Dublin 2019 Bid Update
The Dublin 2019 Worldcon bid broke through the 800 supporter level at Sasquan, following appearances across Europe and the USA. This weekend they have a chance to promote the bid locally at Octocon, the National Science Fiction Convention of Ireland, where they … Continue reading →Pixel Scroll 10/10 A Filer on the Deep
(1) The Art of The Lord of the Rings by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull was released in the UK on October 8. The American edition, from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, will be out on October 13. Wayne and Christina say … Continue reading →
2015 WSFA Small Press Award
“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon, published in Apex Magazine # 56 (January 2014) is the winner of the 2015 WSFA Small press Award sponsored by the Washington Science Fiction Association. The award was presented by last year’s winner, Alex Shvartsman, … Continue reading →
Bradbury All The Time
(1) Ray Bradbury was mentioned by Rachel Bloom on October 8th’s Late Late Show at about 25:50. P.S. You can skip forward to the spot but they will NOT let you skip the commercials. (2) In December, Big Finish will distribute … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/9 Pixellary Mercy
(1) While I missed the story when this was done for the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz movie, the image is still good for a laugh. Super-sized version of the infamous Witch’s legs, complete with sparkling red ruby … Continue reading →
Little Orphan Ancillary
Spoilers below! This is a post where commenters can discuss Ann Leckie’s “Imperial Radch” trilogy without having to skate around the revelatory details.… Continue reading →
Rambo, Swirsky Offer Online Class November 8
Cat Rambo reveals one of the mysteries of the profession — I don’t know that anyone’s noticed one aspect of the great SJW conspiracy yet, which is that Leckie, Swirsky, and I were all in the same Clarion West class (’05, in … Continue reading →
GoFundMe for RP Bird
SF writer RP Bird of Albuquerque, New Mexico is being treated for cancer and has started a GoFundMe appeal with a goal of raising $9,000. Susanne Mann writes: He is in critical need of immediate financial aid, in any amount, … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/8 The Legend of Slatestroke
(1) Just finished Ancillary Mercy tonight. What a cast of characters! “Ohg, lbh xabj, lbh’er nyy bhg bs svfu fnhpr. Naq V qba’g guvax V’ir rire frra n jne orsber!” “V’z tbvat gbb,” fnvq Fcurar. “Rkpryyrag!” ercyvrq Genafyngbe Mrvng. “V’yy … Continue reading →
Stuart Bergman (1965-2015)
Stuart Bergman, a familiar face at MidSouthCon as co-manager of the dealers room, died October 6 of cancer. Nicknamed “Shorty” because he was nearly seven feet tall, the Forsyth, Georgia fan was known for serving out drinks of “the blue … Continue reading →
Lunacon 2016 Asks for Crowdfunding
Lunacon, New York’s longest-running sf&f convention, is making a comeback in 2016 but needs more seed money to make it happen. The committee has started an Indiegogo appeal to raise $8,000. As you may also know, Lunacon has gone through … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/7 The Sprite Stuff
(1) “The Phantom Fame: ‘Space Ghost Coast to Coast,’ Secretly TV’s Most Influential Show”. Shea Serrano explains his theory on Grantland. Repurposing existing Space Ghost images from the original cartoons, Lazzo created the first animated late-night talk show in 1994. Operated … Continue reading →
2015 Faned Winners
At VCON 40 last weekend, R. Graeme Cameron announced the 2015 Faned winners (for 2014 fanac). BEST FAN ARTIST Winner: Taral Wayne 1st runner-up = Jean-Pierre Normand 2nd runner-up = Teddy Harvia BEST FAN WRITER Winner: Dale Speirs 1st … Continue reading →
WisCon 40 Chairs Resign
WisCon 40 co-chairs Andrea Horbinski and s.e. smith both resigned October 6. Andrea Horbinski gave this explanation: I’m sorry to say that my co-chair s.e. smith and I have resigned as Wiscon 40 chairs and as members of the Wiscon concom, … Continue reading →
Hugo Best Novelette Longlist Discussion Thread
