A Change in Plans

(image from Flickr user Robert S. Donovan)

We're going quarterly next year. Expect Issues 20, 21, 22, and 23 in 2010. This is all part of the plan for world domination... um... I mean, becoming a semiprozine. That means EV in February, May, August, and November.

It also means John or I will be posting the TOC for #20 sometime soon.

For advertisers: If you got the 2009 ad rates, the new PDF is adjusted now to show the schedule breakdown -- when ads can be reserved, when they're due, and when the issue itself will be on sale.

And I'm moving to Ohio this weekend, so I'll be briefly offline and/or somewhat distracted starting this Sunday.

Anne*---

2009 World Fantasy Report

(Electric Velocipede #19 on the Night Shade Books table at World Fantasy)

This is pretty long, and a lot of it is devoted to talking about with whom I had meals. You can skip down to the highlights at the end of the post if you want.

Thursday October 29

I leave my house at 7:00a to drive to my parent's house in Oconomowoc. On the way there, I miss/overlook/am distracted by driving and don't notice that the speed limit is 55mph. A $175 speeding ticket later, and I'm back on the road. I get to my parent's house and we rush off the Milwaukee airport.*

Everything is delayed. With bad weather from TX to WI (I'm flying to Houston) my flight is late to leave AND we're told the flight will take a half-hour longer than scheduled. Since I had barely 50 minutes of connection time, it's likely I will miss my connection.

No surprises, I do miss the connection.

I'm told by the nice woman in the airport (and I was nice, honestly nice, she didn't make me late and yelling at her only makes her day harder and adds stress to mine) that I can get to San Francisco that evening but I've missed the last flight to San Jose. I decide to stay overnight in Houston and catch the first flight out at 9:30a.

I'm overprepared for the trip, but now everything has fallen apart.

Instead of reading submissions or editing, I go to bed at 11:00p and get my first full night's sleep in more than a year.

Friday October 30

I arrive in San Jose at 12:00p, the same time as the one panel I was on. I get out of the cab and am greeted with a bear hug from Chris Roberson. It's like he's on the welcoming committee. And hey, given that Chris is World Fantasy's biggest proponent, I guess he is. I check in, register for the convention, drop off my stuff, and head down to the bar.

While this isn't strictly true, some of the first people I see are Jonathan Strahan, Ellen Datlow, and David Hartwell who were all on the panel I missed. I get (deservedly) varying levels of chiding/crap from the three of them.

The afternoon is a blur like all first days at a convention are. Seeing all your friends you haven't seen in a year, meeting a bunch of people for the first time, learning where everything is in the hotel, etc. I got a lot of belated and in-person congrats on the Hugo win.

Getting in late means all my well-crafted Friday plans are thrown out the window. My panel? Arrived too late. Interview with John Joseph Adams about Lightspeed? He's sick an unavailable. Oysters with Minz? Couldn't find him. And so on. There's a liquor run with Allison Baker and Mark Teppo (and I forgot my jigger so we have to improvise) at some point.

I head out for 'Moroccan' with Jason Williams, Jeremy Lassen, Mark Teppo, Chris Schleup, Fleetwood Robbins, Kris O'Higgins, and Ross Lockhart. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet with free sangria. (it's actually where I was supposed to go the next night, but I wrecked those plans)

After too much food and too much sangria (wherein the serving staff was bringing us pitchers and trays of shots of sangria AND drinking with us by the end of our meal) we stumble back to the hotel.

I go to a reading for Jetse's web magazine (he was giving out Scotch) and then up the Night Shade Books party. Upstairs is Locus and Tor. Across the hall is...I've forgotten, but they had a TON of pizza (seriously, about 40 pizzas were delivered to them). At some point Allison starts making sidecars in the bathroom (video here).

Allison wrecks a whole bunch of people.

I'm up until 5:00a or so with Chris Roberson, Allison Baker, Jason Williams, Jetse de Vries, and others. Chris and Allison have a room on the same level as the pool so they have an outdoor seating area. (I know I ran into Jeremy Lassen, Amelia Beamer, and Liz Gorinsky somewhere in there) I've been up for more than 24 hours straight at this point. I get back to the room and crash.

Saturday October 31

I don't wake up until almost 12:00p. I head out to lunch at Gordon Biersch with Chris Roberson, Matt Sturges, Dave Justus, and we are later joined by Allison Baker. I was supposed to lunch with my agent Kris, but he was feeling the effects of the night before too strongly to be up to eating.

