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The
Official Website Of Science Fiction and Fantasy Author
Robin Wayne Bailey |
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STARGLIDER =============================================================== STARGLIDER #4: THE NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF ROBIN WAYNE BAILEY =============================================================== Hello, everyone! It's been quite a while since I last put out a newsletter, and many of you are receiving this for the first time ..Always remember that if you'd prefer not to receive it, just drop me a note and I'll take you off my mailing list ..But an awful lot of good stuff has been happening, a lot of NEW STORIES and BOOKS are about to come your way, and I want to let you know about all of it ..And, of course, I want to hear how you're doing, too, so don't forget to drop a line when you find the time ..Communication is what it's all about! First, for those of you who continue to ask, my health remains good ..I'm two years into remission now, and there's no sign of any cancer recurring ..My oncologists say the real danger lay in the first year and that the odds of a recurrence are low ..Nevertheless, I have check-ups every three months and regular CT-scans to make sure I stay healthy .. I'm still studying karate and just recently earned by Ryobu-kai brown belt ..Returning to active martial arts participation has been more than therapeutic - it's been intensely satisfying and fun! I also continue to lift weights, and though my mass still isn't as great as before the cancer, my muscle definition may be the best its ever been, and I'm pleased ..I have a couple of great workout partners in Ron David and Jim Degarmo to thank for that, as well as the staff at Gold's Gym, naturally .. Secondly, along with a solid committee of friends and the support of the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, Diana and I hosted the 2002 Nebula Awards Weekend just two weeks ago ..This was the second time, I'd hosted the Nebulas, the first being in 1997 ..That '97 event was widely regarded as one of the best Nebula Weekends ever, so we had a lot to live up to .. It came off grandly ..We gave away mountains of free books, both hardbacks and paperbacks ..Magazines, too, and movie posters and buttons ..We had a hugely successful "mass autographing" with over 35 writers taking part ..The banquet was scrumptiously tasty, the awards arrived on time (well, most of them, but never mind!), and the ceremonies were riotously funny ..We toured Egyptian exhibits, jazz clubs, and casinos ..We learned about sf/f publishing in Russian from a Russian literary agent, and we learned about current interstellar flight technology from writer and NASA scientist, Geoffrey A ..Landis ..And at night we partied in the finest penthouse suite you can imagine - three glass walls to look out over the sparkling city skyline .. If you were here for the event, I thank you, and hope you had a ball .. If you weren't, check out some photos from the event at the Midamerica Fan Photo Archive online at http://www.kcsciencefiction.org .. Now, how about some news? ======================== Oh, my gosh! I'm a model! Well, kinda-sorta ..This past November (hey, I admitted it's been a while since I put together a newsletter!), right in the middle of the local Contraception Science Fiction Convention, I took time out to pose for the upcoming book, MARTIAL ARTS FOR DUMMIES ..Okay, okay, no jokes about who the dummy was ..I've heard all of them already ..But it was great fun and a wonderful experience ..I posed with a number of martial arts weapons, demonstrated a number of punches, kicks, and assorted techniques, and generally had just a great time ..MARTIAL ARTS FOR DUMMIES, by Jennifer Lawler, will be published by Hungry Minds/Wiley Press ..Look for it at the end of the year ..Jennifer is the author of a number of martial arts books, so you might want to check her out on the web, too! =============================== Oh yeah ..I've got a new book coming out, too ..In about two weeks, in fact ..In fact, I've got not one, but two new books coming out ..Both in two weeks, in fact! In fact, the big one is.... .. NIGHT'S ANGEL, published by Meisha Merlin Books in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback format ..This is the omnibus edition of my first three novels, FROST, SKULL GATE, and BLOODSONGS, all published, well, a long time ago ..But now they're rewritten and revised to more uniformly read as one long, whopping novel ..And as a bonus feature, I've included a new short story called, "The Woman Who Loved Death." For those of you who read the final volume of that series and wondered just what the heck really happened to Frost at the end, well, you won't want to miss this story! Anyway, Frost is BACK! And if Meisha Merlin has its way, and if readers want more, she's back to stay! You'll find advance ordering information at Meisha Merlin's website ..That's http://www.meishamerlin.com ..And check out the stunning cover by artist Keith Birdsong! Of course, you can look for it at your favorite bookstore, too, or order through them or through Amazaon.com ..The new editions may look a little bit pricey, but remember, these are three novels rolled into one, plus that bonus short story .. NIGHT'S ANGEL, by Robin Wayne Bailey (Meisha Merlin Books, ISBN: 1-892065-67-3) in the beautiful hardback edition ..Price: $40, or.. .. NIGHT'S ANGEL, by Robin Wayne Bailey (Meisha Merlin Books, ISBN: 1-892065-68-1) in the less expensive, but equally nice trade paperback edition ..Price: $20 ============================================= Actually, that's THROUGH MY GLASSES, DARKLY - FIVE STORIES BY FRANK M ..ROBINSON ..As some of you