Once again this year, I'm donating all the proceeds of my Amazon Associate Program to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, so I'm encouraging everyone who stops by to make their Holiday shopping through the Amazon links you find in many of my blog posts. Special thanks to the folks at http://www.dreamgirlzzz.blogspot.com/ for posting a related link about this.:-)Some of you, more snarky than others, have been emailing me, asking me what I was doing to support the cause. Because, as they see it, I'm donating their money. I've been accused of talking the talk, but not walking the walk.
Well, to set their minds at ease, suffice to say that something has been in the works since last August, yet I needed to wait till everything was in order before making the announcement. And since everything came together last week, I can now reveal what I've been working on these last few months.
With Pat's Fantasy Hotlist reaching new heights in terms of popularity, the folks at Subterranean Press aproached me to see if I'd be interested in putting together a fantasy anthology featuring some of my favorite SFF authors. I replied that I was interested, that goes without saying, but only if part of the proceeds would be used to raise funds for breast cancer research. Bill at Subpress agreed that this was within the realm of possibilities. I will also be donating a sizable chunk of my own advance to support this great cause.
It's going to be a small anthology, so we were forced to be methodical in terms of contacting authors. It took longer than anticipated, but it would have been bad form to invite many SFF authors, only to let them know that we couldn't accept their submissions because the lineup was complete.
Though everyone loved the idea and would have liked to contribute a short story, scheduling and prior commitments prevented them from participating. Still, their encouragements and kind words meant a lot to me.
I "borrowed" the title Speculative Horizons from James Long's blog of the same name (http://www.speculativehorizons.blogspot.com/) with his blessing, and the guy will get a nod in the acknowledgements. As far as I know, our anthology will likely be in the same format as Subpress' A Fantasy Medley, from which the excerpt from Robin Hobb short story was taken a few weeks back.
Our lineup:
- New York Times bestselling author, L. E. Modesitt, jr.
- World Fantasy Award nominee, Hal Duncan
- New York Times notable author, C. S. Friedman
- Tobias S. Buckell
- Brian Ruckley
These authors bring various things to the dance, and they should offer an interesting mix of styles and stories. I'm eager to see what they'll come up with!
I have no idea exactly when Speculative Horizons will be published, though I have a feeling it might be in late 2009. Check out http://www.subterraneanpress.com/ from time to time, or keep your eyes peeled for additional info on the Hotlist every time there's something to report!
This might end up being quite an adventure for me. Granted, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. But I'm very excited regardless!;-) So stay tuned for more!!!
14 commentaires:
Man, that's amazing!
Best of luck editing this baby and don't mention the link. we're happy to do our part!;)
Well congrats - this sounds like a lot of fun.
I have a couple of questions related to the rather interesting and varied mix of authors you have chosen.
Is there any theme to the anthology? Is it fantasy, sci-fi, or whatever the author wants? As editor, how much editorial control do you have over submissions (I for one would feel woefully unqualified to edit any of those authors).
Congrats again - I'll have to get a copy of this one.
Very cool, Pat. Interesting list of authors. I have many of the same questions as Neth. :)
Wow! Are you the editor? Mega-congrats!
Very cool and congratulations.
I don't normally post to these boards but being a fantasy freak since 1975 I do read them to make sure I know everything that's happening in the genre. This is the most well put together and easiest to navigate one that I've found so far. Congrats to you for all you've accomplished, Pat.
My wife was diagnosed at about this time last year with breast cancer. She is currently cancer free and doing well. I'll do anything you need to help you out with this. Buy the book click on your links and anything else you need, just post it. Thank you for all of your efforts.
Congrats Pat!
That is so cool. After all your years of service, you deserve this opportunity, I look forward to reading it already.
Ken: No theme, as I'm not too keen on them. I'd rather let the writers follow their inspiration.
It's speculative fiction at large, which means that it can be epic fantasy, scifi, horror, etc. As things stand, I'm more concerned about quality than anything else.
As far as editorial control goes, Bill has let me run this thing pretty much the way I want since it began. As president of Subpress he has a veto on everything I do, however. For instance, a vast number of authors I wanted to invite were taken off my list because they already have ongoing projects with Subpress, and Bill feared an overkill. And he did ask me to put one submission on hold in order to see if we could get a bigger name. But other than that, he seems to have been happy to sit back and see where I'm taking this. He asked me to start thinking about a cover artist, etc.
All in all, it's been pretty easy-going thus far. As to why he would want to invest money in someone like me, you'll have to ask him.
As far as the whole "editor" thing is concerned, well one would hope that the caliber of the contributors should make my job a little easier!;-) We'll have to wait and see, as they have till June 2009 to submit their piece. I already have something from both Buckell and Duncan, though...
So this is just the beginning!
Pete: I know where you're coming from. And I'm sure you understand why I'm doing this.:-)
Awesome news, congratulations :) But now you'll have to step on the other side of reviewing and read the reviews of your anthology :)
Best of luck with the collection ;)
Or will you review your own? ;) Get out the superlatives thesaurus ...
So Hot! Keep up the good work!
What a wonderful opportunity for you. Very curious to see what you assemble. Gook luck and congratulations.
My congratulations! That sounds amazing. Looking forward to release date.
I hope you will post it......
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