Authors and Their Books

This page gathers together all of my blog posts in which I discuss specific authors with whom I have worked (or only met, in the case of Jack Vance), and their books. These posts are typically 2,000 to 4,000 words in length, and I hope to add new blog posts as time permits. The list is in order of publication date, with the exception of a few blog entries I've kept together because they pertain to the same author.

I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I did writing them...
  • Andrew Fox and The Good Humor Man
    Posted February 19, 2009: A bit about my history with Andy Fox and how The Good Humor Man, or, Calorie 3501 came to be published by Tachyon Publications in March 2009.
  • George Alec Effinger
    Posted April 11, 2009: This, and the following two blog entries, each focus on one of the three collections of GAE's work that I acquired and edited for Golden Gryphon Press. This post is on Budayeen Nights (2003) and includes my communications with George up to about two and a half weeks before he passed away.
  • George Alec Effinger - Part Two
    Posted May 12, 2009: In which I discuss the making of George Alec Effinger Live! From Planet Earth (2005) -- stories selected by George's friends, fellow authors, and editors.
  • George Alec Effinger - Part Three
    Posted June 8, 2009: In which I discuss the genesis behind A Thousand Deaths (2007), which includes the novel The Wolves of Memory and seven short stories, all of which have the same protagonist: Sandor Courane.
  • 12 Stories Do Not a Collection Make [Alastair Reynolds]
    Posted July 16, 2009: Just because an author has accumulated 12 stories, doesn't mean those stories should be collected into a book! I use (as an example of what a collection should be) my work on Zima Blue and Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds and published by Night Shade Books in 2006.
  • At Home with Jack Vance
    Posted July 31, 2009: I visited the home of Jack Vance, and his lovely wife Norma, on two occasions, once in 1989 and again in 1990. I discuss how this all came about. (I also blame Jack Vance for my bibliomaniac affliction.)
  • Mark Teppo's Codex of Souls Seeks the Light
    Posted September 30, 2009: If you're tired of vampires, warewolves, and zombies, and want solid, literate urban fantasy, with just the right touch of the supernatural/spiritual, then check out Mark's Lightbreaker (2009) and Heartland (2010), the first two books in his Codex of Souls series. I edited these two titles for Night Shade Books.
  • Charles Stross: On Her Majesty's Occult Service
    Posted December 10, 2010: I acquired and edited the first two "Laundry Files" novels by Charlie Stross: The Atrocity Archives (2004) and The Jennifer Morgue (2006), both for Golden Gryphon Press. This post discusses how these books came to be. And then I was fortunate enough to also work on book three, The Fuller Memorandum, for Ace Books (July 2010).
  • In the Company of Kage Baker
    Posted January 27, 2010: I began working on this tribute to Kage Baker when I learned that she was seriously ill; I barely finished it before she passed away. This was a very difficult post to write, which is why it took me so long to do so. I acquired and edited Kage's first collection of The Company short stories: Black Projects, White Knights: The Company Dossiers (Golden Gryphon Press, 2002).
  • Kage Baker Redux
    Posted February 19, 2010: I was asked to write a few sentences about Kage's contribution to the genre for RT Book Reviews. My "few sentences" turned out to be a lengthy paragraph -- which I asked not to be cut -- which is undoubtedly why it wasn't used. So, here it is.
    • Aliens Have Entered Mainstream's Orbit [Judith Moffett]
      Posted February 16, 2010: We as SF/fantasy/horror editors and publishers are responsible for ghettoizing the genre. I use as an example the work of Judith Moffett. Her Holy Ground trilogy still needs a quality reprint publisher! I acquired and edited the reprint edition of her first novel, Pennterra, for Fantastic Books in 2009.
    • Philip K. Dick & Rudy Rucker's Warez
      Posted August 30, 2010: A bit on Philip K. Dick and my involvement in the PKD Society (headed by Paul Williams) back in the late '80s, and how this all led to my interviewing Rudy Rucker when he was one of the Philip K. Dick Award judges in 1988. Rucker has won the PPKD Award twice, for the first two volumes of his Ware Tetralogy.
    • Tim Powers: Not So Strange Itineraries
      Posted September 24, 2010: About my brief encounter the previous week with Tim Powers at an Orange County restaurant, and some of the work I've done for/with the author.
    • Judith Moffett's Pennterra: Going Native
      Posted September 26, 2010: The full review from H&E Naturist magazine of Moffett's long-out-of-print first novel Pennterra -- which I acquired and edited for Fantastic Books.
    • Catherynne M. Valente: Remixing Prester John
      Posted November 5, 2010: Some thoughts and words regarding Cat Valente's new novel The Habitation of the Blessed from Night Shade Books. Includes the full review from Publishers Weekly.
    • Detective Inspector Chen Finally Turns 5 [Liz Williams]
      Posted December 1, 2010: The Iron Khan, the fifth Detective Inspector Chen novel by Liz Williams, has been published in all ebook formats by Morrigan Books.
    • DI Chen Finally Turns 5 Redux [Liz Williams]
      Posted December 27, 2010: The cover art by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law for the print editions of The Iron Khan is revealed.
    • Earl Kemp's Who Killed Science Fiction?
      Posted March 7, 2011: An in-depth look at Earl Kemp's Hugo Award-winning WKSF? (and it's later updates), now available in a new print edition as well as a free PDF online.
    • More on the Death of Science Fiction
      Posted July 18, 2011: A follow-up to Earl Kemp's WKSF? blog post, in which I reference an SF Signal article by John H. Stevens entitled "'The Death of Science Fiction' as Mythogenic Rejuvenation" along with a quote by author Neal Asher.

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