know, Frank has been one of my dearest friends and mentors for many years ..He's an extraordinary writer of science fiction, mysteries, thrillers, and much more ..He wrote the book that the movie, THE TOWERING INFERNO was based on ..And he wrote a book called THE POWER, which was made into a movie in the sixties that starred a young George Hamilton and Michael Rennie ..His non-fiction book, SCIENCE FICTION OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY won last year's Hugo Award for Best SF-Related Work ..And if you haven't read THE DARK BEYOND THE STARS or WAITING, you're missing out on two really fine science fiction novels ..Don't wait any longer - go find them .. Or.. ..order a copy of THROUGH MY GLASSES, DARKLY - FIVE STORIES BY FRANK M ..ROBINSON, a brand new book from the brand new KaCSFFS Press ..Pronounce it Kaxfus, and your brain will stop spinning ..The Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, one of the finest science fiction clubs anywhere, has launched its own publishing venture with the intent of bringing fine, out of print work back to the readers once again ..And when they asked me to edit their first book for them, and told me that work would be a collection of stories by Frank Robinson, I jumped at the chance! And what a beatiful job KaCSFFS Press has done with this book ..Beautiful binding and production work, a gorgeous cover by Kansas City artist Alison Stein, five great stories by Frank, and all selected and with an introduction by, uh, ME! Hey, I'm an editor! This book, a limited numbered and signed edition of only 300 copies, will debut at the ConQuest Science Fiction Convention Memorial Day weekend ..That's only two weeks away ..Both Frank and I will be on hand to personalize copies ..This 5.5" by 8.5", 124-page work with full-color cover will cost $15 ..You can order it from KaCSFFS Press, Box 36212, Kansas City, MO 64171-6212 ..Be sure to include $3.25 for shipping, and make your checks payable to "KaCSFFS." Or better yet, come to the convention! For more information on KaCSFFS, KaCSFFS Press, ConQuest, or any of the many science fiction-related activities going on in the Kansas City area, check out http://www.kcsciencefiction.org .. ========================================================== Hey, I said I'm an editor as well as a writer now! (No, no! Don't send me your manuscripts! Noooooo.....!) During my time as a member of the Board of Directors, I convinced the various officers that it would be a good idea to locate some of the older writers who'd once made our favorite field so fun and memorable, writers whose work was largely forgotten by modern readers, writers who had retired from writing, but who still deserved to be remembered, even thanked for the work they had given us ..Not necessarily "Grand Masters" like Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and Norton, with vast bodies of work still in print, but writers of solid, entertaining work who deserved to be brought back into the spotlight again .. Somehow, we decided to call this person "Author Emeritus." It wasn't to be an award, SFWA had enough awards ..But we'd bring him or her to the Nebula Awards Weekend each year, offer them the opportunity to say a few words, and ask them to present the first award of the evening ..It would be a cool opportunity for the younger, newer writers and editors of science fiction and fantasy to meet some of the older writers who help to build the genre .. We named the first Author Emeritus in 1995, and the idea has proved immensely popular ..Now Meisha Merlin Books has purchased the first in a series of anthologies containing the works of these various authors -- and I'm pleased as all heck to be the editor ..Not only have we managed to bring some of these deserving authors back into the spotlight, we've managed to bring some of their fiction back into print! ARCHITECTS OF DREAMS: THE SFWA AUTHOR EMERITUS ANTHOLOGY will be published in both hardcover and trade paperback by Meisha Merlin Books in time for the Nebula Awards Weekend 2003 ..That's next April ..It honor the first five authors-emeritus (emeriti???) and contain three or four stories by each ..Those authors include Emil Petaja, Wilson Tucker, Judith Merril, Nelson Bond, and William Tenn ..And the stories, chosen by me, are all knock-outs! Don't miss it .. ================================== Whew! Let's take a break from the book news for just a few minutes ..There's still more of that to come - a LOT more! But I want to talk about some shorter projects for a few moments ..I've been doing a lot of short stories and "novelettes" over the past two years, all for anthologies, and many of these are still on the shelves ..A few are yet to be published, but are sold and will soon be coming your way ..I want to mention a few ..Particularly ... .. "Keepers of Earth." (SILICON DREAMS, DAW Books, edited by Martin Greenberg & Larry Segriff) I am so proud of this story! "Keepers of Earth" appeared in December, just two weeks before the end of the year ..Imagine my surprise, then, when it was snatched up by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber for their new anthology, SCIENCE FICTION: THE BEST OF 2001 ..This new "Best Of" anthology is published by I-Books and distributed by Simon & Shuster, and contains so many fine stories by so many well-known writers I'm not even going to try to list them ..But it means you can find "Keepers of Earth" in either anthology, SILICON DREAMS or SCIENCE FICTION: THE BEST OF 2001 ..Both are still on bookstore shelves, and of course, both can still be ordered either through your local bookstore or your favorite online source ..Check it out, and let me know how you like it! ===================================== That's right - THIEVES WORLD is back! With