hi. i have been scanning this internet site for a bit. Decided to say how much i treasure this site.

Thank god it's not page 3!

I am :)

So what's on page 32 of the current issue of SFX then?

Paula: like calling Charlie a Scot, perhaps?

I just stuck my head in to the London branch of Forbidden Planet, and asked after :The Atrocity Archives:. I was met with a grin, the opening of a cardboard box, a hastily applied price sticker, and the first copy they sold. :-)

My copy of 'The Atrocity Archive' came in. I enjoyed the new story as much as the main story. (Which was a huge amount. I even bugged Paul Fraser at Spectrum to send me a pdf of the final part.) The introduction and addendums were good fun too - and all wrapped up in an attractive package. I reckon this book deserves to win awards - and a major paperback release.

"...legendary Russian science fiction writer Issac Asimov..." is what they actually wrote. He's almost as well known a writer as J. R. R. Tolkein, or Ursula Leguin, after all.

But, he was born in Petrovich, so there's certainly a sense in which it's technically correct to refer to him as "Russian," though "famous Brooklynite science fiction writer" would be my own preference.

I may be wrong, but I THINK Asimov came to the US as a very young child and was raised as fiercely and proudly American. By his Russian parents. So calling him a Russian writer is like calling ... I don't know, y'all figure it out. He was an American Science Fiction Writer, plus a writer of many informative books about just about anything he could get his mind around. We have many of his reference books in our house. Then again, we have many books in our house. But it's big enough, I think.

Danny: you ask the publishers. In the case of Golden Gryphon, that'd be email to gryphon (at) goldengryphon.com. In the case of Ace, you'd email one of the editorial or marketing contacts there, and in the case of Tor, you'd try to ping Moshe Feder or David Hartwell or one of their marketing folks. I don't have enough copies for reviewers -- after the obligatory three or four for family members, any time I try to sell foreign rights I need at least one copy for the translator, if not two (one for translator and one for publisher).

I've been reading the blog long enough, time to try one of the books... But who do I ask for review copies?

I love the way that in the same article it says in one place that the award ceremony will be held in Glasgow and 2005 and in the five star Sheraton Hotel in Boston in September.

Anyway, at least they are reporting it, even if it does have a 'few' inaccuracies.

No, not Isaac Asimov, "Issac" Asimov, his little known brother who was left behind in Russia when the rest of the Asimov family emigrated.

Funny, having read several of Isaac Asimov's autobiographies, I never thought of him being particularly Russian, more American and especially "Brooklyn"!

Dude, you forgot Terry Pratchett.

Oh well, guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed it comes out in paperback one way or another. If I was a working type then I wouldn't hesitate to buy the hardback, but as I'm just a lazy student type I'm afraid my budget just won't stretch :) But at least I can look forward to the paperback of singularity sky which comes out in June I believe.

I e-mailed Paul Fraser a couple of months back and he said it was very unlikely that there would be any more Spectrum in the near future, essentially because he lost quite a lot of money on issue, and this amount of money increased with every issue.

But he did say that he did have some material for later issues so it might be possible there will be some Spectrum in the not too distant future, but in the light of Charlie's info on him going to California that seems increasingly unlikely.

I fear the prognosis for Spectrum SF is not good. Editor Paul Fraser is a helicopter pilot by day; thus, on the one hand he brought a fussy attention to detail to the job that was very welcome indeed, but on the other hand he was likely to be called off to fly a chopper out to a North Sea oil rig just before a deadline. Last I heard, work had taken him to California, making the task of producing a magazine in Scotland unfeasible. Spectrum also suffered from distribution problems that didn't help.

(What I hope is that as and when Paul can't work as a pilot any more -- I believe there's a mandatory age limit -- he'll consider running an SF magazine a good retirement option.)

Apparently GG do indeed do paperbacks, but not usually and not as their main product. I'm told that if Atrocity Archives sells really well they might reprint in hardcover or do a paperback edition; I'm torn between hoping that it does, and hoping that they don't (so I can sell paperback rights to a bigger publisher, along with a sequel or two).

