SOCIAL
Zoe Quinn Launches Crash Override Network to Help Fight #Gamergate Harassment
Time’s Best YA List: Very White (via SF Signal)
The Dawning Age of Transparency
Marriott Will Now Allow You To Use Your Own WiFi
ENTERTAINMENT
Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle Now Available
Judith Merrill loved John D. MacDonald’s Work
You Can Play Hitchiker’s Text Adventure ALL OVER AGAIN (Definitely bring a towel)
Future Predictions That Came True (via SF Signal)
SF Predictions Surprisingly Accurate (Gee…who knew?)
Find A Critique Partner (via SF Signal)
George Lucas Reveals…Who Cares?
John Coleman Burroughs: Original ERB Art
Welcome to Night Vale Now on Youtube (Time to Binge Listen)
No Stewart or McKellen in Next X-Men Film
INDUSTRY
C.C. Finlay Now F&SF EditorKickstart This…Asking For Money
“Hey! You got print on my Ebook!” “Oh yeah!? YOU got Ebook on my print!”
What’s It Like To Be An Author?
What’s It Like To Be THIS Author?
Tuesday: Big Marvel Reveal Day
RIP Robert Kinoshita (Danger Will Robinson!) (via Fictionmags)
Gawker & IO9 Merge: Merger Promises More and Better Train Wrecks
On Being A REAL Fan (Talks Trek so…)
RIP Anita Ekberg (NSFW)
SCIENCE
Lets See the Space-Time Warp Again!
Planet Being Pushed To Its Limits
Singer Heading To Space (You guys have GOT to make Amazing Successful: I want to buy one of these tourist packages!)
Ammonia Leak on ISS Causes Temporary Evacuation
SpaceX Crash (sometimes watching them come down is as exciting as watching them go up. Sometimes)
Space Junk Conference (bonus: Devo’s Space Junk)
PRESS RELEASES & NEWSLETTERS
Norwescon…Radio Archive News…Scott Robinson…Odyssey Workshop
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Scott Robinson News
Hello everyone! After finishing out last year with a Japanese tour, and
then a much-needed holiday break with family (I’ve got the best!), I took
off for Uruguay to play in the Punta Del Este jazz festival for the second
year in a row, this time with Martin Wind, Bill Cunliffe and Joe La
Barbera. Here you can see some great photos, including one of me with the
Uruguayan Vice President, who is a big jazz
fan:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jikatu/sets/72157650192680586
I’ve
been home for two days, and tomorrow (Fri.) I’ll head up to the beautiful
Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY. I’ve been playing in their Jazz on
the Mountain festival for many years, and it’s always a great time. I’ll
play with Martin on Saturday, and lead my own quartet (w/ Helen Sung,
Dennis Mackrel and Martin) on Sunday. Then we finish up Sunday morning
with “Parlor Games,” as masterminded by WBGO’s Michael Bourne. Info is
here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/mohonk-com-318-2014-03-25/cms/pressroom/jazz_on_the_mountain_15.pdf
Back
in NYC, I’ll be at the Jazz Standard with the Mingus Band for two Mondays,
19 & 26:
https://www.jazzstandard.com/
Then on Friday Jan. 30, my
quartet with Helen Sung, Martin Wind and Tim Horner will appear at NYC’s
Kitano:
https://www.kitano.com/Jazz-Schedule
I hope you can make it to
one of these shows!
Also: I want to let everyone know how thrilled I am
to be so well-recognized in the latest DownBeat Readers Poll. A lot of
people had been telling me about it, and Martin finally gave me a copy. I
placed 5th on Miscellaneous Instrument (whatever that is), 3rd on Baritone
Sax… but what really floored me was to see my name right after the great
Sonny Rollins in the Tenor Sax category. Wow – what a thrill! I made the
top half of the list… ahead of some very fine players that I greatly
admire and look up to. Of course, none of us are in this for the poll
results… but it actually means a lot to me, considering that tenor has
always been my main instrument. A few years ago I made a conscious
decision to refocus my energies on the tenor, after a lengthy period of
being thought of as everyone’s baritone player. So, seeing my name next to
Rollins is a real affirmation of that effort, and I’m very grateful to be
getting some recognition on the tenor. Here’s the full
list:
https://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2014/DB1412/single_page_view/61.html
Here’s
wishing all of you success in YOUR creative efforts, whatever they may be.
Thank you for reading, and all the very best to you in 2015.
Scott
Robinson
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Radio Archives has chosen the Broadway Records Auction company
Secret Agent “X” is now a Monthly Audiobook!
