AMAZING News 7/14/13

UPDATE:  Some items were inadvertently left off of the original news post and have now been included.

CAUSES

BOYCOTT Ender’s Game Movie
Sign the SF Authors Stamps Petition
Help Save 1,100 Classic SF Works
How To Report Sexual Harassment – Fannish Style
Dustin Hoffman on Being a Woman and Female Beauty
Could the Boycott Be an Ender?
Sexism in Publishing

FANDOM

ONYXCON
Dragon*Con to Kramer:  Hit the Road
Five Year Mission Visits a Planet for Texans
Forget Snowden – Beale is Leaking SFWA Like a Collander
Finncon is Over (Could be 2015 Worldcon Site)
Forget Snowden, Beale is Leaking Like a Collander

CRAFT

A 13 Part Conference Report on Classic SF
Are SF Authors Eeyores to Engineer’s Pooh?
Worldbuilding From Reality
Can You Say ‘The Big 1’?
Frenkel Leaves TOR
Can SF Save the Liberal Arts?
Wherefore Art Thou SFWA?

ENTERTAINMENT 

Hades & Hocus Pocus by Lester Dent
Batman’s Secret SECRET Co-Creator
Comic Sculpture (Should be Listed Under Unconscionable Tragedies!)
timewarpKnock-knock-knock, “Penny”, knock-knock-knock, “Penny”, knock-knock-knock, “Penny, Let’s Do the Time Warp Again”
Talk About Dreams with Sharp Teeth!
Weinbaum Radio
Run Time Movie
Latest Issue of Ygdrasil

Latest Issue of New Worlds Now Out

SCIENCE

Rocket Rides 25 Cents
Creepy/Cool Robot – ‘Robbie’ Not to Far Away

PRESS RELEASES

HEROES & HEARTBREAKERS
10TH ANNUAL STORYSOUTH MILLION WRITERS AWARD
LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE GETS STORY-BUNDLED
20TH CENTURY FOX OPTIONS CYBERSTORM
SUVUDU

Heroes and Heartbreakers: Discover. Share. Obsess.

What’s Hot!

Sanctuary by Lily Everett

Lily Everett’s Sanctuary Island
Whirling back to face the marsh, Ella nearly stumbled against her car as a rangy, reddish-brown horse paced along the edge of the meadow and up to the side of the road. This wasn’t part of the band of wild horses, though–this one had a rider.

Come settle into Sanctuary Island with an excerpt from Ella and Grady’s story in Lily Everett’s heartwarming romance Sanctuary Island (July 30). Plus, be sure to readthe sweet and sexy Billionaire Brothers novellas that introduce the small island community: The Firefly Cafe, The Summer Cottage, and Island Road.

Hunting Eve by Iris Johansen

Iris Johansen’s Hunting Eve
“I’ve lived a full life. People are part of a full life. I like most of them. Those I don’t like I find a way to ignore or get rid of.” He looked up and smiled. “And then there are those I love and store away in a very special place.”

While fiercely dedicated to the search for Eve Duncan, Jane and Trevor still can’t deny that the feelings between them are flaring back to life. Yet there’s no future for them until they find Eve, and deal with their pasts… Read an exclusive scene from Book 2 in Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan trilogy, Hunting Eve (July 16).

The Tudor Conspiracy by C.W. Gortner

C.W. Gortner’s The Tudor Conspiracy
I longed to strip her of her clothes, to see her arch beneath me with breathless abandon, taking me deep inside her. I wanted none of the sordid intrigues and terrors of my past or the court to ever touch her again. “I love you, Kate Stafford,” I said. “I love you with all my heart….”

Brendan and Kate have discovered conspiracies against their beloved Princess Elizabeth (yes, that one!) before, but all they love and work for might be at risk now. Find out what’s at stake with an excerpt from C.W. Gortner’s The Tudor Conspiracy(July 16), and enter for a chance to win a copy.


Want more Charley Davidson (not to mention the smokin’-hot Reyes)?! There’s still time to enter for a chance to win an audiobook copy of Darynda Jones’s Fifth Grave Past the Light!


First Looks & Sneak Peeks

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

The latest buzz, scoop, and gossip on what’s coming soon, thanks to Victoria Janssen, Leigh Davis, Jennifer Porter, and Team H&H.


Highlights from the Blog

Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Dragon*Con + Sherrilyn Kenyon = win/win. Team H&H has the full scoop on a very special Dark-Hunter sweepstakes going on now: Fans can enter for a chance to win a trip for two to Dragon*Con in Atlanta to attend the release party for Sherrilyn Kenyon’sStyxx over Labor Day weekend!

