What Happens This Week? What Happened Last?

This week please look forward to a debut post by new Orbit author Gail Z. Martin on the eternal question of “And Then What Happened?” as well as new missives from A.Lee Rodriguez, ongoing updates by Robert Jackson Bennett on those strange doings in his neighborhood, and as much new Orbit info as we can bring you.

And in case you had your eye elsewhere last week, here’s our weekly roundup:

A. Lee Martinez, author of MONSTER on — monsters;

Robert Jackson Bennett, author of the forthcoming MR.SHIVERS (January), on what happens when the doors of perception open up a little too close to home;

Orbit Creative Director Lauren Panepinto presented the covers of THE GASLIGHT DOGS and FEED for your delectation;

Philip Palmer, author of RED CLAW (whose debut was noted at Sci-Fi London) made a strong case for why today and not yesterday is the Golden Age of Science Fiction;

And Nicole Peeler (TEMPEST RISING) gave you five reasons selkies are hotter than vampires. Her commenters wasted no time, contributing to the discussion.

Philip Palmer at Sci-Fi-London’s Oktoberfest tonight …

Sci-Fi-London are putting on a fascinating programme of events this weekend at their own special brand of Oktoberfest. And Philip Palmer will be adding to its fascinating-ness, as he is taking part in their keynote debate A Space of Waste tonight, along with other notable genre authors and experts.

The debate promises to be lively and will take the form of a panel discussion on whether science fiction authors are wasting their time writing about interplanetary travel, space colonisation and the spread of mankind across the universe (…certainly not, we bridle in indignation!) given everything science has taught us about the realities, possibilities and costs of doing so. They will discuss whether science fiction should be more concerned with what’s happening right here and now on Earth such climate change, global pandemics and population growth or is space-based science fiction always going to be relevant just because people love good stories.

As recently reported here, Philip Palmer’s fabulous Red Claw is out this month, so the subject will be particularly close to his heart right now!

Strange dream last night

Today has gotten off entirely on the wrong foot for me. I woke up and found that my wife had dyed her hair sometime yesterday, but I guess I didn’t notice? I remarked on it and she went off on me and my (admittedly) terrible attention span. Then work was completely incomprehensible to me. I had trouble logging into the blog, as well. I suppose they changed the URL and the password. I would’ve thought they’d tell me about something like that, though.

 I suppose it’s because I didn’t sleep well last night. I had the oddest dream. It was one of those dreams that starts so mundane and normal that you almost don’t realize you’re dreaming at all. Like when you keep dreaming that you can’t sleep, or that you keep waking up. But my dream was not quite like that. (more…)

Cover Launch: FEED

Grant_Feed (MM)Winner of officially the hardest cover of the season to nail: Feed by Mira Grant. I don’t want to give too much away on this one, because it’s one of those books that sounds a little odd in the describing, but then blows you away when you read it. There are a lot of layers going on in this book and it’s really smart. It’s an adventure, a political drama, a medical thriller, a character-driven almost first-person memoir style book that sucks you in and you literally cannot put down. And there’s zombies. Yes, a smart book about zombies. But don’t get hung up on the zombie thing. this book is not a joke, or a gimmick. Seriously people, I literally teared up at the end, I got so into the characters. I don’t do that for a lot of science fiction books. (Okay, I cried at the end of Endymion Rising. And Ender’s Game. but that’s it, I swear.)

As I have said before, liking a book a lot before you start designing is a bit of a curse, because you kind of put a lot of pressure on yourself to do a good job. That was definitely the case with Feed, but even worse it was a book that had to combine so many things into a smart package: zombies, politics, blogs, science fiction, horror, and a real world this-could-happen-to-you kind of impact. Tall order. (more…)

Is this the Golden Age of SF (and if not, WHY NOT?)

I recently read (I think it was in a blog by our revered leader Tim Holman) that the urban fantasy genre is now well and truly kicking the arse of traditional epic fantasy, in terms of sales and indeed media attention.  And fantasy books, as all SF writers keep being told, regularly outsell science fiction novels by a factor of, well, several.

(For American readers of this blog, I should point out that the word ‘arse’ is our quaint British spelling of the body part which you Yanks affectionately know as the toches.)

