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Calling all authors!

No Comments » Written on May 1st, 2012 by
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Small Press publisher Paper Golem has just opened the reading period for its “prompt-themed” anthology Cucurbital 3!

 

What is Cucurbital?

It’s the name of a theme anthology series in which all of the authors write their stories starting with the same handful of prompts.

What are the prompts?

There are three of them:

          MADNESS

          DARKNESS

          MATTRESS

Successful submissions will take these three prompts and weave a unique and compelling story of no more than five thousand words.

When can I submit for this anthology?

We’ll be accepting submissions for Cucurbital 3 from May 1st through June 30th, 2012. Any submissions received before or after will be ignored. Our intention is to respond to all submissions by July 15th.

What’s it pay?

Upon publication, contributors will receive one cent per word for their fiction, and a copy of the physical book.

How do I submit my story?

Follow the directions specified on our submissions page.

If you’ve done everything correctly, you should receive an email confirmation within three business days.

 

Eating Authors: Will McIntosh

1 Comment » Written on April 30th, 2012 by
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Will McIntosh

Today on Eating Authors we’re reuniting with another author that last year graced this blog with a Q&A interview. I’m referring to none other than Nebula Award Nominee and Hugo Award winner Will McIntosh.

Will’s second novel, Hitchers came out from Night Shade Books three months ago, and his short story, “Followed,” which was published in the anthology The Living Dead, is being made into a short film, directed by James Kicklighter. But don’t take my word for it, follow this link to view the trailer for it yourself.

And if that’s not enough, you should know that Will’s first novel, Soft Apocalypse has been nominated for the coveted Compton Crook Award, which is handed out next month at Balticon.
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For your Nebula Awards Weekend Edification

No Comments » Written on April 24th, 2012 by
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Nebula Awards Weekend

The forty-seventh Nebula Awards Weekend is coming up in just a few weeks. In addition to the awards banquet and the massive author signing there will be various field trips and lectures.

I have the great pleasure and privilege of offering one of the lectures, drawing on my experience as a professor of cognitive psychology and my research in human memory. On Saturday, May 19th, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., I’ll be giving a talk entitled How to Remember Anything.

I’ll review some of the different types of memory, the four underlying principles that modulate most memory, and then discuss a few different mnemonic techniques and systems.

The typical limit of most people’s “short term memory” is seven items (plus or minus two). In the last few minutes of the presentation, I’ll load up everyone there with a list of twenty items — courtesy of an incredibly easy to use mnemonic system — that they’ll be able to hold on to for days and days.

Eating Authors: Jim C. Hines

No Comments » Written on April 23rd, 2012 by
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Jim C. Hines

Mondays are hard enough for most people, marking as they typically do the return to the work week. Mondays that also happen to be beautiful Spring days (as is the case hereabouts) are tougher still. To help ease your soul, here’s another installment of Eating Authors, the weekly blog segment that asks Science Fiction and Fantasy authors about their most memorable meals. Our guest this week is Jim C. Hines. I had the great pleasure to include Jim in the pages of Prime Codex, the first book from Paper Golem. On the (ahem) off chance that you haven’t read that anthology, you might have come across Jim’s work in his Jig the Goblin series (Goblin Quest, Goblin Hero, Goblin War, and Goblin Tales), and his Princess series (The Stepsister Scheme, The Mermaid’s Madness, Red Hood’s Revenge, and The Snow Queen’s Shadow), and more recently Libriomancer , the first of a promising new run.

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“Buffalo Dogs” now available in the Mexican idiom

No Comments » Written on April 17th, 2012 by
Categories: Freebies, News
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I keep forgetting to mention it, but there’s a new addition over on the B.W.O.P. page.

Mexican Spanish

Professional translator Sabina Trigueros has very kindly provided a second Spanish version of “Buffalo Dogs,” this one in the Mexican (as opposed to the continental) idiom.

And yes, that is very cool!