Black Ice by Anne Stuart

You know you’re a romance fan if you’ve read… Megan Frampton names the 10 romance novels you really must read, and explains why. Her picks include Flowers from the Storm and Ain’t She Sweet. Which have you read, and would any–or all–of these books make it onto your list?

Bootlegger's Daughter by Margaret Maron

Want some mystery with that romance? Janga’s a fan of romances that develop over the course of a few books, and thinks mystery series provide a great opportunity for that, like Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series. Are you fascinated by Deborah/Dwight too?

Scandal in the Night by Elizabeth Essex

Royal Flush: Author Elizabeth Essex (Scandal in the Night) exposes her not-so-secret-now obsession with keeping up with the Royals (you’re not the only one on Royal Baby Watch!), while Heather Massey’s got another dose of royalty–in space! Princess Leia’s far from alone in SFF.

Innocence Undone by Kat Martin

Loading up your e-reader for vacation? Laurie Gold’s got some handy tricks to share as well as a roundup of July’s digital reissues, which include her favorite Kat Martin novel (Innocence Undone), Anne Rice’s erotica title Exit to Eden , and Keri Arthur’s first Nikki and Michael book.

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Hime the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison

Here comes the bride… Author Beth Harbison (Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Fingercounts down her favorite on-screen weddings of all time. Special moments from General HospitalSex and the City, and The Sound of Music made the list, but what’s her Number 1?

The Bridge

Tube Talk: Rachel Hyland’s got your handy-dandy guide to July’s summer TV premieres (like FX’s The Bridge and Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, both debuting this week), while Heather Waters puts the spotlight on TV pairing Olivia/Fitz from ABC’sScandal and the “Save The Borgias” fan campaign.

True Blood Season 6, Episode 4 Recap

Recap Central: Aliza Mann’s pretty proud of Sookie in her rundown of the events in True Blood 6.04, while Rachel Hyland’s big takeaway from The White Queen 1.04 is that Being a Kid Is Not Awesome (oh, and that apparently people never seemed to age in the Middle Ages???).


All this and more at HeroesandHeartbreakers.com. Come obsess with us!

Bonus: What’s the longest you’ve gone without buying a book?

P.S. Have you been meaning to catch up on breakout sci-fi show Orphan Black? Or are you a big fan just dying to talk about it with someone? Join our hiatus rewatch on Thursdays starting tomorrow!

Stay connected with
Heroes & Heartbreakers

~~~

MILLION WRITERS AWARD

The storySouth Million Writers Award is now open. This is the 10th annual edition of the award, which is for any fictional short story of at least 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2012. By “publication,” we mean an online magazine or journal with an editorial process (so self-published stories are not eligible).

For the rules, or to make an editor or reader nomination, go to <a href=”https://storysouth.com/millionwriters.html” target=”_blank”>https://storysouth.com/millionwriters.html</a>. The deadline for nominations is August 3rd.

As many people have noticed—and commented upon, oh my how people have commented—this year’s Million Writers Award is starting rather late. In addition, the more sharp-eyed among our fans may notice that the award website and nomination process has a new design and feel.

Well, there’s a reason for this, which comes down to me. After nine years of running the Million Writers, I no longer have the time to devote to this annual project. Between family and work and my own fiction writing, the MWA has been suffering because I rarely have the time to focus on it.

Which leads to the following annoucement:

Spring Garden Press takes over Million Writers Award

Yes, Spring Garden Press, the publisher of the online literary magazine storySouth, has now taken over running the award. The award process will not change but the great people at Spring Garden Press—including Terry L. Kennedy, Associate Director of the UNCG MFA Writing Program and editor of storySouth, and Shawn Delgado, Million Writers Award editor—will be able to give much more attention to the award than I can. This also allows the award to expand and live beyond the work of a single person, so many thanks to Terry, Shawn, and Spring Garden Press for doing this.</div>

Donations Needed for Prize Money!

But even though we have a new crew running the MWA, we still need donations to fund the award’s prize money. Last year we had nearly $1000 in prize money for the winners; all of this prize money was raised through donations from writers, editors and readers. I hope we can reach these amounts again.

To donate, go to the main <a href=”https://storysouth.com/millionwriters.html” target=”_blank”>Million Writers Award website</a>.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the award in previous years, and I hope you enjoy it again on our 10th anniversary.
Sincerely,

Jason Sanford

~~~

Lightspeed Has Been StoryBundled!

The June 2013 issue of Lightspeed is part of the new “Sci-Fi StoryBundle” ebook deal, which features a pay-what-you-want model, and includes 8 science fiction novels, curated by bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson. Here’s a bit about the project from the StoryBundle website:

Science fiction can take you from one side of the universe to the other, and an infinite number of ideas in between. That all can’t fit in one StoryBundle—but this new set, available July 2 through July 23, covers a broad landscape of ideas.