I honestly don't remember what I did that afternoon. I suspect I spent time between the bar and the dealer's room. I know at some point I talked to Kristin Livdahl of Rabid Transit Press (they had their new book: Under the Mere by Catherynne M. Valente) and Victoria Blake from Underland Press (she had Jeff VanderMeer's Finch, Brian Evenson's Last Days, Will Elliot's The Pilo Family Circus, and more with her). While hanging out in the bar, I help Gigi Gridley pick out her shoes (via text message) for her birthday party.

Dinner was oaxacan at Mezcal, where we had excellent moles and Chapulines (grasshoppers). In attendance was Mark Teppo, Daryl Gregory, Adam Rakunas, Nancy Hightower, Fleetwood Robbins, Chris Schleup, Alex Irvine, Alex's brother-in-law, and the brother-in-law's friend.

We get back right around the time the Gigi's birthday party is supposed to start, so Teppo and I head upstairs for that.

And then, I don't know. I just wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to be around people. I didn't want to drink. I didn't want to talk. I head back down to the room and work on the computer for a bit. I turn on the tv and lay back on the bed.

I went to sleep and it wasn't even 10:00p.

Sunday November 1

I make myself stay in bed until 7:00a. When I get up, I'm promptly reminded by Teppo that it's actually 6:00a due to 'falling back.' Mark's WELL under the weather. But he soldiers on and goes to breakfast with me. After breakfast he decides to go back to the room and lay low.

I go to find Garth Nix and interview him.

My camera isn't working the way I expect it to, so the interview will be done via e-mail later. We grab a latte and sit outside for a bit. John Picacio and his wife Traci join us and we have a nice visit (that sounds like something my grandmother would say!).

Now I just burn time while I get ready for the banquet. I show up, dressed slightly fancier than the year before. However, nowhere near as fancy as these guys. (that's l-r John Joseph Adams, Graham Joyce, Rob Bland, Jeremy Lassen, Jim Minz, and Ross Lockhart)

Without a doubt this is the best WFC banquet meal I've ever had, although the competition is not tough. It's actually pretty good. Most of the meal I get to listen to Graham Joyce talk about the kick-ass year he's been having. This is a good thing. My favorite moment is when this year's judges are being thanked for their efforts and being asked to stand up and Chris Roberson doesn't just stand up, he jumps into the air with his hands held high. I saw a photo of it somewhere, but I can't find it right now.

When the awards start, my category is up first. I don't expect to win, and I'm pleased to see Michael Walsh take home the award. He's been doing great work for years. Locus took a photo of me trying to wrest the award away from Michael, so watch upcoming issues for an image of me being a 'sore loser.' LOL

More time in the bar, getting no sympathy for the World Fantasy Award loss as I won the Hugo a few months ago. Nonetheless, people buy me drinks anyway. The Packers lose to the Vikings. Garth Nix insists that I help him eat some of the food he's ordered so I eat a slider. I don't want to be impolite.

We head out for tapas, we being Jim Minz, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jason Williams, Chris Scleup (who is apparently my new meal companion), Fleetwood Robbins, Alex Irvine, and Bill Shunn. We get plate after plate after plate after plate of tapas.

And then we're back at the bar. I go to bed fairly decent because I have a 6:15a flight the next morning.

Monday November 2

I get down the lobby around 4:30a to wait for Nora Jemisin and Daryl Gregory to catch a cab to the airport. Jeremy Lassen is there going on and on about Clive Barker naked. He sees me and insists on pouring me a vodka tonic. I take a sip to be polite.

For the record, I don't see Chris Roberson on this day and it feels a little empty for that.

We get to the airport with plenty of time and then, see ** below.

Post Con Thoughts

This was a strange WFC for me. I almost didn't want to be there. My body just wanted to rest. I had no desire to hang out and drink/talk/whatever. I just wanted to sit in the room...honestly, I wanted to head home.

And that's pretty shitty of me.

I only see these people once a year, and I love them all to death, and I wasn't taking advantage of being together. And now I won't see them again until next year in Columbus.

I'm not sure how I feel about the convention. I do know that my travel trouble getting down there screwed things up for me. I also know that there's a lot going on at my full-time job that I wasn't able to leave behind for this trip.

