Origami Unicorn

Crime Time

A pint-sized criminal with a penchant for getting it wrong, even when he gets a break, stars in a clever series of super-short animations: the trailer. And a sample episode.

LeGuin Praises New Novel

I'm glad the headline tells me this review is in praise of Jeanette Winterson's The Stone Gods. Otherwise, I might have mistaken it for yet another commentary on how literary writers who venture into the realms of science fiction might do well to become semi-literate in the genre first. Hacks though Skiffy Writers may be, they have solved some basic problems in how to present the material without, "Well, as you know, Boob, here in Wiftyland..." I gather the book is good enough to repay suppressing the editorial urge as you read.

Amazon Blogs

They're popping up like mushrooms after spring rain. Here's Amazon's blog. As with awards, its not clear that more blogs is a better thing, but this one you will judge for yourself.

BSF Awards

The awards, as announced this past weekend at Fantasycon 2007 on September Twenty-third:

The Sydney J. Bounds Best Newcomer Award
Joe Hill

Best Non-Fiction:
Mark Morris: Cinema Macabre
PS Publishing

Best Artist:
Vincent Chong

Best Small Press:
Peter Crowther, PS Publishing

Best Collection:
Neil Gaiman: Fragile Things
Headline

Best Anthology:
Gary Couzens: Extended Play: The Elastic Book of Music
Elastic Press

Best Novella:
Paul Finch: "Kid"
Choices, Pendragon Press

Best Short Fiction
Mark Chadbourn: "Whisper Lane"
BFS A celebration, BFS

BFS Special Award: ‘The Karl Edward Wagner Award’:
Ellen Datlow

Best Novel: ‘The August Derleth Fantasy Award’:
Tim Lebbon: Dusk
Spectra Books

Those Peasants, Debated

Someone got Howard Hendrix, Terry Bisson, and Scott Sigler into the same bookstore, and made a podcast. Here from Borderlands Books, three guys on language, code, and pro and anti-techno think.

Harper Collins Discovers—Blogs

Well, the headline is not exactly fair to the publisher, but it has the sting of truth. It seems Harper Collins' authors have been remiss in entering the wonderful world of blogging, so the publisher has set up a site to enable them to do that very difficult thing. I'm sure we all wish them the best.

Subterranean Press Joins Efforts with Baen

Baen has long been an open-source e-book provider, and now Subterranean Press has joined with them to market their product in e-book form. Baen has been exceptionally successful with this business model. Obviously Subterranean hopes it works for them, also.

Family Life With a Twist

For some interesting insights into cultural differences, watch this family scene from Lucky Star—which is intended for middle school girls. Lolicon is Japanese for "Lolita Complex."

New Philip Pullman

With the film made from the first book of his trilogy posed to open in theaters in December, the author's publishing firm announces a second follow-up book to the series, a companion book, as was Lyra's Oxford. Random House will be releasing Once Upon a Time in the North this spring, with different publishers in the US and UK. It will be Pullman’s first new work in five years, although he has already said he is working on another large-size story.

Laika

Laika, the dog shot into space with no intention that she return, has stayed in the minds of the generation that remember her flight as the follow-up to Sputnik. Nick Abadzis's graphic novel is out this month from First Second.