A nameless mystery man with a wartime past, backed by a shadowy group of powerful philanthropists, Secret Agent “X” took on the toughest assignments of the dirty thirties. Operating out of the half-haunted Montgomery Mansion, “X” was also known as the Man of a Thousand Faces. A past master of disguise, he infiltrated the Underworld to crush crime in all of its hideous manifestations.
No one knew who Secret Agent “X “really was. Not his readers. Not his editors. Not even his writer, conceivably. To this day, eighty years later, his true identity is still a deep mystery. That’s keeping a secret!
Every hero needed something to distinguish himself from his rivals. The Shadow could blend into the shadows. Doc Savage was a superman. The Spider shot first and asked no questions later. Every one of them was a consummate quick-change artist. In that respect, “X” would be no different.
For Secret Agent “X”, it was decreed that he would pit himself against villains who were maestros of unbridled horror. Melodrama was the rule of the day. But the unknown “X” plunged into maelstroms of raw bloodlust undreamed of by The Shadow and Doc Savage. His foes were truly depraved. Terrorists. Torturers. Kidnappers. Stranglers. Arsonists. These were the types of tabloid master criminals our nameless hero hunted.
Before long, The Spider started going up against foes as a maniacal as the ones “X” vanquished every month. But the Man of a Thousand Faces first blazed that terrible trail.
Writer Paul Chadwick communicated the essence of the new series with the horrific titles of his novels. The Death-Torch Terror stands out as an early example of the fearful proceedings.
In this thrilling tale, a series of bank robberies are marked by a trail of incinerated corpses. What sinister weapon has been fielded that reduces living flesh and bone to charred husks? When New York’s police commissioner is abducted by the murderous gang, the Man of Mystery and Destiny dons his warpaint and takes up the trail. But will the fires of doom engulf “X”, too?
The Death-Torch Terror is read in fearful intonations by Milton Bagby.
Join Will Murray, Robert Weinberg, Radio Archives, the Authors and Voice Actors discussing all the new audiobooks. Take a look and leave a comment.
This is the twelfth and final issue in the Dusty Ayres series. “Special emergency report from the Atlanta, Georgia, area. The 25th air concentration depot was completely destroyed fifteen minutes ago… All communication cut off… No details available…” Dusty Ayres heard this report grimly. He knew it meant that Fire-Eyes had caught America unprepared, had struck where he was least expected. How could we parry this new blow? How could our nation, tricked and worn out with war, outwit the Blacks in their most gigantic attempt to conquer the western world? Captain Dusty Ayres, ace pilot for the U.S. Air Defense flies in the Silver Flash, an advanced craft of his own design. With his two pals Curly Brooks and Biff Bolton, they battle some of the most diabolical mad scientists and their weirdest inventions. These exciting stories took over the Battle Birds magazine from June 1934 through the July/August issue of 1935, changing the magazine name to Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds. And now Dusty Ayres and his Battle Birds is back, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
The 50th anniversary of Doc Savage’s blockbuster 1964 paperback revival is commemorated in a special James Bama variant edition featuring a new foreword by the legendary paperback artist and super-powered novels by Laurence Donovan and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, violent earthquakes lure Doc Savage to Vancouver where he confronts the super-science menace of flying Zoromen in Murder Melody, a novel that inspired a classic 1940 Superman story. Then, Doc and Pat Savage journey to Africa to investigate a strange secret behind golden canaries and their lethal song in Birds of Death. Exclusive Variant Bonus Features the lost “Dead Men’s Club” story outline by legendary SUPERMAN editors Mort Weisinger and Jack Schiff, and a Doc Savage paperback history illustrated by ALL 62 Bama covers! This classic pulp reprint leads off with one of James Bama’s most spectacular cover paintings, and also showcases the original color pulp covers by Walter M. Baumhofer and Emery Clarke, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. Double Novel Reprint $14.95
I really appreciate your efforts to get shows from the original transcription disks and release them in the best quality possible. You are helping to keep OTR alive and accessible to the majority of people alive today who weren’t around during the golden age of radio.
Odyssey Writing Workshop Announces Its 20th Summer Session
// SF Signal
Odyssey Writing Workshops has announced its 20th Summer Session.
More details can be found in the following press release…
ODYSSEY WRITING WORKSHOP ANNOUNCES ITS 20th SUMMER SESSION!
