Aside: Just got around to looking at the front cover for the Jennifer Morgue. Really like the Bondesque cover art Mr S - very Cubby Broccoli (sp?).

Omigod, I murdered him. Well, virtually. For which I apologize. Am I somehow conflating the late A. E. Van Vogt (with whom I maintained sporadic contact since the 1960s) with a postcard I received that was dictated by Jack Vance, or suggested that his health precluded further correspondance? Unreliable memory. Sorry. A few minutes ago I was on the phone with a screenwriter, to whom I mentioned what Vance and Ellison share, doubleawardwise. "Harlan has 4 Best Teleplay Awards from WGA" he said, making a comment of mine more specific.

"The late SFWA Grand Master Jack Vance [...]"

is not yet dead, as far as I can tell.

It will be a different crowd at Edinburgh. I recall getting some very strange looks in 2004 from the bourgeoisie queuing to be allowed to touch the hem of the doyenne of authors (whose name escapes me but it could be the same as the fuhrer of News International) as the clan Taylor made our way from a Darren Shan session to an Alan Garner session. Do the kilt thing, if only to discombobulate the Edinburgh lunching classes (take the Klingon in a kilt, and do the job properly!)
At least you won't be too far from a (necessary) stimulating drink.

Mark Pontin is completely correct (other than the spelling of Dragon, his version suggesting a chanting Hindu variant). The late SFWA Grand Master Jack Vance, wrote his Mystery fiction under his legal name of John Holbrook Vance. He also won the Jupiter Award in 1975; the World Fantasy Award in 1984 for Life Achievement and in 1990 for Lyonesse: Madouc. Harlan Ellison has won many additional awards, such as more Best Teleplay awards than anyone else alive. It's hard to predict whether Harlan or Bob Dylan next wins a Nobel Prize in Literature, or Sir Arthur C. Clarke a Nobel Peace Prize.

It is safe to predict than Mr. Stross will be filling his Winnebago-equivalent with many trophies and honors. Ursula K. Le Guin writes that she no longer accepts public speaking invitations except from the King of Sweden.

Mr. Stross, is there a reasonable mechanism for me to pay cash to your readers who help answer queries (such as the one about Fred Hoyle a few weeks ago) and a share to you, to help defray your blogging software expenses? Or would even micropayment monetization detract from your objectives?

All things being equal, I would prefer to be surprised by where the Clan Corporate multiverse goes (as well as your others such as the Accelerando and Edinburghian), and simultaneously feel that I'm symbiotic rather than parasitic on your bandwidth. I've been losing money for almost 11 years on my web domain, but feel passionately that Capitalism by individual content creators has a rightful place in cyberspace.

on the question of second-person narrative, one US writer who's been very successful with it is John Gierach, a philosophy graduate now making a nice living writing short pieces about fly-fishing. There are parallels with the erotic fictions alluded to earlier, I suspect.

J. Van Post asked:'who is the only person to have won both a Nebula Award and an Edgar Award?'

E. Cochrane responded: 'Harlan Ellison won an Edgar for his short story "Soft Monkey", and he won the Nebula for "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman and for "A Boy and His Dog".'

But, additionally Jack Vance won an Edgar as best new writer for his MAN IN THE CAGE in 1960 and a Nebula (and a Hugo) for "The Last Castle" in 1966 and '67Vance also received a Hugo for THE DRAGOM MASTERS in 1963. So there -- more than one writer has the distinction of winning both Edgar and Nebula awards.

Phil, "The Clan Corporate" was originally the first third of a much larger book. There are three more behind it, the next of which is already delivered ... and events take some (hopefully surprising) turns.

I have enjoyed the Family/Clan books. I was eagerly anticipating the 'Clan Corporate'.

The 'Clan Corporate' was however a bit of a disappointment. Both the corporate politics and the family interactions were stilted and less than believable. The heroine became a great deal less interesting, less intelligent, and less active. (Yes, we understand she is effectively a prisoner. Prisoners can be active and interesting as well.) It recalls to mind Dumas' efforts to kill off the characters in the Three Musketeers because he had come to dislike writing the serial.

I get the sense that you are not interested in this story. It would be better to just abandon the books than to put out lightly prepared material.

I am sorry to be so negative. I truly have enjoyed all your writing. I will undoubtedly purchase the next installment, if any.

Phil

Madison, WI, USA

Harlan Ellison won an Edgar for his short story "Soft Monkey", and he won the Nebula for "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman and for "A Boy and His Dog".
Hey Charlie, if the holographic avatar thing doesn't work out, I'll be at LAcon, and could accept the Hugo for you (hmmm, must remember to vote). It would be no trouble at all, and not at all related to my dislike of having having to queue early for good seats. Plus the whole carriage of a missile shaped object on my flight back to the UK would only add exitement to the journey.

I was going to suggest Michael Crichton as both an Edgar and Nebula winner, but full listings of the Edgar Award-space seem a trifle hard to find, and I realised it was only a Nebula nomination.

Jeeze Charlie, haven't you got an old upload or something you can send to worldcon? This "oh I can't be in two places at once" stuff is so last century. Come to think of it, didn't you recently buy a dual core Mac? With that you can be in one place twice!

The solution seems simple: just win a Winnebago full of awards. That way they can just market you as "Award Winning Author Charles Stross" and be done with it. ;-)

Guess I shall have to order Glasshouse from amazon.com then :((

I'm not waiting a year for it.

Isaac Asimov was far from the first, and far from the last, to do a great job on science fiction, crime fiction, and their intersection. His favorite of his novels was "Murder at the A.B.A." which falls in that intersection. I believe that Mr. Stross stands with the best in this crowd...

Related trivia question: who is the only person to have won both a Nebula Award and an Edgar Award?

Thanks Charlie,
I have ordered from Amazon anyway. Will get my order for the Jennifer Morgue in as soon as GG make it available.
Jim Braiden