StoryBundle’s Sci-Fi Bundle is curated by #1 international bestselling SF author Kevin J. Anderson, and includes his own novel Hopscotch, which he considers one of his best novels. “SF has often dealt with the idea of two characters swapping bodies and dealing with the consequences,” Anderson says. “But imagine a future where everybody can do it, all the time, changing bodies and lives like changing clothes.” Anderson is best known for his work in the Dune universe with Brian Herbert, in the Star Wars, X-Files, Batman & Superman universes, as well as his own original epics Saga of Seven Suns and Terra Incognita. He set the Guinness World Record for largest single-author book signing.

Those six novels comprise the Sci-Fi Bundle. Name your own price, and get a large chunk of the imaginative universe. But those who choose to pay more than a minimum of $10 receive two bonus novels as well: The Stars in Shroud, a hard-to-find early novel by SF master Gregory Benford, who has won or been nominated for multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, and an amazing find—High-Opp, a never-before-published complete novel by Frank Herbert (author of DUNE), an edgy dystopia of class warfare.

Anderson, who put the bundle together, says, “I picked one of my own best, then tracked down a cadre of innovative bestselling and award-winning writers to make this a damned impressive showcase.”

The initial titles in the Sci-Fi Bundle are:

* Hopscotch by Kevin J. Anderson
* In Hero Years…I’m Dead by Michael A. Stackpole
* On My Way to Paradise by David Farland
* Santiago by Mike Resnick
* Swarm by B. V. Larson
* The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

If you pay more than the bonus price of just $10, you get all six of the regular books, plus two bonus titles, which include:

* High-Opp by Frank Herbert
* The Stars in Shroud by Gregory Benford

The bundle is available for a very limited time only, via StoryBundle, and allows for easy reading on computers, mobile devices and Kindles via file transfer, email, or other methods, with multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) available for each book.

It’s also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards—which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle—and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.

Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

Get quality reads: We’ve chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.
Pay what you want: You decide how much six fantastic books are worth to you. If you can only spare a little, that’s fine! You’ll still get access to six thrilling titles.
Support indie authors: StoryBundle is a platform for indie authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Plus, when you’re supporting indie authors you’re supporting the little guy or gal.
Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to charity. We’re currently featuring Mighty Writers and Trees for the Future.
Receive extra books: If you beat our bonus price, you’re not just getting seven books and magazines, you’re getting ten!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

So if you want to check out a bunch of great SF for cheap, hop on over tostorybundle.com and pay-what-you-want for it!


And Speaking of Bundles…

In the Lightspeed ebookstore, we’re actually featuring a couple of Bundles of our own. We currently have the following Lightspeed ebook bundles available:

Buying a Bundle gets you a copy of every issue published during the named period. So, for instance, the Year One Bundle gets you a copy of every issue we published during our first year (June 2010 – May 2011), etc. And then there’s the MEGA BUNDLE, which nets you a copy of every issue published during our first three years. (And buying the Mega Bundle saves you $5 off the cover price of buying the other three Bundles individually!)


Don’t Forget About the Lightspeed Reader Survey!

Last month we failed to make note of it, but our June issue was actually our third anniversary issue! So happy birthday to us. But given it’s been three years now, we thought it was about time to do another reader survey. If you’d like to participate, we’d very much appreciate it, and to thank you for taking the time, one lucky (i.e., randomly selected) participant will win a free one-year subscription to Lightspeed. To fill out the survey (which should just take 10-15 minutes), please go to:lightspeedmagazine.com/survey. The survey ends July 31, 2013.


Seeds of Change edited by John Joseph Adams

The original 2008 edition of Seeds of Change is now out-of-print, but the good news is that the new revised & expanded 2nd edition is now available. It is currently available in Kindle format, and is coming soon in other ebook formats.

The 2nd edition includes an afterword to each story from the author, corrects some errors and typos, and features a beautiful new cover. Otherwise, it’s the same Seeds of Change you all know and love. So check it out, and tell a friend!

Learn more about the anthology at johnjosephadams.com/seeds-of-change. Or you can go read the first story in the anthology, “N-Words” by Ted Kosmatka, which was recently featured on io9!


Thanks for Reading!

We couldn’t publish the magazine without the loyal support of readers like you. So we here at Lightspeed salute you, and would like to thank you for your continued patronage.

