From the In Box

PSFS Announces March 8 Talk – Jay Smith
Angry Robot Signs Rachel Neumeier
Suvudu Starts Character Cage Match
Northwest Writers Honor Octavia Butler

Friday, March 8th at the Rotunda 4014 Walnut Street, Phila.
PA 9:00 PM

Jay Smith is the creator and executive producer for the Parsec Award-winning audio drama series “HG World”. Since 2009,

Jay and his company of players and producers have been telling the story of survivors in the middle of a global zombie uprising. Now in its third season, this “satellite” production has featured over 60 characters and 50 actors on four continents making it a production truly on a global scale. Inspired by the golden age of radio, Jay draws from the work of Orson Welles, Arch Obelor and looks to modern audio dramatists like Douglas Adams and Dirk Maggs as inspiration to create a rich, realistic world of survival horror laced with dark comedy and compelling human drama.

Jay is also working on new audio drama series including “A Billion Smithereens” (a comedy about inventing a new life for one’s self within the pop culture fan community), “The Road to Renasence” (a Lovecraftian western), and “Blue Collar Gods” (a loosely connected series of vignettes about the hidden gods who influence the world one life at a time). Jay can also be heard on episodes of “The Chronic Rift” podcast and “Behind the Screams with Bryan Lincoln”.

Growing up in a family of actors and musicians, Jay naturally gravitates toward collaborative media. Given his schedule working as a human resource analyst and attending online school full time with four children and a marriage on top of it all, audio drama appears to be the most practical outlet for his desire to produce speculative fiction stories for a broad audience.

Jay is about to complete his BA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University, attends and speaks at various science fiction and literary conventions about podcasting, writing, audio drama, and zombies. HG World can be heard by subscribing through iTunes or visiting the show web site www.goodmorningsurvivors.com

This event is open to the public. For more information on the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS), this event and Philcon, come visit our site at https://www.psfs.org. Please check our websites for any updated information and/or any scheduling changes.

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Angry Robot sent along this release:

Angry Robot Press Release – Strange Chemistry Signs Rachel Neumeier in Two-Book YA Paranormal Fantasy Deal

[click here to download a pdf of this press release]

5th March 2013 ~ For Immediate Release

Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint of Angry Robot Books, is delighted to announce the signing of Rachel Neumeier, in a two-book World English Rights deal concluded by Strange Chemistry’s editor Amanda Rutter and Caitlin Blasdell of Liza Dawson Associates.

The first book, YA Paranormal Fantasy novel Black Dog, will be published in Spring 2014, with a sequel to follow towards the end of 2014.

About Rachel Neumeier

Rachel Neumeier started writing in graduate school as a break from research, but years ago allowed her hobbies take over her life. Along with writing both adult and young adult fantasy, she now gardens, cooks Indian food, breeds and shows Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and occasionally finds time to read.

Her most recent young adult novel, The Floating Islands, was a Junior Library Guild selection and was selected by Kirkus as a best book of 2011. Her most recent adult title, House of Shadows, has also received excellent reviews.

Black Dog, her first foray into young adult paranormal, will arrive on shelves everywhere in the spring of 2014.

Visit her website at www.www.rachelneumeier.com or follow her on Twitter (@RachelNeumeier).

About Black Dog

Natividad is Pure, one of the rare girls born able to wield magic.  Pure magic can protect humans against the supernatural evils they only half-acknowledge – the blood kin or the black dogs. In rare cases – like for Natividad’s father and older brother – Pure magic can help black dogs find the strength to control their dark powers.

But before Natividad’s mother can finish teaching her magic their enemies find them. Their entire village in the remote hills of Mexico is slaughtered by black dogs. Their parents die protecting them. Natividad and her brothers must flee across a strange country to the only possible shelter: the infamous black dogs of Dimilioc, who have sworn to protect the Pure.

In the snowy forests of Vermont they are discovered by Ezekiel Korte, despite his youth the strongest black dog at Dimilioc and the appointed pack executioner. Intrigued by Natividad he takes them to Dimilioc instead of killing them.

Now they must pass the tests of the Dimilioc Master. Alejandro must prove he can learn loyalty and control even without his sister’s Pure magic. Natividad’s twin Miguel must prove that an ordinary human can be more than a burden to be protected. And even at Dimilioc a Pure girl like Natividad cannot remain unclaimed to cause fighting and distraction. If she is to stay she must choose a black dog mate.

But, first, they must all survive the looming battle.