Definite highlights include:

• seeing Jason Williams again
• meeting Zoran Zivkovic (for too short a time), Kij Johnson, Bill Willingham, Brendan Connell, Gail Carriger, Damien G. Walter, Deb Biancotti, Nancy Hightower, Matt Sturges, Adam Rakunas, Dave Justus, Tim Powers, Sean Williams, and I'm sure more people that I'm forgetting at the moment
• re-introducing myself to Liza Trombi (so embarrassing!)
• Allison's sidecars (Teppo has instructed Allison that she isn't allowed to mix him drinks any more)
  
• introducing Norman Partridge and Jeffrey Ford to each other
• listening to Tim Powers spin tales of adventures he had with Phil Dick
  
• giving Jetse a bear hug that lifted him off the ground
• seeing Jeremy in the lobby at 4:30a when I was leaving for the airport and he was still up from the night before
• talking to all the people I haven't seen in forever like Tempest, Teppo, Chris Roberson, Allison Baker, Bill Shunn, Derryl Murphy, Rani Graff, Gigi Gridley, Deb Layne, Kristin Livdahl, Jeff VanderMeer, Victoria Blake, Ann VanderMeer, Jim Minz, Jude Feldman, Heidi Lampietti, Alex Irvine, Chris Schleup, Fleetwood Robbins, Steven H. Segal, Deanna Hoak, Kris O'Higgins, Peter Straub, Garth Nix, Tim Akers, Paolo Bacigalupi, Daryl Gregory, Amelia Beamer, Alan Deniro, Tim Pratt, Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeffrey Ford, Norman Partridge, John Douglas, Laura Anne Gilman, Jay Lake, Liz Gorinsky, Ken Scholes, Neil Williamson, Patrick Swenson, Robert Freeman Wexler, and....many many many many more (I know I've forgotten someone, or some ones). Most of them I didn't get nearly enough time with.
  

________________________
* When I booked the flight, it was half the cost to fly out of Milwaukee versus flying out of Moline. At the time, I thought I was being thrifty; it's not until later** that I realize how this will backfire on me.

** On the way home I realize that I will be flying from San Jose to Houston (4 hours) and then Houston to Milwaukee (3 hours) and still need to DRIVE from Milwaukee to home (4 hours). What a crappy day.

WFC in San Jose

(image from Flickr user mrkathika)

Yes, I do know the way to San Jose. That's where I'm heading right now. Things may be quiet here until next week.

Play amongst yourselves in the comments.

Once Upon a Time

(image from Flickr user crackdog)

Since we've signed the contracts, I'm happy to announce an anthology of fairy-tale reprint stories called Happily Ever After that will be published by Night Shade Books some time in 2011 (publication date, as you know, subject to change). I'll give more details as they come.

For now, I'd like to point people towards the Happily Every After story recommendation website. I'm going through a bunch of material and pulling together stories, but I'd like to solicit recommendations of science fiction and fantasy versions of fairy tale stories from readers and writers.

I'm looking to have a solid list of contributors by the end of the year, but I'll take recommendations through the end of February 2010. If you have questions, just e-mail me (contact information on recommendation page).

The Reveal

(was it worth the wait?)

Here's the full cover of Electric Velocipede #19. There will be copies at the World Fantasy Convention next week (October 29 - November 1 in San Jose, CA). In case you've forgotten, here is the table of contents:

Poetry
"When the lamps are lit" by KJ Bishop
"My Past Lives" by Beth Langford
"Retired Shapeshifters" by Beth Langford
"Kimono Monochrome at Midnight" by Linda Ann Strang

Fiction
Novelette
"The Lost Technique of Blackmail" by Mark Teppo
"A Mouse Ran Up the Clock" by A. C. Wise

Short Story
"Frayed" by Jonathan Brandt
"Darkest Amber" by Erin Hoffman
"Nightlight" by Celia Marsh
"The Boy Who Could Bend and Fall" by Ken Scholes
"Life at the Edge of Nowhere" by Kjell Williams

Nonfiction
Sampling the Aspic by Penelope O'Shea
Blindfold Taste Test with Elizabeth Bear

If you're going to be at the convention I hope to see you there!

More Teasing

(another piece of the cover)

Just for fun, another tease. I got a proof from the printer, so I'm tempted to take a photo of myself holding a copy of the new issue...and maybe I will! There will be copies available at World Fantasy Convention at the end of the month, with subscriber and contributor copies going out some time after that.

And because I'm stupid, I've fixed the image's file name so it isn't called what it is. Duh. I fixed the old one, too, so if you missed it, nyah.

ETA: Anne's rec.

Paul Witcover's column in the November 2009 issue of Locus begins with exploring the difference between an author of the spec fic persuasion writing spec fic, and a mainstream author writing spec fic.

I think his observations are fascinating. I'm wanting to quote them out of context, which would be unhelpful... but it's a gauge of how cool something is. (Can you tell if it still makes sense? If not, then someone else may not find it as cool. But I still think they're cool.) Hmmm.