all new characters and many new writers, edited by Lynn Abbey and published by Tor Books! It's almost twelve years since the last THIEVES WORLD anthology, but forty years have passed in the decadent and down-trodden city called SANCTUARY ..Want to know what's been happening in that hell-hole? Look for Lynn Abbey's kick-off novel, SANCTUARY, from Tor Books this June ..Then pick up THIEVES WORLD: TURNING POINTS, the first new anthology coming in December ..Among others, it includes stories by Mickey Zucker Reichert, Diana Paxson, Dennis McKiernan, Raymond F ..Feist, and.. ..well, me, of course! ============================ Wow, I so desperately want for this anthology to hit the stores, but DAW Books just isn't cooperating! I don't know if FUTURE WARS has a publication date yet, but it should be sometime later this year, so keep an eye out for it ..FUTURE WARS! edited by Martin Greenberg and Larry Segriff, from Daw Books .. "Toy Soldiers" is the first story I've ever written at "novella" length, and this science fiction story about ten-year-old guerilla fighters on a forgotten planet may be one of the best pieces of work I've done ..I've never cared too much about awards, but I admit I'm pinning a few hopes on this one .. ============================================== Many of you have written notes and letters wondering what was happening with the series of new Lanhkmar novels (based on Fritz Leiber's earlier work) that I began with SWORDS IN THE SHADOWLAND in 1998 and was supposed to continue with White Wolf Books ..Well, suffice it to say that White Wolf Books and I have gone our separate ways .. But the saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is far from over! The rights have been bought back from White Wolf and are being acquired by Simon & Shuster and their new I-Books line ..They'll begin by republishing in a new edition my first adventure, SWORDS AGAINST THE SHADOWLAND ..And we'll continue from there ..I'm already about a third of the way through the next adventure, SWORDS IN THE STORM ..No publication date yet, but keep an eye out, and keep the dream of Lankhmar alive! I'd love to get the newest Lankhmar adventure out as soon as possible, but there's this one little thing I have to take care of first, and it's called .... .. ========================= Just this week, through my agent, Richard Curtis, we've arranged to begin an entirely new fantasy series with Simon & Shuster and I-Books ..It's called DRAGONKIN! and it will be three books to begin with ..We'll see from there if readers want more ..The books will be targeted at a slightly different market than my usual fare ..We want to try to hit that fine line between adults and young adults that Brian Jacques' REDWALL and all those HARRY POTTER books have hit ..In other words, a series that will please all ages ..The books are to be nicely illustrated, and the publisher will launch the series at Book Expo in Chicago - next year! April, to be exact ..Which means I'm going to be writing my fingers off this summer and fall .. I hope it will please you .. ========================== We're almost to the end of this, I promise ..This has to be the longest newsletter I've put out yet ..But as I said, it's been a while since the last one ..So bear with me just a little longer .. Many of you have been fans of my novel SHADOWDANCE ..I've even heard that the book has a small following in Japan, and I've received one piece of mail from a reader in Australia ..It's wonderful to know SHADOWDANCE has managed to find a readership .. I want to mention that Meisha Merlin will be republishing SHADOWDANCE at sometime in the near future in both hardback and trade paperback ..Finally, you'll be able to have a nice, lasting edition that won't fall apart in your hands as you read it ..Publisher Stephen Pagel and I came to this agreement just two weeks ago following the 2002 Nebula Awards Weekend, which was held right here in Kansas City and hosted by yours truly .. I can't thank Stephen enough ..Truth be told, I've withheld the book from other publishers seeking to reprint it in the hope that Stephen would want it for Meisha Merlin ..Years ago, Stephen read the book in early manuscript form, and when no other publisher would touch it because of its dark storyline -- oh hell, let's be honest - because of its gay storyline -- he remembered it and worked to acquire it for White Wolf Books .. Now I'm delighted that it will be part of Stephen's own publishing company, Meisha Merlin Books ..I know he'll do a beautiful job with it, and it'll be, not just a book I'm immensely proud of, but a book you'll be proud to have on your shelves .. Add to that this final bit of news ..Stephen and Meisha Merlin Books will also be publishing a collection of my short fiction ..No specific release dates yet on either SHADOWDANCE or the collection -- but watch for them .. ======================================== There are probably a few items I've neglected to mention, but that's more than enough for now ..I'll be making a few appearances and book-signings as time and budget allow (I'm still paying off doctor bills ..I'll be paying off doctor bills for the next decade!), and I hope I'll see some of you at those signings, or .. ..as I like to say .. .."on the road." I know I'll be at ConQuest here in Kansas City ..I'll also be at Conestoga Science Fiction Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma in July ..I expect to be at World Fantasy Con in Minneapolis on Halloween weekend ..Beyond that, well, we'll see .. Thank you -- all of you -- for your notes and letters and phone calls ..Thanks for being my friends and for supporting my work ..Best wishes, and with deep appreciation, Robin Wayne Bailey |
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