Well, that’s about it for this installment of the newsletter. Thanks again for reading. Meanwhile, for more, visit www.lightspeedmagazine.com. See you next month!

 ~~~

20TH CENTURY FOX OPTIONS CYBERSTORM

July 12th, 2013 – New York City – 20th Century Fox has acquired CyberStorm, a self-published book by Matthew Mather, with Chernin Entertainment taking on the role as producer.

Described as a frighteningly realistic depiction of what would happen in the event of a global digital meltdown from an organized attack, the book follows a New York man and his family as they try and survive the crash isolated in Manhattan with millions of scared and confused people around him.

The original e-book has caught on fast since it came out in March, and is now up there with the likes of the World War Z, Ender’s Game and Game Of Thrones e-books in Amazon sales. It is the current #1 best-seller in the science fiction and tech-thriller categories on Amazon.

CyberStorm can be found here on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/CyberStorm-ebook/dp/B00BT4QRHG/

Mather, a cybersecurity expert and author who started out his career working at the McGill Center for Intelligent Machines, is now exploring a traditional print publishing deal after inking rights pacts for Turkey, Spain and Germany. The Fox deal was made by Sean Daily at Hotchkiss and Associates with Paul Lucas at Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

Fox finances Chernin Entertainment-released films and they are currently basking in the success of their most recent tie-up The Heat, the Melissa McCarthy-Sandra Bullock buddy comedy that opened June 28 to a cool $40 million. A sequel to that one is already in the works.

For media enquiries, please contact Matthew Mather directly:

Matthew Mather
matthew.mather@phuturenews.com
~~~
Suvudu

JULY 2013

The Darwin Elevator From the desk of Jason M. Hough

Dear Readers,

One lazy summer when I was fourteen years old my friend Jake and I decided to write a novel. Our goal was to kill time, more than anything. Summers in eastern San Diego get hot. Really hot. For two kids limited by the meager funds earned on a newspaper route and the range of their (totally radical) BMX bikes, writing a novel seemed like a great idea.

And you know what? It was.

I have the manuscript right here on my shelf. Jake dug it up last year while cleaning his garage and gave it to me as a prize for the book deal I’d landed. We called it The Dragon Ring. It chronicled the adventures of a British soldier who traveled to India in the early 1800’s to solve the mysterious death of a friend. What that had to do with dragons or a ring I can’t recall.

Chris Paolini we were not. In hindsight the book is goofy and awkward and… none of that matters. Of course it was terrible. The point is, we wrote a book. We created something out of sheer force of will by putting in the effort, aided by the fact that no one had thought to tell us that fourteen-year-olds don’t write novels.

Click here for the rest of Jason’s letter!

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Each week we’re giving away the first 50 pages of an awesome Del Rey or Spectra book — for FREE! Check out the titles we premiered last month:
Witch Wraith
THE DARK LEGACY OF SHANNARA:
WITCH WRAITH

by Terry Brooks
Click here to read »
The Best of Connie Willis
STAR WARS: CRUCIBLE
by Troy Denning
Click here to read »
The Blood of Gods
THE BLOOD OF GODS
by Conn Iggulden
Click here to read »
Limits of Power
LIMITS OF POWER
by Elizabeth Moon
Click here to read »
.
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NEW THIS MONTH

Star Wars:
Crucible 

by Troy Denning
The Best of Connie
Willis 

by Connie Willis
The Dark Legacy
of Shannara: Witch
Wraith 

by Terry Brooks
Coup d’Etat
by Harry
Turtledove
Two Fronts
by Harry
Turtledove
A Conspiracy of
Alchemists 

by Liesel Schwarz
The Darwin
Elevator

by Jason M. Hough
Star Wars: The
New Essential
Guide to Droids 

by Daniel Wallace

Click here for more information on new Del Rey Spectra and Lucas Books titles coming this month!

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SDCC PITCH SESSIONS

Del Rey Books and Hydra, the science fiction and fantasy imprints of the Random House Publishing Group, will be scheduling a limited number of original story pitch sessions and art portfolio reviews at Comic-Con International 2013 at the San Diego Convention Center. Session time slots will be available Thursday, July 18 through Sunday, July 21 at the Random House booth #1514.

For more information on how to sign up for this unique opportunity,click here.

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BLOOD OF TYRANTS

Blood of TyrantsNaomi Novik’s BLOOD OF TYRANTS comes out on August 13. It is the penultimate volume in the Temeraire series, and it’s chock-full of excitement and adventure.

It is the second to last book in a series that has captured the imaginations of fantasy readers all over the world. Blood of Tyrantsfinds Captain Will Laurence in dire straights. To get a look at the opening chapter from this exhilarating novel, click here.

Please take a moment to support Amazing Stories with a one-time or recurring donation via Patreon. We rely on donations to keep the site going, and we need your financial support to continue quality coverage of the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres as well as supply free stories weekly for your reading pleasure. https://www.patreon.com/amazingstoriesmag

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