I hope all our readers in the Caribbean and on the US southeastern coast, and their families and loved ones, are safe in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Awards:
Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead, is shortlisted for the National Book Award. (Bill’s five-star review is here.)
Ian MacDonald won the 2016 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for his book Luna; New Moon. The Gaylactic Spectrum Award is given to outstanding works of speculative fiction that explore the lives of LGBTI characters in a positive way. I didn’t even know this award existed.
Greenville, CA: front desk of the library created by you and other generous readers. Photo by Margaret Garcia, 2016
Books and Writing:
N.K. Jemisin used her Twitter feed to share this Washington Post article about Ursula LeGuin and the various volumes of and about her work that will be coming out this fall. I really want to read Words Are my Matter; Writing about Life and Books, but I’m going to have to wait a few months because it’s on my Christmas list.
Writers! Tor.com has once again opened the submission window for novellas. Read the details here.
Just One Book. I included Margaret Garcia’s plea for books for a children’s library in an impoverished California town a few months ago, here in the column. Moved by her eloquence, people, (including some of you!), really came through. Stubby the Rocket follows up on this inspiring story.
Richard Kadrey will start writing the graphic novel Lucifer beginning with Issue 13. That number seems appropriate, doesn’t it? Given his creation of Sandman Slim (and one version of Lucifer already), this seems like a wonderful choice. I can’t wait to see what he does with it.
Here’s the “before” picture of the defunct school library. Photo by Margaret Garcia, 2016.
Penguin Random House introduces a new series, the Galaxy collectible series, with an introduction by Neil Gaiman. (Thanks to Ryan for the link.)
Right in the feels; Garth Nix shares five books that spoke to his emotions.
Here is one very opinionated entrepreneur’s opinion of SF and how SF inspires entrepreneurs. I loved the metaphor of geography, and “the farther you are from the entry portal, the worse you do” idea. (Thanks to Kevin for the link.)
New Releases:
Check out our New Releases link at the top of the page. Jana is excited to see The Fate of the Tearling, Erika Johansen’s TEARLING series, coming out on November 29, 2016. Jana says, “… the characters are compelling and I’m the kind of reader who wants to see how it all ends.”
Movies and TV:
What? Say it ain’t so! Ron Perlman says he doubts there will be a Hellboy 3. Does this mean we’ll never get to see Hellboy and Liz raising their adorable Firestarter/demonic twins? I don’t get to see them with their tiny backpacks and little lunchboxes (do kids still use lunchboxes?) as they trundle off to school? Bummer!
The American Gods writers’ room has its own Twitter feed. You are welcome. (Check out the photos.)
Tor.com gives us a brief article about the latest Netflix Marvel adaptation, Iron Fist, and shares the trailer.
Internet:
These amazing black and white photos of Hong Kong were taken in the 1950s by then-teenager Ho Fan. Ho Fan came to Hong Kong from Shanghai. Even though the fashion at the time was studio photography, Ho Fan was captivated by the city and took these beautiful candid shots. The use of light is breath-taking and the pictures have a stunning, theatrical quality.
Thanks to File 770 for providing this link. New York Comic-Con is well known for great cosplay, but this version of the X-Men’s Mystique is a standout even by NYCC standards. (If you run Ad Blocker, you may need to turn it off for this site.)
Games:
Life imitates art, or at least games imitate gaming, according to Ars Technica. Polybius is a powerful urban myth from the Portland, Oregon area, about an arcade game that appeared for a brief period of time in the 1980s. The effects caused serious symptoms (apparently headaches, memory loss, and possible suicidal tendencies). The game was pulled, fueling plenty of theories about secret military experiments, men in black, etc. Now, Sony is poised to release a new game called Polybius for Play Station. Let the conspiracy discussions begin.
Tech:
Ars Technica reviews the Blink in-home security camera here.
Photos:
The library photos are from Margaret Garcia’s blog post.
I didn’t know they’d rebooted the Lucifer comic! Thanks, Marion! (And a great column overall. The twitterfeed for the American Gods writers led me to trailers for upcoming fantastical movies, and I had a wonderful time watching trailers for “Dr. Strange,” “Wonder Woman,” and, of course, “American Gods.”