of years ;)

Fix, you're more than welcome :D

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