I'm on the GG mailing list, so my copy should be in the post. Having read the original story in Spectrum I'm _really_ looking forward to the second story.

Has Spectrum died totally? The website is MIA.

I was a little surprised to discover that 'The Atrocity Archive' will be a hardcover as the only other item I've bought from GG was a limited edition paperback of Al Reynold's Turquoise Days. Of course, now I discover the paperback was the odd one out I'm far more likely to buy more stuff from GG.

Golden Gryphon are a hardcover-only publisher. Paperback rights have not been sold (at least, not in English -- there's a French translation due some time this year). If I do get a paperback deal (or a UK publisher), you'll see it in my blog as soon as it's solid.

sorry Charlie but I might have to wait for the paperback (I hope there is a paperback!) especially as I already forked out 12 quid to read in Spectrum and I can't really afford to pay $24 + shipping fees for a novella and an introduction, although I'm sure they are both great (I'm a big Ken Macload fan too).

Will there be a paperback edition? It's just that the Golden Gryphon website doesn't seem to mention one.

Harlan Ellison probably does as much as everyone else in the field put together.

It also happens much less today than it did a couple of decades ago. My guess is that this is because there's more in the way of critical scholarship in the SF field; writers with something to say about fiction are now able to give papers at conferences or in journals like Foundation or the New York Review of Science Fiction, rather than blowing off steam than in their books.

Having said that, there does seem to be a bit of a tradition involved in writing forewards to collections, and THE ATROCITY ARCHIVE is (in my case) more of a collection than an individual novel -- there are, after all, two stories in it.

So tell me, Charlie, why do SF writers, alone amongst most others, insist on piling on the forewords, introductions, postscripts and all that self-exegesis? Not that I'm against them -- and often end up, in the case of Harlan Ellison, who seems to be the main culprit, just reading the commentaries and skipping the fiction -- but it does strike me as a particular SF phenomenon.

-- http://amblongus.com

It depends how much you're willing to pay -- and who the publisher is. Put it this way, austerity has been replaced by competition to keep costs down ...

Acid-free paper? Ah, luxury...

Aside: Is British bookbinding still in the same sorry state it has been since WW2 rationing/post-war austerity, with virtually nobody using sewn bindings or acid-free paper? Or has the industry lifted its game somewhat?

Martin Wisse said:
Re Myers-Briggs test:
Last time I did one of them i got classified as NNTP...

 That's news to me.

Have you noticed Myers-Briggs tests *never* have a bad word to say about any of the classes? I rather suspect that if they've any diagnostic usage at all, it's to tell people what they might want to hear about themselves.

Re Myers-Briggs test:

Last time I did one of them i got classified as NNTP...

"...When you walk through a door labelled "Centre for Bits and Atoms"

I suspect they haven't changed it to that, actually, he nitpicked for the sake of nitpicking.

Actually, Charlie (and Patrick), when we were in the middle of the great unfinished rasfc faq-revising process, we did trace the rasfc usage back to Teresa -- although her usage was "waxing the cat", and Jo Walton was the first person in google's archives to use "cat vacuuming". Actual quotes are on page behind that link, somewhere near the bottom.

- Brooks

The main thing to remember is that a lot of people use these doors and elevators, and many of them deliver the newspaper, bringin and out the water bottles, carry out the garbage cans, check the lightbulbs, and so on. And then we/they go down to the trucks for some lunch. and watch the other social culture. which is far more interesting. and that takes place in the larger political culture, whis is busily agitating about george bush, etc. Via signs and signs.

best,
gf

Ask how many maintence people each floor takes, and how many technology ideas they are asked ror each weak, after their examimation, exposure, and conteomplation. Ask who cleans the whiteboards, and how often the are asked for ideas. Ask if the guy who straightens the bosses's office ever gets to think about he ideas he seas, and what he thinks.