Eating Authors: Leah Bobet

No Comments » Written on April 16th, 2012 by
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Leah Bobet

Today on Eating Authors we’re visiting with Leah Bobet, a writer I feel like I’ve known forever through one online community or another, though I’ve probably seen her face to face fewer than a dozen times. You probably know her for her poetry and short fiction, which routinely ends up reprinted in one or another of the “Year’s Best” anthologies by the likes of David Hartwell, Ellen Datlow, or Rich Horton. She’s also Publisher and Editor over at http://www.ideomancer.com/, where she and her team routinely bring you some of the best of online fiction.

On the first of this month, Leah moved from the ranks of short story author to novelist with Above. Early reviews are giving it five stars out of five, and if by chance you haven’t come across her work before, then I’ve definitely done my good deed for the day by introducing you to her. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book. But first, take a moment to enjoy her most memorable meal.

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Trek Trax Atlanta: Final Schedule

No Comments » Written on April 15th, 2012 by
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Coming up on Friday is Trek Trax Atlanta, and I’ll be there to speak about my experiences with Klingon.

As can happen in the current economy, preregistration sales weren’t as robust as anticipated, and the convention regretfully had to cancel the scheduled appearances of its top tier guests.

A side effect of this is that I’ve been bumped up a bit, and I take it as a personal challenge to provide just that much more value for the attendees so that no one feels too disappointed. It should still be a glorious convention!

With that in mind, here’s my new schedule from Friday, April 20th, through Sunday, April 22nd. Please note that there are additions and time changes from the previously posted preliminary schedule.

Friday, April 20th:
8:00 – 10:00 | Ashford | VIP Champagne Reception
 An opportunity to mingle as we enjoy hors d’oeuvres, champagne, and Diet Coke.

10:00 – 11:00 | Centennial I | Twenty Years of Pimping the Klingon Language
 Q&A and some strange tales of pushing the Klingon language for two decades.

Saturday, April 21st

1:00 – 2:00 | Centennial III-IV | The Sounds of Klingon
 An interactive session with just a bit of spitting as we master some of the trickier sounds.

7:00 – 8:00 | Centennial III-IV | Ten Things Every Klingon Should Know How to Say… in Klingon!
 Eric Koske and I instruct you in some essential Klingon phrases.

Sunday, April 22nd
10:00 – 11:00 | Centennial III-IV | Klingon Religion
 Tony Roberts and I discuss religion, Klingon style!

2:30 – 3:30 | Centennial I | The 2012 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant
 Join David Orange, Morgan Gendel, and me as we judge the event. Yeah, yeah, it’s a tough job…

When I’m not busy with the above, I’ll either be grabbing a bite in the hotel restaurant, sitting at a table selling the limited number of KLI books I can stuff into my carry-on bag, and just generally hanging out with anyone who wants to chat. With luck, there’ll be some Diet Coke nearbye too.

Eating Authors: Laura Anne Gilman

No Comments » Written on April 9th, 2012 by
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Laura Anne Gilman

The Eating Authors segment this week is the second visit to this blog from Laura Anne Gilman who joined us back in June of last year for a bit of Q & A. Back then I mentioned that she was the author of two urban fantasy series (the six books of Retrievers, and four more books that make up Paranormal Scene Investigations), the award-nominated The Vineart War trilogy, as well as another series under the pseudonym of Anna Leonard. In addition to other projects, she’s adding another pseudonym to her business card, the first of several new mysteries from her begin appearing in November under the name L. A. Kornetsky.

Laura Anne is always working, always busy, always under deadline (or so it seems). So recently, when she wanted to write about one of the supporting characters from the world of her Cosa Nostradamus, and her publisher wanted her to focus her efforts in another direction, she followed the contracts and went to work. Except, that character (let’s call him Danny) wouldn’t leave her alone. Which would be fine, but that’s not the book the publishers wanted, and unasked for books don’t pay the rent. The pragmatics of the situation would have stopped another author. Instead, Laura Anne has embarked on a KickStarter project, leaving the viability of the book in the hands of her many fans. It’s just this kind of audacity that you can always expect from her. Oh, and by the way, there’s still plenty of time for you to click that link and participate in the effort.

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