All this is very galling for those of us who write science fiction and not sword and sorcery, or vampire books, or werewolf stories.  We have intergalactic spaceships; these guys have freelance exorcists.  We have plasma guns; they have great big double-headed axes.  We have stories written with impeccable scientific rigour (okay, okay, sometimes I just make it all up); they have magic, and prophecies, and oracles.

In short, Science Fiction is the Cinderella genre.

(But actually, is that such a bad thing? I mean, when you think about it – who would want to be the Ugly Sister genre?) (more…)

Top Five Reasons Selkies are Hotter than Vampires

Nicole Peeler here. I’m the author of TEMPEST RISING, a book that will introduce you to a whole slew of mythological creatures above and beyond your standard werewolf/vampire/zombie triad. Indeed, I’ve been getting a lot of attention for writing about selkies, which are seal-human shapeshifters. Overall, there’s been lots of positive interest, but every once and a while a skeptic comes along, who asks, “What the hell do selkies DO, anyway? And how can they be hotter than vampires?”

So to fire up the debate, and get all you landlubbers thinking, I’ve outlined the Top Five Reasons that Selkies are Hotter than Vampires:

1. Emo is so ’96 – Join the swim team! Marilyn Manson or Michael Phelps . . . You decide.

2. Never pay market price for seafood again! We catch ’em, you grill ’em.

3. Salt water is easier to get out of sheets than blood! Who pays the laundry bills? Let’s be practical, people.

4. Not everyone is into double penetration! Two big fangs. Such little veins. Owwie Zowwie.

5. Seals give good clap! There’s nothing like a round of applause for a job well done.

Any other reasons you can think of why selkies are hotter than vampires?

The things in the window

When I came home today I found an old stove and a few pieces of electronic equipment I didn’t recognize sitting in front of the side gate to Dan’s back yard. I got out of the car and looked over the fence and saw him working away beside the shed. He seemed to be pulling up power cables. I called to him and asked if he’d made those adjustments he’d been meaning to, and he stopped and looked at me and called, “No, no.”

I asked if maybe the equipment he’d found would help. He said he didn’t think so. I asked why, and he stopped, thought, and then waved me over and started to open the shed. As I walked over, he said he thought this had all gone well beyond simple hardware or software adjustments. I asked what he meant by that. He didn’t answer and we entered. (more…)

Cover Launch: THE GASLIGHT DOGS

Lowachee_Gaslight Dogs (MM)One of the best parts—and hardest parts— of my job is getting to match up artists with a new book or series. You have a big responsibility to get the image “right” — there’s nothing worse to me as a fan than reading a book and picturing it in your mind and loving it, then having an image on the cover that just doesn’t capture the depth or feel of the book. This can be true of a cover whether it’s designed or illustrated, but there’s something about an illustration that locks the image of the character or world in your mind, and it’s unshakeable. So you want it to be RIGHT.

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee was definitely one of those books that begged to be illustrated. And the editor and I both thought Sam Weber had the perfect style for the book—both for his beautiful but haunting figures, and for his stark backgrounds. We thought he could perfectly evoke that arctic wasteland feeling, while giving us a compelling but accurate picture of the main character and her spirit form. That’s the tricky thing about hiring an illustrator also—you don’t just want them to paint a scene straight from the book—you want them to add something to it. Another layer, a feeling, it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you see it. It’s a very elusive quality, and one of those things that makes Creative Directors tear their hair out in their sleep. (more…)

This Week’s Forecast, Last Week’s Trajectory

This week, look forward to Philip Palmer wondering if this is the golden age of science fiction; to the next installment of Robert Jackson Bennett’s neighborly narrative; to the latest book and cover news from Orbit; and, to Nicole Peeler telling you why selkies are not simply cooler than vampires –they’re hotter. They are selkies, after all.

All in a week’s work! And in case you were away, last week on the Orbit blog:

* We debuted the forthcoming cover for Nicole Peeler’s TRACKING THE TEMPEST;

* Likewise, for Gail Carriger’s CHANGELESS;

* We were pleased to announce the publication of Philip Palmer’s newest novel RED CLAW;

* A.Lee Martinez discussed some of his favorite games;

* We took note of some of Jeff Somer’s video escapades;

*And, Robert Jackson Bennett continued to tell the story of that very strange neighbor of his.