By JJ: We’ve spent a lot of time over the last several months reading and discussing the 2015 Hugo Best Novelette finalists. This thread has been created to give us the opportunity to discuss the rest of the entries on the … Continue reading →
My Home Delusion
By James H. Burns: In October of 2009, I had a very bad breakup. And during the first week, I kind of vegged out, watching a bunch of television (while still taking care of some writing responsibilities and the like), … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/6 Beyond the pixelated event horizon
(1) Put together “William Shatner” and “flying” and I’m going to think of the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” episode of The Twilight Zone. Not Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond — he thinks of a different Shatner role when he … Continue reading →
More Is Better For Dean Wesley Smith
Dean Wesley Smith is celebrating his second anniversary writing a new novel for every issue of Smith’s Monthly, a magazine that consists only of his own fiction, over 60,000 words per issue. At the moment he produces novels in four major … Continue reading →
Spider Robinson Commits to Next Year’s VCON
R. Graeme Cameron has stepped in as chair of next year’s VCON. Happily, as one of his first acts, was able to announce that Spider Robinson, prevented by illness from attending VCON 40 this past weekend, has agreed to be Master … Continue reading →
Fowler Up For Warwick Prize
Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Serpent’s Tail) has made the Warwick Prize for Writing shortlist. It is one of six titles under consideration for the £25,000 biennial literary award. The international and cross-disciplinary award, run by the … Continue reading →
2015 Geffen Awards
The 2015 Geffen Award winners were announced on October 1 at Icon, the Israeli convention for science fiction, fantasy and role-playing games. (Click on the link to see the original Hebrew titles.) Best original book Broken Skies by Keren Landsman … Continue reading →
Fred Duarte Passes Away
Fred Duarte, Jr. who died October 3, was one of the many Texas fans who have worked hard to earn their region an enviable reputation for hospitality. I remember as fan GoH at Armadillocon 11 in 1989 that Fred and con … Continue reading →
Pixel Scroll 10/5 Manic Pixel Dream Scroll
(1) “Should Zurich ever hold a Worldcon, I think we’ve got the GOH’s hotel room,” says Tom Galloway. It’s the Grand Kameha’s Space Suite. Always dreamed of going to space but never felt cut out for grueling astronaut training? Soon … Continue reading →
Disney Mashup of Star Wars Trailer
Posted yesterday, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Disney Mashup. [Thanks to James H. Burns for the link.]… Continue reading →
2015 Sunburst Award Winners
The winners of the 2015 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic have been announced. 2015 Sunburst Adult Award The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King 2015 Sunburst Young Adult Award Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci … Continue reading →
Rebel, Rubble, and Fleur de Fan Award Winners
The Phoenix and Rebel, two traditonal Southern fandom awards, were presented at Contraflow V/DeepSouthCon 53 in New Orleans this weekend. The Phoenix is for pros and the Rebel is for fans. Phoenix Award Diana Rowland the late Robert Asprin (accepted … Continue reading →
Video from 1976 Marvel Comics Convention
By James H. Burns: The other day I was amazed to see this interview with Archie Goodwin pop up on Facebook, from the 1976 Marvel Comics Convention…. (Archie, of course, was a legendary writer/editor who created or edited several science … Continue reading →
(1) Steve Davidson’s ears were burning when he read Neil Clarke’s latest Clarkesworld editorial. Despite how much I admire what Neil has managed to do over the course of nine years with Clarkesworld, I think his take on the current … Continue reading →JordanCon’s Bid to Rescue DeepSouthCon 54 Accepted
JordanCon’s emergency bid to host DeepSouthCon 54 in 2016 was accepted at this weekend’s Contraflow V/DeepSouthCon 53. DeepSouthCon (DSC) is a traveling science fiction fan convention held in the southeastern United States, and is the oldest literary convention in the region. JordanCon entered an emergency … Continue reading →