OTOH, now I understand why people are reading Gravity's Rainbow and discussing it. :D

Me and My Hugo (Together, at Last!)

(photo by me)

Since people have been asking, here's a photo with me and my Hugo. We're having breakfast. If I look bored, it's because the darn thing is NOT a conversationalist.

How many things can you identify in the photo? And what could I possibly be eating that requires all of those things?

While we're on the subject of food, someone had asked in the comments of my WFC 2009 t0-do post what I had found for food options in San Jose. There are a lot. And there are a lot near the hotel. There are a few options I recommend:

• Yelp! San Jose. Works great since it has a map and you can center it on the hotel to see how close stuff is to it. Gives reviews (which may or may not be impartial) but also hours, payment options, links to restaurant sites, etc.
• Google Maps. Actually very similar to Yelp! but no reviews. Also, Yelp! lets you choose cuisines while Google is just a power search.
• SanJose.com. It's not impartial, but it has nice write-ups and (for the most part) good links to the restaurant sites.

From those things (and to be honest, mostly Yelp!) I found more than enough dining options.

Anne's 2009 recommendations

(image from Flickr user purplemattfish)

Except for possibly the last entry, and those marked 2008, these are all from 2009. And I do work for all of these (except IGMS) -- and also Locus, which has no entries here.

2008 stories:

"Dresses, Three" by Angela Slatter. Shimmer 8, Winter/Art Issue 2008.
"20th Anniversary Caveman" by Grá Linnea. Shimmer 9, Spring 2008.
"Blood and Water" by Alethea Kontis. InterGalactic Medicine Show July 2008.
"The Dragon's Tears" by Aliette de Bodard. EV 15/16.
"The Floating Order" by Erin Pringle. EV 15/16.

2009 stories:

"What to Do with the Dead" by Claude Lalumière. Shimmer Issue 10.

"Sun's East, Moon's West" by Merrie Haskell. EV 17/18.
"The Leaf Gatherer" by Damon Kaswell. EV 17/18.
"Setting My Spider Free" by Caroline M. Yoachim. EV 17/18.
"In the Gingerbread House" by Barbara Krasnoff. EV 17/18.

"Shedding Skin" by Jay Lake. Shimmer CJB Issue 11.
"And How His Audit Stands" by Lou Anders. Shimmer CJB Issue 11.
"The Jackdaw's Wife" by Blake Hutchins. Shimmer CJB Issue 11.
"The Mechanical Aviary of Emperor Jalal-ud-din Muhammed Akbar" by Shweta Narayan. Shimmer CJB Issue 11.
"The Wolf and the Schoolmaster" by James L. Cambias. Shimmer CJB Issue 11.

"For Want of Chocolate" by J.F. Lewis. InterGalactic Medicine Show September 2009.

"The Lost Technique of Blackmail" by Mark Teppo. EV 19.
"Darkest Amber" by Erin Hoffman. EV 19.


Novels:

ReVamped by J.F. Lewis. Can't say enough good things, and refuse to give spoilers. I think there's something in Alabama, because the writers there that I've read are awesome.

Saturn's Children by Charles Stross. Nominated for Hugo, Best Novel.


Other:

Essay: "POD Self-Publishing: Caveat Emptor" by Judith Moffett. NYRSF #246, February 2009. Hard numbers, which I appreciated: why POD is extremely costly, and how it works for the web-savvy, plus what books [and authors] are appropriate for the process -- and why she is glad that she did so.

There's a follow-up letter in NYRSF #248, April 2009; Darrell Schweitzer defines POD technology versus vanity press [see Screed]. Per Darrell, vanity press is a publishing strategy that fleeces the writer; POD technology is not vanity press.

Rejection problems in the slush pile, aka "A Comprehensive and Totally Universal Listing of Every Problem a Story Has Ever Had," is also in NYRSF #248, April 2009. This is one of the funniest lists I have ever read -- and fabulously useful as well. I wish I'd found it online before now, but it was a joy to read during March 2009. Scared away my cat by laughing so hard.

And I enjoy Tom Purdom's ongoing series in NYRSF. I think it comes out every quarter.

A Tease

(a piece of the cover for Electric Velocipede #19)

I've seen the whole thing, but I'm only showing you a little bit. This is part of the cover of the next issue of Electric Velocipede, which, barring a huge catastrophe, will be available at the end of the month at the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose.

What do you think that is on the cover? It's rather odd-looking, isn't it? Post your ideas in the comments.