Quotable Quotes

Rachel Neumeier said: “Having had the chance to chat with plenty of other authors in the last few years about their experiences with big six publishers vs. smaller presses, I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to see what it’s like working with a mid-size house. I’m really impressed with Strange Chemistry’s line-up of authors and titles and with their snazzy website, all of which makes it clear they’re really on the ball.”

Strange Chemistry Editor Amanda Rutter said: “I’ve long had an admiration for Rachel’s writing, so, when Black Dog came in, I jumped at the chance to give it a read. And I thought it was just stunning! Paranormal YA with a real bite. Strange Chemistry and myself are honoured to have Rachel on board, and look forward to sharing such a very special book with the world.”

More Information

More information can be found at strangechemistrybooks.com.

Angry Robot is a genre publisher that brings readers the best in new SF, F and WTF?! Strange Chemistry is Angry Robot’s YA imprint. All titles are released as paperbacks and in all major eBook formats. Distribution is through Random House (North America) and GBS (UK). Angry Robot is part of the Osprey Group.

For more information, review copies, interview and feature requests, contact our Marketing Manager, Darren Turpin at darren.turpin@angryrobotbooks.com or by phone on +44 (0) 7584 355911 [UK Office Hours]

Angry Robot and Strange Chemistry Online

https://angryrobotbooks.com
https://strangechemistrybooks.com
https://www.robottradingcompany.com
https://www.twitter.com/angryrobotbooks [@angryrobotbooks]
https://www.twitter.com/strangechem [@strangechem]
https://www.facebook.com/angryrobotbooks
https://www.facebook.com/strangechemistry

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“Listen all! This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all … Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter; one man leaves.”—Dr. Dealgood, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

The dying times are here: Suvudu’s Cage Match 2013. Smell the excitement, the fear, the magic, and the death. We’ve all got heroes and villains. We put our faith in their strength. They represent us, their fans. But they can’t all be as strong as we think they are, and in the Suvudu Cage Match they’ll do battle, one-on-one. But you, fans, will separate the strong from the weak, the wheat from chaff, and we’ll all keep it up until only one survives, be it man or woman, god, beast or devil or … something else.

In this year of 2013 we summon the ancient and powerful to the arena. You may call them classics, but you will learn to call them warriors. From Gandalf to Jekyll and Hyde, from Prospero to the White Witch, look upon these brave souls as Caesar once looked upon the gladiators of the Colosseum: They fight for your amusement and live and die at your command. View the full 2013 Cage Match bracket here and follow all 2013 Cage Match coverage here.

~~~

NORTHWEST WRITERS HONOR LEGACY OF OCTAVIA E. BUTLER

 In celebration of the legacy of Octavia E. Butler, Pacific Northwest writers Vonda N. McIntyre, Nisi Shawl, Dennis Y. Ginoza, Erik Owomoyela, Caren Gussoff, and Rashida Smith will read work inspired by their relationships with Octavia Butler, or stories included in Blood­children: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars.

These readings will be at Seattle’s world famous sci-fi/fantasy coffeehouse, the Wayward Coffeehouse (6417 Roosevelt Way NE, #104, Seattle WA 98105) on Friday, April 12, at 7PM.

Octavia E. Butler was one of the world’s most respected speculative fiction writers. Butler, an African-American woman, was recognized during her lifetime with numerous awards, such as the Hugo and Nebula, and was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. Butler made the Seattle area her home in 1999, and lived in Lake Forest Park until her death in 2006.

Bloodchildren is an e-book anthology of science fiction and fantasy stories by those who have received the Octavia E. Butler Scholarship.

The Octavia E. Butler Scholarship Fund is named for Butler and managed by the Carl Brandon Society. The Carl Brandon Society is “…dedicated to addressing the representation of people of color in the fantastical genres such as science fiction, fantasy and horror…” and the scholarship pays tuition for 2 writers of color attending the Clarion and Clarion West writers’ workshops each year. Both Clarion and Clarion West are recognized as the premiere workshops for aspiring professional writers of speculative fiction.

All proceeds from the sales of Blood­children benefit the scholarship fund. The anthology is only available until June 22, 2013, which would have been Octavia’s 66th birthday. The anthology is available for purchase through the Book View Café, an all-author run publishing cooperative: https://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/book/bloodchildren/

More information about the Octavia E. Butler scholarship and the Carl Brandon Society may be found here: https://carlbrandon.org/

To learn about Clarion and Clarion West, please visit https://literature.ucsd.edu/affiliated-programs/clarion/index.html and https://www.clarionwest.org, respectively.

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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