Have done that all, I ask.

Good luck with "Lobsters"! Meeting you is forcing me to consider attending Boskone, which would be my first con ever.

Probably not from Theresa, Charlie, but possibly from Teresa. That is to say, Carlie.

Ha. I spent over a month working there.

True, it was a temp position that was basically menial, mostly involving picking up stuff, reporting on stuff, keeping whiteboards clean, checking in by radio as to what was up with such and such, and so on. But it was still many weeks of wandering in and out and Observing Everything.

So it goes at the Big Spiral Toilet.

Of course, the bad news is that once again you're up against Ted Chiang....

great!

Good to hear.
I can't wait to start selling Festival of Fools, it reads VERY well, in fact, I'm going to have to cry now that I know how long I may well have to wait for the sequel.

Congratulations, Charlie. I certainly look forward to seeing what you'll do with fantasy....

I just wish the first damn novel would show up... ;-)

Edited by author 11-23-2002 07:57 PM
> Good gracious, a _cute_ cover, no less.

Indeed, I want to know what the large font is. (I know what the small one is)

Good gracious, a _cute_ cover, no less.

I'd like to also ack Duncan's recomendation on Spectrum SF. Beside's the serialization of Charles's novel (which is excellent by the way), I have yet to read a story that was 2nd rate. IMHO, the quality is superior to the US magazines and the writers better (well, I do favor British SF authors anyhow). Many of my top Hugo nominations for 2001 ( http://www.nesfa.org/hugos01.html - I have initals sg) and 2002 (http://www.nesfa.org/hugos02.html) come from the magazine.

I'm just a mere fan but I do have a SF page at http://www.project-inspiration.com/sgentile/ScienceFiction.htm and a Radio log (which includes SF) at http://radio.weblogs.com/0105852/

Hope you're feeling better, and, yes: please do post the next in the series.

Patrick: re /m10 -- I'm not 100% certain but I think the rec.arts.sf.composition usage was coined by Mary Gentle. So it's quite possible she picked it up from Theresa and mutated it.

Sorry to be a bit vague, but I've come down with my semiannual seasonal change cold, I'm recovering from a six-hour-long fever, and my sinsuses are in Shoggoth emulation mode (exuding copious volumes of lovecraftian adjectival gunk).

Back to the sick-bed ...

I'd love to see the sequel to this posted.

As a small token of my appreciation, I offer this parallel meme to your cat hoovering: at Caltech, the common parlance for the exact same activity is "flicking." E.g., http://www.flick.com/flicking.html

Toast rocked, btw. Enjoyable collection. Thank you.

I just don't believe that Charlie is capable of shameless self-promotion.

But that isn't one of _my_ scruples...

http://lowendpc.com/box/2002/0515.html

"Cat hoovering"!

I'm charmed; this appears to be descended from Teresa's phrase for the same behavior, "vacuuming the cat." (Related phrase: Pat Mueller's "waxing the ceiling.")

At risk of aiding and abetting a known egoist, I would recommend a subscription to Spectrum SF as a chance to get "Charles Stross' first published novel". Actually, I would really suggest anyone interested in good SF get a back-issue subscription and start reading at number 1. By the time you are done, issue 9 should be out with the final part of the serialisation. It's completely unrelated to the Lobster stories and paced to fit a long-form work.

http://www.spectrumsf.co.uk/

I read a lot of SF and you are currently my favorite author. This is well deserved!

The Ego, (sorry Hugo), Awards are Slash Dotted too....
http://slashdot.org/articles/02/04/20/0017256.shtml?tid=162

Congrats, sweetie!

Well done, Stross!

Go for it!

Fixed it -- see the sidebar. (I didn't realize amazon had different associate programs in .co.uk and .com.)

What he said, but i haven't orderd it yet, so you're still in time.

You could do with an amazon.co.uk link as well -- I just ordered it from there, so you don't get your commission.