About Odyssey
Each summer, writers of the fantastic come from all over the world to attend the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Odyssey is one of the most highly respected programs for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Only fifteen are admitted. Fifty-nine percent of graduates go on to professional publication.Odyssey is for developing writers whose work is approaching publication quality and for published writers who want to improve their work. The six-week program combines an advanced curriculum with extensive writing and in-depth feedback on student manuscripts. Top authors, editors, and agents have served as guest lecturers, including George R. R. Martin, Jane Yolen, Terry Brooks, Robert J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Nancy Kress, Jeff VanderMeer, Holly Black, Catherynne M. Valente, and Dan Simmons.
This summer’s workshop runs from JUNE 8 to JULY 17, 2015. Class meets for at least four hours each morning, five days a week. That time is split between workshopping sessions and lectures. While feedback reveals the weaknesses in students’ manuscripts, lectures teach the techniques necessary to strengthen them. Intensive lectures cover the elements of fiction writing in depth. Students spend about eight hours more per day writing and critiquing each other’s work.
The program is held on Saint Anselm College’s beautiful campus in Manchester, NH. Saint Anselm is one of the finest small liberal arts colleges in the country, and its campus provides a peaceful setting and state-of-the-art facilities for Odyssey students. College credit is available upon request.
The early action application deadline is JANUARY 31, and the regular application deadline is APRIL 8. Tuition is $1,995, and housing in campus apartments is $830 for a double room and $1,660 for a single room.
Odyssey graduate Sara King is sponsoring the Parasite Publications Character Awards this year to provide financial assistance to three character-based writers wishing to attend. The Parasite Publications Character Awards, three scholarships in the amounts of $1,995 (full tuition), $500, and $300, will be awarded to the three members of the incoming class who are deemed extraordinarily strong character writers, creating powerful, emotional characters that grab the reader and don’t let go.
Several other scholarships and a work/study position are also available.
Odyssey’s Director and Primary Instructor
Jeanne Cavelos is a best-selling author and a former senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing, where she won the World Fantasy Award for her work. As an editor, Cavelos gained a reputation for discovering and nurturing new writers. She provides students with detailed, constructive critiques that average over 1,500 words each. She also meets individually with students several times over the six weeks to discuss their progress and explore ways in which their writing process might be altered to improve weak areas. These discussions often lead to breakthrough insights.Comments from the Class of 2014
“Jeanne is an amazing, supportive, and nurturing mentor. This has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life, and I say that as a veteran of the Marine Corps who has spent a significant amount of time in combat zones. This is the best investment that I have ever made in myself. I think it was worth every penny and every minute away from home, loved ones and work. I was completely unprepared for how amazing and special this workshop was for me.” –JT Howard“I have three graduate degrees, but I can easily say that Jeanne Cavelos is the best instructor I’ve ever had. I came to Odyssey with specific ideas about what the problems were in my fiction. During the first week, I learned I had problems with my fiction that I didn’t even realize I had. Jeanne, though, teaches us that those problems should not overwhelm fiction writers; instead, she teaches us how to solve them.” –Brigitte McCray
Our 2015 Writer-in-Residence
Kij Johnson is widely considered one of the top fantasy/science fiction writing teachers in the country. She is the author of three novels–two fantasies set in classical Japan, The Fox Woman and Fudoki, and a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel–and a short story collection, At the Mouth of the River of Bees. Since 2008, her short fiction has won the Nebula Award (three times), the Hugo, and the World Fantasy Award. In the past she has worked in book publishing, comic books and graphic novels, and RPGs and trading card games. She received her Master of Fine Arts from North Carolina State University and teaches at the University of Kansas, where she is associate director for the Center for the Study of Science Fiction.Other Guest Lecturers
Lecturers for the 2015 workshop include some of the best teachers in the field: authors Brendan DuBois, E. C. Ambrose, Alma Alexander, and Alex Hughes; and top literary agent Jennifer Jackson.Odyssey Graduates
Graduates of the Odyssey Writing Workshop have been published in the top fiction magazines and by the top book publishers in the field. Their stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Asimov’s, Weird Tales, Lightspeed, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and many more. Recent novels by Odyssey graduates include Low Midnight by New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn, published by Tor Books; Elisha Magus by E. C. Ambrose, published by DAW; The Thickety by J. A. White, from HarperCollins; This Shattered World co-authored by Meagan Spooner, published by Disney-Hyperion; andReflected by Rhiannon Held, from Macmillan Books.Other Odyssey Resources and Services
The Odyssey site, odysseyworkshop.org, offers many resources for writers, including online classes, a critique service, free podcasts, a weekly discussion salon, writing tips, and a monthly blog. Those interested in applying to the workshop should visit the site or e-mail jcavelos@sff.net.
Related posts:
Odyssey Writing Workshops Announces New Online Classes for Speculative Fiction Writing
